June 29th Nohmi v Akagawa - Baka Tigers

I have written about how Marines were useless and now I have to apply the same evaluation to the Tigers. A five run (yes, five run) margin squandered and a game lost and yes Fujii was terrible again. He had a good night with the bat but behind the plate he was even more useless than normal and his errors cost the team dear. Fukuhara hurt his lower back and had to go off the field and Kanemoto had a rest day. He was replaced by Sekimoto about whose batting the less said the better is the best approach. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    0 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 12 1
Swallows  0 0 0 3 1 0 2 1 X 7  7 0

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Milledge (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Short)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Balentien (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Miyade (Left)
8. Nakamura (Catcher)
9. Akagawa (Pitcher)

Brazell was 'rested' for this game as well. Though unlike Kanemoto this was more of a punishment rest probably 'pour encourager les autres'. Akagawa was terrible from the start - he gave up a one out single to Hirano and then another single to Takahiro Arai which set up runners on first and third with two outs. However, next was Sekimoto who was clearly hitting above his weight and he lined out to third. Nohmi started well getting Milledge to fly out off the first pitch but then needing full counts for both the next two batters. Still the batters both went down in order. Things exploded in Tigers second. Akagawa stunk and gave up a lead off single to Yamato. Fujii also singled left and set up runners on first and third. Nohmi hit a grounder to first who threw to home in time to catch Yamato going for the plate and get the out. Runners on first and second with no runs. Murton walked to load the bases and then Hirano hit to centre to bring in the first run 1-0 Tigers, bases loaded. Toritani drew a walk - oshidashi 2-0 Tigers, bases loaded. Takahiro Arai hit his first pitch into left bringing in two more runs 4-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. This time Sekimoto flew out to left to complete the innings. Nohmi was a bit more economical in Swallows second and managed to retire the three batters without trouble. Tigers third and more trouble for Akagawa. Ryota Arai worked the count full and then blasted the ball into the left stand for a solo home run 5-0 Tigers. Yamato and Fujii both flew out to right and then Nohmi flew out to centre. Incidentally, Tigers former ace, Igawa was also starting this night for Buffaloes. He looked the same old Igawa - pitching poorly if he wasn't interested in the game and he didn't seem interested in this one. Swallows would pick up their first base runner in their third with Nakamura walking after Miyade had flown out to centre. Kawamoto pinch hit for Akagawa but struck out as did Milledge.

Things were looking good for the Tigers as they started the fourth. Swallows starter had been knocked out of the game and they had a five run lead. Fernandes took over on the mound and walked Hirano. Then Toritani singled right to set up runners on first and second. This time Takahiro Arai struck out and once again Sekimoto failed. It would have been better to have left Brazell in the side. Now things began to fall apart. Tanaka led off Swallows fourth grounding out. Then Kawabata singled to centre. Hatakeyama worked the count full and picked up a walk. This meant that Nohmi faced a genuine home run batter, Balentien, with two on. Balentien worked the count full and then slammed the ball deep into the left stand for a three run home run 5-3 Tigers. This woke Nohmi up rather and he got Miyamoto to pop out to Toritani and then Miyade to fly out to right. Tigers fifth and Ryota Arai drew a lead off walk. Yamato flew out to right - it was nice to see that the bunt wasn't being used. However, Fujii hit deep into right to bring home the run 6-3 Tigers, runner on second. Nohmi bunted Fujii to third - a pointless waste of an out as Murton hit his first pitch back to Fernandes for the final out. Just how poorly Nohmi was pitching and Fujii was calling became immediately evident in the Swallows fifth. Nakamura led the innings of with a solo home run to left 6-4 Tigers. Still this was an eminently defendable lead - it just needed care and coopertion by the Tigers battery. Shoda pitched Tigers sixth and with two out gave up a single to Takahiro Arai who bounced it off the pitcher. Sekimoto chose to fly out in foul ground to end the chance. Nohmi was in control in the Swallows sixth - he retired the Swallows clean up in order and possibly the jitters were over and Tigers were going to hold the lead.

Oshimoto took over for Tigers seventh. Ryota Arai and Yamato both struck out swinging and then Oshimoto got a bit too casual and gave up a single to left to Fujii. Wada sent in Brazell as a pinch hitter but he popped up his second pitch to short to end the innings. As Nohmi had been pinch hit for the new pitcher was Tsutsui and here there was no communication between pitcher and catcher. Firstly Miyamoto grounded out. Then Miyade took a swing and just deposited the ball over the fence for a solo home run 6-5 Tigers. Tsutsui went to pieces and gave up consecutive hits to Nakamura (who hit to Hirano. The Tigers second fielded but couldn't make the throw) and Fukuchi - runners on first and second. Wada panicked and brought on Kubota. With Fujii calling the result was never in doubt and Milledge singled right to bring in a run 6-6 scores tied, runners on first and third. Here we had a classic piece of stupidity from Ogawa, with one out and a runner on third he had Tanaka bunt. Of course the squeeze wasn't on and all that happened was that Milledge made second. A real waste of an out but very useful for Tigers. Katoh then took over from Kubota and got Kawabata to fly out to third in foul ground and end the innings. Tigers had lost the lead but not yet the game. Swallows pitcher for Tigers eighth was Hidaka who frankly wasn't up to the job. He gave up a lead off single to Murton. Wada then had Hirano bunt Murton to second - proof that it isn't only Ogawa who is stupid when it comes to bunts. Toritani walked to set up runners on first and second which showed just how pointless the bunt had been. Hidaka was replaced by Yamamoto. He got Arai to fly out and Sekimoto to fly out for the second time to first. Tigers had blown the chance. Fukuhara took over for Swallows eighth and persuaded Hatakeyama to fly out. Then with the count at 1-1 he suddenly pulled up on the mound. He had put his lower back out and had to be replaced by Watanabe. Balentien walked and was pinch run for by Hiyane. Hiyane went to steal second and Fujii dropped the ball and fumbled allowing the steal to be successful not that there was any guarantee of the throw getting the out. Fujii is no Komiyama. Miyamoto walked to set up runners on first and second but then Fujii missed a pitch and Hiyane took third. Wada panicked again and brought in the field whilst a double play might have been on if they had stayed out. But all this presupposes Fujii and Watanabe working together to engineer this. The jury is out on that option. Fujimoto (pinch hitter) was next and he singled to Hirano who messed up the take but he was lucky enough to stop it. However, Hiyane was home 7-6 Swallows, runners on first and second. Ogawa then came to Tigers rescue having Nakamura bunt the runners to second and third. The final out was Aikawa (pinch hitter) who grounded out to third. Swallows had the slimmest of margins to defend in Tigers ninth but made a much better job than Tigers had done of their five run lead. Barnette was the pitcher and he first struck out Ryota Arai. Kanemoto (pinch hitter) lined out to first and then Hiyama (pinch hitter) grounded out to second to end the game. Swallows victory.

A quite remarkable game and victory to the Swallows. All credit to them for fighting back but one can't help feeling that Tigers threw the game away. Of course sometimes the pitcher is the problem and a catcher can't do anything about it - witness Iwata who defied the efforts of Fujii and Komiyama a couple of days before. However, when the entire pitching lineup struggles then one has to question the use of the particular catcher. Wada is incapable of doing this and uses the inadequate Fujii in preference to the better Komiyama. Once again Wada's management had been severely exposed. Tigers have now got a losing streak of four in a row. One hopes that they can bounce back and take the afternoon game against the Swallows.