October 6th Kubo v Kaga - Another victory for the collection

This time Mayumi did pitch Kubo the entire game and was rewarded with a complete game shutout. Kubo's pitching was excellent and with support from his batters Tigers were always in control. Nothing BayStars did seemed to be able to affect the course of the game. The Tigers final game of the season is played today and to ensure that they have the home advantage they must win it. If they lose of course the Giants will have a chance to get home advantage. It would have been great if the final two games had been Tigers/Giants as even the second place fight would have generated a lot of interest with the two old rivals playing. On an unrelated note, even the Giants don't like Hamasta. Commenting on the impending sale Nabetsune said it would be good if BayStars played some of their games in Tokyo because the facilities in Yokohama were so poor. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 5 10 0
BayStars  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4 0

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Uchikawa (Right)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Tsutsugoh (First)
6. Shimozono (Left)
7. Castillo (Second)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Kaga (Pitcher)

With Kubo being denied his 14th victory a few days earlier, the question was how would he pitch in Yokohama? Tigers fans needn't have worried he was superb - in control and sharp. It took a bit of time for the offense to wear down the BayStars pitcher, Kaga but they managed it in the end. Toritani started Tigers first with a hit and was bunted to second by Hirano. Murton picked up a walk but Arai flew out to right which moved Toritani round to third. Kanemoto though managed to fly out to left - still in the wrong batting position - to end the innings. BayStars first was quiet with the three batters going down in order. Tigers second was also quiet as the bottom of the order failed to deal with Kaga. BayStars got their first hit in their second innings with Murata leading off with a poke to centre. Tsutsugoh hit to first which Brazell took and threw to second for the force out but the return throw was just too late and the double play didn't come off. It came off though with the next batter as Shimozono hit to Kubo who threw to second to initiate the move - end of innings. Tigers third still saw no progress and things remained circular on the scoreboard. The same happened in BayStars third as well - no runners just good pitching.

Arai hit to right in Tigers fourth but was immediately out when Kanemoto hit into a double play. This also ended the innings. BayStars fourth saw their only walk - Matsumoto with one out. Uchikawa lined out to Brazell and of course Matsumoto was caught off base for the final out of the innings. Brazell then led off Tigers fifth with a two base to left - only their second hit of the game. Johjima poked one over the infield into right and Brazell thundered round the bases and slid into home. Takeyama had his foot on the plate but this was easily pushed out of the way as Brazell slid in 1-0 Tigers, runner on second - Johjima being able to move round. Next was Saka who hit a two base over the Matsumoto. Johjima hesitated before he ran to make sure it was a hit and consequently could only reach third with Saka on second. Toritani managed to bounce his second pitch through the infield beating first for a two run timely hit 3-0 Tigers, runner on first. Hirano grounded out to third for the force out and then Murton flew out to centre. He would go hitless all game but he deserved a rest. Kubo kept the BayStars from getting back in their fifth retiring the batters in order. Tigers sixth was also quiet as Kaga after his 'little turn' in the fifth reasserted himself and was comfortably in control. BayStars second hit of the game came in their sixth with Castillo leading off to centre. He stayed on first as the next three batters could do nothing to move him round.

Kaga had laboured hard over his six innings and wasn't asked to pitch a seventh the chosen replacement being Kuwahara. He found the seventh easy and no runner reached base. Kubo continued into the BayStars seventh and given the way he was pitching and his pitch count a complete game looked a distinct possibility. All three batters in BayStars grounded out as Kubo didn't relinquish his grip on the game. Toritani led off Tigers eighth with a hit to short beating the throw with ease. Hirano and Murton both grounded out - Hirano forcing out Toritani and Murton moving the former round to second. Then Obana decided to play musical pitchers. Kuwahara was replaced by Kizuka - a sidearm. He faced Arai and his first pitch was a strike which Arai let go by. The second pitch was in the same place and Arai slammed it into the left wall for a two base hit. Hirano was home 4-0 Tigers, runner on second. Off went Kizuka and on came Ohta. He got Shunsuke Fujikawa (replacement centre) to ground out to end the innings. Kubo continued his progress - three batters, three outs and the BayStars eighth was over. Tigers ninth with Ohta still pitching and Brazell leading off with a hit to centre. The ball rolled out into the field in a weary way but it was a hit. Brazell was pinch run for by Yamato. Next was Johjima who bunted his first pitch to third. Murata picked up and threw to first but the throw was too slow and Johjima was safe. Yamato meanwhile decided to go for third - a foolish move as the throw to Ishikawa (covering third) was spot on and he was well out. As he slid in he was tagged out and the umpire signaled the out but then Ishikawa spilled the ball and the umpire signaled safe. This was a bit of luck for the Tigers. Saka played around for a bit and then hit a deep fly to centre for the sacrifice 5-0 Tigers, runner on first. Kubo was the next batter and with one out managed to hit into a double play to end the innings. He then started the BayStars ninth witih a strike out of Kajitani (pinch hitter). Fujita (pinch hitter) hit to right but Ishikawa flew out to left and the runner stayed on first. Two outs and ato hitori. Matsumoto also hit to right and BayStars had runners on first and second with Uchikawa next. He hit to third where Arai took the ball and tapped his foot on the sack for the final out. Tigers victory.

A nice victory for the Tigers founded on some very sound pitching. Kubo has 14 victories this year and no doubt would have had more except for Mayumi's cackhanded management. Both Arai and Toritani added to their RBI total, Arai is now 112 and Toritani 104 and we can certainly say that the Wada/Kataoka batting coach team has made a huge difference to Tigers offence. The final game is played today and Tigers will be going for the win to cement second place in the Central League.