July 31st Nohmi v Utsumi - More of the same

Tigers are now in fourth place, leading Carp by half a game. They have been playing with much more confidence and showing more of their quality. This time it was Brazell's turn to win the match but Nohmi was once again superb and this time Utsumi couldn't match him. Is Nohmi turning into the pitcher he always should have been? More fine work by Kanoh who once again started and it seems is becoming the No. 1 Catcher. This is encouraging as he is a fine catcher with an ability to coax nervous pitchers that Yano didn't have. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

Before the game both Hirano and Kubo received presentations, Hirano as an MVP and Kubo for his superb pitching of the night before. Nohmi started well retiring the batters in order and looking in control. Utsumi despite keeping the Tigers from scoring would use an awful lot of pitches to do so. He eventually threw 126 pitches for his six innings whilst Nohmi threw only 86 over seven innings. Tigers first started with a hit to Akahoshi which bounced over Utsumi and by the time Kimura had fielded it Akahoshi was safe on first. Sekimoto bunted him to second but the next two batters failed. Nohmi started the Giants second by striking out Ramirez but with two out Tani hit the ball back at him. Nohmi failed to take but the ball deflected luckily into a gap and Tani was safe. Nohmi then struck out Abe looking with an awesome pitch to end the innings. Both he and Kanoh were up and running off the field as soon as that pitch struck the former's glove - it was that good. Tigers second saw a nice duel between Arai and Utsumi, Arai trying to work Utsumi to left. Utsumi eventually won striking out the Tigers third. But this was indicative of the Tigers batters application and a reason why Utsumi used so many pitches. Sakurai hit to centre but Kanoh grounded out to short, Sakamoto being a bit slow but getting the throw to first just in time. Giants third was quiet. In Tigers third Akahoshi hit again and then stole second, the throw from Abe not being particularly good. However, once again Utsumi was able to control the action, getting both Sekimoto and Toritani. Sekimoto managed to strain his foot in his at bat and had to be replaced by Yamato at second.

Tigers ran into some bother in the Giants fourth. With two out Ogasawara hit to first. Brazell messed up the reverse take and Ogasawara was safe on first. Nohmi got a bit nervous and unleashed a wild pitch taking him to second. He then gathered himself and struck out Ramirez, once again with a superb pitch. Kamei grounded out to Yamato to end the innings. In Tigers fourth Brazell picked up a walk and then made third on Sakurai's hit. Kanoh though was fooled by a nice pitch from Utsumi and struck out looking to end the chance. Giants fifth was quiet as Nohmi retired the batters in order. Tigers fifth was also quiet but Utsumi was needing more and more effort to keep up with Nohmi. Here, in Giants sixth Nohmi made his only mistake. After striking out Utsumi he left one invitingly placed for Sakamoto and the annoying little tick gratefully plonked it over the left fence for a solo home run 1-0 Giants. Matsumoto grounded out but Ogasawara hit and one wondered if the Giants would mount a surge from this point. Once again Nohmi took on Ramirez and struck him out for the third time that evening to end the innings. By now Utsumi was struggling, he had to hold the lead but was tired. Toritani led Tigers sixth off with a hit. Utsumi then dead balled Kanemoto showing how tired he was. Arai flew out taking Toritani around to third and the sacrifice fly was on. Brazell though had other ideas hammering his third pitch over the centre fence for a home run 3-1 Tigers, a stunning blow for the Giants. Sakurai and Kanoh couldn't exploit the situation and the innings ended.

Nohmi returned for Giants seventh. With one out he gave up a hit to Tani but then induced Abe to hit into a double play, Brazell making no mistake this time. He had pitched superbly and given up one run on four hits. He hadn't walked a single batter. Giants pitcher for Tigers seventh was Micheal who was more assured than he has been, he retired the batters in order. For Giants eighth the pitcher was Atchison who started out nicely striking out Lee and Furuki (both pinch hitters) before running into trouble. He gave up consecutive centre hits to Sakamoto and Matsumoto. This brought up Ogasawara who obligingly flew out to end the innings and get Atchison out of the innings safely. Yamaguchi replaced Micheal and started poorly walking both Toritani. He stole second and then Yamaguchi walked Kanemoto to set up runners on first and second. Arai hit into a double play but Toritani who is showing a lot of energy made third. Brazell though struck out to end the innings. So with the score at 3-1 Mayumi brought up Fujikawa and switched the catcher to Yano. This almost went wrong. Fujikawa faced Ramirez as lead off and didn't pitch well. Ramirez hammered his first pitch for a solo home run 3-2 Tigers - things were getting close. Fujikawa pulled himself together and struck out Kamei and then Tani. Abe then flew out in foul ground to end the innings. Tigers victory.

A nice victory based on fine pitching by Nohmi. Once again Kanoh had also been superb but Tigers hadn't really figured out Utsumi even though the latter struggled. Brazell had hit just when needed and given Nohmi the boost he needed. Fujikawa had caused a scare but recorded his 12th save. Tigers have now run four in a row and have been playing more to their potential, beating the Giants was a challenge which the team responded to very well.