August 17th Messenger v Shimizu - The return of the 'Black Tigers'

As part of the celebration of 'Great Central' week Tigers are wearing the road uniforms they wore between 1946 and 1949 (one first place, two thirds and a sixth, kantoku: Wakabayashi). These are a very dark navy blue and look totally cool - in a stylish sense. You wouldn't want to play a day game in one of those uniforms. The Daily Sports is also going along with the image - it's tiger logo is black and grey instead of black and yellow. As for the game both starting pitchers stunk and it was a wild affair with Tigers building and throwing away a good lead. Fukuhara duly made his first mound appearance and whilst he wasn't abysmal he had to be replaced quickly before he got abysmal. No signs of improvement there. It also seems that Andoh will not start tonights game which is also a relief. Arai continues to be hot and hit a lovely three run home run in this game. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers    0 2 3 0 1 0 1 1 4 12 17 0
BayStars  2 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 0  8 12 0

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Uchikawa (Right)
2. Fujita (Short)
3. Harper (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Sledge (Left)
6. Shimozono (Centre)
7. Castillo (Second)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Shimizu (PItcher)

Tigers started the game in innocuous fashion with Murton grounding out, Hirano striking out and Toritani hitting the ball back to Shimizu. So far Shimizu had pitched well. He had that edge on Messenger who started as he continued; badly. Uchikawa led off by slamming his second pitch to left centre 1-0 BayStars. Fujita hit to left and made second on a wild pitch. Harper lined out but then Murata hit his first pitch to right and Fujita was home 2-0 BayStars, runner on first. Sledge flew out but Shimozono walked. Finally, Messenger escaped the situation by getting Castillo to fly out to end the innings. Here then things went wrong for Shimzu. He started Tigers second by walking Arai. Brazell hit to set up runners on first and second and then Kanemoto walked in four to load the bases with no outs. A mound conference followed which didn't seem to have much effect as Johjima rammed his first pitch to left manging to evade Murata and stay fair, bringing home two runners 2-2 scores tied, runners on second and third. Shimizu was able to establish some control as he faced the struggling Lin who struck out. Messenger was next and he struck out. It seems Tigers have forgotten how to hit sacrifice flies. Finally, Murton grounded out to short but in a case which would apply to both starters, Shimizu had shown himself utterly incapable of holding a lead. Messenger was able to retire the last two batters of the BayStars batting order but then faced Uchikawa again and he hit to centre this time. Fujita walked which brought up Harper. This time he grounded out to end the innings. Tigers third was even more devastating for Shimizu. Hirano led off with a hit and then Toritani hit - runners on first and second. Arai was next and stroked his third pitch nicely into the left stand for a three run home run 5-2 Tigers. The next two outs were straightforward but then Johjima hit. He tried to go too far and was tagged out for the final out. Messenger then proceeded to demonstrate that in this game at least he also could not hold the lead. Murata led off BayStars third with a hit. Sledge then banged a two run home run into the left stand - it just stayed fair - 5-4 Tigers. Messenger was able to retire the next three batters to end the innings with a one run lead intact but for how long?

Lin led off Tigers fourth with a hit. Messenger tried to bunt but when you're having a bad night - you are having a bad night. He was out to three failed bunts. Murton hit to set up runners on first and second but Hirano hit into a double play and the innings was over. BayStars fourth was quiet - the batters fell 1-2-3. Toritani started Tigers fifth with a home run, nicely directed along the third baseline but fair 6-4 Tigers. The rest of the batters fell quite quickly - trying to swing at the first available pitch. Messenger couldn't hold the lead though. Harper led off the BayStars fifth with a hit to centre. Murata did nothing and then suddenly the BayStars batters were hitting. Sledge to centre, runners on first and second. Shimozono to left - one runner home 6-5 Tigers, runners on first and second. Castillo to centre - another runner home 6-6 scores tied, runners on first and second. This was the end of Messenger who hadn't pitched effectively at all and had been useless in holding a lead. He was replaced by Fukuhara and I have the suspicion that for Mayumi all relief pitchers are the same and the fact that some are better than others or suited for different conditions doesn't seem to register with him. Still Fukuhara retired the two batters he faced in the innings to end the threat. Sakamoto replaced Shimizu for Tigers sixth. Like Messenger, the latter had not had a good outing and it was time for him to go as well. Sakamoto was effective and retired the Tigers batters in order though the only real threat he faced was Johjima. All Mayumi's hopes for Fukuhara evaporated in the BayStars sixth. He could have actually left Messenger in for all the good the change did. Uchikawa hit his first pitch to right and was bunted to second by Fujita. BayStars should abandon the bunt as it restricts their scoring opportunities and they struggle to hold any lead created. Harper walked and then Murata hit comfortably to right bringing Uchikawa home 7-6 BayStars, runners on first and second. That saw the end of Fukuhara who was replaced by Fujihara. He wasn't much better and walked Sledge on a full count to load the bases. Then he walked Shimozono - oshidashi 8-6 BayStars bases loaded. It looked like Tigers had thrown away a good lead and would lose this game. Castillo rescued them from the innings, hitting into a double play to end it but with a two run lead.

Still, this is the BayStars and for them holding onto the lead would be problematic. Tigers started to chip away at it immediately. Murton hit and was bunted to second by Hirano. Toritani hit to right and Murton was home 8-7 BayStars, runners on first. Arai hit to centre and a throwing mix up allowed the runners to reach second and third. Cue the pitching change with Katoh taking the mound. He struck out both Brazell and Kanemoto to end the danger and preserve a slim lead. For BayStars seventh, Nishimura struck out the first two batters he faced and then got the dangerous Uchikawa to ground out. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers eighth and with one out gave up a third hit to Lin who was pinch run for by Shunsuke Fujikawa. Hiyama (pinch hitter) banged a two base and Tigers had runners on second and third. Murton walked and the bases were loaded and suddenly Tigers rediscovered the sacrifice fly. HIrano hit deep to right - though I am not sure whether a sacrifice fly was what was intended this is what resulted. 8-8 scores tied, runners on first and second for a moment. Murton was caught off base by the throw and run down by the field for the final out. The lead was gone though and Tigers needed to hold here. They did so in fine style as Kubota fanned all three batters in the BayStars eighth. An excellent and timely piece of pitching. Back to the Tigers and the ninth. With the bit between their teeth and facing Yamaguchi, Tigers proceeded to put the game beyond doubt. Toritani hit and beat first to the base. Arai hit to centre and then a wild pitch took the runners to second and third. Brazell swung hard and the ball went deep where it was taken by left but Toritani tagged up and was home 9-8 Tigers, runner on second. Kanemoto struck out and then Yamaguchi walked Johjima which brought up Shunsuke Fujikawa. He swung hard at a high pitch which flew along the third baseline and just inside the foul pole for a three run home run 12-8 and the death stroke. It was his first professional home run but to be honest it was lucky - he isn't going to hit many anyway. Ejiri replaced Yamaguchi and was able to get Sekimoto (pinch hitter) to ground out to end the innings. Kyuji Fujikawa pitched the BayStars ninth and was able to retire the batters in order comfortably to end the game. Tigers victory.

A rather wild affair in which Tigers power had proved too much for BayStars who just couldn't hold onto the leads they did get. Neither side's pitching was particularly impressive except for Tigers who's combination of Nishimura, Kubota and Kyuji Fujikawa was too much for the BayStars. The hero interview went to Shunsuke Fujikawa who also got the winning ball as a memento. Kubota picked up the win but it was a bit worrying that Messenger had pitched his second poor game in a row. He does need to lift his pitching as Tigers are struggling with a dearth of starters. Giants lost to the Dragons and so the gap between the teams opened up to one game but Tigers need to continue this form to hold the lead.

[Edited by: Christopher on Aug 18, 2010 5:05 PM] - I must remember to look at the photos properly. I must remember to look at the photos properly.