September 28th Andoh v Takagi - The panic innings.

In what is the crucial series of the season for the Tigers they faced the resurgient Swallows at Jingu. Once again the Yano Andoh combination failed but actually had functioned pretty well for five innings. The real damage was done in the seventh innings when Yano went to pieces and a succession of Swallows batters were able to put together a big innings. We also saw significant Mayumi panic as he switched his relievers rapidly. Actually, if he had changed his catcher earlier he would have had more success. Yano's throwing out of hand was also poor and he allowed too many steals. Tigers batters could also be said to have been a bit lazy but one has to admit Takagi was for the most part very proficient. Tigers do have the opportunity to bounce back and win the next two games of the series but they need to do so without Yano who if he cannot perform in these big games is not needed at this stage of the season when all the games are big. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Fukuchi (Left)
2. Hiroyasu Tanaka (Second)
3. Miyamoto (Third)
4. Aoki (Centre)
5. Yuichi (First)
6. Guiel (Right)
7. Onizaki (Short)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Takagi (PItcher)

Takagi started Tigers first with a lead off walk. Sekimoto bunted Hirano to second but then Toritani and Kanemoto both failed to convert and the first innings was scoreless. Swallows first saw Miyamoto hit his first pitch to left with two out but Andoh got the final out without trouble. In Tigers second Takagi walked Sakurai with two outs but then Yano flew out to end the innings. Swallows second was a straight 1-2-3 innings. In Tigers third Takagi dead balled Sekimoto and then Toritani followed up with a hit, runners on first and second with two outs. Kanemoto was left and he flew out to end the innings. Kanemoto really does hit too infrequently with runners on and is not doing enough to justify either his salary or his permanent place at No. 4. Swallows third was also a difficult innings. With one out Andoh gave up a hit to Takagi and we saw a sign of the troubles that would bedevil him later with weak batters. Fukuchi hit a grounder to Sekimoto who messed it up allowing runners on first and second. Tanaka hit weakly to third but beat the throw to first and the bases were loaded with only one out. Miyamoto though hit straight to Toritani who ensured that the double play was just a formality. The innngs was over and Tigers had escaped.

Tigers fourth was Takagi's turn to sweat as with one out he gave up a hit to Brazell. This was followed by a Sakurai hit and a Yano walk to load the bases - the same situation for the Tigers as the Swallows third. However, Andoh was next and he grounded out to third. Then Hirano had a go at his first pitch and flew out to third. Like the Swallows the Tigers had wasted a great chance. Aoki walked in Swallows fourth but stayed on first until Guiel's first liner caught him off base - no dodging around the first baseman here to end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet as was Swallows fifth. Tigers sixth was also quiet as Takagi maintained his grip on the game. Things started to unravell for the Tigers in the Swallows sixth. Andoh had done well up until now but then he dead balled Tanaka, hitting his hand. Mayumi came out to argue that it hit the bat but to no avail. Actually giving a dead ball for a hit on the glove is an extreme absurdity and the easiest way to avoid this is to consider the entire forearm as part of the bat. If the batter swings and it hits his glove its just something that happens. Another out followed and then Aoki hit to set up runners on first and second. Still not a lot to worry about as a lightweight batter - Yuichi - was next. Not so, Takada's decision to start Yuichi paid off in a big way as he hit a loose Andoh pitch to right for a two base hit. Both runers were home 2-0 Swallows, runner on second and Swallows had the vital first score. A shaken Yano then deliberately walked Guiel but then Onizaki also walked to load the bases. Luckily Aikawa lined out to second to end the innings but the Swallows had the lead.

Tigers responded in the seventh. Yano led off and hit to right and then in a rare show of speed made third. Hiyama (pinch hitter) was next and he hit to right driving Yano in, 2-1 Swallows, runner on first. This looked good for Tigers but Mayumi came to Swallows rescue. With a pitcher who was shaky he needed to let Hirano hit but he called for the bunt. This gave Swallows an out and with Sekimoto hitting his first pitch straight into the glove of Aoki there were two outs. Takagi was replaced by Lee who then got Toritani to ground out to short and end the innings. The Swallows had ridden the counter-attack and preserved their lead. For Swallows seventh Mayumi chose Tsutsui to pitch and here Yano started to disintergrate. Noguchi (pinch hitter) struck out but Fukuchi walked. He stole second and then stole third - the first was forgiveable but the latter was poor work by Yano who should have been more awara. Tanaka also walked to put runners on the cornes and then Yoshsimoto hit to drive in a run 3-1 Swallows, runners on second and third, the throw being non too good. Mayumi panicked and replaced Tsutsui with Atchison who coudln't do anything against the rampant Swallows and immediately gave up a hit to Aoki - 2 runners home 5-1 Swallows. Exit Atchison to be replaced by Egusa showing more panic from the Tigers bench. Egusa walked D'Antona (pinch hitter) as Aoki stole second, Yano having gone to pieces by now. Last season he gave up six steals in one innings to the Swallows and this was turning into a repeat of that situation. Guiel flew out but moved the runners round to second and third and then Onizaki hit to centre driving both runners in 7-1 Swallows. Onizaki tried to go too far and was tagged out to end a disastrous innings for the Tigers. Mayumi rather than replacing pitchers should have replaced his catcher. Igarashi took Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order. Swallows were comfortable. Swallows eighth brough the return of Tsuru who has not been seen in the first team since his disastrous start against Lotte last season. He was paired with Okazaki who one wouldn't have thought the ideal choice to replace Yano. Okazaki's calling tends to be one dimensional and really Tigers should be using Shimizu if they need a third catcher. Tsuru started well enough getting the first two batters to fly out to first but then walked Fukuchi. Tanaka hit and Swallows had runners on first and third. This time Tsuru didn't panic and got Yoshimoto to fly out and end the innings. For Tigers ninth, the pitcher was Oshimoto who found it very easy to retire the batters in order. We also saw the debut of Shibata (2009 No. 2 draft pick) who had his first team debut as a pinch hitter. He struck out as second batter. Swallows victory.

Swallows had played better and looked more like the team they were before the All Star break. Tigers had been overwhelmed and Yano had proved wanting once again. Andoh had done well enough for five innings but isn't the force he was. Tigers are still in with a chance to retake third but the Swallows have games in hand and need to meltdown like they did earlier to lose third place. A new coaching team for Tigers would be the best option for next season even if they do make the Climax series. The unseemly panic that ensued in the seventh shows that the current team are not up to the job especially as it looked like everyone was in headless chicken mode. Swallows now have a 1.5 game lead over Tigers with Carp 2.5 games behind. Tigers need to win the next game to retain a realistic chance of reaching the Climax Series.