September 11th Messenger v Tateyama - Kyuji makes a huge mess

A game which should have gone to the Tigers was spoiled by an arrogant and complacent Kyuji Fujikawa. He really did pitch badly and screwed up Messenger's best pitching for the Tigers. As a result Swallows took the series which should really have gone to the Tigers. Mistakes by Mayumi cost them the first game and poor pitching by Kyuji Fujikawa cost them the second game. As a result it is likely that the gap between Tigers and Dragons will expand to 1.5 games. Not good at all. This game was once again played in scorching heat and really should have been postponed to six. The idocy of the organisers takes your breath away - this wasn't good for either team. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Swallows  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 4 2
Tigers    0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 5 0

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Whitesell (First)
5. Hatakeyama (Left)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Miyamoto (Third)
8. Kawabata (Short)
9. Tateyama (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. Messenger (Pitcher)

It is time for Tigers to stop using Shunsuke Fujikawa as starting centre. He really doesn't contribute much to the side and his occasional hitting ranks about the level of Mitsunobu Takahashi or Katsuragi. Lets add a bit of power to the mix. Both starting pitchers were excellent. To some extent you expected Tateyama to pitch well but Messenger really was impressive. He started Swallows first by getting two outs but walking Iihara. Iihara stole second - poor work by Johjima but Whitesell then grounded out to short. Murton led off Tigers first with a hit but succumbed to a Hirano ground out; Hirano being safe. Then Toritani drew a walk and Tigers had runners on first and second. Arai struck out and Brazell grounded out to an excellent take by Tanaka and the innings was over. Swallows second saw all three batters ground out. Tigers second was similar with Kanemoto striking out but no one else doing anything. In Swallows third Aoki managed a nice hit - Swallows first hit of the game. However, with two out it was always going to be a forlorn hope and Tanaka grounded out easily. Tigers third was quiet with Hirano finishing off the innings by lining out. I would have liked to see a replay of this one which NHK didn't show - it looked like a nice piece of work by Whitesell.

Iihara walked in Swallows fourth. Whitesell struck out and then Hatakeyama grounded into a double play. Likewise Tigers fourth was quiet - Toritani falling to a superb diving catch by Miyamoto. Both pitchers were throwing very good stuff. In fact for the first time you could really see why Mayumi was starting Messenger. He was matching Tateyama pitch for pitch. Swallows fifth saw the batters fall 1-2-3. However, in Tigers fifth Tateyama ran into trouble. Kanemoto led off the innings with a hit. Then Johjima put one nicely past Miyamoto to set up runners on first and second. Shunsuke Fujikawa bunted the runners to second and third and Wada came out to have a word with Messenger. Even so the result was obvious a strike out - Tateyama was simply too good. With two out Murton was next and he hit straight to Miyamoto who let the ball roll between his legs. A costly error which scored two runs 2-0 Tigers, runner on first. Hirano grounded out to second - another nice piece of work by Tanaka. However, Tigers had the lead. Could they hold it? Messenger retired Tateyama in Swallows sixth and then walked Aoki. Tanaka grounded out to short but Aoki was too fast for the double play - runner on second. Iihara worked the count full and then grounded out to Messenger - the lead was safe. In Tigers sixth Brazell hit but nothing came of this.

Mayumi asked Messenger to pitch the Swallows seventh, something I would have done. Messenger had given up three walks and one hit. He had pitched well. Whitesell led off the innings and flew out to centre. Then Messenger walked Hatakeyama - his pitching was looking tired. Aikawa flew out to left which brought up Miyamoto. Miyamoto hit easily to right to set up runners on first and third. This brought Yuichi (pinch hitter) to the mound and he struck out swinging - superb work by Messenger. He had given up two hits over seven innings and had made sure that Tigers lead was intact. Tateyama was also good through Tigers seventh ensuring that no one got on base. So to Swallows eighth and one expected either Nishimura or Kubota. Instead we got Kyuji Fujikawa whom Mayumi was determined to use now the two innings prohibition was removed. Fair enough but Kuyji was dreadful. He started with a dead ball of Fukuchi (pinch hitter). It hit him on the foot but it shouldn't have been thrown anyway. Doesn't Kyuji warm up? This was really dismal. Aoki was next and he took a strike before hitting nicely to left - runners on first and second. Tanaka then shaped to bunt. After one misfire the pitch he received blasted him off his feet but he got his bunt in - runners on second and third with one out. Iihara hit to second which scored a run 2-1 Tigers runner on first but nothing to worry about. The next batter was Whitesell. He took a strike and then swung at his second pitch. It wasn't an intelligent pitch and there was an element of luck with the shot - rather like Lee Seong Yoep against Kubota. The ball flew off to the left and crossed the boundary for a two run home run 3-2 Swallows. Kyuji had blown the lead dramatically. Hatakeyama flew out to short but the damage had been done. Swallows needed to hold things in Tigers eighth. Masubuchi started and gave up a hit to Murton. This brought a panic in the Swallows bench and he was replaced by Lee. Hirano bunted - what a waste - Murton to second and then Toritani hit to short who fluffed it. Runners on first and second. The immaturity of the Swallows bench became even more obvious. The error had worked to their advantage in that there was now a potential double play to be had. However, Lee was replaced by Matsuoka. He battled Arai for a while before getting a fly out in foul ground. A bit of luck here as the Swallows batters foul shots had gone into the stands. Brazell hit to second to ground out and the innings was over. Kubota pitched Swallows ninth and gave up a lead off walk to Aikawa. Miyamoto bunted him to second but then Kubota struck out the next two batters to end the innings. Tigers ninth was Lim and he found it easy enough to get the Tigers batters to fly out. Swallows victory.

Once again a blown victory. Mayumi should have gone with Kubota for Swallows eighth but instead went with Kyuji Fujikawa who tried to grandstand and screwed up. His pitching was a disgrace and wasted a superb performance by Messenger. The difference between Tigers and Dragons in now 1.5 games and it is all generated by the Tigers and by Mayumi. Tigers do need to pick themselves up and do better than they are doing at the moment. Drop Kanemoto to eighth and give Johhima a chance to hit at sixth again. The Murton counter now stands at 17 hits to go.