June 14th Iwata v Masaru Takeda - One hit advantage

Yes this time it was Nippon Ham that was shut out as Iwata pitched a blinder. Even so Takeda was actually better over his eight innings using fewer pitches (73 pitches). Whilst Iwata could have been replaced after the seventh (on 101) pitches there was a case for a complete game shutout but Mayumi was going to use him in the tenth as well. This would have been too much and shows Mayumi's incomprehension of pitching and the need for sensible use of limits. It was also nice to see Kanemoto sitting out the game with a swollen foot - that gave the chance for someone else to have a go though I personally wouldn't have used Ryota Arai at left. Tigers struggled to hit but thankfully so did the opposition and neither team could take their chances though Hoffpauir came close. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Fighters
1. Tanaka (Second)
2. Iiyama (Third)
3. Itoi (Centre)
4. Nakata (Left)
5. Inaba (Right)
6. Hoffpauir (First)
7. Kaneko (Short)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Masaru Takeda (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Takahiro Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Sekimoto (Second)
7. Ryota Arai (Left)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

In this classic pitcher's duel things started as one would expect. Tanaka grounded out to Sekimoto after two pitches and Iiyama hit his first pitch to Toritani. For some reason Iwata ran into trouble with Itoi and walked him on a full count. He redeemed himself by getting Nakata to strike out and end the innings. Tigers first was similar with Murton and Hirano flying out and Toritani finishing by striking out. Nippon Ham's best chance came in their second. With Inaba striking out, Hoffpauir hit to right. Kaneko hit to left and there were runners on the corners. Tsuruoka drove one weakly back to Iwata who threw to Fujii for the out. Tigers were also able to prevent the runner on first taking the extra base and Nippon Ham were left with runners on first and second. Next was the pitcher Takeda who struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers second saw the batters fall 1-2-3. Swinging too soon was the problem here. In Fighters third Iiyama hit to Arai with one out but stayed on first as it only took three pitches to dispose of the next two batters. Nippon Ham would generate only two more isolated hits from now on. Ryota Arai led off Tigers third with a hit to centre. Fujii bunted him to second and then Iwata lined out. One would have thought an Iwata bunt here would have been a better bet with Murton next. Instead Ryota Arai stayed on second and Murton grounded out to short to end the innings. There had been not enough pressure applied here.

Iwata then dead balled Inaba to start Fighters fourth but struck out Hoffpauir and Kaneko before getting Tsuruoka to fly out to right. Tigers fourth saw Takahiro Arai walk with two outs. Brazell hit to centre and Arai made third with Brazell on first. Sekimoto was next and grounded out. He would do this two out of three times but when he hit he hit at the right time. Nippon Ham's fifth saw Iwata add a couple of strike outs to that evenings collection with Iiyama going for his first pitch and flying out to right. Tigers fifth finished with Iwata striking out. The sixth and with two out Inaba hit back to Iwata. His throw missed Brazell and in the confusion Inaba was able to make second - a chance. Hoffpauir who needed to wait was lured into swinging at his first pitch and popping one up to Toritani. End of the innings. Tigers sixth was quiet and over almost before it had begun. All three batters were quickly out.

Fighter's seventh and Iwata faced the bottom of the order. He sailed through the three batters striking out all three. Tigers seventh was different. Once again the Arai/Brazell combination was the key to the challenge. Arai hit his second pitch to left. Brazell hit his second pitch to right - runners on first and third with no outs. Sekimoto flew out to right off his first pitch but Arai didn't try for home this time. Then Ryota Arai hit into a double play and the innings was over. The innings had taken all of five pitches and been action packed. Tigers were waxing as Fighters were waining. With two out in Fighters eighth Itoi hit to third and was able to beat the throw. However, Nakata flew out to centre to end that chance. Tigers eighth saw Iwata hit a grounder to short which Kaneko messed up. This put a runner on with two outs but then Murton failed to convert and the innings was scoreless. Two ground outs started Fighters ninth and then Kaneko hit towards Iwata who could only deflect it with Kaneko being safe. Tsuruoka hit to the pitcher as well but this time Iwata took the ball safely for the final out. Nashida decided to switch his pitcher at this point and brought on Masui. He could have left Masaru Takeda in or brought on Hisashi Takeda - his closer which would have increased his victory chances. Still, things looked good - Toritani struck out looking to start the bottom of the ninth. Then Takahiro Arai had his second hit of the night. Masui was using far more pitches than Takeda as Tigers batters took their time. Shunsuke (replacement centre - Hirano having moved to second and Sekimoto to first) grounded out but moved Arai round to second. Next was Sekimoto who drove to left centre on a 2-2 count. The ball flew just over the outstretched glove of the jumping Kaneko for a single to left centre. Arai raced home for the winning score 1-0 Tigers, Sayonara victory.

Iwata picked up the win and had pitched nicely but used a lot of pitches. Sekimoto had come through when needed and Tigers recorded their second complete game shutout. Tigers have now won four of their last five games and are looking better. Admittedly, three of the victories were against two of the lower performing Pacific League teams but they still have to be won. Tigers need to win more though and to beat the Fighters again tonight.