September 9th Nohmi v Nelson - Vanishing chances

Dragons do have a further chance to overtake the Tigers and maintain their challenge for the pennant but this game was a big blow to their charge. Winning would have put them ahead and of course their losing would have been ideal for the Tigers but a tie suited the Tigers better and they maintain their margin. Giants lost and so their chances are beginning to fade but even so they are tough opponents for the Tigers to face. The Dragons will have another chance to overcome the Tigers at Nagoya Dome and here they really must fancy their chances as they have been very strong there and Tigers have been really terrible. Nohmi did well on his return and was unlucky with the Dragons second run but luck did play a big part in the game. We saw Komiyama as catcher for the final three innings and his performance can only be described as poor to mediocre. Tigers were lucky here that the Dragons didn't take advantage of his inept calling. They really do need Kanoh back quickly. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Dragons  1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  0  0  0 2 11 0
Tigers   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  0  0  0 2 11 1

Starting lineups

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

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

Back from injury Nohmi was rushed into a crunch game. He responded superbly and most of his troubles were due to a lack of match practice and rustiness. He started the Dragons first poorly giving up a two base hit to Araki. Ohshima bunted Araki nicely to third and then Morino hit to right 1-0 Dragons runner on first. Wada walked to set up runners on first and second but Blanco flew out in foul ground. Fujii flew out to left and the innings was over. Nelson's start was just as insecure - he walked Murton who would have a poor game with the bat. Hirano bunted him to second and Toritani grounded out to second taking Murton to third. A good opportunity but Arai fluffed it hitting his first pitch straight to third to end the innings. With one out in Dragons second N. Donoue took a swing and hit a two base to right. He was able to connect with Nohmi's pitches quite well. Nelson grounded out to Toritani forcing Donoue out but Araki hit to left and Dragons had runners on first and third. Ohshima followed and he flew out to centre to end that chance. Brazell led off Tigers second with a walk - Nelson having trouble with the first batter of the innings. The anonymous Kanemoto flew out and then Nelson struck out both Johjima and Shunsuke Fujikawa. Nohmi's response was a brilliant third striking out Dragons cleanup 1-2-3. Nohim struck out looking to start the Tigers third and then Murton hit his first pitch straight to third. Poor batting. Hirano was next and freed of the need to bunt punched his third pitch through the infield for Tigers first hit. Toritani followed with a big two base hit to left centre and Hirano used the opportunity to round the bases for home. The throw was good but the transfer was wayward and Hirano was able to slide home safely 1-1 scores tied, runner on second. Arai hit to Araki who almost messed up the take and then threw poorly to first but Blanco was able to snag it and end the innings. A bit of luck for the Dragons when it could have easily gone wrong for them.

Nohmi started the Dragons fourth well getting the first two outs before facing N. Donoue. He took a wild swing and got a lucky impact which flew to the fence. Shunsuke Fujikawa went after it but jumped and missed the take. This was actually poor fielding - it wasn't an easy chance but it should have been taken. Shunsuke Fujikawa took his eye off the ball and jumped wildly. One thinks of Asai's vital take in a similar situation and later Ohshima would show how it should be done. N. Donoue was safe on second with Nelson next - surely an easy out. Nohmi though was a bit high and Nelson took a swing and got a lucky hit into right. Runners on first and third. Next up was Araki who hit into left. Kanemoto coming up let the ball bounce in front of him where it reared up and hit him in the face before rolling off. Kanemoto looked round wildly and by the time things were sorted out the score was 2-1 Dragons with runners on second and third. This was very poor fielding by Kanemoto who should have dived for the catch but instead had allowed the Dragons to take back the lead. Nohmi reacted to this setback nicely, though, striking out Ohshima to end the innings. Brazell started Tigers fourth with a big hit to centre which unfortunately died and was taken by Ohshima. Kanemoto struck out but then Nelson's control temporarily deserted him and he walked Johjima. Shunsuke Fujikawa was next and he hit a huge fly to right centre where Ohshima demonstrated just how to take a fly ball near the fence. He kept his eye on the ball all the time and was able to snag it - a fine innings ending take. Shunsuke Fujikawa take note. Morino started Dragons fifth with a swing to right which resulted in a two base. Nohmi though retired the next three batters striking out Blanco again and the innings was scoreless. Tigers fifth was led off by Nohmi. He swung and the ball rolled part of the way along the infield third baseline where it stopped. Nohmi of course set off running and Nelson picked up and threw to first. The throw was poor and Nohmi was safe on first. Next was Murton who once again hit his first pitch straight to third, this time for a double play. This was very poor batting without a doubt - having done the same thing for his previous at bat Murton should have waited. Then Hirano nicely worked a walk and Toritani tried to hit left centre again but was too high and flew out to Wada to end the innings. Things were a little frustrating for the Tigers. Nohmi didn't let this affect him and once again struck out all three batters making the Dragons sixth a good innings for the Tigers. Here he had thrown over 100 pitches and one would expect him to be replaced for the Dragons seventh. Nelson returned for Tigers sixth and despite having thrown less than Nohmi started to struggle. Arai led off with a hit to left and Brazell hit his first pitch into centre. Tigers had runners on first and second. Here it went wrong - Kanemoto checked his swing and got an impact which bounced into the infield. The throw to second for the force out was good but then the Dragons couldn't turn the double play. Next was Johjima who hit his first pitch straight to Morino for the double play and the end of the innings. Neither batter had done well at all and poor shot selection had allowed the Dragons to escape.

Nohmi returned for Dragons seventh which was really taking a risk and with a pitcher who was just returning from injury was pushing him too far. Araki started by flying to centre. Then Nohmi faced Ohshima and got into a mess. Ohshima shaped to bunt probably with no intention to do so but Nohmi pitched to avoid the bunt. This was unnecessary because if Ohshima had bunted it would have almost certainly been the second out. Anyway Nohmi left himself open for a hit which Ohshima managed to left. Morino hit to Brazell at first who stepped on the tag but was unable to get Ohshima going for second. Then it was decided to deliberately walk Wada - a tactical mistake as it put the tired Nohmi under more pressure. He faced Blanco and just could not locate his pitches even letting go a wild pitch which took the runners to second and third. With three balls Johjima called for the deliberate walk of Blanco to load the bases. This passage can only be described as a total tactical screw up by the Tigers. Fujii was next and Nohmi needed to get the out. Here he showed a great depth of character striking Fujii out swinging to end the innings. He should have never been in the situation though and if he had been allowed to pitch to Wada he probably would have got the out - Wada hadn't batted at all well during the series and would end this game hitless. Still Tigers had managed to escape without damage. Nelson started Tigers seventh and got Shunsuke Fujikawa to fly out to centre. Ochiai then decided to switch him for Takahashi. Mayumi had planned to put in Lin (pinch hitter) for Nohmi but switched to Sekimoto who is looking a bit portly nowadays. Sekimoto drew a walk and was immediately pinch run for by Saka. This was folly as would be shown later in the match. Mayumi was too quick to replace his batters with pinch runners who added no advantage to the Tigers chances. Murton hit into a double play to end the innings. Watanabe pitched Dragons eighth and did rather well. He walked N. Donoue with one out. Takahashi bunted Donoue to second which brought up Araki. It was decided to deliberately walk him - maybe unnecessarily but this time Ohshima hit his first pitch straight to HIrano at second for the final out. Hirano then led off Tigers eighth with a walk. This brought another pitching change with Takahashi being replaced by Asao. He brought a nice fastball to the scene and did well with Tigers cleanup. Toritani flew out in foul ground. Arai flew out to centre as did Brazell and it looked like Tigers chances of winning were fast disappearing. Morino hit to centre in Dragons ninth but then Watanabe induced ground outs from the following three batters and he didn't stray beyond first. Ochiai felt that Asao would be able to pitch the Tigers ninth. He started by striking out Asai (replacement centre). Then Johjima hit to left. Here we had another stupid decision - to replace Johjima by a pinch runner Yamato. At this point Ochiai decided to go to Iwase to close the match. Whether this was a pre-planned move or just a panic reaction to a runner on is difficult to say but with 37 saves to Iwase's name this season it can't be said to have been a bad decision. It looked an even better decision a few minutes later. Iwase faced Shunsuke Fujikawa and as the third pitch went in Mayumi signaled the steal. The Dragons were alert to this and Tanishige's throw was laser precise. Yamato didn't have a chance and was well out. One can't say anything but that this was an act of tactical suicide especially in the light of what happened next. Tigers had gone from one out with a runner on to two outs with no runners on. Iwase relaxed a bit and allowed Shunsuke Fujikawa to get in one of his favoured wild swings. This flew into the right centre sweet spot and Shunsuke Fujikawa rounded the bases to reach third safely. If Yamato had been on first it would have been the tying run. However, Tigers were in with a chance. Mayumi then made a good decision and sent his veteran pinch hitter Hiyama to the plate. Hiyama swung at his first pitch but got a bit under it. He intended to hit to right but further than he did. As it was it just evaded the glove of second for a timely hit. If Fujikawa had been on second it would not have scored but as it was Shunsuke Fujikawa made home easily 2-2 scores tied. Here Mayumi decided that Hiyama would be pinch run for by Komiyama. He would have been better leaving Hiyama in as Murton grounded out to end the innings. Tigers were back on level terms but could have won the match except for the poor tactical ability of their manager.

Kyuji Fujikawa pitched Dragons tenth and gave up a lead off hit to right to Tanishige. Two outs followed and then Araki walked to set up runners on first and second but Ohshima grounded out to second to end the innings. Iwase was replaced by Kobayashi for Tigers tenth and he started by striking out Hirano. He then battled Toritani who picked his pitch and hit to centre. Kobayashi was immediately replaced by Suzuki. He faced Arai who has begun to hit again after a period of non-hitting. Arai hit nicely to left and then Brazell worked the count full before hitting to left as well. Bases loaded with one out. Tigers had a number of options including a sacrifice fly. Asai was next and the Dragons field was in. He swung at his first pitch blasting it to short but his bat broke and the hit was weak. If the bat had held it would have been a scoring shot but as it was it flew into the glove of Araki who threw to Morino at first. Brazell was slightly off base and dived back to the sack as Morino made the tag. The umpire gave Brazell out for an innings ending double play. Replays were unclear and it is difficult to say whether Brazell was safe or not. Brazell was angry and jumped up to challenge the umpire who stood his ground and even though he was a head shorter than Brazell stood chin to chin. This had all the makings of a very dangerous situation with a hospitalised umpire and Tigers first base coach and translator rapidly interposed themselves between the two parties. The umpire seemed inclined to continue the confrontation until Mayumi took him in hand and told him to shut up. Brazell was ejected but once again it was impossible to say from the replays whether he or the umpire was right. It presented a problem for Tigers - they had no position players left and so the novel solution was decided that Nishimura would go to the outfield and Asai would move to first. Tigers have on occasion put out a starting card with a pitcher in the outfield but have never actually physically put them on the field. In fact this was the first time in 31 years that this had happened for the Tigers. Nishimura would field right for right handed batters and left for left handed batters switching positions with Hirano. Kyuji Fujikawa pitched Dragons eleventh and walked Nomoto (pinch hitter) but otherwise had no difficulties. For Tigers eleventh Ochiai used Shimizu who walked Komiyama but nothing came of this. For Dragons twelfth Mayumi surprisingly used Fukuhara, not the pitcher one would have thought suitable for this situation. He did have Kubota available but Kubota is being rested at the moment. Anyway Fukuhara struggled with Komiyama's calling but started with a strike out. However, he walked N. Donoue. This brought a bunt from Iwasake (replacement second) taking Donoue to second. Then Araki walked in four (a disguised deliberate walk) and Ohshima proved to be the final batter of the innings bouncing one to Fukuhara who threw to first for the ground out. Shimizu pitched Tigers twelfth and started by striking out Hirano and Toritani before walking Arai. This was also deliberate as it was much more preferable to get at Nishimura than face a match winning batter. However, it was all rendered academic as Mayumi signaled another of his stupid steals. Once again Dragons were ready for it and once again the out was easy - game over. Tied game.

As I mentioned the tie suited Tigers better than it did the Dragons. Dragons are still chasing and have seven less games to play. This is a big hurdle for them to overcome. The Murton counter remains fixed at 22 hits to go. The Toritani counter now stands at 8 RBIs to go and the Arai counter at four. The encouraging thing is that Arai is hitting again. This was a marathon game taking 5 hours 21 minutes and both teams had fought hard. What was encouraging was that despite the management errors Tigers had shown spirit, application and a refusal to give up. If they can do this at Nagoya for the final series with the Dragons the pennant is as good as theirs.