June 9th Fujinami v Ohmine - Murton takes to sayonara home runs

I sat through the entire game - it went on and on and on. For some reason both teams were not exactly hurrying and at times it was very boring. Still Tigers pulled a rabbit out of the hat and with the strength of the team they cancelled out Wada's incompetent display. Once again Fujii batted six and once again demonstrated no aptitude for the position. He is much better at eight or seven but struggles in the power positions. Hidaka made his unwelcome return and was pretty abysmal - one wonders why Tigers management want to give jobs to these washed out has beens. Thankfully the core of the team is strong and even though Ryota is having an off period they had enough to win the game and take the top spot in the Central League again. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R H  E
Marines  0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0  3 15 2
Tigers   1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2x 4 11 1

Marines
1. Nemoto (Second)
2. Kakunaka (Left)
3. Iguchi (First)
4. Imai (Third)
5. Suzuki (Short)
6. Kiyota (Right)
7. Okada (Centre)
8. Emura (Catcher)
9. Ohmine (Pitcher)

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

Things would start well for Fujinami and then deteriorate. However, it took the addition of Hidaka to really screw things up. The first started spectacularly with two impressive strike outs. Then Iguchi grounded out to short to end the innings - it looked as if Fujinami was going to have another good game. Nishioka and Yamato both fell quickly in Tigers first but then Toritani hit to Suzuki at short. His throw was poor and Iguchi was pulled off base - Toritani was safe. Murton singled right to put runners on first and third. Next was Arai who hit deep to left where Kakunaka ran in to take the ball. He seemed to have it covered but dropped it instead. Toritani seized the chance and raced home 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Fujii walked to load the bases but Ryota hit stupidly to short to end the innings. Marines second started much the same as the first - two outs but then Kiyota singled left. This seemed to spook Fujinami and Fujii was absolutely no help here. Next Okada hit along the line. Ryota wasn't covering his base properly and missed the ball putting runners on first and second. Ehmura bounced one to second which Nishioka couldn't hold and the bases were loaded. Next was Ohmine, however, and Fujinami was able to strike him out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Shibata lead off hitting to third. Imai threw to first once again drawing Iguchi too far off the sack. This should have been a runner on first but the umpire ruled that Shibata was out. The next two batters went down easily. One couldn't say Fujinami looked comfortable and with two out he left one in the middle of the zone for Iguchi to hit. This flew over the fence for a solo home run 1-1 scores tied. One has to say here that the game was being shown on Asahi who were their usual terrible selves actually cutting off the home run ball as it flew to the fence to focus on Fujinami - come on this is elementary editiing. Imai was next and he struck out looking. Marines weren't ahead and so when Yamato led off the Tigers third with a single there was quite a lot of hope. Once again Murton singled right to put runners on the corner with one out. Next was Arai who was lured into striking out. As he did so Murton stole second and it was all down to Fujii. He hit high to right but was always going to fly out and the innings was over.

Suzuki led off the Marines fourth with a single and the ability of the Marines to get their lead off batter on base was quite impressive. Kiyota bunted - imagine asking your No. 6 to bunt - straight to Fujinami who threw to second for the double play. However, the innings wasn't finished and Okada hit left. Emura hit to third where Ryota fielded but fumbled and Marines had loaded the bases. Here Itoh made a very bold decision pulling his pitcher and sending Ohmatsu in to pinch hit. It didn't work and Ohmatsu flew out to centre to end the innings. Fujioka took over for Tigers fourth and struck out Ryota and Shibata looking then got Fujinami to fly out to centre. Tigers seemed to be just hanging on but Marines couldn't make things count. Hidaka took over as catcher for Marines fifth. The first time Fujinami has pitched to anyone but Fujii and things rapidly deteriorated. It started with no outs, Nemoto singling right. Kakunaka tried to hit and once again grounded out to Fujinami who once again was able to throw to second for the double play. It wasn't Marines day. Iguchi singled nicely again and Imai hit very nicely to left but here a fine diving catch by Ryota ended the innings. With Tigers fifth Toritani singled with two out but Murton flew out to end the innings. Fujinami had been living on borrowed time and in the Marines sixth it ran out. Once again the Marines lead off batter got on base - Suzuki singling to right. Kiyota hit to left where the ball missed Ryota's glove and was fielded by Toritani who dropped it. This was ruled a short hit not the error it was - runners on first and second. Okada hit a bounce single and Ryota who fielded went for second but was a bit slow with the throw and the runner was safe - bases loaded and no outs. Still one must reckon with the Marines capacity to screw things up and they did so royally. Emura grounded out straight to Toritani who threw to Hidaka for the force out at home. Hidaka then threw to first for the double play. Marines still had runners on second and third and was Fujinami's turn to screw up. He faced Saburo (pinch hitter) and by now was feeling tired. Saburo singled left where the ball rolled towards Murton who allowed it to squirt under his glove. Both runners were home 3-1 Marines - runner on first. This brought a pitching change - Fujinami having been on too long and Tsutsui took over. Saburo stole second in Nemoto's at bat, Hidaka's throw almost being a disaster except for Nishioka's timely backing up. Still to no avail as Nemoto flew out to left to end the innings. The Marines, though, held a comfortable lead. Nakagoh pitched Tigers sixth and faced Arai who nonchalantly drove the ball along the first baseline for a lead off double. Hidaka grounded out to second which took Arai to third and then Ryota hit straight to short. Suzuki checked to lock Arai on third before throwing to first for the second out. It began to look as if Tigers wouldn't make anything of this innings either. Next was another waste of space Takayama (pinch hitter) who managed to take a dead ball on his back leg - runners on first and third. Still Tigers needed something more so Asai (pinch hitter and replacement right) was sent to the plate. He supplied it - hitting over the infield into centre for a timely single 3-2 Marines, runners on first and second. Nishioka tried hard, just missing out on a home run twice with the ball drifting foul but eventually flying out in foul ground to end the innings. Tigers had trimmed the lead and were nicely poised.

Marines seventh was pitched by Andoh and was quiet. Andoh pitched well and retired the batters in order. Matsunaga took over for Tigers seventh and with one out gave up a double to Toritani - some poor positioning by Kakunaka helping his cause. Murton struck out which brought up Arai. Marines really didn't want to face him and he was deliberately walked - runners on first and second. Wada sent in Shunsuke (pinch hitter) and though he battled hard he eventually succumbed and struck out swinging. Both he and Murton ran on their third swings as Emura had difficulty holding the pitch but the latter was able to recover and throw to first for the outs. Shimizu took over the catching duties for Marines eighth and called to Andoh. This started badly with Suzuki leading off with a single. Then Kiyota also hit a straight single - runners on first and second. Next was Okada who hit straight to Toritani standing next to second. Toritani stepped on the sack and threw to first for yet another double play. Still Marines had a runner on third. Emura was next and fell to a superb outside pitch from Andoh striking out looking to end the innings. Carlos took over for Tigers eighth and struck out the hapless Ryota. Then Saka (pinch hitter) singled left. Next Asai also singled left to set up runners on first and second. Nishioka flew out to centre and next was Hiyama (pinch hitter). He struck out to a very good pitch as well to end the innings. Chances were running out. Katoh started Marines ninth and gave up a lead off single to Ishimine (replacement left). He hit to second where Nishioka was a bit slow to respond and was able to beat the throw to first. Nemoto bunted him to second - the first time in the game a bunt had succeeded. Aono (pinch hitter) was next and he flew out to third. Then Iguchi was deliberately walked to set up runners on first and second. The pitcher was also changed Fukuhara taking over. It was a bit of a battle but Fukuhara patiently winkled Imai out getting him to ground out to second. Tigers ninth and the last chance. Marines pitcher was Masuda who faced Toritani and was in trouble immediately. He threw balls for his first three pitches and after that was always playing catchup. His fourth pitch was a strike which Toritani watched but the fifth was hittable and Toritani stroked it into left for a single. Next was Murton. Masuda was throwing in the zone and the first pitch was fouled off. The next was lifted high to left to land with impeccable placement in the middle of the large contingent of Marines fans - sayonara two run home run and Tigers victory 4-3.

A very good victory - both sides had wasted their chances and both had not shown great skilll behind the plate. The return of Hidaka is a retrograde step which needs to be reversed as soon as possible. Still once again a Tigers batter had come through when needed to win a tight game. This victory put Tigers back on top of the Central League by 0.5 games as the Giants lost their game.