July 1 Fujinami v Ishikawa - Swallows lose their wings

Tigers snapped their losing streak with a big win over the Swallows in which the batting finally came alive. However, be warned both starting pitchers were terrible with Ishikawa being pulled in the fourth and Fujinami being terrible as well though better than Ishikawa. Fujinami threw 129 pitches over 6 innings and gave up 6 earned runs which was not a good performance. He really should have been replaced after the fifth but once again Wada went for the over-pitching of his starter. And talking of starters despite being given the all clear at hospital Nohmi is going to be out for at least one game. Futagami is likely to replace him. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Swallows  2 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0  6 11 1
Tigers    7 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 X 12 13 0

Starting Lineups

Swallows
1. Morioka (Short)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Yamada (Second)
4. Kawabata (Third)
5. Yuhei (Right)
6. Iwamura (First)
7. Aikawa (Catcher)
8. Takeuchi (Left)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

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

With Nishioka out due to elbow problems Uemoto was restored to lead off batter. The start of the game wasn't good for Fujinami. Morioka did walk but then Fujinami walked Ueda and Yamada, one after the other - runners on first and second. Kawabata grounded out to Arai who threw to first for the out but the runners moved round into scoring positions. Yuhei was next and hit the ball nicely into right bringing in both runners 2-0 Swallows, runner on first. Yuhei then tried to steal second but Umeno's throw was good and he was tagged out to end the innings. Fujinami had been bad but Ishikawa was much, much worse. Uemoto led off with a single to left. Then Yamato also singled left. Toritani singled right and the bases were loaded with no outs. Gomez hit deep to right for the sacrifice fly 2-1 Swallows, runners on first and third, Yamato having tagged up and taken third. Then Murton hit towards Morioka who couldn't hold and deflected the ball into the outfield. Whilst the Swallows sorted that one out another run was scored and Murton took second 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and second. Arai turned up the pressure a bit more hitting into centre and bringing in both runners 4-2 Tigers. The throw in missed the catcher though and Arai was able to take third. Next was Fukudome who also helped himself to a run hitting his first pitch to right 5-2 Tigers, runner on first. Umeno hit his first pitch deep to left and over the fence for a two run home run 7-2 Tigers. Fujinami struck out swinging and Uemoto up for his second at bat grounded out to third to end Ishikawa's pain. The game was theoretically over as a contest with Fujinami just needing to relax and hold the lead. However, he isn't pitching well and so holding the lead was one of those academic terms which didn't really apply in this situation. With two out Takeuchi doubled to left. Ishikawa was next and he hit to short where Toritani fielded but couldn't get the throw away in time - runners on first and third. Morioka singled right bringing in the runner 7-3 Tigers, runners on first and second. The third out finally went down after that with Ueda flying out to left in foul ground. Tigers second actually saw the better Ishikawa with the batters going down in order. Swallows third was more of a lucky escape. Yamada led off with a single to left. Kawabata struck out but then Yuhei also singled left - runners on first and second. This time though, Fujinami had just enough to dismiss Iwamura and Aikawa without giving up another run. Once again Tigers innings was quiet with no one reaching base in the third.

Swallows fourth started in dramatic fashion with Takeuchi doubling right over the head of Fukudome. Ishikawa bunted him to third and then Fujinami dead balled Morioka on a full count to set up the double play chance. It didn't work out as Ueda hit deep into centre for the sacrifice fly 7-4 Tigers, runner on first. The lead was being nibbled away at. Yamada walked but Kawabata grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers decided to respond and Ishikawa's period of grace was over. Umeno led off Tigers fourth with another big hit - this one to left centre and a solo home run this time 8-4 Tigers, Fujinami grounded out but then Uemoto singled to centre. Yamato hit right and this was enough for Ogawa who replaced Ishikawa with Matsuoka. It didn't help. Toritani tripled bringing in two more runs 10-4 Tigers, runner on third. Next was Gomez who hammered the ball over the left fence for a two run home run 12-4 Tigers. Matsuoka finally managed to establish some control getting Murton to ground out and Arai to fly out but Tigers would have to work really hard to lose this game. There were signs that Fujinami was prepared to put in the work to reach this goal. With one out in Swallows fifth Iwamura doubled left over Murton. A wild pitch took him to third but Swallows couldn't convert and no score resulted from this innings. With one out in Tigers fifth Umeno walked but stayed on first as no one moved him round. The surprising thing was given the poor performance he had been putting up Fujinami pitched the sixth. It would have been better to go for the relief as Fujinami hadn't improved. Iihara (pinch hitter led off the innings with a double to right centre. Morioka grounded out to first taking Iihara to third. Then Ueda hit a triple to right centre as well bringing home a run 12-5 Tigers, runner on third. Yamada hit to centre for a sacrifice fly which really wasn't what was needed 12-6 Tigers. Swallows needed to score more and couldn't do it with the final batter, Kawabata flying out to centre to end the innings. Tigers sixth was pitched by Akagawa who walked Yamato to lead off the innings. Toritani flew out to left and then Gomez hit into a double play to end the innings.

Even Wada wasn't stupid enough to have Fujinami pitch Swallow seventh and instead brought Katoh on. It was still a bit of a challenging innings. With one out Noguchi (pinch hitter and replacement first) doubled over Yamato. Aikawa did nothing but Takeuchi earned a walk - runners on first and second. Araki (pinch hitter) was next but he popped up to second and ended that chance. Akiyoshi pitched Tigers seventh and with two out gave up a double to Fukudome. Fukudome was pinch run for by Shunsuke who also took over at right. Umeno couldn't do anything this time and grounded out to end the innings. Enokida pitched Swallows eighth and with two out walked Yamada. However, Kawabata who had had a dreadful night struck out swinging and that was that. Iwahashi pitched Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order. For Swallows ninth Wada sent Watanabe to the mound and he retired the Swallows batters in order as well - the first time in the game they hadn't had a runner on base. Tigers victory.

A nice victory with Tigers hammering some poor pitching and bringing the runners home. However, it shouldn't disguise the fact that Fujinami had, even though he picked up the win, been very poor. Umeno had become the first Tigers rookie to hit back to back home runs in a game since Tabuchi in 1969 (thanks Gen for that gem). The losing streak had been broken but what we want to avoid is the habit the Tigers have after these big scores of feeling satiated. The bats then go to sleep (rather like a real tiger after a big feed). Tigers need to develop some consistency especially as the Swallows offense was rather good. They need to keep on scoring steadily and consistently instead of one big splurge.