August 1st Shimoyanagi v Iwata - Butterfingers all over the place

Once again Dragons surged to a lead on Tigers poor pitching but once again they failed to hold iit and this time there was not even the consolation of a tie. Once Tigers seized the lead Dragons could not overhaul them and this was despite hitting six home runs in the defeat. Here one has to mention that the umpiring was terrible particularly in Kubota's eighth where he threw strike out balls for both Morino and Blanco which weren't given. Ironically today Kanemoto was one of the better fielders on the ground (see 31st July for further details) as spilled balls proliferated but only Tigers were able to benefit from this. The game was tight and exciting throughout its entire length and a lot less lengthy than the previous night (five hours twenty-five minutes) even with some of Ochiai's musical pitcher moves. It is interesting to recall when Dragons had Fukudome and Woods and be thankful that they don't have that pair now - Woods owned Kyuji Fujikawa. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Dragons  3 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 7  8 0
Tigers   1 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 X 8 10 0

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

Shimoyanagi was depressingly bad - his first innings saw far too many loose pitches. With two out he left one sitting for Morino who hit it over the right fence. It just made it but it did make it 1-0 Dragons. Blanco picked up a dead ball and then a wild pitch took him to second. Wada took a stretched out swing at his third pitch and propelled it over the left fence for a two run home run 3-0 Dragons. Koike finally helped Shimoyanagi out of his misery by flying out to Brazell but it had been a poor start. Thankfully, Iwata, Dragons pitcher was just as inept. He didn't relish the conditions and was sweating like a pig throughout his session. One could see the drops of sweat falling from him in a steady procession. He started with a centre hit to Toritani. Hirano struck out - he wasn't asked to bunt and then Murton grounded out to first This took Toritani to second but it needed Arai to do something. He played around with Iwata for a while then launched a huge hit to left which died in the wind but landed safe for a two base Toritani was home 3-1 Dragons. Brazell hit to set up runners on first and third and things looked promising. A faltering pitcher and runners on but it was Kanemoto next and he struck out to end the innings. Shimoyanagi then proceeded to dig the hole a bit deeper. A terrible first pitch to Donoue who led off Dragons second resulted in another solo home run - this one to left 4-1 Dragons. Shimoyanagi struck out the next three batters but had left Tigers with a big task. Iwata though wasn't comfortable at all and was totally out of his depth. He dead balled Johjima to start the innings. Then he walked Asai - runners on first and second. Shimoyanagi after a bit of a struggle bunted them to second and third and Toritani walked to load the bases. Hirano tried to hit to right but grounded out to second. He was safe on first though with third with Johjima home 4-2 Dragons. Murton hit his second pitch into the right corner and though Koike got his glove on it he couldn't hold the ball and it spilled onto the grass for a three base hit. Both runners were home 4-4 scores tied. The drop by Koike was missed and it went down in the records as a three base hit not an error. With Arai at the plate Iwata let fly a wild pitch which evaded Oda and brought Murton safely home 5-4 Tigers. Arai struck out looking to a pitch that looked suspiciously like a ball but Tigers were now in the lead. Shimoyanagi then had a surprisingly easy job of holding the lead in Dragons third. He struck out Ohshima who adopted the tactic of running after his third swing which was to produce some interesting moments. This time everything was straightforward and he was thrown out. Morino grounded out and then Blanco was briliiantly struck out to end the innings. Shimoyanagi had suddenly rediscovered his mojo. Tiger third was also quiet with the batters falling quickly.

Dragons fourth was also over quickly. Both Wada and Donoue falling to fly balls (left and right respectively) as they failed to add to the score. With two out in Tigers fourth Iwata walked Toritani (who was having an excellent game) for the second time. Toritani stole second as Araki dropped the throw from Oda but Hirano struck out to end the innings. This was Iwata's last innings and he hadn't pitched very well at all. He was pinch hit for by Matsui in the fifth but this innings was another quiet one. Shimizu took over the pitching duties for Tigers fifth and gave up a hit to Arai. Brazell then hit and Tigers had runners on first and third with one out. Kanemoto grounded out to second but here Brazell engineered an unlikely run. The ball went to first and then second but the fielder was off base and Brazell turned back. The fielders had to run Brazell down and there was more than enough time for Arai to make home safely 6-4 Tigers. Brazell was finally tagged out of course. Shimoyanagi returned for Dragons sixth and it did seem a logical decision with the veteran having only thrown 71 pitches and seemingly having mastered his earlier problems. He struck out Ohshima who of course ran as the ball bounced off to left. Johjima was quick and grabbed it and threw but Brazell dropped the ball and scrabbled around a bit before grabbing it just in time to register the out. Tigers breathed a sigh of relief when Shimoyanagi greeted Morino with a pitch that had him sprawling in the dirt. Shimoyanagi would pay for this impertenence when Morino hammered a loose pitch into the right stand for his second home run of the day 6-5 Tigers. Blanco flew out conventionally enough and then Wada walked. This was enough for Mayumi who probably felt he would benefit from some of Hoshino's blood pressure medicine and he was replaced by Nishimura. He brought a whiff of good sense to the proceedings by striking out Koike to end the innings. Things were close again. Shimizu ran into more trouble in Tigers sixth. Johjima hit to left and then Asai hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. So far so good but Hiyama (pinch hitter) grounded out to second who didn't bother with Asai or Hiyama but went straight to Oda as Johjima was off base. The throw cut off Johjima and Dragons started to run him down but then Morino dropped the ball. Johjima seized his chance and set off for home. However, Morino recovred in time and threw to Shimizu who blocked the plate nicely and tagged Johjima out. He paid a price though and had to be replaced as he hurt his leg. While this was going Asai and Hiyama had quietly taken up position on second and third - the danger wasn't over yet. Kobayashi took over the pitching duties and faced Toritani who drove sweetly into centre. Asai and Uemoto (pinch running for Hiyama) both made home 8-6 Tigers runner on first. Musical pitchers time - Suzuki replaced Kobayashi and faced Hirano. He was asked to bunt - a bizarre decision. The bunt was succesful but Murton grounded out to end the innings. This had been a rather comfortable innings for Tigers who were now in control.

Dragons faced Watanabe in their seventh and he was at his best rapidly retiring the batters. Suzuki did the same for Tigers seventh and it was Kubota for the Dragons eighth. This wasn't a bad decision at all - it was a very good one but things didn't work out. Kubota got the first two outs but then faced Morino. As mentioned above the strike out wasn't given and Kubota let fly a loose pitch which was planted into the centre stand - a solo home run 8-6 Tigers. Still nothing to worry about except that the exact same process happened with Blanco and the score ws 8-7 to Tigers. This was enough - with Wada next Mayumi wanted to protect his by now slender lead and even though he should avoid using Kyuji Fujikawa for more than one innings, desperate times require desperate measures. Kyuji started by walking Wada which got the main threat out of the way and then struck out Nomoto (pinch hitter) to end the innings. The lead was intact. Hirai pitched Tigers eighth and started by pitching his side into trouble - he walked Johjima. Asai struck out and as he did so Johjima stole second, the ball once again being spilled. Next batter was Kyuji Fujikawa as he was due to pitch the ninth and couldn't be pinch hit for. He surprisingly walked on a full count and Hirai was switched for Takahashi. Toritani then hit to left which loaded the bases but Johjima couldn't make home this time. Hirano flew out and then Murton grounded out and Dragons had escaped. Onto the key innings - the Dragons ninth. T. Donoue (replacement right) flew out to first and Tanishige (pinch hitter) flew out to centre. N. Donoue banged a hit into right - swinging at just the right time. Then Araki did the same and the Dragons had runners on first and second with Ohshima the next batter. As the tension increased Kyuji fired in the strikeout ball on a 2-1 count which Ohshima obligingly swung at and then set off running. Johjima fumbled and scrabbled around for the ball before picking up and throwing to Brazell just in the nick of time. Innings over and Tigers victory.

A hard fought but really valuable victory. It kept Tigers in first place by the slimmest of margins 0.5 games and had temporarily halted the Dragons challenge. All their runs had come from home runs but they still lost. Shimoyanagi recorded the win surprisingly enough but sometimes you can pitch badly and still walk away with a win. Kyuji picked up a very well earned 19th save and was the match hero along with Toritani who hadn't put a foot wrong all game.