October 6th Messenger v Masubuchi - Brazell wallops the Swallows

With a need to win and win well Tigers swept the Swallows taking Masabuchi apart. Well maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but Tigers established a lead and were able to hold it. Messenger had a much better outing than his previous two attempts and recorded his 12th victory. Swallows were only able to post one run and didn't seem to be able to cope with the pitching and fell to second place behind the Dragons. I rather want the Dragons to win the pennant on the grounds that it will make the Chunichi front office really look like the imbeciles they are. 'Hey our manager put us in first place so we're sacking him'. This doesn't mean that Tigers are going to reach an A class finish and Mayumi still has to go. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5 0
Tigers    1 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 X 7 15 0

Starting lineups

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

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

This game proved to be a bit of a romp with everyone having a nice day though driving in runs would have been problematic without Brazell. Swallows though started brightly with Aoki hitting a two base to left centre. He was bunted to third by Fukuuchi on the grounds that the next batter would somehow get him home but this didn't quite work out. Kawabata struck out swinging forgetting that Messenger is a very accomplished pitcher with a vicious fork which he employed to full effect. This brought up Hatakeyama who grounded out to second to end the innings. With one out in Tigers first Shibata hit to right. Toritani went the same way to set up runners on first and third. Arai then supplied an efficient sacrifice fly 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. This innings Brazell grounded out to second - his time would come. With one out Tanaka walked but can anyone in the Swallows fan base explain to me why Whitesell batted five and Balentien seven? It seems to me a rather illogical approach. Anyway Tanaka stayed on first as neither Balentien nor Aikawa could move him off base. Tigers second was different. Murton led off with a single to left. Kanemoto singled to right. Fujii bunted the runners to second and third - a pointless waste of an out with Messenger next. He grounded out to third which meant two outs. Then Hirano hit to short and this brought in one run 2-0 Tigers, Kanemoto was out trying to go too far. Still enterprise and a two run lead. This was good work by the Tigers. Masabuchi led off Swallows third by doing nothing but then Aoki had another nice at bat this time hitting a three base. Fukuuchi grounded out to short but it was enough for Aoki to make home 2-1 Tigers. Kawabata grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers third saw Shibata lead off with a single. He made second on Toritani's ground out but neither Arai nor Brazell did anything and the innings was scoreless.

With one out in Swallows fourth Whitesell managed a two base hit. He moved to third on Tanaka's ground out but then Balentien flew out. Messenger was giving away a lot of extra base hits but so far only one run. With two out in Tigers fourth Fujii managed a two base hit. This would have been nice with a real batter but the next person in line was Messenger. Luck wasn't in and he struck out to end the innings. Aikawa led off Swallows fifth with a single. So far Swallows had had a runner on every innings. He was bunted to second by Masabuchi and this time Aoki flew out. Then Fukuuchi grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers fifth was just quiet and Masabuchi could be satisfied with a well pitched innings but Tigers still held the lead. Hatakeyama hit in Swallows sixth with one out. Whitesell then drove into a double play to end the innings. Swallows were squandering chances like anything. Arai grounded out to lead off Tigers sixth. Next was Brazell. He swung nicely and hit a solo home run to left 3-1 Tigers and a nice margin.

Mayumi decided to risk Messenger for Swallows seventh. He started by walking Tanaka but then struck out Balentien, once again with a fork. Aikawa then hit straight to Toritani for an easy double play and the innings was over. Tigers seventh saw Hirano hit with two outs. Shibata was next and rather than waiting Mayumi had Hirano try to steal second. Hirano was out and the innings was over - rather a waste this one. Messenger didn't pitch Swallows eighth but was replaced by Enokida. Enokida walked Iihara (pinch hitter) which surprised everyone. Iihara made second on Aoki's ground out and third on Fukuuchi's ground out but then Kawabata struck out looking and the innings was over. Oshimoto took over for Tigers eighth and stunk. Shibata led off with a single to centre. Toritani hit to Oshimoto whom by the time he fielded had runners on first and second with no outs. Arai hit to right bringing in the runner on second 4-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Next was Brazell who hit his second home run of the night to right this time a three run home run 7-1 Tigers. Murton hit right and Shunsuke (replacement left) hit left. With runners on first and second Fujii hit into a double play which rather indicates his batting ability. Murton made third but then Yamato (pinch hitter) flew out to end the innings. Still Tigers were now well in control. Watanabe pitched the Swallows ninth and retired the batters in order to end the game. Tigers victory.

After their series of losses to the Swallows Tigers had swept the Tokyo outfit. Messenger picked up his twelveth win in style. Brazell had had a good series at Kyocera with three home runs and it is nice to see him hitting again. Still more work to do for the Tigers but the start of the long series has been good.