September 25th Messenger v Utsumi - Not every game

Messenger isn't going to win every game and this was one of them. He didn't have his rhthym and despite some good pitches was overall not good. Mayumi after his folly of using Nishimura as a pinch runner decided to rest Shibata. I'm no Shibata fan but the logic of this escapes me. Shibata had hit well that game and with Asai representing no improvement at centre then what is the point of starting him instead of Shibata? You are supposed to go with the guy that's hitting aren't you and not replace him when he's successful? Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4  8 1
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 11 1

Starting lineups

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Fujimura (Second)
3. Chono (Right)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Fields (First)
6. Takahashi (Left)
7. Furuki (Third)
8. Hashimoto (Centre)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

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

It was all set up for Tigers to take the game and pull even further ahead of Giants in their private contest. Unfortunately, it didn' work out that way. Messenger started uncertainly walking Sakamoto. Fujimura tried to bunt but failed and for his third strike swung and missed. The first out. Then Chono also swung - at a brilliant high pitch and he too missed. Finally Abe struck out looking and Messenger had done rather well. Hirano started Tigers first by hitting nicely into right. He was bunted to second by Asai who at least knew how to bunt. Toritani hit a grounder to second and took Hirano to third. Arai was next but he hit straight to third to end the innings. Fields led off Giants second by striking out looking. Then Takahashi drew a walk. Giants sensed a chance but Furuki hit straight at Brazell. He took the ball and went to throw to first but then ran back and stepped on first to get Furuki. Only after that did he throw to second for the double play. Nice work by Brazell. Neither Brazell nor Murton did anything in Tigers second and so it was up to Kanemoto who hit to right. Then Fujii hit left, Sakamoto being a bit slow to respond and missing the ball. Tigers had runners on first and second but the next batter was Messenger and he struck out swinging to end the innings. Hashimoto led off Giants third and had a nice piece of luck. No one expected him to do anything but he took a swing and the ball bounced off his bat into the infield. It didn't go far and by the time Messenger had reached and thrown it Hashimoto had made first safely. Utsumi bunted Hashimoto to second and this brought up Sakamoto. He hit into centre to set up runners on first and third. The ball had stayed in the air a bit long and Asai hadn't looked that fast getting to it. Next was Fujimura who hit nicely into centre bringing home the runner 1-0 Giants, runners on first and second. Chono hit to short - once again the ball bobbled around in the infield and Toritani had to come in a long way to take and throw. Giants now occupied all the bases with only one out. Abe took a big swing and hit deep to right where Murton took it for the second out. Sakamoto tagged up and was home 2-0 Giants, runners on first and third. Then Fields hit into right bringing in another run 3-0 Giants, runners on first and second. Finally, Takahashi hit into centre to fly out and end the innings. A rather successful innings for the Giants. Tigers third was poor. Hirano flew out to Abe and then Asai grounded out to Utsumi. Toritani grounded out to short to end the innings.

In Giants fourth Messenger struck out all three batters he faced - maybe he should have done that in the third. Both Furuki and Hashimoto went swinging and Utsumi looking. Arai led off Tigers fourth with a single to centre. Brazell then hit into a double play and Murton grounded out to third. Tigers were having a hard time getting on base in the face of some determined pitching by Utsumi. With one out in Giants fifth, Fujimura hit left. He though fell next out as Chono hit back at Messenger for the double play. This was Messenger's last innings. Giants sixth would be pitched by someone else. Kanemoto led off Tigers fifth with his second single of the game. He was bunted to second by Fujii and then Utsumi struck out Sekimoto (pinch hitter) with a straight ball. This was a vital out and the final batter of the innings, Hirano grounded out to short. Giants sixth was pitched by Fujihara who did well retiring the batters in order. With one out in Tigers sixth Toritani hit left. Arai hit to third and Furuki coming in fumbled the pick up and Arai was safe on first with Toritani on second. Brazell struck out swinging - a mighty swing which looked nowhere near the ball. Then Murton hit into centre. Toritani raced round the bases sliding past Abe as the throw came in. Abe was a bit too late and Toritani was safe 3-1 Giants, runners on first and second. Kanemoto tried to hit to right and swung nicely but didn't get the distance on it and flew out to end the innings.

Fujihara returned for Giants seventh which was surprising. One would have thought that Mayumi would have switched pitchers but not this time. He faced Furuki who hit a standard grounder to Toritani who messed it up completely. It was incomprehensible but even the best sometimes make errors. So Giants had a runner on first with Yano (pinch hitter) next. He drove along the third base line for a two base hit - runners on second and third and now things looked dangerous. Utsumi was next and struck out looking but Giants still had two outs to play with. Hara didn't want to risk his relief on Tigers seventh. At this point Watanabe took over from Fujihara and gave up a single to Sakamoto. This brought in a run 4-1 Giants runners on first and third. Tigers needed something magical and they got it with Fujimura who hit straight to Hirano. Hirano was standing on the running path and it was an easy job for him to tag Sakamoto and then throw to first for the double play. Utsumi duly returned for Tigers seventh and with two out dead balled Hirano on his butt. Asai was next but grounded out to short to end the innings. All Tigers got out of this was a problem for Hirano in sitting down over the next few days. Nishimura pitched Giants eighth and started by striking out Chono looking. Abe grounded out to second and then Fields was induced to swing at a ball he should have left and the innings was over. For Tigers eighth, Hara went with Yamaguchi. This wasn't so wise but worked out well in the end. Toritani flew out - he missed out but Arai hit to left. Then Brazell hit to right. Murton fell to a sharp catch low down but Kanemoto hit into left. Arai was round the bases and home 4-2 Giants but Brazell the sily chump tried to get to third. The throw from left was good and Furuki applied the tag as Brazell slid in. It was all rather painful for Furuki as the impact was pretty solid but he had gotten the out. Yamaguchi looked rather pleased with himself after the innings which he shouldn't have - he hadn't done well at all. Giants ninth was Enokida. He struck out two Giants and then got Yano to fly out to Hirano at centre. Hirano lost it for a while but made a safe catch. So to the bottom of the ninth and Tigers last chance. Kubo was the pitcher and two days ago he had blown a lead and allowed Tigers to tie the game. This time he faced Shibata (pinch hitter) who singled nicely into centre. Lin (pinch hitter) flew out to centre and Hirano checked his swing but still made contact and had to run. He was tagged out by Fields and Shibata made second. The last throw of the dice was Hiyama (pinch hitter) but he snatched at his second pitch and flew out in foul ground. Giants victory.

Tigers had never really found the energy or intensity to unlock Utsumi and despite getting a run off him didn't look like getting more. The fielding and running errors were both significant and Brazell is not someone who should be trying that kind of trick. Messenger had lacked consistency and not really done well when needed. Fujii was his usual mediocre self and one wonders how long he will continue to be the main catcher (probably the rest of the season).