April 12th Nohmi v Utsumi - Crushing the Giants underfoot

In winning this series Wada demonstrated that despite his team he is an idiot. His management was totally pathetic calling for bunts when Tigers had an enormous margin and then over pitching his starter. Yes Nohmi did get a complete game shutout but so what? If he had exited after the seventh he would have still gotten the victory and the relief would have had some valuable practice. Tigers main problem is relief pitching and as the season progresses this issue is going to become more relevant. Wada needs to remember that this is a marathon not a sprint and that if he wants Tigers to be in at the death he needs to conserve his pitchers arms and not go after unnecessary achievements. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Giants  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6 1
Tigers  0 1 0 1 0 3 2 2 X 9 14 0

Giants
1. Chono (Right)
2. Kataoka (Second)
3. Anderson (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Lopez (First)
6. Abe (Catcher)
7. Sakamoto (Short)
8. Hashimoto (Centre)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

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

Giants would start the first with two going down but Anderson would single to centre and then Murata hit left - runners on first and second. Lopez though grounded out to Toritani. Tigers first saw no one reach base - Utsumi had started well. Giants second was similar with no one reaching base. In Tigers second two were down and Ryota was at the plate. Utsumi tried a low outside changeup and Ryota got hold of it very effectively hitting it into the Tigers oendan for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Fukudome flew out to end the innings. Nohmi did well in Giants third - he was basically faced with the bottom of the Giants order but he protected the precious one run very well and no one reached base. Tigers third showed a similar situation and no one reached base.

Giants fourth and Anderson worked a walk to lead off the innings. Murata singled right to put runners on first and third and things looked very dangerous. Giants just couldn't convert though. Lopez managed to fly out to Gomez in foul ground and then Nohmi struck out Abe and Sakamoto - this was really excellent work. It also gave Tigers a base to build on. With one out in their fourth Toritani hit to Sakamoto and beat him to first. Gomez went deep and it initially looked a home run but died and Anderson took the ball at the fence. Toritani in a piece of inept running had already gone to second and had to return to first. If he had waited he could have taken second. Utsumi though a bit worried by Murton with a runner on walked him to set up runners on first and second. Ryota was next and hit high over third the ball landing nicely safe far from Anderson. Toritani was able to make home safely 2-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. Fukudome though could only ground out to third to end the innings. Once again Nohmi's protection of the lead was exemplary - he retired the batters in order and the Giants remained scorless. Two outs went down in Tigers fifth before Uemoto singled to centre - runner on first. Yamato though couldn't convert and flew out to right to end the innings. Once again in their sixth Giants struggled to generate any momentum and no one reached base. Utsumi was tiring and was punished for it in Tigers sixth. It started badly with Toritani singling left on a full count. Then Gomez hit to centre to set up runners on first and second with no out. Murton was next and took a ball but there was an inevitability about what happened next. Murton got hold of a high straight and hammered it into the Giants fans in the left stand for a three run home run 5-0 Tigers. It was basically the end of the game - the victory shot. Ryota hit a low liner to Murata and Fukudome flew out to short. Fujii managed to work a walk but Nohmi grounded out to short.

Lopez led Giants seventh off with a single to left beating the field. Next was Abe who hit a bit too straight with the ball being fielded by Uemoto who fired it to Toritani for the force out. Toritani then threw to Gomez for the double play. Sakamoto flew out to right in what had been an easy innings for Tigers. This is probably what convinced Wada to go for the complete game shut out. Tigers seventh and after the jettos and dancing girls Uemoto faced Imamura pitching to Kobayashi. This combination didn't work effectively - in fact it didn't work at all. Uemoto doubled nicely into left centre. Yamato hit a simple grounder to first but moved Uemoto round to third. Next was Toritani who has taken a long time to wake up. This time he stroked his first pitch smoothly past the helpless Sakamoto and into left centre for a timely double 6-0 Tigers, runner on second. Gomez struck out and then Murton came to the plate. He hit left to bring in Toritani 7-0 Tigers, runner on first. Murton was pinch run for by Tagami and one has to ask why? Ryota was next and he hit left over third and into the far corner. The sheer folly of replacing Murton was exposed here as Tagami was held up on third. The shot was such that Murton would have taken third anyway. If you bring on a speedster at least use him - not that it really mattered as Tigers were in command but it is just another illustration of Wada's cluelessness. Anyway Tigers had runners on second and third but Shunsuke (replacement right) could only ground out to third and end the innings. Nohmi returned for Giants eighth for the useless gesture that Wada is so fond of. Tigers were seven up and it would have been nice to rest the starter. He started uncertainly giving up a single to left to Hashimoto. Kobayashi hit into a double play though. Next Chono singled but Kataoka flew out to Yamato at centre to end the innings. Tigers were still looking at a shutout. Kasahara took over for Tigers eighth and proved to be no improvement on Imamura. Fujii hit to Kataoka who fumbled and messed up things for an error which allowed the fat one to reach first safely. Then Wada had Nohmi bunt (with a seven run lead!!) and Nohmi who was obviously disgusted by this instruction bunted straight back to Kasahara who was able to turn a nice double play. Uemoto who is hitting well singled left and then made seconed on a wild pitch. Yamato walked on a full count and Tigers had runners on first and second. Next was Toritani who punched the ball into centre bringing in a run 8-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Gomez followed and hit right to bring in Yamato 9-0 Tigers. The throw from Chono to third though was excellent and Toritani was tagged out as he slid into the base to end the innings. There only remained Giants ninth in Wada's pointless demonstration. Nohmi did well and struck out Anderson looking. He got Murata to fly out to centre and then Lopez grounded out to Ryota to end the game. Tigers victory.

Despite the stupidness it had been as comprehensive a victory as the Tigers first game of the season though the winners were reversed. Tigers had been in total control and had exhibited a ruthlessness that has been lacking. They had also overcome their managers stupidity and batted sensibly taking the chances they created. Giants had looked ordinary and feeble in the face of the onslaught and if Tigers can play the same way tomorrow there is the chance of a sweep.