March 29th Messenger v Tateyama - An encouraging start

This game was a nice way to start the season with the imports contributing nicely. It's only the first game but the ability to forge ahead was nice to see. There is a slight cloud on the horizon though and more of that later. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    2 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 0 9 17 0
Swallows  0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3  7 1

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (First)
5. Fukudome (Right)
6. Murton (Left)
7. Conrad (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Messenger (Pitcher)

Swallows
1. Tanaka (Second)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Milledge (Left)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Matsui (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Nakamura (Catcher)
9. Tateyama (Pitcher)

Things went badly for Swallows from the start. Nishioka singled in his first at bat for Tigers and then Yamato engineered an infield hit outrunning the field to reach first safely runners on first and second. Toritani hit a grounder to second which moved the runners to second and third then Ryota hit to Tanaka again who fumbled this time. One run scored and the speedy Yamato took third with Ryota on first. Fukudome grounded out forcing out Ryota but brought Yamato home 2-0 Tigers; Swallows not being able to engineer the double play. Murton singled but Conrad struck out to end the innings. Swallows first started quietly, both Tanaka and Ueda grounded out to Nishioka with Milledge doubling into left field. Hatakeyama could only ground out to short to end the innings. Tateyama was just as shakey in his second innings but escaped without damage this time. After disposing of Fujii and Messenger he gave up another single to Nishioka. He then plunked Yamato to set up runners on first and second but Toritani hit a grounder to second and this time Tanaka was secure. Messenger then returned the compliment and dead balled Matsui - totally stupid and unnecessary but Swallows had a runner on first with no outs. They couldn't exploit it though. Two strike outs followed and Matsui was tagged out trying to steal second - some nice work by Fujii here. The third innings was quiet with the batters falling in order on both sides.

Tigers fourth started with Conrad striking out for the second time and Fujii and Messenger rapidly following him. In Swallows fourth nothing came of a two out Hatakeyama single and Tigers maintained their two run lead. Yamato who was having a great game singled with one out in Tigers fifth. He was caught stealing but Toritani walked as did Ryota Arai. Fukudome singled to right and Toritani motored home 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Murton could only ground out but Tigers were building a good lead. Swallows needed to do something to stop the game running away with them and they were helped to some extent by Fujii's poor calling in the bottom of the fifth. I have written about his inability to read the mid-game and this is the fourth time in four games were a pitcher under his direction has blown a lead or lost the game (Messenger 22nd March, 3 runs in the sixth, Iwata 23rd 1 run in the fourth and Fujinami 24th 5 runs in the sixth). It started with an infield single from Miyamoto. One out later Nakamura singled as well and then Iwamura (pinch hitter) walked to load the bases, all with no outs. Messenger then walked Tanaka - oshidashi 3-1 Tigers, bases loaded no outs as Fujii struggled to come up with a solution. Ueda hit a sacrifice fly to right bringing in another run 3-2 Tigers, runners on first and third. Then Milledge singled left bringing in the tying run 3-3 runners on first and second. Finally, Hatakeyama grounded out to end the innings. Poor calling had blown the lead. What was encouraging though was how Tigers responded. Tateyama was out of the way and the Swallows weak relief was exposed with Hirai taking over. Conrad hammered a double into right and then took second on Fujii's infield single. Messenger bunted the runners round to second and third and Conrad made home on Nishioka's grounder to second 4-3 Tigers, runners on first and third. Yamato singled but instead of going for the out at first Swallows threw successfully to home and took Fujii instead - no run but runners on first and second. This brought a pitching change with Hidaka taking over. He walked Toritani to load the bases but got Ryota to ground out to end the innings. Swallows couldn't respond in their sixth and the batters fell in order as Fujii and Messenger restored control. One felt that the run had knocked the stuffing out of the Swallows offense.

Tigers were full of beans though and with Fukudome out Murton singled to centre. Conrad flew out but Fujii singled again putting runners on first and second. Hidaka departed to be replaced by Matsuoka and Takahiro Arai (pinch hitting for Messenger) whacked the ball to right centre for a timely double 5-3 Tigers, runners on second and third. Nishioka singled right to bring both runners home 7-3 with Nishioka taking second to add insult to injury. Yamato flew out though and ended the rally. For Swallows seventh we saw a risen Andoh. He had an easy innings retiring his three batters in order without looking that convincing. Kyuko pitched Tigers eighth and faced Toritani who doubled to centre. Two flyouts followed and then Murton singled bringing home the runner 8-3 Tigers. Murton was pinch run for by Shunsuke. Conrad doubled again to set up runners on second and third. Next came Fujii who singled and brought in a run 9-3 Tigers, runners on first and third. Sekimoto (pinch hitter and replacement third) was the final batter and he struck out to end the innings. For Swallows eighth the pitcher was Fukuhara and he has had trouble with Fujii. Their relationship at first was good then soured and he could not be used with Fujii at all. It was encouraging to see that they were working well together again and Fukuhara needed only 7 pitches to remove the three batters he faced. Tigers ninth was pitched by Fujita who retired Nishioka but then gave up a single to Yamato. Toritani and Ryota couldn't do anything and the innings was scoreless with Tigers taking their foot off the accelerator. There just remained the formality of Swallows ninth. It wasn't quite that with Kubo pitching to Fujii. Not a happy combination it seemed though things did work out. Matsui led off with a single and then Miyamoto grounded out to second taking Matsui to second. Takeuchi (pinch hitter) singled to set up runners on first and third and it began to look like Swallows could work a consolation run. Kubo's response was impressive - he struck out the next two batters to end the game. Tigers victory.

It had been an impressive outing for Tigers new team. They had set up chances and taken them with a ruthlessness which had overwhelmed the unprepared Swallows. The new additions had all contributed nicely and Messenger had become the first foreign pitcher to win an opening day start in Japan since Gene Bacque in 1965 (thanks to Gen at Yakyu Baka for that gem). Not all games will be like this though and Fujii's weaknesses are worrying. He does need to remain as a catcher who appears in a limited amount of games. When Fujinami starts his regular season games one would hope that he pitches to Komiyama or Hidaka but not Fujii.