May 4th Shimoyanagi v Kaneto - Giants snatch it

I remember a discussion last year about when to use your star closer and counter-intuitively to use them in the ninth of a tied away game. Mayumi didn't and by the time he did bring Fujikawa in the Giants had so many options for victory it was untrue. To be honest Giants worked hard for the victory whilst Tigers were a bit complacent and sat on the lead rather too much. Poor shot selection and poor running allowed the Giants to gradually work their way back into contention. The breaks also went the Giants way - the tying run was from a very good save by Arai with no possiblity of stopping Ramirez reaching first. The star for the Giants was actually Tani not Sanematsu (who got the hero interview). Both in fielding and hitting Tani put the Giants into a winning position. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Wakiya (Second)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Chono (Centre)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Ryal (Third)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Kaneto (Pitcher)

With one out and going for a second win in a row Tigers got off to a good start with a Hirano hit to left. Toritani hit a two base to left which set up runners on second and third and Tigers were in with a good chance. Arai grounded out to the unimaginative Sakamoto who threw to first for the second out but allowed the run to score 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Next was Brazell who got hold of a straight ball high in the zone and hammered it into the right stand for a two run home run 3-0 Tigers. Kanemoto struck out swinging but Tigers had started well. Shimoyangi got Sakamoto to fly out but then gave up a hit to Wakiya. Ogasawara walked and Giants fans began to hope for a quick response. Ramirez was next and was out to the infield fly rule with the runners taking second and third. This brought up Chono who struck out swinging and ended the threat. Tigers second was quiet as the bottom of the order were unable to do anything. Giants second was also quickly over as the batters fell 1-2-3. Tigers third started with Murton hitting to left. Hirano bunted him to second and then Toritani grounded out taking Murton to third. Arai flew out to left - not the right response and a poor selection of shot, it was only his third pitch. Giants third was conventionally quiet and it looked like Shimoyangi was beginning to establish some control.

Tigers fourth was quickly over and one did feel at this stage that the batters were taking it easy. Giants fourth whilst scoreless showed that the threat hadn't gone away. Ogasawara led off with a hit - his 1999th. The TV showed this ad nauseum, its the next one that's important not this one. The next three batters though couldn't move him round and he stayed on first. Tigers fifth saw Murton hit with two outs but Hirano flew out to left and the chance died even before it had started. Shimoyanagi returned for Giants fifth and why not - he had had runners on but had been in control. Tani flew out but then Ryal who had battled Shimoyanagi earlier for a long time worked a walk. Ramirez grounded out to Shimoyanagi but Ryal made it to second. Tsuruoka hit to short where Toritani pulled off a brilliant stop but was unable to get the throw away in time - runners on first and second. Yano (pinch hitter) followed with a hit to behind third. Once again Toritani fielded but instead of throwing to first he threw to third. However, Ryal was safe and the bases were now loaded. Sakamoto was next and drove his first pitch - a shuto into centre bringing home two runners 3-2 Tigers, runners on first and second with one out. A discussion followed and then Shimoyanagi struck out Wakiya swinging. Only one out to get and Ogasawara next. Of course the Giants were hoping this would be the 2000th hit but it was not to be Ogasawara was far too nervous and struck out swinging wildly to end the innings. Tigers had preserved a slim lead. Hara had used Yano to pinch hit for Kaneto and so Nishimura took the mound for the Tigers sixth. He struck out Toritani looking - a nice piece of pitching but gave up a hit to Arai who bounced it over the pitcher where Wakiya made his customary mess of the fielding. Brazell went deep but flew out near the wall and then Kanemoto performed his usual trick of swinging too soon flying out to Sakamoto this time. Given that Shimoyanagi had given up two runs last innings Mayumi decided not to risk him in the Giants sxith and sent Enokida to the mound. He had rather an easy job of it retiring the Giants batters without problems.

Nishimura returned for Tigers seventh and immediately gave up a hit to Johjima. Next was Shunsuke who started with a couple of incompetent bunts before he hit into right and Johjima set off for third. He might have been better advised to stop at second as he isn't the fastest round the bases. The pick up and throw from Tani was excellent and reached Ryal in plenty of time for the Giants third to tag Johjima out as he slid in. A very fine and important piece of fielding. Lin (pinch hitter) flew out in foul ground and then Murton tried to hit deep but also flew out to end the innings. Kubota pitched Giants seventh and was supreme easily dealing with the three batters he faced. The television coverage actually showed most of his session from a reverse angle which was a novel development for Japanese television and nice to see. Takagi pitched Tigers eighth and struck out Hirano. Then Toritani tried to bunt hit his first pitch. One wonders what was going on in his head - it was probably one of the most stupid shots he has ever played and all it did was generate an easy out for the Giants. Finally Arai struck out swinging to a nice fork to end the innings. Kobayashi pitched the Giants eighth and he looks less secure than Enokida. Sakamoto banged his first pitch into centre for a single. Wakiya bunted him to second and then Ogasawara grounded out to first. Sakamoto made third but with two outs Tigers could have hoped that the rally would die. They reckoned without Ramirez - Kobayashi drifted and Ramirez hit along the third baseline where Arai made a fine diving stop. He was up and threw but even at top waddle Ramirez was always going to reach first safely 3-3 scores tied runner on first. Importantly Arai had kept the shot from becoming a two base even if he had't been able to save the run. Chono flew out to centre and the innings was over. So to the ninth and Tigers needed to seize the initiative but once again they couldn't. Giants pitcher was Ochi and he got Brazell to ground out. Asai (replacement left) hit straight to Ochi who deflected the ball with his arm but retained enough sense to throw to first for the second out. Finally Johjima struck out and we moved to the Giants ninth. Here Mayumi should have used Fujikawa but instead decided to use Watanabe. Tani led off and hit nicely to centre right for a two base hit. Next was Ryal who grounded out but Toritani decided to throw to first to get Tani - he was late and Giants had runners on first and third with no outs. A Giants victory looked certain. Here Mayumi belatedly decided he was going to use Fujikawa and he was inserted in an unenviable situation. Mayumi's poor handling of the pitching had put Tigers in a very difficult situation with the Giants holding all the cards. Fujikawa faced Sanematsu (pinch hitter) who dug his fourth pitch a 135 kmh fork out and put it over the infield for a hit 4-3 Giants sayonara victory.

Giants had worked hard for this victory and showed more spirit than Tigers. Tigers batting had been a bit lazy and poorly conceived. They needed to keep scoring and hadn't. Watanabe took the loss but he shouldn't have pitched the ninth in that situation - this is a situation for your star closer. On the plus side it is good to see Brazell knocking them over again. Tigers can take the final game in the series tomorrow but do need to apply themselves a bit more next time.