July 18th Messenger v Satoh - Swallows cannot hold

Giants lost a quite remarkable game seizing the lead from BayStars they surrendered the lead to a sayonara grand slam. This set Tigers up with a good chance and even if they lost would still leave them 1.5 games behind. Tsubamegun reckoned that Satoh was inconsistent but actually, apart from the first he pitched quite competently until the seventh. Messenger's second start was also good and he did well over his six innings. Tigers really won the game in the seventh with a nice six run burst and then of course Mayumi brought on the heavy artillery (Kubota). Tigers came away with a victory and a 0.5 difference between them and the Giants. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 4 11 13 1
Swallows  0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0  4  9 0

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Whitesell (First)
5. Guiel (Right)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Miyamoto (Third)
8. Morioka (Short)
9. Satoh (Pitcher)

Satoh started well but then generated his own troubles. Murton walked and both Arai and Brazell managed to pick up dead balls - bases loaded. Fortunately for Swallows Kanemoto was next and he struck out swinging. Satoh had escaped the mess he had created. In Swallows first Satoh hit a nice two base but then stayed on second as Iihara and Whitesell did nothing. Johjima led off Tigers second with a two base hit - surely this was a chance to score? No not really, Asai struck out and then Messenger grounded out which did move Johjima around to third. However, Toritani flew out to right and the game was scoreless. Swallows batters fell 1-2-3 in their second with Guiel and Aikawa striking out. Hirano led off Tigers third with a hit but then a Murton double play exterminated that chance. Arai flew out to end the innings. Messenger was in control for Swallows third and the batters once again fell in order with two more strike outs.

In Tigers fourth Kanemoto hit with one out but Johjima hit into a double play and the innings was over without any score. Swallows fourth was different. With one out Iihara hit. Whitesell was next and he drove the ball into the right corner of Jingu which meant that Murton had to work hard to get the throw away. Iihara showed good speed and was home safely 1-0 Swallows, runner on second. Guiel flew out but then Aikawa hit to centre. This brought Whitesell home 2-0 Swallows but Aikawa tried to go too far and was tagged out to end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet with the batters falling in order and here Satoh was pitching nicely. Swallows fifth was also quiet as Messenger managed to re-establish control and prevent the Swallows building on their advantage. Still Swallows were in the driving seat. Tigers sixth was also quiet with no runner reaching base. In Swallows sixth Aoki led off with a hit. Tanaka followed with a right hit which put runners on first and third with no outs. This looked dangerous. Iihara flew out to short - one vital out. Then Whitesell flew out to centre but the Swallows felt that the sacrifice fly wasn't on. This was the turning point of the game - a 3-0 lead would have probably handed the Swallows victory. Guiel grounded out to first and the innings was over. No score had resulted.

Satoh returned for Tigers seventh and was immediately in trouble. Brazell hit to left and then Kanemoto hit a two base to set up runners on second and third. Surely a score would result. Johjima grounded out to third which kept the runners locked on base but then Lin (pinch hitter) hit a three base which beat Aoki and both runners were home 2-2 scores tied, runner on third. Hiyama (pinch hitter) walked and suddenly Swallows were in deep trouble. Toritani grounded out which brought Shunsuke Fujikawa (pinch running for Lin) home and put Uemoto (pinch running for Hiyama) on second 3-2 Tigers and the lead. Hirano hit to left - a bit lucky but a legitimate shot 4-2 Tigers runner on second. This was enough for Ogawa who pulled Satoh and replaced him with Masabuchi. He was loose and while he was loose he gave up a two run centre home run to Murton 6-2 Tigers. Arai struck out swinging but this had been a devastating innings for the Tigers. Mayumi know had a difficult question - who to use in the Swallows seventh. He went with Watanabe - on the face of it a very wise choice. Watanabe didn't start well giving up a lead off hit to Aikawa. He then walked Miyamoto before getting Morioka to ground out. This set up runners on first and third and here Mayumi screwed up. He switched Watanbe for Fujihara. Why he thought Fujihara would be better in this situation is difficult to fathom. However, from another point of view it is nice to see a young pitcher put into a challenging situation to earn his spurs as it were. Fujihara didn't earn his spurs though. Hatakeyama (pinch hitter) flew out to Johjima preventing the run but then Aoki hit to left - a two base which brought both runners home 6-4 Tigers, runner on second. Here Mayumi switched to Kubota which maybe he should have done in the first place. Kubota got the first two stikes and then persuaded Tanaka that he absolutely had to ground out to second, end of innings. Oshimoto pitched Tigers eighth and struck out Brazell. Kanemoto flew out in foul ground which left Johjima. He slammed his third pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run 7-4 Tigers and really the crushing blow. Shunsuke Fujikawa grounded out to end the innings. Kubota returned for Swallows eighth and was excellent. A Guiel two base was brushed aside as a minor irritation and the innings was scoreless. For Tigers ninth we started with Swallows Watanabe. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) led the innings off with a two base hit. Not good for the Swallows. Toritani flew out but Hirano hit to third and was safe - runners on first and third. Watanabe like his Tigers namesake was rapidly replaced - this time by Hashimoto. This didn't improve the situation. Murton hammered out a two base hit to left and Sekimoto was home 8-4 Tigers, runners on second and third. Arai walked to load the bases but Brazell flew out. Maeda (replacement second) then banged a bases clearing three base 11-4 Tigers, runner on third. Finally Johjima struck out to end the innings. Kyuji Fujikawa had been warming up for the ninth but after the Tigers ninth returned to the bench and Andoh took his place. He struck out the first two batters he faced, Miyamoto swinging and Kawabata (pinch hitter) looking but a Sekimoto error allowed Ueda (pinch hitter) to reach first. This was to no avail as Aoki snatched at one and flew out to Johjima to and the game. Tigers victory

Swallows had competed well but had really been overpowered. They will win games and even series but lack the talent and sheer depth of Tigers. Once the Tigers got the six runs the result was a forgone conclusion. It is great to see Kubota pitching like his old self again though Mayumi does need to work more on developing back up. This victory took Tigers to 0.5 games away from the Giants and they really are well poised to seize and hold the Central League lead.