June 25th Nohmi v Bradley - Good work

Gotigersredsox asked why they schedule so many of these games in remote places during the rainy season. I don't really know the answer but it's probably because the potential income loss is less than at a major stadium. A Koshien game rained out will result in a greater loss of income than a Toyama game. On another unrelated note Tigers are apparently looking at hitting third basemen. What is Ryota Arai then? Candidates for consideration include Baldris; which side dumped him? Apart from the obvious question mark over the intelligence of Tigers management their is the point that Tigers second highest scorer at the moment is their third baseman. They don't need another one - they just need to use some sense. On that issue we saw Hidaka batting sixth? Come on! He is at best a No. 8 and even though it was interesting to see Fujii out of the side that is no excuse to put Hidaka in a position he has no ability for. Tigers are looking like finishing second at the moment but the side's potential with decent management is a pennant winner. One begins to see the correctness of Lotte sacking Valentine because he failed to deliver first. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Dragons
1. Fujii (Centre)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Clark (First)
4. Luna (Third)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Hirata (Right)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Donue (Short)
9. Bradley (Pitcher)

With Fujii held out of the game and Hidaka calling it would be interesting to see how Tigers handled the game. Batting wise neither Nishioka nor Yamato started well but Toritani doubled to right centre. Murton walked and Tigers were well placed but the Dragons, if anything, are difficult to break down and Arai trying to drive left grounded out to short. Nohmi's start was good though - all three batters going down in order. Maybe Hidaka would have a good game but there was also the factor of needing to avoid pushing the losing streak further. After one innings Bradley was replaced by Okada. The reason for this was some swelling on his right index finger. Hidaka's first at bat in Tigers second was pathetic - a ground out but Ryota doubled nicely to right. Itoh grounded out taking Ryota to third which left Nohmi. His heroics later would be interesting but this time he could only strike out. Dragons first hit came in their second courtesy of Luna who singled left. Wada hit into a double play but then as so often happens with pitchers pitching to Hidaka, there was another single; from Hirata. Tanishige though grounded out and spared any worries. Tigers third was quiet with Toritani showing a rare misjudgment and striking out to end the innings. Dragons third was also quiet but the game was moving along at a fantastic pace.

Tigers fourth saw no one get on base and after a somewhat wobbly start Okada was now pitching smoothly and well. Clark singled with one out in Dragons fourth but then Luna hit back to Nohmi who spun and threw to second for the innings ending double play. Tigers fifth saw the first of Nohmi's shock blows - a double to right - so far all of Tigers hits had come in that direction and all had been doubles. Nishioka walked but Yamato grounded out to short. Hirata singled in Dragons fifth with Wada out - a straight drive into centre. Tanishige flew out but then Donue hit over the infield into centre - runners on first and second. Ibata (pinch hitter) was the the next batter and there were no heroics from him - he obligingly grounded out to end the danger. Mutoh took over but Tigers sixth saw another hit and yes it was another double - a one out hit to right centre from Murton. Arai grounded out taking Murton to third and then Hidaka grounded out to second as well. If only Ryota had been batting sixth. Dragons sixth was quiet and so far the game was scoreless. Nohmi had thrown 61 pitches all told.

Ryota worked a walk to lead off Tigers seventh and Itoh took a swing at his third pitch. This went to second but took Ryota to second base. Then Nohmi singled to centre, putting runners on first and third. Nishioka hit to left where the ball was fielded by short. Of course the throw was aimed at second to initiate the double play but this didn't come off. Ryota made home 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. Yamato flew out but Tigers now held a slender lead. Dragons response in their seventh was surprisingly subdued and no one reached base. As it was basically their clean up this was a good bit of work by Tigers. Kobayashi started Tigers eighth and walked Toritani to lead off the innings. He was immediately replaced by Suzuki who got Murton to fly out. Arai did the same and then Hidaka grounded out. Nohmi started Dragons eighth comfortably, getting Tanishige to fly out. Then Donue did the same. Here things went wrong - Yamasaki (pinch hitter) walked. Fujii singled to right which allowed Matsui (pinch running for Yamasaki) to take third with Fujii on first. Araki singled to centre bringing in the runner on third 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and second. A wild pitch took the runners to second and third - Hidaka making a mess of a stop - before Clark flew out to centre to end the innings. Nakata took over the pitching for Tigers ninth and faced Ryota. The first pitch was low and outside and Ryota left it. The second was a straight - a bit above the centre. Ryota got hold of this one and blasted it over the fence for a solo home run 2-1 Tigers. Itoh flew out and Nohmi and Nishioka grounded out to end the innings. Tigers were in front and Wada decided to go with Nohmi for Dragons ninth as well. This was unnecessary and he should have used his closer. Nohmi struck out Luna but then Wada hit the ball straight. It cannoned off Nohmi's leg for a single. Nohmi was removed as a precaution and Fukuhara took over with a runner on first. He handled the situation well inducing HIrata to hit into the game ending double play. Tigers victory.

A valuable victory as the game had been tight and against one of the toughest opponents in this sort of game. Tigers need to win this sort of game and had also stopped their losing streak. Nohmi later proved to be OK though a bit bruised but nothing more serious. Ryota was the hero of course but Tigers do need to stop batting inadequate replacements ahead of him.