September 17th Kubo v Obispo - Watch the player

Faced with a pitcher they didn't know and with Kubo's rough patch continuing Tigers duly lost the third game of the series but took the series itself and tied the number of wins with the Giants 11-11 over the season. Obispo pitched well but is still rough round the edges. Tigers batting found him difficult and couldn't really get going. Kanemoto seems to have settled into his slump again and questions need to be asked about his continuation. It's not that he's not trying it's just that at the moment he can't hit. Planning for the post-Kanemoto era does need to start now. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

Obispo started smoothly getting the first two Tigers batters out without two much trouble but then Toritani hit nicely to left centre for a two base hit. Kanemoto was next and he swung too early and flew out to third. Tigers batters would do this a lot as they struggled to adjust to Obispo's pitching. Kubo's start was another nightmare. He dead balled Sakamoto to put a runer on first. Matsumoto bunted him to second and here Sekimoto was a bit too casual. As he reached second Sakamoto saw that third was open and went for it. Tigers were too surprised to react and the Giants short had made third easily. Very poor fielding by Tigers and very slack but very sharp from Sakamoto. Ogasawara then hit to right driving in the run 1-0 Giants, runner on first. Ramirez lined out but Kamei hit to put Ogasawara on second. Then Tani hit to left and Ogasawara was home 2-0 Giants, runners on first and second. Kubo walked Abe to load the bases and then got Wakiya to line out. Tigers second was quiet as the batters fell 1-2-3. In Giants third Matsumoto managed a two out hit but nothing came from it. Tigers third was Obispo's worst innings. He started by getting Kanoh to ground out but then Kubo hit. This unsettled the Giants pitcher and Asai hit as well. A pass ball took the runners to second and third and then Obispo walked Hirano, bases loaded. A double play was a possiblity but Obispo didn't have the control for that and walked Toritani as well, oshidashi 2-1 Giants, bases loaded. Kanemoto hit deep and far for the sacrifice fly 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and third but Arai grounded out to end the innings. Kubo then contrived to throw the good work away. Ramirez led off the Giants third with a very nice home run into the right centre stand 3-2 Giants. Two outs later Kubo dead balled Abe as his control wandered. Wakiya was next and he flew out to centre to end the innings.

Tigers fourth was quiet as Obispo used his pitching better and had the batters misjudging very well. Sakamoto hit in Giants fourth but then Matsumoto hit into the double play and even his speed wasn't enough to prevent it. Tigers was also quiet as the batters once again failed to cope with the pitching. Giants fifth followed the same pattern as Kubo was something like his best again. In Tigers sixth Obispo struck out Toritani and then Kanemoto and faced Arai. He also struck out Arai but Abe lost the ball in a piece of poor catchching and Arai made first safely. Obispo then struck out Lin to end the innings but had the rare achievement of striking out four batters in one innings. Kubo then ran into trouble in Giants sixth. He gave up a lead off home run again, this time to Tani 4-2 Giants. This was just a matter of Tani connecting right and had an element of luck in it but they all count. Abe hit but then Wakiya grounded out. Obispo tried to bunt but was out with three failures. Then Kubo walked Sakamoto and Mayumi decided that a change was necessary. This was a sound move as was his choice of pitcher, Tsutsui. He faced Ohmichi (pinch hitter) who flew out to centre to end the innings.

Obispo returned for Tigers seventh and looked tired. After battling Sekimoto he gave up the lead off hit. Kanoh didn't wait long enough and was out to an easy fly. More patience here might have paid dividends. Mizuta (pinch running for Sekimoto) then tried to steal second but was well out opting to head slide rather than use his legs. This slowed him down and Sakamoto had an easy tag. Katsuragi walked and this brought up Asai. One of Obispo's pitches got away from him and wizzed towards Asai's head. Asai dodged the ball but the plate umpire issued an official warning for dangerous pitching. It wasn't intentional but after the innings the Giants pitching coach could be seen giving Obispo instruction in how to avoid a repitition. Asai himself struck out looking to end the innings and a rather good session by the Giants pitcher. Tsutsui returned for Giants seventh and struck out Ogasawara looking with a very nice inside pitch. Ramirez and Kamei represented no opposition either and Tsutsui looked very secure. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a hit to Kanemoto but Arai failed to convert. For Giants eighth we saw Sajikihara who did well and retired the batters in order. Tigers ninth was of course pitched by Kroon who had the humiliation of his first home run to avenge. He faced Nohara (pinch hitter) who hit an infield hit along the first baseline and the evaded the field to make first safely with a spectacular dive. Hiyama (pinch hitter) grounded out to first but Nohara moved round to second, once again beating the tag and this time dislodging the ball. Yano (pinch hitter) was next as Mayumi hoped to capitalise on the psychological moment but he could only fly out in foul ground but Nohara used the opportunity to make third. The final Tigers batter was Katsuragi. He worked the count full but eventuall succumbed to Kroon, striking out swinging. Giants victory.

Tigers had not really worked out an answer to Obispo and couldn't develop any momentum. Mayumi had used his pitchers well but Kubo hadn't been on form and had given up just enough runs to put the game out of Tigers reach. Giants had been sharper in the field and the elementary mistake which allowed Sakamoto to reach third in the first shouldn't have happened. This was pure carelessness by Sekimoto who wasn't paying attention. Mizuta needs to work on his stealing though - a head sliding dive was the worst option to chose and he needs to leave that sort of thing to Hirano who seems to have it down to a fine art.