August 4th Messenger v Utsumi - Hirano's victory

One of the great pleasures about watching baseball live is the sometimes surprising things that happen, for example two grand slams in one game or seeing one of the smaller players hit a home run. I never got to see Akahoshi hit a home run but I can claim that honour with Fujimoto (at Tokyo Dome) and Shuta (at Jingu). Hirano is another guy who doesn't hit many home runs so I do envy the people who were at the game to see him hit his first home run for Tigers and his first since 2008. In fact, Hirano was the main factor in Tigers victory in a better performance all round. This time it was the Giants turn to waste opportunities as they out hit Tigers but didn't convert. We almost saw a Messenger home run as well which made for a very interesting game indeed. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 8 11 1
Giants  0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 4 12 1

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)

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Mastumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (First)
6. Abe (Catcher)
7. Takahashi (Right)
8. Wakiya (Second)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

With their inability to bring runners home the night before Tigers batters needed to focus more. Hirano was more focused throughout the game and this was apparent in the first innings with his first hit - a nice shot to right. However, there was still an element ot swing at the first available pitch and both Murton and Arai succumbed to this urge. Giants first saw Sakamoto hit to left but Matsumoto hit into a double play and then Ogasawara flew out to right to end the first. The second was far more eventful. Brazell led off Tigers second hitting to left. Kanemoto walked and then Johjima grounded out to second forcing out Kanemoto - runners on first and third. Asai was next and he bounced one to second forcing out Johjima but Kamei at first base allowed the ball to bounce out of his glove and Asai was safe. Brazell was safe home and it was 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. This rather unsettled Utsumi and his second pitch was eminently hittable which Messenger did. The ball flew high and bounced of the yellow bar just above the top of the wall and back into the field of play. It was initially treated as a home run but a check of the replay by the umpires and a consultation reclassified it as a ground rule double. The players had to return to the field with Messenger on second and Asai on third. Toritani then battled Utsumi who was trying to get back into the groove after this lucky escape. Finally, the former hit to right beating the field for a two run timely hit 3-0 Tigers, runner on second - Toritani excuting a successful steal of second. Next batter Hirano who hit to right as well bringing Toritani home. Hirano also tried to go for second but was tagged out to end the innings. It was nice to see such aggressive base running from Tigers top of the order though. Messenger started Giants second with a hit to Ramirez. Two outs followed including Abe striking out swinging but Takahashi hit - runners on first and second. Wakiya was next and he struck out to end the innings. Tigers third was quiet and Utsumi had no problems with the Tigers clean up. Likewise Giants third was quiet taking six pitches in all as the Giants tried to hit their way back into the game.

Johjima picked up a dead ball in Tigers fourth but nothing came of this. Messenger was the last batter but he was unable to repeat his feat of the second and flew out to second ending the innings. Giants continued to try and hit their way back into the game and with one gone Ramirez launched his first pitch into the stands for a solo home run 4-1 Tigers. Kamei flew out but Abe walked. This brought up Takahashi who this time struck out. Tigers were still comfortable. Toritani led off Tigers fifth with a two base hit neatly bisecting Matsumoto and Ramirez. Hirano then bunted him to third - a useful move and Murton hit his first pitch nicely into right for a timely run 5-1 Tigers, runner on first. Arai walked but Brazell struck out and Kanemoto flew out to end the innings. The four run margin was restored. Wakiya led off Giants fifth with a hit to centre. Kudo (pinch hitter) struck out but Sakamoto also hit. Giants had runners on first and second. Next was Matsumoto who launched one deep to right. Murton ran back and succeeded in taking an excellent catch just by the wall. What followed though was even more spectacular - Murton let fly a superb throw which caught Sakamoto off base (he had started to run) and got the third out. A great piece of fielding. With Utsumi finished - a not particularly good pitching stint, Giants pitcher for Tigers sixth was Romero. Johjima hit to centre to start the innings and then Asai bunted his first pitch. Romero messed this up which put runners on first and second. Messenger tried to bunt but was out with three failures and then Asai was forced out by Toritani's ground out to second. Tigers had runners on first and third and it was beginning to look like they would not score. Hirano was next and having driven in one run no one expected him to drive in another. He surprised everyone going deep with his fourth pitch - a straight ball for a three run home run, 8-1 Tigers. He got his swing just right and it only just made it over the fence but this was just his second home run for Tigers and finished any chance of a Giants victory. Murton grounded out to end the innings but Tigers were happy. Ogasawara led off Giants sixth with a hit and two outs later Abe hit a two base which bounced off the centre wall just above Asai's glove for another Giants run 8-2 Tigers, runner on second. Takahashi flew out and the Giants counter attack failed to get any further.

Tigers seventh was a quiet affair with the batters falling in order. Giants seventh was Messenger's last innings. He was tiring but Mayumi thought he could manage one more innings. He started with a hit to Wakiya which Arai intercepted but couldn't get the throw away in time. Then Kudo hit to right - runners on first and second. Sakamoto grounded out to Messenger enabling him to get the double play with Wakiya on third. Edgar (pinch hitter) was the final batter and he struck out looking to a low pitch from Messenger. Nice pitching from the big man - he had looked impressive and kept the Giants bats under control. Tigers eighth was pitched by Micheal who gave up a lead off hit to Johjima but this time was allowed to stay on. He then retired the next three batters with Johjima remaining rooted to first. For Giants eighth, Mayumi used Nishimura. He got the first two outs, striking out Ramirez and then gave up a two base hit to Chono (replacement right). Chono is beginning to mature into a formidable batter but this time second was all he got as Abe struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers ninth saw Arai hit but nothing came of this. For Giants ninth Mayumi used Kubota and one does need to ask why? This is a waste of an elite pitcher who is tiring. A rest for Kubota would be a better option saving his arm for a more important game. This kind of casual wastefulness merely wears the pitcher out to no advantage. Mayumi had both Fujihara or Wakatake he could reasonably employ with a six run lead. He could have even used Andoh again. Kubota started by walking Takahashi and then faced Wakiya. He connected with the first pitch and put the ball over the left fence for a two run home run 8-4 Tigers. Like Hirano, rather fortuitous but they all count. Kubota then retired the next three batters finishing by getting Tani (pinch hitter) to fly out to centre. One understands Mayumi wanting to win the game but he doesn't have the bullpen resources to waste his elite pitchers on unnecessary extra innings. However, Tigers had won a superb victory.

Hirano of course picked up the hero interview - his four RBIs had been the essential element of the victory. Messenger recorded his third win and looked much better. All in all Tigers batters had taken advantage of their chances and had used them better than Giants. Tigers of course moved back into the lead but only by 0.5 games. There is all to play for in the final game of the series.

[Edited by: Christopher on Aug 5, 2010 3:18 PM]