April 30th Messenger v Masubuchi - Living dangerously

Tigers didn't so much win this game as Swallows throw it away. Flaws in the latter team's fielding, pitching and batting (they had their chances) gifted Tigers a much needed win to take their first series since the opening day series against the Carp. It was nice to have a bit of luck go Tigers way and get off to a good start. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows start was all they could have wished for - Aoki let off with a two base hit to right. Tanaka bunted him to third and then Whitesell drove him in - bisecting the right infield 1-0 Swallows runner on first. Messenger reacted cooly though and struck out Hatakeyama and then got Aikawa to ground out to second to end the innings. Tigers first was also excellent for them. Murton struck out looking but Hirano hit to right. Toritani followed with a two base hit which set up runners on second and third. Arai worked himself a walk and the bases were loaded. Swallows needed a strikeout or ideally a double play chance. They got the latter as Brazell hit weakly to Tanaka. He though totally messed up the pick up and by the time he had recovered the ball could only throw to first for the second ground out. Hirano was home and Toritani and Arai had moved round to third and second respectively 1-1 scores tied - a costly error as the double play had been on. Kanemoto walked in four as a rattled Masubuchi loaded the bases again and this time faced Johjima. He hit deep to left centre where Hatakeyama messed up the take in the wind and missed the fly. This turned into a bases clearing double 4-1 Tigers - another welcome piece of luck and a comfortable lead. Messenger then retired the batters in order in Swallows second protecting the lead rather nicely. Murton hit in Tigers second but Swallows fielding was much tighter this innings and he didn't get beyond first. Swallows third was also quiet - Messenger had settled down and was throwing some very nice stuff. However, with Messenger he often blows hot and cold so all Swallows needed to do was wait. However, they couldn't afford to wait too long. Arai led off Tigers third with a solo home run - stroking the ball comfortably into the left stand 5-1 Tigers. Masubuchi retired the next three batters but Swallows would have to do something spectacular to get back into the game.

They started promisingly in their fourth. Whitesell hit and then Hatakeyama took a dead ball as Messenger switched to cold. Aikawa hit to right and the bases were loaded with no outs. Here things went wrong for them. Balentien swung a trifle early and popped out to second - no run. Then Miyamoto hit the ball straight to Messenger. He took it and threw to Johjima for the force out. Johjima then fired the ball to Brazell at first for the double play and the end of the innings - Tigers had survived a big threat and their luck had held. Tigers fourth saw Masubuchi in control against the Tigers bottom of the order and Murton. Messenger continued to be erratic in Swallows fifth though, giving up a hit to Masubuchi but nothing came of this either. Tigers fifth was quiet with no one reaching base. Things got interesting again in Swallows sixth. With Messenger unreliable Swallows were able to get runners on base again. Whitesell hit his first pitch to right. Then Hatakeyama hit his second pitch to right as well - runners on first and second with no outs. This time Aikawa hit straight to Hirano for a double play but Tigers weren't out of the woods yet as Whitesell had moved round to third. Balentien walked and then stole second - runners on second and third with Miyamoto next. He hit into right where Hirano made a fine diving stop. He wasn't able to prevent the run from scoring but his action did stop the second run 5-2 Tigers runners on first and third. At this point Mayumi decided that Messenger wasn't likely to get out of the innings and so switched pitchers to Enokida for the final out. I still can't see what this young pitcher has in him that makes him worthy of the place he occupies in the relief. He faced Kawabata who hit deep to right where Murton took a very nice innings ending catch. Murton's fielding this game was vital. Tigers sixth saw Kanemoto hit a two base to left. He was replaced by Asai (why not Lin?) who made third on Johjima's second ground out but Shunsuke also grounded out and the innings was scoreless.

Enokida continued into Swallows seventh and proceded to demonstrate why he isn't ready for the top team. Iihara (pinch hitter) hit to left to lead off the innings. Then Aoki walked and the Swallows began to see another promising situation developed. Two outs followed and Mayumi decided to switch to Kubota for the final out. He walked the first batter he faced - Hatakeyama to load the bases but then induced Aikawa to hit his first pitch to right where Murton ran round to take the catch and end the innings. Tigers seventh was pitched by Kyuko and the rookie made a complete mess of this innings. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) struck out but then Murton worked a walk. Hirano hit nicely to centre which set up runners on first and third. Kyuko tried to pick Hirano off which failed. He then shaped to pitch and whirling round fired another attempt to first. This though was poor - the first base umpire judged that Kyuko had balked. Both runners advanced one base as per the rules Hirano to second and Murton to home 6-2 Tigers. Toritani then hit to left to set up runners on first and third again with only one out. A quick pitching change followed with Hashimoto replacing Kyuko on the mound. Arai hit straight to short trying for his favourite centre left scoring drive and the double play was a formality - end of innings. But once again Swallows poor play had helped the Tigers. Kobayashi pitched the Swallows eighth and started by walking Balentien. A runner on first didn't last long as Miyamoto hit into the double play. Kawabata then grounded out to Ryota Arai (replacement first) to end the innings. Hahsimoto returned for Tigers eighth and gave up a two out two base hit to Johjima. Shunsuke though looked out of sorts and struck out looking with nothing coming from the innings. For Swallows ninth we expected to see Kyuji Fujikawa but instead Fukuhara took the mound. This seemed questionable to say the least but Fukuhara actually looked very impressive. He got Iihara to strike out looking but then walked Aoki. Tanaka struck out swinging which brought Whitesell to the plate. Fukuhara took him on - his second pitch being a 144 kmh straight in the middle of the zone with Whitesell flailing helplessly. Fukuhara demonstrated the patience needed to get Whitesell to strike out finishing him off with a curve to end the innings. Tigers victory.

To some extent Tigers had been gifted this victory by Swallows inept play. Even though Tigers had made the most of their chances they owed a lot to the mistakes by their opponents. Messenger picked up the win and hadn't pitched particularly well in doing so. However, Tigers had won the game and can be happy with their performance. It is too soon to say but Fukuhara had shown some encouraging signs of finally being able to pitch - reaching 150 kmh and pitching with confidence. Let's hope this continues.