August 4th Iwata v Utsumi - It goes Giants way

The rub of the green favoured the Giants. A hit along the third baseline stayed in whilst it went foul for Tigers. Iwata's mistake was punished with a home run whilst Utsumi's drifted foul. That being said Utsumi did pitch very well and he was better than Iwata. The latter made too many mistakes which were partially him but also Fujii who is showing why he was not retained as Rakuten's lead off catcher. Tigers problem is that they are now stuck with Fujii having no replacements unless they want to go with Komiyama or Shimziu (please no Okazaki). Mayumi is due to be retained until the end of the season which is hardly any reason to celebrate unless he does something really stupid enough to get himself retired. One can only hope. Murton was taken to hospital last night as he was feeling unwell but there is no news on his condition yet. Standridge also picked up his second MVP in a row (for July) which is impressive. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Terauchi (Second)
3. Chono (Centre)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Abe (Catcher)
6. Ohmura (Right)
7. Ogasawara (First)
8. Fields (Third)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

Neither pitcher gave much away in hits but Iwata walked more and walked more in a concentrated burst which proved his undoing. Utsumi didn't walk any but did throw a dead ball. which was probably the only way Arai was going to get on base that night. Tigers first started quietly with Utsumi pitching well and using the short grounder effectively. Giants first was similar with Iwata fooling Chono for the third out. Arai and Brazell struck out swinging - rather foolishly one thought - in Tigers second. However, Sekimoto battled and then hit nicely into the left corner for a two base hit. This was a good chance Kanemoto hit straight to Sakamoto for the final out. Then Ramirez led off Giants second with a two base hit into right. This was considerably more dangerous than Sekimoto's hit but Giants managed to mess it up. Abe bunted his first pitch and Iwata picked up and fired it to third blocking off Ramirez who was running in. Ramirez turned and tried to make second but was easily run down and tagged out by Arai. Abe was safe on first but this was a bit a screw up by the Giants. Why on earth they had Abe bunt escapes me - there was maybe a strange mental disconnect floating around on the Giants bench. Ohmura was next and he worked the count full but then struck out swinging and here we saw another strange incident. As he took the strikeout ball Fujii was up and threw to second. Neither Toritani nor Sekimoto were expecting this and Toritani missed the ball but Sekimoto was able to take it. Fujii had anticipated a steal but it seems that Abe hadn't even left first and the fielders hadn't noticed any sign of such an attempt. It could have been a serious error if Sekimoto had missed the ball and wasn't exactly showing game awareness. The final batter was Ogasawara who grounded out to first - Iwata covering and taking a nice throw from Brazell. Giants had rather wasted a good chance with some very inept play. Tigers third was quiet - Fujii and Iwata fell quickly and then Murton grounded out. Giants third was similar to Tigers with the bottom of the order and Sakamoto falling easily.

Utsumi's biggest challenge came in Tigers fourth. He was rather successful in dealing with Hirano but then his first pitch to Toritani was a loose cutball. Toritani hammered it to right but was just off with his timing and the ball drifted foul - a lucky escape. Then Toritani drove nicely into right centre for a two base hit. Arai was next and Utsumi managed to drop one on his foot - a dead ball and runners on first and second. Brazell took a swing at his first pitch which looped over Sakamoto who, like he often is, was a bit slow off the mark. The ball just caught the top of Sakamoto's glove as he jumped and landed behind him. The runners hesitated as it did look like a catch and then when the ball landed set off. Sakamoto, once he gets going is pretty quick and he picked the ball up (which hadn't rolled far) and threw to second to catch Arai sliding in for the force out. Brazell was safe on first and Toritani on third. Sekimoto was next and whilst Tigers batters are good at hitting to get on base they do currently seem to struggle to hit with runners on. Sekimoto is a case in point and he grounded out to short to end the innings. Disappointing for the Tigers with that nasty piece of luck over Brazell's hit. Iwata did very nicely in Giants fourth retiring the batters in order - just what was needed. With one out Chono skied one into foul ground. Both Iwata and Brazell went for it with Brazell getting to it first and taking a fine catch also avoiding a tumble into the Giants dugout. Tigers fifth saw the bottom of the order fall easily - once again you got the impression (even with Kanemoto there) of a desperate lack of power. Giants fifth was also quiet ending with a nice strike out of Ogasawara. Tigers couldn't get going in their sixth either. Utsumi had established a nice rhythm and the batters stuggled to make any headway. Giants sixth started with a piece of luck - Fields blooped his first pitch up into the gap between short and centre. Toritani went to take it and dropped it but it was a very difficult take running backwards. This put Fields on first where he was pinch run for by Fujimura. It shouldn't have caused any trouble but for some reason Iwata was desperate to avoid Utsumi bunting. This led to a dreadful passage of pitching in which he ended up walking Utsumi to set up runners on first and second. Fujii also shares the blame for this folly. Sakamoto then bunted the runners to second and third, infinitely more dangerous than runner on second. Next was Terauchi who hit weakly into the infield. Iwata seized the ball and threw to Fujii to block off home as Fujimura came down the base path. He turned pursued by Fujii who threw to Arai. Arai threw to Iwata who made the tag for the out. Giants had runners on first and second but had missed out on the run. Crucially, there were two outs and it looked like the danger was over. However, the Iwata/Fujii combination wasn't finished yet and Iwata then walked Chono in four - bases loaded. This really was stupid especially as the next batter was Ramirez. He worked the count full and then the final pitch whizzed across the plate with Ramirez looking. Fujii was up thinking it was a strike out but the umpire didn't give it. It looked like a superb strike on the TV but maybe a Giants zone was in operation. Anyway it became ball four - oshidashi 1-0 Giants, bases loaded. Next was Abe and he grounded out to second which is what should have happened earlier. Through no fault of their own Giants had taken the lead. This had been poor play by the Tigers.

Tigers seventh saw Brazell hit with one out over right. However, he only made first. This was poor running and Brazell hadn't shown enough energy especially as right wasn't Takahashi. Next was Sekimoto and he struck out. Mayumi screwed up here signaling the steal. Abe was ready for it and threw to second for an easy final out. Brazell isn't the fastest round the bases and this move was just folly especially as Abe is clued in to these situations. Less predictability would help. Ohmura led off Giants seventh by flying out which brought up Ogasawara. He received a poor cutball. Unlike Toritani he didn't mistime this and hammered it into the Giants oendan for a solo home run 2-0 Giants. This was a really huge blow at that stage of the game. Fujimura (replacement second) grounded out and then Utsumi struck out looking to end the innings. Utsumi returned for Tigers eighth, maybe unnecessarily and it looked dangerous with Kanemoto leading off with a two base hit to right. Maybe Tigers could make something of this. First was Fujii who was easy meat even for a tired Utsumi and he struck out without doing anything. Next was Uemoto pinch hitting for Iwata. He isn't someone I would have thought appropriate for this kind of situation - a batter with more power would be maybe better. He also struck out - two outs and Kanemoto still on second. Finally, we saw Ryota Arai pinch hitting for Murton. He worked the count full but then struck out to a ball - a pretty rusty shot and I would say that he should be getting at bats ahead of Uemoto as he has more potential. Utsumi had done well but had thrown 126 pitches. Fukuhara pitched Giants eighth - he started with a left two base hit to Sakamoto. This was lucky as Sakamoto swung rather wildly and the ball ran along the ground bouncing just inside the line. Terauchi bunted Sakamoto to third and the sacrifice looked on. However, Fukuhara struck out Chono on a full count and then it was decided to walk Ramirez. Once this was accomplished Mayumi brought on Kojima for the final out, not trusting Fukuhara. Ramirez was pinch run for by Suzuki who stole second but Kojima got Abe to fly out to right to end the innings. Tigers had escaped this one. Yamaguchi pitched Tigers ninth. Before the innings, Hara could be seen in the dugout talking with Utsumi. He was explaining to Utsumi why he wasn't going to pitch him in the ninth and give him a shot at a complete game. A wise decision and something Mayumi should note. Yamaguchi faced Hirano who also hit along the left baseline. However, he was unlucky and the ball landed foul unlike Sakamoto. Hirano grounded out and so did Toritani. At this point Hara switched to Kubo for the final out - there was no need to do this except that the save would go to Kubo not Yamaguchi. He faced Arai and almost missed out on the save losing control of a pitch which almost took Arai's head off. It was totally accidental and luckily didn't make contact. Arai finally popped on up to left who took a comfortable catch to end the innings. Giants victory.

Tigers hadn't played that well and hadn't taken advantage of the Giants mistakes especially in the fourth when Utsumi was vulnerable. They had found it easy to hit extra base hits but hadn't exploited them. Iwata needs to pitch better - the run in the sixth was unnecessary especially as the main threat had been eliminated. Fujii at catcher is proving more of a problem but of more urgent concern is the need for batters to hit with runners on. After five Tigers are very weak and they do need to strengthen that part. Maybe moving Brazell to left and bringing in Ryota Arai for a long run might help.