July 19th Nohmi v Utsumi - Nohmi is superb

One wouldn't credit Nohmi as a likely starter for the deciding game of the Giants series after being removed from the rotation but this is what happened. This was Nohmi at his best with some sublime pitching and one really wishes he could reproduce this consistently. He threw 116 pitches with two hits and a walk and a dead ball over nine innings whilst striking out 12. A superb performance. Utsumi wasn't so good but managed to keep the runners from getting home. With Kroon and Fujikawa facing off it was Kroon who blinked first and Tigers worked a narrow but very valuable win.

On an unrelated side note after the defeat on Friday Giants fans rioted. They destroyed a station entry gate among other things and maybe we have to be more wary of them. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 8 10 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1 1 10 1
Giants  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0 0  2 0

Starting lineup

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

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

This was a game for the afficianadoes of pitching and was dominated by superb pitching from both starters. It didn't seem that way in the Tigers first as Utsumi struggled. With Hirano out he gave up a two base hit to Sekimoto. Sakurai walked and then Utsumi dead balled Kanemoto to load the bases. Brazell struck out swinging and then Arai grounded out to short and Giants had escaped. Nohmi dead balled Suzuki with one out in Giants first but then he was out trying to chance Kanoh's arm. Ogasawara followed as the first of Nohmi's strike out victims. The second innings was quiet with both pitchers retiring the batters in order. The third was the same but Nohmi had already collected three strike outs and was pitching with real confidence.

Tigers fourth saw Brazell hit nicely to right for a two base. He made third on Arai's ground out but Toritani couldn't convert and the innings was scoreless. In Giants fourth Nohmi walked Ogasawara with two out and then got Ramirez to ground out to Arai at third. Kanoh led off Tigers fifth and was bunted to second by Nohmi. He made third on Hirano's ground out but then was stranded as Sekimoto couldn't convert. Giants fifth was quiet with Nohmi striking out two of the three batters he faced. Tigers sixth saw Sakurai lead off with a hit to left. One out later, Brazell hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. This was as far as they got as Arai struck out and Toritani grounded out. Arai was his usual ineffective self but it did look as if Tigers who were out-hitting the Giants to a large degree would waste the chance. Nohmi would tire and the Giants would snatch victory. Still this was a way off yet and in the Giants sixth it was once again 1-2-3.

Tigers seventh was quiet with the batters falling 1-2-3. Giants seventh saw their first hit (in the seventh!), a centre hit to Ramirez with two out. He stayed on first as Kamei grounded out to first. Sekimoto led off Tigers eighth with a hit and was surprisingly bunted to second by Sakurai. Kanemoto's ground out took him to third but once again a Tiger's batter, this time Brazell was unable to convert the runner. Giants eighth was quiet and Nohmi added another couple of strike outs to his collection. Kanoh hit in Tigers ninth but nothing came of this, by now Utsumi had thrown 136 pitches but had kept the Tigers out. Mayumi then asked Nohmi for another innings. He responded well, but with two out gave up only the second hit of the evening for the Giants to Suzuki. Suzuki tried to steal second again and this time a throwing error took him to third. Nohmi ignored this and struck out Ogasawara looking to end the innings.

For the Tigers 10th Hara chose Kroon once again. He was not in confident mode and started with a two base hit to Hirano. Sekimoto grounded out to short which took Hirano to third and then Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out and it began to look as if Giants would escape once again. Not so - Kanemoto got a straight ball for his third pitch which he slammed into left field for a two base hit. Hirano was home 1-0 Tigers runner on second. Brazell then hit to centre and Tigers had runners on first and third. His pinch runner Yamato stole second and Kroon was in real trouble. However, Arai failed to hit and struck out leaving Tigers with a slender lead. This of course meant Fujikawa to defend one run. Ramirez grounded out to centre. Kamei struck out swinging (ato hitori) and then with Tokyo Dome full of noise Tani grounded out to Toritani. End of innings and Tigers victory.

A very good victory based on fine pitching. As I have mentioned it is a shame Nohmi cannot produce this sort of stuff regularly. He, of course, picked up the victory and Fujikawa his eleventh save but the series victory was important. Tigers do need to win away series and this was a good one to win.

[Edited by: Christopher on Jul 20, 2009 3:32 PM]