August 28th Nohmi v Utsumi - Back home

So how did Mayumi's first shi no rodo go? It went surprisingly well and despite some errors Mayumi came up with a 12-10 record. This is a good performance and indicates better play by the team. There are still issues to sort out - Kanemoto's slump, the team is in fact carrying the No. 4 and the fact that younger pitchers still need to be brought up but it was encouraging. Tigers are now 5.5 games behind the faltering Swallows and if they can keep up their performance a Climax Series berth is a possibility. Of course, this relies on the Swallows continuing to fade. Jeff Williams has returned to the US for treatment to his shoulder which is not responding in Japan. It would be surprising to see him back next year and it is a shame as he has given Tigers a lot of valuable service. Maybe a role can be found for him within the coaching team.

The game against the Giants went off in front of a packed crowd and was well managed by Mayumi apart from one small error. It was a good victory built on a nice performance by the batting and Nohmi. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

Hara would later say that Utsumi didn't pitch well and threw too much rubbish but this only really became evident later in the match. Nohmi did well and showed some nice stuff. He is maturing into a very nice pitcher and with more encouragement and work will be very useful. The first innings was tight and tense and both pitchers retired the batters in order. Giants though got on base in their second. Ramirez led off the action with a hit. One out later a grounder to Nohmi was messed up and Tani joined him on base, runners on first and second (Ramirez can really only lumber now and the pace he used to have is long since a memory). Nohmi then retired the next two batters and the Giants were scoreless. Tigers second was quiet with the batters falling in order. One can't think Hara was referring to Utsumi's early innings as these were all a coach could desire. With two out in Giants third, Matsumoto produced Giants next hit. He then tried to steal second but was thrown out. Sakurai led off Tigers first with a two base hit but advanced no further. He would have a good game going 3 for 3 with 2 two base hits. But so far the game was going well for the Giants and would get even better the next innings.

Giants fourth started with Abe hitting a two base. Ramirez hit to left and here Abe could have probably made home but was stopped on third with Ramirez on first. Kamei then hit straight to Toritani who went for the double play stepping on second. Yamato also came in and stepped on second inteferring with Toritani's throw to first and allowing Kamei to reach first safely. Abe was of course home 1-0 Giants runner on first. This became runners on first and second when Tani hit to centre. Wakiya grounded out to second taking Kamei to third. From here he tried to steal home but Kanoh blocked the plate and tagged him out to end the innings. Nice work by the Tigers catcher again. Tigers fourth was quiet and so far they had generated only one hit showing that Utsumi was pitching well. In Giants fifth Sakamoto hit but nothing came of this. Tigers fifth is perhaps were Utsumi started pitching badly. He gave up a right hit to Arai. Brazell struck out but then Sakurai hit to centre. Arai rounded second and went for third sliding in in a cloud of dirt. The throw was good but the umpire ruled that Arai was safe, runners on first and third. The next batter was Kanoh and here Mayumi signalled a squeeze play. This was almost a disaster as Kanoh tried to bunt but the pitch was too far and he fouled, falling over into the bargain. However, he could have bunted into a double play and Mayumi breathed a sigh of relief and left things up to Kanoh. This was very wise as the next pitch was an easy slider which Kanoh hit hard and high into the left stand, three run home run 3-1 Tigers. Both Nohmi and Akahoshi grounded out but Tigers were now in the lead. Nohmi then had to protect the lead which he did nicely striking out Kamei looking to end the Giants sixth. In Tigers sixth Yamato hit to Utsumi whose throw was poor and he reached first safely. Next was Toritani who hit along the first baseline, past Kamei into the corner. Yamato blistered round the bases sliding in to home for the run as the throw came in 4-1 Tigers runner on second. The throw was poor and Abe would have had no chance to tag Yamato if it had arrived earlier. One had visions of a big score as there were still no outs but Utsumi did well and restricted the damage to one run retiring the next three batters.

Giants seventh saw Wakiya hit to left with one out but the next two batters (Giants pinch hitters) got nowhere and that innings was scoreless. Nohmi had done well over seven innings but one thought that an eighth would be pushing luck too far. Utsumi was replaced for Tigers seventh by Toyoda who ran into problems immediately. Utsumi had started to give up runs from the fifth and if he had pitched the seventh would have given up more. Toyoda wasn't much better as Sakurai hit to into left for a two base hit - Ramirez trotting gently after the ball. Kanoh then bunted Sakurai to third. This was a good use of the bunt and that was the end of Toyoda. Fujita took the mound and faced Hiyama (pinch hitter) with a runner on third and one out. Here Mayumi had replaced Nohmi, a wise decisioin. Hiyama though flew out to Abe behind the plate and Giants had two outs. Next Mayumi sent Takahashi (pinch hitter) into bat, another inspired move. Takahashi worked the count full and then hit to left where the ball bounced in front of Ramirez waddling in to take it. Sakurai was home 5-1 Tigers runner on first. Yamato flew out and the innings was over but Tigers were in control. Atchison took the Giants eighth and with one out walked Matsumoto. He then got Abe to fly out and then took Ramirez's ground out for the final out. Tigers eighth was also quiet, Fujita striking out Kanemoto for the second out and then being replaced by Nomaguchi for the final out. So to Giants ninth and even though it wasn't a save situaiton Mayumi wasn't taking any chances and Fujikawa took the mound. This is Tigers Giants and normal rules do not apply. Fujikawa worked well with Kanoh and retired the batters in order, striking out Takahashi looking and Wakiya swinging to end the innings. Tigers victory.

A very nice victory. I am often critical of Mayumi when he makes a mess of things so it makes a nice change to say that his direction of the match was almost flawless. He made one small error, asking Kanoh for the squeeze play but corrected himself and allowed the game to flow. He was rewarded with a fine victory and in fact has won the last three series against the Giants. This game was played at a furious pace and in fact was over by 8:40 pm but was full of entertainment and great baseball in the best tradition of Tigers Giants contests.