May 4th Kubo v Yoshimi - The drought continues

Tigers have yet to win a game at Nagoya Dome. Against a strictly limited Dragons team they were unable to make any headway and failed to take advantage of some very ordinary pitching. Dragons it must be said used their limited resources very well but even so their fourth run was umpire assisted. Morino was tagged out at the plate before he was safe and this incident does recall the famous game in 2005 where the Tigers batter was out whilst the Dragons runner was safe. It has to be conluded that the dislike of Nagoya Dome (a perfectly understandable reaction) still persists very strongly in Tigers players and that the main feeling is to get out of the ground as quickly as possible. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2  6 0
Dragons  0 0 0 3 0 1 0 2 X 6 11 0

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Araki (Short)
2. Ibata (Second)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Nomoto (Right)
7. Ohshima (Centre)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Yoshimi (PItcher)

Ibata was replaced by Nishikawa before the game started

Tigers first was undistinguished up until Toritani's at bat. He slammed a huge hit which Ohshima dropped and Toritani turned into a three base. This was a great chance which Arai blew striking out swinging. In Dragons first Morino hit to right (all his four hits would be singles to right, Tigers pitchers were just not getting it right). but nothing came of this as Kubo struck out Blanco swinging to end the innings. Tigers second saw Brazell hit to right. Sakurai picked up a dead ball, runners on first and second and then Fujikawa turned a pitch nicely over Morino into the left corner for a two base hit 1-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. One felt that maybe Sakurai should have gone for home and that the approach was over-conservative in this case. With one out a sacrifice fly was on but Kubo flew out to short which wasn't quite far enough and then Murton grounded out to second. The scoring chance had been wasted and Tigers would later rue this profligacy. Ohshima managed a hit in Dragons second but nothing came of this as Kubo kept things tight. Tigers third was quiet with some lazy batting. Thankfully, Dragons third was also the same.

Tigers fourth followed the same pattern as the third which was not what one wanted to see. Yoshimi was not pitching particularly well and more application could have resulted in more results. The consequences of this neglect would follow in Dragons fourth. Here Morino led off with his second hit to right. Kubo then faced Blanco and delivered his first pitch exactly where Johjima asked for it. Blanco was waiting and turned it over the left well for a two run home run 2-1 Dragons. The next batter was Wada who took a wild swing at his first pitch and put that over the wall for a solo home run 3-1 Dragons - and a very lucky strike. The next three batters fell in order but Dragons had built (for them) a commanding lead. Once agian Tigers would waste chances, this time in their fifth. Fujikawa slammed one through Morino at third for a two base hit. He was bunted to second by Kubo and then Murton hit to centre bringing home the runner 3-2 Dragons, runner on first. Here it all started to go wrong. Mayumi called for a bunt from Hirano which added another out even though Murton moved round to second. A wild pitch took Murton to third and then Toritani walked. Once again Arai failed when really he needed to hit. Dragons lead was intact. In the Dragons fifth Kubo did well and retired the batters in order to end the innings quickly. Tigers sixth saw much the same as Yoshimi kept the batters quiet. Dragons sixth wasn't so good. Morino led off with his right hit. Blanco put one over centre for a two base hit and Morino made for home. The throw and transfer were good and Morino was tagged out as he slid into home. However, the Nagoya umpire ruled him safe 4-2 Dragons, runner on second. Nomoto hit to set up runners on first and third but then Kubo retired the next two batters. Still the victory for the Dragons was all but assured. Tigers were not playing with any fire or drive and it was clear that they weren't going to get back into the game.

Tigers seventh saw the batters fall in order with Kanemoto (pinch hitter) striking out swinging in three. Dragons seventh was pitched by Watanabe who was quite secure and retired the batters in order. Hiyama (pinch hitter) led off Tigers eighth with a hit. Toritani flew out to right and then Ochiai switched pitchers from Yoshimi to Asao. He retired the final two batters. Kawasaki pitched the Dragons eighth and gave up a hit to Morino again. Blanco hit into a double play but then Wada hit to short and beat the throw from Toritani to short. Hidenori (pinch hitter) walked and then Ohshima hit luckily to centre right bringing in two more runs 6-2 Dragons, runner on third. It just wasn't Tigers day. Finally, Tanishige struck out to end the innings. Tigers ninth was pitched by Takahashi for the first out. He was then replaced by Suzuki who retired the final two batters to end the game. Dragons victory.

A lacklustre pertormance by Tigers had been punished by the Dragons. They may have struggled at Koshien but at Nagoya they reigned supreme. None of Tigers players had shone apart from Fujikawa who one feels is experiencing beginners luck rather like Ohshima. Tigers do need to think about how they are going to win at Nagoya. It used to be their nemisis and it looks like it is going to regain that status.