July 1st Andoh v Yoshimi - Brilliance wins through

For a long time this game looked as if it would end up with the Tigers beaten. Yoshimi had Tigers batters fooled and under his thumb for the first five innings but began to struggle from the sixth. Even so it still looked like he would have enough to get through the final innings. Andoh did well on his return to the top team. He did, it is true, have several scares and worries but was able to get out without any damage. In fact his only run was Blanco's home run, notable for the power it was hit with not the finesse of the stroke. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Short)
2. Hidenori (Centre)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Blanco (First)
6. Nomoto (Right)
7. N. Donoue (Second)
8. Oda (Catcher)
9. Yoshimi (Pitcher)

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

Tigers needed to win this game after the poor performance of the day before. Andoh was the pitcher, back from his long training period in ni-gun. He started well enough but gave up a hit to Morino. This brought out Wada who was judged, perhaps a bit harshly, to have struck out swinging to end the innings. In Tigers first Toritani hit to Donoue who tried a flashy take and dropped the ball but luckily for him near his glove and he was still able to make the out. The next two batters were easy enough for Yoshimi and the innings was scoreless. Blanco led off Dragons second with a solo home run 1-0 Dragons. This was a shot of considerable power and no skill - basically a slog which kept on going until it crossed the fence for the run. Andoh needed to maintain his cool and get the three outs which he did quite well. Tigers second was quiet and they wouldn't generate a hit until the third. In Dragons third, Yoshimi led off with a hit which wasn't good. Andoh was by now throwing some very nice stuff and more so than his previous games so the mixture of rubbish and brilliance was much more balanced. Araki got some of the brilliance and struck out looking to an awesome pitch. Then Hidenori hit nicely into a double play to end the innings. It was Sakurai's birthday so the crowd sang happy birthday before launching into his hitting march. He hit to right and was bunted to second by Andoh. However, Tigers third was ended by a terrible strike out from Toritani who really should have left his last pitch alone.

Dragons fourth saw Morino hit, he was able to hit quite effectively throughout the game. Wada then hit into a double play but Blanco walked as Andoh threw mostly rubbish this innings. Nomoto hit to centre off his first pitch and Blanco lumbered round to third. He was helped by the fact that Murton was a bit casual in his fielding. Blanco had to have some dirt removed from his eye but was OK and Dragons had runners on first and third. Donoue struck out looking and looked very displeased but Andoh had switched back to brilliance mode. Tigers fourth saw the batters completely flummoxed and they fell in order. Andoh returned the favour in Dragons fifth but Yoshimi continued his dominance in Tigers fifth as well. So far the game had been tight with Dragons having the best of it. Tigers only had one hit to show for their efforts and looked like they were heading for defeat. In Dragons sixth Andoh picked up Hidenori with a short ground out but then walked Morino and Wada with Blanco next. He really needed to work here to get out of this mess and with a full count induced Blanco to hit into a vital double play to end the innings. Yoshimi then began to tire in Tigers sixth - firstly he struck out Sakurai and Andoh. Then Toritani bounced one infield and Blanco, Donoue and Yoshimi all went for it with the result that no one got it and Toritani was safe on first. Hirano had figured out that Yoshimi was vulnerable to left and this is where he aimed his first swing - hitting the ball over Morino where it just landed foul. The second pitch was guided beautifully between third and short for a single, runners on first and second. Murton worked a walk to load the bases and Tigers were in with a good chance. Arai though bounced his second pitch along the third baseline where it's trajectory carried it into the upraised glove of Morino who only had to step on his sack to end the innings. Tigers had blown a good chance here.

Andoh returned for Dragons seventh and got both Nomoto and Donoue before Oda, of all people hit a two base into the left corner. He isn't very fast and so the potential three base was averted. The next batter was Yoshimi and so the final out came easily. In Tigers seventh Yoshimi looked even more tired and let one slip which hit Johjima on the arm. Next was Kanemoto (pinch hitter) who swung at his first pitch and landed it in the glove of right. Sakurai who did the same to end the innings. Johjima hadn't moved from first but it was looking like a Dragons victory by another 1 run margin. This would have been too depressing. Andoh didn't return for Dragons eighth - once again a good call by Mayumi, he had pitched well for his return and had done enough. Some of his pitches had recalled his previous brilliance and he had gotten out of trouble nicely as well. Nishimura was the pitcher chosen and he needed a good performance. He started by getting Araki to ground out but then Hidenori hit his first pitch to centre. Morino also hit his first pitch to centre and Dragons had runners on first and second - Murton being much quicker this time. Wada swung wildly at a slider which was taken very nicely by Sakurai running round into foul ground and losing his cap in the process. Nishmura then messed around with Blanco before walking him to load the bases. Now was Nishmura's moment of truth facing Nomoto. With two strikes and a ball he rejected Johjima's suggested pitches until the Tigers catcher made a disgusted 'do what you want gesture'. This was followed by more discussion before Nishimura unleashed a superb pitch which broke away from the left hander getting him to swing for the final out. Hiyama (pinch hitter) faced Yoshimi again as Ochiai thought the latter had another innings in him. Hiyama also had a birthday so he also received a chorus of 'Happy Birthday'. It didn't help him as he flew out to third. Toritani hit to Araki who dived and took the ball but wasn't quick enough with the throw. Once again Hirano went left between Morino and Araki for his second hit of the night. Yoshimi was tiring and hadn't much left in him. Murton also went left, hitting his third pitch into the gap. Wada was up quickly but Toritani turned on the burners and slid home safely for the tying run 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and third, Hirano having taken advantage of the throw home to take third. Arai was next and all that was needed for the lead was a sacrifice fly. He tried for that but the pitch wasn't there. Yoshimi unleashed a wild pitch which was blocked by Oda but went right. Hirano didn't leave third but Murton intelligently moved to second negating the chance of a double play and putting another run in position. Then Arai struck - picking his spot and driving a pitch nicely into centre field bringing home both runners 3-1 Tigers, runner on first and you felt that Dragons had blown it. Ochiai bowed to the inevitable and replaced Yoshimi with Takahashi. Yoshimi had tired and been figured out by the Tigers batters - he looked very angry with himself as he sat in the dugout. Brazell struck out in three which brought up Johjima. He hit powerfully and nicely depositing his third pitch into the left stand for a two run home run 5-1 Tigers. Takahashi then faced Shunsuke Fujikawa (replacement left) who hit to third. Morino went down to take but missed the ball and deflected it out of the path of Araki into left. Fujikawa was safe on first. With Sakurai at the plate he tried to steal second. Donoue missed the throw from Oda which rolled merrily into centre field and Fujikawa took third as well. Dragons fielding had disintegrated. Sakurai walked which meant another pitching change, the new pitcher being Suzuki. He managed to get Asai (pinch hitter) to fly out to centre to end the innings. As is his practice in these situations Mayumi used Kyuji Fujikawa to ensure the victory. N. Donoue put one into orbit and when it came down Brazell was waiting under it for the first out. T. Donoue (pinch hitter) hit to second and even though Hirano made a superb stop beat the throw to first. Matsui (pinch hitter) hit his first pitch to left where Shunsuke Fujikawa was waiting under it when it came down. Finally, Kyuji faced Araki who he struck out looking to end the game. Tigers victory.

This was a very fine victory by the Tigers. They had had problems with Yoshimi but had held the Dragons nicely to one run. Dragons at the moment are basically 3-4-5 team with no batting outside those positions. They have excellent pitching and fielding it is true but against a team with Tigers or Giants power and batting ability need these to be 100% all the time. Tigers batters had proved too much for Yoshimi and maybe Ochiai should have switched pitchers after the seventh. Nishimura had shown great character to get out of his self generated mess and he picked up the win. Andoh's return had been very good and he had showed a lot more of what he is capable of.