July 2nd Iwata v Asakura - Brazell does it all

Tigers won this game but Mayumi wasn't really happy as apart from Brazell no-one had shown any real application with runners on. Arai earned a reprimand from coach Kuji for his fielding of the night before when he failed to throw out the runner going for home. This game Brazell was really impressive and was the reason Tigers won the game. Iwata wasn't impressive on his return and without Brazell, Tigers would have lost. Box score

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 4 12 0
Dragons  1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3  9 0

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ibata (Short)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Fujii (Centre)
7. Koike (Right)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Asakura (Pitcher)

Asakura's first act was to walk Akahoshi. Sekimoto then, in a demonstration of the deterioration of the Tigers performance bunted into a double play and Arai flew out. It seemed as if the poor performance of the past couple of days would continue. Iwata did nothing to dspell this notion, his first innings back was poor. He gave up a leadoff hit to Ibata but then this was nothing to worry about. The two base to Araki which followed immediately was. Runners on second and third with no outs and Iwata was in a hole. Amazingly, the Dragons helped him dig himself out of it with only minor damage. Morino grounded out to Toritani cutting off the run. Blanco did hit to centre 1-0 Dragons, runners first and third but good fielding prevented the second run from scoring. Wada struck out looking and then Fujii grounded out. The damage was limited to one run which is easily overhauled. In fact, it looked like it would happen straight away in Tigers second as Kanemoto led off with a two base. This didn't go anywhere though as the next three batters failed miserably against some nice pitching by Asakura. Dragons second also started with a two base (to Koike) and this time showing more awareness, Tanishige bunted him to third. Asakura flew out but not far enough and finally Ibata struck out. A wasted chance for the Dragons. Asakura managed to give up a one out hit to Iwata in Tigers third but nothing came of this. Likewise, Blanco hit in Dragons third but nothing resulted as Wada grounded out to Iwata to end the innings.

Tigers fourth saw Asakura get into trouble. Arai hit and then Kanemoto hit (it's a long time since he hit two in a game) setting up runners on first and third with no outs. Brazell hit into a double play but even when he does this he seems to score and this innings was no exception Arai was home 1-1 scores tied. Katsuragi grounded out and the innings was over. Iwata took heart from this development and retired the batters in order in Dragons fourth. Tigers fifth started with a Toritani ground out and then Kanoh walked. The usual inaction followed and the scores remained the same. Iwata then reverted to his first innings peformance and gave up a leadoff two base hit to Asakura with an appalling pitch. This time the Dragons would not squander the chance. Ibata hit to set up runners on first and third and then Araki hit to right 2-1 Dragons, runners on first and third. Araki tried to steal second but this time Kanoh's throw was good and he was out. That still left Ibata on third and when Morino grounded out to second he seized the chance and was home 3-1 Dragons. Blanco struck out looking to end the innings and take away a nice lead for the home team. In Tigers sixth Arai hit and then tried to steal second - a reasonable attempt given that Tanishige hasn't got the strongest arm but here it was good enough and he was out. Kanemoto struck out and that innings was over. Dragons sixth was quiet as the batters fell in order. Iwata retired at the end of the innings having given up 3 runs on six innings work. Hardly auspicious and a low key return to the top team.

Asakura continued for Tigers seventh and facing Brazell found himself hit hard to left centre. A Brazell home run 3-2 Dragons. Katsuragi hit and Ochiai decided that Asakura was finished. The replacement pitcher was Masato Kobayashi who got Toritani to hit into a double play but then Kanoh hit and Tigers had a runner on first again. This needed another pitching change and it was Payano who got the final out, Sakurai (pinch hitter) who flew out. Watanabe pitched the Dragons seventh and with two outs managed to give up a hit to Ibata. A wild pitch took the Dragons short to second but then Araki struck out looking to a superb pitch from Watanabe to end the innings. Tigers had worked the batting order round and so the Dragons pitcher Asao faced Akahoshi. This time he hit. A Sekimoto ground out took him to second and Arai's hit set up runners on first and third (this is the first time since April that Arai has had a three hit game). Kanemoto flew out weakly to third denying the chance of a game tying sacrifice which brought up Brazell. He gave the ball a mighty wack and it flew off towards the left wall. The fielder jumped for it but it was too high and evaded his glove for a two base hit. Both runners were home and the score was now 4-3 Tigers, runner on second. The final batter was Hiyama who struck out but Tigers had a chance of victory. The all important Dragons eighth was pitched by Atchison but was a bit of an anticlimax as the Dragons three top batters all grounded out to some nice pitching. Of course Tigers wanted to add to the one run advantage they had and so when Hirai walked Toritani in the ninth things looked good. Kanoh bunted him to second and one out later Akahoshi walked. Sekimoto hit to left but the throw was good and Toritani was tagged out at the plate to end the innings. The extra run didn't materialize and it was all down to Fujikawa who has not been that good of late. Here though he was his old dominant self. A total of 14 pitches with three batters and three strike outs as the Dragons couldn't make any impression. Tigers victory.

Whilst this is only one victory it is an encouraging sign that Arai managed three hits. However, other batters need to drive runs in. Currently Brazell is the only one really doing this and he needs support. He of course was excellent and the reason the Tigers won the game but other batters need to step up as well and also contribute. Fujikawa has 8 saves now but it is an indication of how rarely Tigers have been in a save situation that Iwase has 21. Tigers take on the Swallows at Koshien next series.