April 26th Iwata v Uehara - Another complete game

This time it was Iwata's turn to pitch the entire match. A better performance than last time saw him throw 102 pitches over 9 innings whilst giving up 2 runs. He struck out six and walked only one and this also has been a factor in Tigers pitching. The number of walks is down. Uehara didn't last five innings for his fourth defeat in a row. Wayne Graczyk in last week's Japan Times thought that this was because Uehara had put himself under too much pressure by declaring he wanted to go to the Majors next season. Maybe there is some truth in this but I would say that Uehara is trying to re-adjust to a starting role in a team which gives very little support to struggling players. Once again Okada went with the Noguchi/Iwata pairing which despite Noguchi's non-existant batting was certainly the right option this time. Yano needed a rest but we do need to see more of the young catchers. Sekimoto was restored to third - another good move which strengthened the side. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Katsuragi (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Noguchi (Catcher)
8. Sekimoto (Third)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Kamei (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Takahashi (Right)
5. Ramirez (Left)
6. Abe (Catcher)
7. Gonzalez (Second)
8. Kimura (Third)
9. Uehara (Catcher)

Iwata started with a Sakamoto strike out and a Kamei ground out to Toritani. Unfortunately, the latter turned into an error and Kamei ended up safe on first. Ogasawara hit and then Takahashi flew out but Kamei scampered round to third anyway. Runners on first and third with two outs. The next batter Ramirez hit to left 1-0 Giants Abe next. He grounded out and Iwata was out of the innings with only slight damage. Tiger's leadoff Akahoshi started well - a two base hit but then sat there as the next three batters struggled unsuccessfully with Uehara. The Giants second involved a Gonzalez walk (Iwata's only walk) but an Uehara double play closed this chance off. In the bottom of the innings Toritani hit but once again Uehara was able to keep anyone from getting to the home plate. The Giants third turned out to be very short just five pitches were needed. The Tigers third though was explosive.

It all started quietly enough. Iwata struck out. Akahoshi was next batter and hit his second two base hit of the night. This time Hirano hit to right driving in Akahoshi scores level 1-1. Then Arai hammered out a two base hit 2-1 Tigers as Hirano had the speed to fly round to home. Kanemoto hit driving Arai to third. Up next was Katsuragi who hit a deep centre sacrifice fly which allowed Arai to reach home 3-1 Tigers. Toritani hit next, runners on first and second with two outs but Noguchi grounded out to Uehara to close the innings. The fourth was quiet for both sides but the Giants struck back in the fifth. Kimura hit and was bunted to second by Uehara. Then came Sakamoto who also hit and Kimura was home 3-2 Tigers. The final batter of the innings Kamei was disposed of with a strike out.

Tigers didn't wait long to respond. Arai had his second two base hit of the night (one of the nice things about this game was the number of extra base hits Tigers players had). Kanemoto hit to drive him to third and next was Katsuragi. This time he hit a long right centre 3 base hit driving home both Arai and Kanemoto 5-2 Tigers. At this point Hara had had enough and Uehara was replaced by Fujita. He was able to get Toritani to fly out and end the innings. The sixth and seventh were both quiet. Iwata continued his progress and Noguchi for the Giants kept things quiet on the Tigers side. In the Giants eighth Kamei hit and advanced to second on a wild pitch but with two outs the next batter, Ogasawara, needed to do well. Iwata struck him out.

Katsuragi came round to bat in the eighth and hit a two base to left. Toritani and then Noguchi walked to load the bases and bring up Sekimoto. He hit a sacrifice fly and it was 6-2 Tigers. The final batter was Iwata who struck out. Obviously he was going to pitch the final innings. Lead off was Takahashi who hit. Next was Ramirez who hit - into a double play. The final batter (ato hitori) was Abe who swung mightly at his first ball. It flew high and far straight into the glove of Akahoshi to end the match. Tigers victory.

A good victory. Once again a Tigers pitcher had gone deep into the game and delivered an economical pitch count. Six extra base hits were most welcome and certainly the key to the victory. Uehara has yet to win and must certainly be a candidate for the Giants second team. Further good news for the Tigers is the return of Vogelsong to the first team - ideally timed to cover Fukuhara's loss.

Well I've never liked Uehara, so it's been a guilty pleasure watching him struggle this year. And it's fun watching Iwata's poise and passion, especially in a Giants game. We had the Rookie of the Year last year, and could have another if he can keep pitching like this.

Ironically Uehara is a Tigers fan. He's from Osaka and has made no secret of it. However, he's always been professional so has never given us any breaks.

Well, always professional except when he cried on the mound. But in a way I respected him for that because he was challenging the Old Boys and saying, "Let me challenge Petagine instead of playing unfair to protect home run titles." Then again, he DID give in...