July 12th Shimoyanagi v Utsumi - Belzeebub's minions take a victory

A game which hung on two lucky hits but then you make your own luck. Giants are a hot team and confident. Tigers aren't confident and in fact look like they are waiting for something to happen. Yano, Akahoshi and Williams are all due back on the 15th and we had better hope that Yano has fully recovered. But bringing back tired old players is not going to solve their problems. Tigers need to bring up their young players and give them lots of playing time. The season is practically over and now is the time to develop a much younger side. This though is probably beyond the coaching team as it requires IMAGINATION. scores

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

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Suzuki (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (First)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Wakiya (Second)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

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

Shimoyanagi would last longer than his previous outings before suddenly collapsing. In Giants first he retired the batters in order. Utsumi would be much improved and would surpass Shimoyanagi in pitching ability. He also retired the batters in order including Arai at third. Why Arai was elevated to third again is a mystery as he hadn't improved by being at sixth. Maybe Mayumi decided that the Katsuragi experiment hadn't worked though it is difficult to see on what grounds. Giant second was more encouraging from their point of view. With two out Shimoyanagi walked Tani. Abe hit to centre and Giants had runners on first and second. Wakiya grounded out to end the innings. Tigers second 1-2-3 with Utsumi striking out Kanemoto and Brazell. Giants third was also 1-2-3 with Utsumi grounding out to Shimoyanagi who didn't mess this one up. Kanoh hit in Tigers third and was bunted to second by Shimoyanagi but Hirano in what was a quiet game for him grounded out to end that chance.

Giants fourth was also 1-2-3 and at this stage Shimoyanagi was pitching better than Utsumi. In fact he looked like the Shimoyanagi of old. In Tigers fourth Kanemoto hit towards third who messed it up and the Tigers left was safe on first. This didn't result in anything as Utsumi made sure the next two batter did nothing. Giants fifth saw the batters try to force the pace but nothing happened. Tigers fifth was also more of the same. So far this had been a pitcher's battle but it was due to change slightly in Giants sixth. Utsumi was out fairly easily and then Sakamoto took a poke at one and got the end of the bat on it. The ball ballooned into centre field well in front of Hirano coming in for a lucky hit. Next batter was Suzuki who was also lucky. He drove one into the ground and it bounced well over Shimoyanagi who left it for Sekimoto to take. He took it near the ground but failed to make the throw and Suzuki was safe on first with Sakamoto on second. This was very lucky because if Sekimoto had tried the throw he would have had Suzuki out. An overconservative fielding style that would cost the Tigers. Next batter was Ogasawara and there was nothing lucky about his hit which was driven into right centre. Suzuki is fast and he had time to make home 2-0 Giants runner on second. Ramirez flew out and then Kamei flew out to centre to end the innings. Giants had a two run lead but with Utsumi pitching the way he was you sensed this would be enough. Tigers sixth was started by a Baldris (pinch hitter) hit. Shimoyanagi was not going to return even though he had only thrown 73 pitches. Had his control gone? Anyway Baldris was bunted to second by Hirano but then neither Sekimoto or Arai was able to drive him home.

Nohmi pitched Giants seventh and was at his frustrating best. He retired the Giants in order with no real effort. Utsumi gave up a hit to Sakurai in Tigers seventh but nothing came of this. Once again Nohmi was supreme in Giants eighth and why he can't maintain this level is a mystery. Utsumi returned for Tigers eighth and it was clear he was going for a complete game. He was tiring a bit and Kanoh took full advantage of this hitting a very nice two base. Takahashi (pinch hitter) was next and he almost blew the chance hitting to third who was able to catch Kanoh in a sandwich and have him tagged out. The only benefit of this was that Takahashi had meanwhile reached second. He was pinch run for by Yamato. Hirano flew out but then Sekimoto hit nicely to left and Yamato was home 2-1 Giants runner on first. This became runners on first and second as Arai hit and Tigers were in with a genuine chance. Kanemoto was next and he blew the chance grounding out to second. Both him and Arai are given too much playing time given the performances they actually produced and this was really Tigers last chance. Atchison pitched Giants ninth and gave up a hit to Ramirez. He was pinch run for by Matsumoto who stole second but the other batters failed to support and the innings was over. Tigers ninth and the last chance. It started well with Sakurai producing a one out hit. Utsumi though could see the finish line and summoned up enough effort to get both Toritani and Kanoh to fly out in foul ground and end the innings. Giants victory.

Utsumi had pitched well and had deserved his victory but really Tigers cleanup had had no impact on the game whatsoever. Tigers cannot rely on Kanoh, Hirano and Sekimoto only. They need the cleanup batters to perform. If they don't perform they should be replaced by people who do. If Shimoyanagi cannot pitch he needs to be dropped to the second team as well and younger pitchers need to be brought up. To be honest, his peformance was much improved and once again Mayumi's decision to replace him smacked of panic.