July 30th Kubo v Yoshimi - A very competent performance

Against a hot Dragons side Tigers made this tight victory look rather easy. They never really lost control of the game and showed an ability to hold a one run margin. That being said Mayumi almost contrived to screw it up pitching Kubo into the eighth when the logical choice was an on form Kubota. Admittedly, the walk was a strke out which the plate umpire failed to award but even so Kubo should have had his well earned rest at the end of the seventh. Mayumi doesn't seem to learn. Mayumi then used Fujikawa who nowadays is really on sound for one innings and the Tigers closer had to deal with five batters - it wasn't straightforward but once Tanishige walked you did feel Dragons had nothing left in the locker and the victory was assured. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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. Kubo (Pitcher)

Dragons had a dream start as Kubo struggled to shrug off the cobwebs of his layoff. Araki led the Dragons first off with a hit to centre. Ohshima bunted him to second and then Morino hit a long two base to right which stayed fair. Araki was home 1-0 Dragons, runner on second. Blanco grounded out to second which took Morino to third and brought up Wada. He hit to left bringing in the second run 2-0 Dragons, runner on first. Here, of course Dragons ran out of batting - their No. 6 Nomoto isn't exactly a run machine and he struck out looking to end the innings. Yoshimi had an excellent start in Tigers first two out before the first hit and then Arai lured into a short ground out to end the innings with the lead intact. Kubo was much better in Dragons second - in fact apart from the first his pitching was of the highest order. The three batters fell easily as the bottom of the Dragons order folded. Yoshimi didn't have such a good time in the Tigers second. Brazell hit, followed by Kanemoto and Johjima and the bases were loaded with no outs. Next up was Asai who hit over short into centre bringing a runner home 2-1 Dragons bases loaded and Yoshimi receiving a lesson in what batting down the entire order means. All that was needed to draw level was a sacrifice fly but Kubo struck out swinging. Now Dragons had the chance of a double play but Toritani went for the sacrifice fly which didn't come off. Hirano was next and he stroked his first pitch nicely into left for a timely hit 2-2 scores tied bases loaded. Murton grounded out weakly to Yoshimi to end the innings but the Dragons had failed to hold their lead and Tigers were in the driving seat. With Kubo now full of confidence he had no problems retiring the batters in order and there was no repeat of the first innings. Yoshimi gave up a lead of hit to Arai in Tigers third but Brazell hit into a double play to end that chance. Kanemoto struck out to end the innings.

Dragons fourth saw Kubo at his most devastating striking out all three batters swinging. Blanco missed a high straight, Wada swung at an outrageous outside curve and was almost left floundering in the dirt and Nomoto just swung in hope - really magnificent pitching. As if to reward this effort Johjima slammed his second pitch - a high fork into the left stand for a solo home run 3-2 Tigers. Asai struck out and Kubo grounded out but Toritani hit to centre. Hirano hit to second and beat the throw - Donoue fumbling a bit. Murton once again grounded out to Yoshimi but one has to question him at third - a switch with Toritani would be beneficial for the team. Dragons fifth was quiet - Kubo pitching nicely and striking out two more. Yoshimi gave up a hit to Brazell in Tigers fifth but nothing came of this. Kubo struck out Ohshima and then faced Morino. His next to last pitch was excellent and in fact was a strike out ball but the plate umpire failed to call this one - the umpire was not the most aware of creatures. The next pitch was too low and Morino walked. Blanco worked the count full as unlike Standridge, Kubo started with balls and then worked onto strikes. However, a brilliant slider had him swinging and he was out to end the innings. Tigers sixth saw Yoshimi against the bottom of the Tigers order and Toritani and he was able to retire the batters in order.

Dragons seventh saw them pick up their fourth hit. The innings had started with Wada flying out to Arai in foul ground and then Kuramoto (replacement right) striking out. Tanishige managed to hit one into right but T. Donoue grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers seventh was quiet with the batters falling in order. For Dragons eighth one really expected Kubota. But no it was Kubo as Mayumi once again sought to overpitch him. Still he did rather well striking out Nakata (a rather portly gentleman) swinging and getting Araki to fly out. Then came the Ohshima incident. Once again Kubo started with balls before moving onto strikes and this time fired a low pitch right down the middle which Ohshima left. Both Johjima and Kubo had already started moving off the mound when they realised that the umpire hadn't given it. The replay showed a clear strike and it is difficult to understand how the fool behind the plate missed it. Ohshima walked next pitch and Morino hit rather weakly to short. Toritani had a long way to come in and as a consequence Dragons had runners on first and second. Finally, Mayumi decided to replace Kubo who shouldn't have pitched the innings in the first place. His solution was Kyuji Fujikawa who did well striking out Blanco swinging to end the innings. Tigers had been a bit unlucky and lucky in equal measures. Ochiai was going to make no such mistake with Tigers eighth and sent Kobayashi to the mound. However, Dragons then showed they were not immune to silly mistakes when they decided to play musical pitchers. Kobayashi had gotten the first two outs comfortably when Ochiai decided to switch him for Suzuki. This almost proved disastrous as Suzuki immediately gave up a hit to Johjima. Next was Asai and during the at bat Johjima stole second which prompted Dragons who had been caught napping to walk Asai to get at the next batter - Fujikawa. This on the face of it was an easy out, Kyuji is not known for his batting skills but somehow Suzuki contrived to throw a series of four balls in a row walking the Tigers pitcher to load the bases. Now Dragons were in a bit of a fix as the next batter was Toritani - a genuine batter. Here they were lucky as Toritani snatched at his second pitch and deposited it into the glove of Iwasaki (replacement second) but they had almost made a mess of things. Kyuji returned for the Dragons ninth and faced Dragons most dangerous batter, Wada. He flew out to left and then Kuramoto struck out looking. Next up was Dragons last hope, Tanishige, not a super batter by any means but the only player they had with the potential to do something. Kyuji seemed to lose focus and threw mostly balls to walk the Dragons catcher. Koike (pinch hitter) followed but he wasn't really going to be any threat at all and struck out to end the game. Tigers victory.

A great performance by Kubo gave him his ninth win. Tigers had found the Dragons difficult to break down but had had enough to overcome them. Dragons beyond their clean up look distinctly ordinary and lack batters who can hit with any regularity. Fujikawa picked up his 18th save but had been pitched a bit too long because of Mayumi's inability to handle the relief. The gap between Tigers and Giants remained at one game so things are still tight.