May 12th Shimoyanagi v Ohtake - Tigers 7000th home run

Tigers have now hit 7000 home runs over their entire existence and the 7000th was hit appropriately enough by Kanemoto. Shimoyanagi pitched a complete game shutout, the fourth of his career and his first since 2003. In fact the match was dominated by pitching as Ohtake brought a 0.90 ERA to the game. Shimoyanagi combined superbly with Kanoh in a masterclass on how to control a game. Kanoh was directing and supporting his pitcher as if he was a veteran and this sort of performance bodes well for the future. Box scores.

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R H E
Carp    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 2 0
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1x 1 5 0

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Amaya (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Seabol (Third)
6. McClain (Left)
7. Ishihara (Catcher)
8. Soyogi (Short)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (First)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Lin (Right)
7. Fujimoto (Second)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

The first innings would pass very quickly, both pitchers rapidly disposing of the batters they faced. In fact the game only took 2 hours 31 minutes, an indication of how fast games can go if batters don't hit. In the Carp second Shimoyanagi walked Seabol but then was able to get the next two batters. Ohtake would run into even bigger trouble in the second and needed a good bit of work to get out of it. At the start of Tigers second he faced Kanemoto whom he walked. Arai then hit into left field and Kanemoto rounded the bases for third. Arai was on first. Ohtake walked Lin to load the bases with no outs and the situation looked very promising for the Tigers. A mound conference followed in which Ishihara had words with his pitcher. I don't know what was said but it had its effect. Fujimoto was next and given a choice one, would not nominate him as an ideal batter for this sort of situation. Fujimoto hit his first pitch along the ground straight back at Ohtake who fielded and fired it to Ishihara. Ishihara then threw to first and Fujimoto was out and bases loaded with no outs had become runners on second and third with two outs. A sacrifice fly would have been appropriate here, if Fujimoto had to get out. With Kanoh next and Shimoyanagi after there was never any doubt what Ohtake would do and he deliberately walked Kanoh to load the bases. Shimoyanagi hit to centre but could only fly out. This though did show Fujimoto what he shoudl have done. Anyway innings over and no runs scored. After the excitement of the second the third was quiet and the batters fell in order. Ohtake's changeup was working very well and Shimoyanagi was working the channels well.

The fourth continued in the same way with batters grounding out or flying out as they struggled to establish a presence in the game. Finally, in their fifth Carp had their first hit, a two out two base hit from Ishihara. This time it was Shimoyanagi's turn to deliberately walk a batter the honour going to Soyogi - runners on first and second. Then Ohtake was induced to fly out and end the innings. In the bottom with one out, Kanoh hit beating both Ohtake and Soyogi. Shimoyanagi of course was going to bunt but this was a poor effort falling too short. Carp though needed a bit of luck as the throw from Ishihara was high and Soyogi had to jump to take it but was able to touch the base before Kanoh slide in. However, the next throw to Kurihara for the double play was also poor and the Carp's first had to really stretch to take it. Still he made double play and end of innings. The Carp's sixth saw Higashide lead off with a walk and for a moment things look dangerous but good pitching and calling saw the threat go nowhere. With one out in the sixth Sekimoto took a dead ball on his elbow. One out later Kanemoto hit to left and McClain lumbered after it. He looked slow around the field this game. This set up runners on second and third with Arai next but Ohtake worked hard and winkled him out getting Arai to fly out to right.

Carp's seventh was quiet with the batters falling in order. Tigers seventh saw Kanoh hit with two out and the question was would Mayumi use a pinch hitter or would he continue with Shimoyanagi. A pinch hitter would have given the chance of a score in a tight match but only a chance. Shimoyanagi was pitching superbly and was within his capacity so Mayumi went with him. He grounded out to short and the innings was over. He then fully justified Mayumi's faith in him by retiring the Carp batters in order. Tigers eighth was also quiet in what would be Ohtake's last innings. He had pitched very well and even though he had gotten into trouble had been able to escape. Mayumi continued with Shimoyanagi into the final innings obviously thinking he was due a complete game. Shimoyanagi started well striking out Akamatsu and getting Amaya to fly out - two outs. Then Kurihara hit putting the ball under Toritani. Shimoyanagi looked tired and walked Seabol to set up runners on first and second. Next batter was McClain. Here Kanoh made sure that Shimoyanagi kept things calm and in perspective. McClain snatched at a slider flying out to Lin in foul ground - end of innings. Shimoyanagi had been excellent and had completely dominated. No Carp batter had reached third and only two had made second. Mayumi had looked very nervous during the Carp's ninth - no doubt thinking, have I made the right choice. For Tigers ninth Brown selected Yokoyama who faced Kanemoto as lead off. His third pitch to Kanemoto was a forkball which Kanemoto hit hard and high to left. It stayed in and with wind assistance (Kanemoto said it was lucky in the hero interview after the game) went over the fence for a solo sayonara home run 1-0 Tigers. Tigers victory.

If you had had to predict who would hit Tigers 7000th home run your choice would have been Kanemoto. Great work by Shimoyanagi had been rewarded and he picked up the win. The loss went to Yokoyama. Kanoh had been superb and kept things under control. It is disappointing that Tigers had to put up with Noguchi for so long when they had this guy waiting for his opportunity.