August 18th Kubo v Kosugi - Fiery hitting

A couple of years ago I was asked to provide a translation of Lin Wei-Tsu's fight song and the phrase Fiery hitting ' was the best I could come up with. Still it describes his performance against BayStars in which he ended up with 5 RBIs and showed just how good he can be for the first time in a long time. BayStars were literally overwhelmed with their starting pitcher being knocked around very badly. In fact non of Yokohama's pitching could be said to be good and they do look like a team with a lot of problems. Kubo was very good and pitched eight well controlled innings giving up only one run on five hits. Mayumi was sensible though and once he got to the eighth innings and 104 pitches he was replaced - no over pitching. However, his choice of replacement catcher for the ninth (deciding to rest Johjima) was Komiyama and one must assume he wanted to have a look at his form. This was terrible and it was clear that Komiyama is not a first team catcher. Next time Johjima is replaced it needs to be Kanoh. Mayumi needs to acknowledge this and accept that he has two highly talented catchers, Johjima and Kanoh and that they should be his focus. The retro uniforms are certainly attracting a lot of attention as well - last night the TVK commentators couldn't stop talking about them and in very complimentary terms.

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers    0 2 0 1 6 1 1 0 0 11 14 0
BayStars  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2  8 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. Kubo (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. Kosugi (Pitcher)

Tigers start was much the same as their last one - the first three batters fell quickly and the innings was quiet. This time, though, BayStars first was similar - Kubo having rediscovered his form and he retired the batters in order in the BayStars first. Kosugi seems to have control problems and favours the zone a bit too much for a pitcher of his level. Tigers home runs came from a variety of balls but mostly his slider which needs work (though all his pitches could be said to require this). Arai led off Tigers second with a hit to centre. This brought up Brazell who slammed his first pitch (a 119 kmh slider) deep into the upper tiers of the right stand for a two run home run 2-0 Tigers. Kanemoto flew out but Johjima hit. However, both Lin and Kubo grounded out and the innings was over. Kubo then, very usefully retired the batters in order in BayStars second holding the lead nicely. As Kosugi struggled Tigers recycled their batters quickly. Two outs went down in Tigers third before Toritani hit. He stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Arai walked and Tigers had a good chance but this time Brazell hit his first pitch to second for the ground out. BayStars third saw a spirited comeback. Takeyama hit a two base to right. Kosugi struck outswinging - one might have expected a bunt here but no. Then Uchikawa hit his first pitch nicely to centre 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Fujita tried to hit out and struck out swinging to end the innings.

Kosugi once again wandered in Tigers fourth. He got both Kanemoto and Johjima and then tried a fork to Lin. Lin's bat speed seems to be back and he was on the pitch in a flash driving it nicely into the right stand for a solo home run 3-1 Tigers. Kubo grounded out to end the innings with the two run margin restored. Murata hit in BayStars second with one out but then Sledge hit straight and Toritani took the ball nicely near second and popped it up to Hirano who threw to first for a well worked double play to end the innings. Tigers fifth started by following a similar pattern to the fourth. First two outs, Murton flew out to right and then Hirano struck out looking - an excellent pitch which had him fooled. Next was Toritani who latched onto his first pitch - a high non too fast slider. This kept on going, you felt it was going to die and drop into the glove of centre but it had the legs to clear the fence of the Tigers gaia for a solo home run 4-1 Tigers. Kosugi was shocked and then had to endure a lecture from Yokohama's pitching coach. It didn't help - he walked Arai. Next was Brazell who slammed his second pitch (a 137 kmh straight) into the scoreboard - another enormous hit which impacted on the plate umpire's name, his second two run of the night 6-1 Tigers. Kanemoto hit to centre and by now the completely demoralised Kosugi was easy meat. Johjima hit to right centre and beat the throw sliding into second for a two base hit with Kanemoto on third. This was the end of Kosugi who had been outclassed on the night. His replacement was Shinohara who for what happened next they might not have bothered. Shinohara faced Lin who, this time massacred a slider putting it into the right stand for his second home run - this time a three run 9-1 Tigers. BayStars were stunned and beaten with no way back. Kubo struck out looking - he wasn't going to try anything with an eight run lead and the innings was over. BayStars fifth by contrast was quiet - they needed to get going but couldn't get past Kubo who retired the batters in order striking out Takeyama to end the innings on a satisfactory note. Shinohara returned for Tigers sixth and was once again in trouble. Hirano hit to right and then Toritani hit to left setting up runners on first and third. Arai was next and he hit his first pitch deep to right for a sacrifice fly 10-1 Tigers runner on first. Brazell struck out swinging but no one was too bothered about this as he had done enough already. BayStars sixth saw Uchikawa hit to left. However, he stayed on first as Kubo retired the next two batters to end the innings without problems.

The BayStars pitcher for Tigers seventh was Ejiri. He started poorly walking Kanemoto who was pinch run for the hero of the night before, Shunsuke Fujikawa. Johjima hit to right and once again Tigers had runners on first and third. Lin hit his first pitch to left and Shunsuke tagged up and made home - another sacrifice fly 11-1 Tigers, runner on second as Johjima also tagged up and moved round. Tigers have been getting much needed sacrifice fly practice. Kubo struck out looking and then Murton grounded out to end the innings. BayStars just couldn't get going - Kubo was dominant in their seventh, the only batter who provided resistance was Shimozono but he struck out looking to a magnificent pitch to end the innings. BayStars switched catchers for Tigers eighth - Kurodame calling to Ejiri. This time the Tigers batters fell in order but it was just playing out time as things were moving to the inevitable Tigers victory. Kubo returned for BayStars eighth which would be his last innings as he was tiring. His outs were all flyouts to left with a hit from Matsumoto (pinch hitter) sandwiched between the second and third outs. He had pitched very well and Mayumi showed good sense in replacing him after the eighth. Matsuyama pitched Tigers ninth and with one out gave up a hit to Shunsuke Fujikawa. Johjima hit to short for the double play but the throw from second was dropped by Harper. This was an error but wasn't ruled as such for some reason. Harper had plenty of time to make the take but had messed it up. Johjima was safe and was pinch run for by Komiyama. Lin grounded out to second for the force out and the innings was over. Kawasaki replaced Kubo for BayStars ninth and didn't look impressive. However, he was teamed with the poor Komiyama who's calling was distinctly sub-standard. Fujita hit his first pitch to left. Then Harper battled Kawasaki before getting a fortunate impact which just stayed fair and rolled into the right corner. Fujita made third easily but Harper lumbered round first and by the time he reached second the ball was waiting for him and he was tagged out. He really was painfully slow round the bases and perhaps a bit of weight loss would help. Murata hit nicely to right and the runner was home 11-2 Tigers, runner on first but this was all just a drop in the ocean. Sledge flew out in foul ground and then Shimozono after working the count full flew out to left where Shunsuke Fujikawa took a nice catch to end the game. Tigers victory.

A very good win especially as the Giants also lost. This gives the Tigers a two game margin over the Giants which can easily be overturned but is also a good base to build on. Kubo's win was his eleventh - the first time he has reached 11 victories in a season. He had pitched well and dominated the BayStars. Tigers have also built a winning streak of 4 games. Now that Komiyama has proved rather poor perhaps Mayumi will acknowledge reality and use Kanoh as the backup catcher for Johjima. Tigers go for a sweep tonight and Andoh is scheduled to pitch. Can Andoh overcome his funk and pitch well? Can the scheduled BayStars pitcher Fujie save his side from ignominy? Can Mayumi learn to use a bullpen before the season ends? Currently, things are going well for the Tigers and they need to keep them this way with the major test of the Giants coming up on Friday.