March 30th Nohmi v T. Aoki - Overpowered

Both Tigers batting imports did well this game. Brazell hit another two home runs, unfortunately solos and Murton had four out of five, one of them his first leadoff home run of the season. Other players who contributed were Toritani, Kanemoto and Arai in a game where Tigers took advantage of some loose pitching from the Carp, Aoki not being at his best. It's nice to see signs of life from the cleanup though. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 16 1
Carp    1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3  8 1

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Soyogi (Short)
3. Amaya (Centre)
4. Kurihara (Third)
5. Fiorentino (Left)
6. Huber (First)
7. Hirose (Right)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. T. Aoki (Pitcher)

Aoki started poorly but to be honest he wasn't helped by a bit of bad fielding. Murton led off with a hit. Hirano bunted but the throw to first was fluffed and Tigers had runners on first and second - a very good start to the game. Both Toritani and Kanemoto did nothing but then Arai hit nicely to centre driving in Murton 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Johjima took a swing at the first pitch he received but only succeeded in depositing it into the glove of first. With a one run lead one wondered how Nohmi would fare. He also started poorly giving up consecutive hits to Higashide and Soyogi. Here a Tigers error also played a part - Arai threw poorly to first (both Arai and Toritani have accuracy issues at the moment) allowing the runners to move to second and third. Amaya grounded out but the runner on third was home 1-1 scores tied, runner on third. Nohmi, though, pulled himself together and proceeded to retire the next two batters. Brazell led off the Tigers second by swatting the ball into the right stand for a solo home run 2-1 Tigers and back in the lead. Sakurai and Nohmi were out but then Murton hit again. This time Hirano also hit and there were runners on first and second. Toritani followed with a very good two base to hit to left and Murton was home 3-1 Tigers, runners on second and third. However, Kanemoto grounded out weakly to the pitcher and one wondered whether he was ever going to hit. Carp needed to strike back or the game would run away from them and with one out Hirose hit to left. This was followed by another hit to left from Ishihara and in happier times they would have made something of the chance. It was not to be, Aoki flew out to Johjima and then Higashide grounded out to end the innings. Tigers third brought up Brazell with two out and once again he planted a solo home run over the fence 4-1 Tigers. Brazell has now hit three RBIs, all solo home runs. Sakurai hit but Nohmi flew out to end the innings. Carp's third was quiet - Nohmi pitched like we know he can and retired the batters in order.

With Tigers fourth, Aoki was once again in trouble. He got Murton and Hirano but then Toritani hit. Kanemoto was left and put the ball deep against the wall for a two base hit. Toritani was fast round the bases and the score was 5-1 Tigers runner on second. The game was slipping away from the Carp. It was also the end for Aoki who had not mastered the conditions at all and was just bleeding runs regularly. Kishimoto took over and retired Arai to end the innings and give the Carp some breathing space. However, they really did need to do something to get back into the game. Here they were able to take advantage of some wayward pitching from Nohmi. Fiorentino led the innings off with a hit. A wild pitch took him to second and then Nohmi dead balled Hirose. Ishikawa struck out but Kokubo (pinch hitter) belted the ball into the gap at right centre for a two base hit and both runners were home 5-3 Tigers, runner on second. Higashide hit to put runners on the corners but Soyogi flew out to right to get Nohmi out of the jam. Tigers were still in control but Carp had edged nearer. Yokoyama took Tigers fifth and started as poorly as everyone had done by giving up a hit, this one to Johjima. That woke him up and he proceeded to strike out the next three batters showing some great stuff. Nohmi returned for the Carp's fifth and gave up a leadoff hit to Amaya but then got the next three batters to end the innings with Amaya on second. So to the Tigers sixth with Murton leading off - he slammed his first pitch into the left stand for a solo home run 6-3 Tigers and the killer blow. Yokoyama then retired the next three batters to end the innings but it hadn't gone so well. Carp's sixth was quiet as Nohmi was able to finally settle and assert control.

For Tigers seventh we saw Oshima who gave Brazell his third hit, this time a single. Unfortunately, nothing came of this. Nohmi returned for Carp's seventh and with two out dead balled Amaya - he was clearly tiring. With Kurihara at the plate Amaya tried to steal but he was no match for Johjima's arm and was tagged out well short of the sack to end the innings. Tigers eighth started encouragingly, Asai (pinch hitting for Nohmi) hit and then Murton had his fourth hit of the game. The next three batters then proceeded to ground out with Kanemoto failing to convert a runners on second and third situation. Messenger took the Carp's eighth and with two out walked Huber. Hirose was next and hit one to left. Kanemoto dived to his right and took a magnificent catch to get the out. I was reading on the Wikipedia's English language page about Kanemoto that he was only at best an average fielder. Obviously, the writer has no knowledge at all about Kanemoto at Tigers. Whatever the problems with his batting Kanemoto has always been a 100% reliable left field with an ability to pull something special out of the hat. His mobility and throwing have also been a plus for the side and very few batters chance making a two base into a three base if he has the ball. For Tigers ninth we saw Nagakawa who gave up a hit to Johjima. A wild pitch advanced the Tigers catcher to second but this was as far as he got. Carp's ninth was Fujikawa in his first save situation and this was a straightforward Fujikawa innings, the batters falling 1-2-3. Tigers victory.

This was a good victory to win. Nohmi had gone seven innings which was a great help to the relief and the batting had been sound with everyone from 1-8 hitting. Carp had never really recovered from their poor start and Aoki had had no answer to the power of the Tigers lineup.