July 24th Messenger v Yagi - A restful break

Tigers returned to the fray with a comprehensive win over a demoralised and headless Swallows team. The game was really over as a contest in the first innings and this time Tigers pitching did not blow a five run lead. It is also clear that this year there is a difference between the two best sides, Giants and Tigers and all the others. The third place team, Dragons is a good 12 games back and the pennant is beginning to look more and more like a two horse race. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Swallows
1. Yamada (Second)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Milledge (Left)
4. Balentien (Right)
5. Kawabata (Third)
6. Hatakeyama (First)
7. Morioka (Short)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Yagi (Pitcher)

Nishioka missed out on the slugfest in the first, flying out to centre. Shunsuke drew a walk on a long and battling at bat. He stole second but Toritani struck out the very next ball. It was looking like a wasted opportunity but Yagi revived things by walking Murton. One can't think he was walking Murton to get at Arai - that would have been really stupid but throwing all of his pitches in the bottom outside corner wasn't the brightest move. As it was he was still a bit outside with his first pitch and Arai drove it into centre to bring in Shunsuke 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Next was Imanari who hit hard to centre to bring in both runners, Arai once again tearing round the bases 3-0 Tigers, runner on second. The nightmare didn't end there for Yagi he left one in a hittable spot and Ryota slammed it over the fence for a two run home run 5-0 Tigers. Fujii flew out to short ending the innings. Swallows needed a quick response and didn't get it - Messenger was in control. He struck out Yamada and sandwiched Ueda's ground out with another strike out of Milledge to retire the batters in order. Tigers bats meanwhile went to sleep. They didn't really try that hard in the second and fell in order. Swallows first hit came courtesy of a one out single to Kawabata in the second. Then with another out Kawabata singled right - Swallows had runners on first and third and a chance to open their account. They failed and Aikawa grounded out to short to end the innings. Toritani and Murton failed to get on base in Tigers third but Arai hit nicely to left. Imanari walked and Tigers had runners on first and second. It was looking like another big innings was in the offing. This time Ryota failed to deliver and grounded out to short to end the innings. Swallows third was quiet - their brief flurry in the second was just that and they went peacefully to the slaughter.

Nishioka walked with two out in Tigers fourth but Shunsuke grounded out to second - no runs there. Swallows fourth saw another strike out sandwich, the victims being Milledge and Kawabata. Tigers fifth was also quiet - Murton seemed to be having difficulty with Yagi as this time he struck out looking but this was really the only bright spot for the Swallows. Their final hit of the game came in their fifth. With one out Morioka singled left successfully breaking the infield. Murton struck out the next two batters with Tanaka (pinch hitter) swinging just that bit too far to end the innings. Matsuoka took over the pitching duties and kept the Tigers quiet in their sixth retiring the batters in order. Yamada led off Swallows sixth hitting to Ryota who made his customary error (a throwing error this time) allowing the runner to reach first safely. Ueda struck out but Yamada was able to make second on Milledge's ground out. However, Balentien's swing wasn't good and he popped out to Nishioka ending the innings.

Wada decided he was going to pitch Messenger for seven innings which was a bit rash considering he had thrown 95 pitches but normal for Wada. Messenger thus led Tigers seventh off striking out in three pitches. Nishioka worked a walk and was pinch run for by Saka. Shunsuke then singled left putting runners on first and second. Toritani then chose the moment to triple with a big hit to right centre bisecting the fielders. Both runners home 7-0 Tigers, runner on third. Murton walked and was pinch run for by Yamato. At this point Matsui took over and let fly a wild pitch facing Arai. Yamato took second but Saka did not go for home. However, this didn't relieve Swallows travails and Asai (pinch hitter and replacement right) walked to load the bases. Ryota was next and hit his first pitch over the fence for his second grand slam of the month 11-0 Tigers. Fujii flew out to centre ending the innings and bringing relief to Swallows. After that innings Messenger had little trouble with the three batters he faced. The stuffing had been totally knocked out of them and only Morioka conjurered up any resistance. Messenger would finish on 107 pitches which was respectable for seven innings. With only four base runners (one of which was an error) it was a very good performance. Emura took over for Tigers eighth and didn't really add anything extra to the mix. With one out Saka singled. Then Shunsuke went to the same side and hit Tigers second triple of the night. Saka didn't hesitate this time and slid home safely 12-0 Tigers, runner on third. Toritani and Messenger flew out to end the game which was in the bag. Komiyama replaced Fujii behind the plate and Boyer took over the mound duties for Swallows eighth. It was a short and effective innings with no one getting on base and the batters falling in five pitches. Swallows just wanted to get out of the ground as quickly as possible. For Tigers ninth we saw one of their discarded pitchers, Abe who had no problems retiring the batters in order. Tigers also weren't bothered about hitting but with the lead they had they didn't need to worry. Matsuda pitched Swallows ninth and took a bit longer but got all three batters to fly out and end the game. Tigers victory.

Tigers had preserved a clean sheet and absolutely hammered the Swallows who had failed abjectly. They do need to lift their game significantly to have any chance of reaching the playoffs. Tigers could be delighted with the result - everything had been perfect and it had been an excellent display of power hitting. Ryota had hit six RBIs in one game for the first time in his career with two big hits. Other batters with big hits were Shunsuke, Imanari and Toritani. Tigers with care don't actually need to lose any more games to the Swallows (but it probably will happen); they were that dominant.