April 27th Sugiyama v Utsumi - The miracle victory

It was as described in the Daily Sports - a miracle. One would have thought that the Tigers were down and out but they fought back to take the match and continue their unbeaten series run. With one exception, Okada's changes and management of the match were superb (yes - I know I am not an Okada fan but here he does deserve credit). Tight and exciting to the end this is the sort of match that the Tigers do need to win. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Ford (Right)
6. Short (Toritani)
7. Yano (Catcher)
8. Sekimoto (Third)
9. Sugiyama (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. Utsumi (Pitcher)

Sugiyama started badly. He gave up a hit to the Giants leadoff batter, Sakamoto, but got Kamei on a ground out and Sakamoto himself was thrown out trying to steal second. Everything OK? Not quite Sugiyama then walked Ogasawara who made second on a wild pitch but luckily the final batter, Takahashi, hit the ball right back at Sugiyama for the final out. Tigers first started with an Akahoshi walk which turned into second base with a Hirano bunt but both Arai and Kanemoto struck out to strand the Tigers leadoff. Giants second was quiet but in the Tigers second Toritani walked. He tried to steal second but was thrown out. Toritani is fast round the bases but doesn't seem to have the explosive acceleration necessary to steal. The Giants third involved a Kimura hit but a Sakamoto double play ended the innings without damage.

The Tigers third was lead off by Sekimoto who put a two base to right centre. The next batter was Sugiyama who struck out but then came Akahoshi who walked. Hirano grounded out to second, moving the runners to second and third and this brought up Arai. He successfully ran the count up to walk and load the bases with two outs. Kanemoto was next but on a 2-2 pitch he was too early with a forkball and struck out swinging. The fourth was quiet except for a Takahashi hit of which nothing came. The Giants fifth involved a Gonzalez hit which brought out a great stop from Toritani. Unfortunately, he could not get the throw to first in time but once again nothing came of it. So to the Tigers fifth and once again Sekimoto (who seemed to have no problems with Utsumi) hit. Sugiyama bunted him to second which brought up Akahoshi. His hit was perfectly placed to centre and Sekimoto was home 1-0 Tigers. Hirano and Arai both failed to move Akahoshi from first.

The Tigers lead lasted from the bottom of the fifth to the top of the sixth. In fact everything started so nicely for Sugiyama. Sakamoto grounded out to Sekimoto. Kamei flew out to Akahoshi. Two outs with very little effort. The next batter Ogasawara walked, then Sugiyama threw a pass ball Ogasawara to second. No worries, only one more out needed. However, Takahashi walked and this brought Kubo coach to the mound for a conference. This obviously had an effect but not the desired one. Sugiyama faced Ramirez with runners on first and second and two outs. His first pitch was high and Ramirez hit a long ball. Kanemoto could have caught it if he had been standing back to the wall but as it was he had no chance and both runners were home 2-1 Giants. The final batter, Abe, grounded out to Toritani. Utsumi took heart from this and retired the Tigers in order. So to the seventh and another innings of Sugiyama.

This started with Gonzalez who hit and like almost all his hits had a big element of luck in it. Basically, Gonzalez swung, he connected, the ball flew above third to land just inside the foul line for a two base hit. Kimura bunted Gonzalez to third and then Sugiyama faced Tani. Tani has been rather successful pinch hitting (for Utsumi) and it would prove no different on this night. Tani hit nicely to centre and Gonzalez was home 3-1 Giants and the match was running away from the Tigers. Yano walked in the seventh and this brought up Sekimoto. He struck out but Yano decided to try and steal. No problem for the Giants and Yano was thrown out - two outs no runners on base. Katsuragi was summoned to pinch hit but flew out in foul ground to Ramirez - the Giants lead was intact.

So to the eighth and Nohmi was again summoned. He got all the batters to ground out which was useful as it kept the score tight. Tigers eighth started with Akahoshi who hit towards Kimura. Kimura fumbled and then the throw was rubbish. Akahoshi flew round and was able to make third. The contrast between Tigers and Giants fielding was striking. One thing Hirano always does is, if the ball goes to third or short, run behind the first base to try and cut off any error. Gonzalez hadn't done this at all and so magnified the mess up. Runner on third, no outs. Next Okada decided that Imaoka would pinch hit for Hirano. First ball was a strike and then Imaoka punched his second ball through the right infield for a hit 3-2 Giants. He was then pinch run for by Fujimoto but Tigers were on the way. Arai took a foul ball to set up runners on first and second with no outs and next up was Kanemoto. He tried to guide the ball to third which resulted in Arai being out but still left runners on first and third with one out. Next batter Ford - a sacrifice fly would tie the game. Ford though hit into a double play to end the innings and preserve the Giants lead. Oops - Ford hasn't been hitting recently and his place in the first team must be in doubt. Here Hoshino (commentating) thought a pinch hitter would have been better. He suggested Asai and I would have to agree.

The Giants ninth and Okada went with Kubota. Obviously, he was still thinking of the victory. Kubota started well, Ramirez flew out to centre. Next Abe hammered out a two base hit but the batter after, Gonzalez grounded out to third. Abe was still on second. Then in a strange move Yano deliberately walked Kimura. One have to ask had he taken leave of his senses? What danger is the number eight batter to a pitcher of Kubota's class. This brought up Ohmichi (pinch hitter) who Kubota also walked. Bases loaded, two out. Yano by his ill considered decision had put Kubota under a great deal of pressure. Fortunately, Sakamoto decided to stroke the ball to centre. He hit it a bit too hard and Akahoshi running round was able to take a sliding catch to end the innings. Close call.

The Tigers ninth was pitched by Kroon of course. However, it didn't go to plan for the Giants. Toritani hit and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Yano walked setting up runners on first and second with no outs. Sekimoto bunted the runners to second and third and this brought up Hiyama as pinch hitter. He grounded to first and Toritani headed for the home plate to be tagged out. Runners on first and third with two out. Next Akahoshi who hit towards Sakamoto. The throw to first was slow and Akahoshi was safe. More importantly, the runner on third was home scores level 3-3 - runners on first and second and suddenly the Giants had gone from trying to preserve a victory to trying to save the match. This time Kroon was not up to the challenge. He walked Fujimoto and faced Arai. Like Fujimoto, Arai worked the count full before watching a low outside ball slide past the plate. A walk! This was a sayanora walk to victory.

What had looked like a Giants victory had turned into an improbable Tigers victory. Giants relief had blown it but Tigers hadn't given up and had created the situation. Of note, Sekimoto, Arai and Akahoshi had all turned in superb performances. Nohmi so far this season has been excellent in relief. The match had been close but it had been the Giants who blinked first.

Yeah, I was shocked to see this one. Of course the game was cut off on TV after the 8th, so I went to bed thinking Kroon would make easy work of the Tigers in the 9th. Sounds similar to the wild 12-inning Kannoh miracle last April. It's good they managed to get such a great win after Ford's missed opportunity in the 8th. Too bad about him--looks like he's heading for a Shane Spencer-type tenure with the Tigers. With Katsuragi hot and Lin eventually coming back (albeit both lefties), there won't be much room left for him on the ichi-gun. In any case, gotta feel great to make it to GW without having lost a series!

Okada is reconsidering the right/left issue. To borrow from the Chinese. It doesn't matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches mice. If the batter delivers who cares.

Well, the outlook isn't good, but I hope Ford can succeed. The Tigers fans really seemed to take a liking to him at first, but now I'm not sure...Anyway, whenever I start giving up on someone, they seem to deliver, so maybe I can give him some good luck. After all, look at Imaoka last night!

Ford needs to hit given that Katsuragi is starting to make a big impact. There is also the fact that he will face competition from Lin and from Sakurai later in the season. A good run of hits and RBIs would very much help his case. Defensively, he's sound but thats not all thats wanted.

What is the timeline with Sakurai's return? He has a shoulder problem as well?

Not a shoulder problem - just no room for him in the first team.

Good job Christopher. A good account.

Regarding Ford, yes, I was screaming at the TV for a pinch hitter. All Ford needed to do was get it past the infield, but the way he's been hitting it was clear he wasn't going to do that. He didn't have a clue.

But one thing I'd like to challenge, though: You seem to be hard on Yano for giving Kimura a free pass:

Then in a strange move Yano deliberately walked Kimura. One have to ask had he taken leave of his senses? What danger is the number eight batter to a pitcher of Kubota's class.

First of all, are you sure it was Yano's call? Something like that usually comes from the dugout.

Second, I do see some merit in walking a batter in that situation, because you set up a possible force at third. (You also knock the opposing pitcher out of the game with a pinch hitter taking his place, but this may not have been important here - and you've got to consider the possible matchups too.).

So I'm not sure it was entirely strange or ill-considered. Some managers would taken the risk, others not, but it was certainly a valid move.

Many thanks for the kind words.
I don't really agree with walking batters deliberately as you can never guarantee the outcome. It actually adds more pressure to the pitcher's job - with one runner he only has to worry about that individual. To worry about two or three runners represents a different degree altogether. The fact that Tigers walked Kimura led to Ohmichi walking as well setting up a bases loaded situation. Far better to avoid runners on base but if you can't not to add to the number. For example if Kubota hadn't walked Kimura then he would have probably got the out and ended the innings. Of course, Kimura could have hit but I don't think he would have. I can't recall any trouble that Kubota experienced with him this season. Furthermore, here I don't think Okada is interferring. He had run a very astute game and I think he left it to Yano to make the call. As it was it worked out but not in the way expected.
As a coda to the game it was reported in todays Daily Yomiuri that Kroon had been fined 100,000 yen for arguing the final ball call. He apparently used bad language to express his disagreement with the judgement and earned himself a 'techincal ejection'.

I appreciate your views on walking batters, but all I'm saying is that it's neither strange nor ill-considered to do so. It's a valid baseball strategy, used by managers at all levels all over the world. Just because you don't believe in it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

And I'm pretty sure it would have been Okada's call. It would have been strange for such an important call at that stage in the game to be left to the catcher (no matter how brilliant he is), as you've got to consider the possible matchups and keep an eye on what the opposing manager is planning. A catcher's not usually in a position to know that - he's got enough to worry about.

If you've got evidence to the contrary please let us know, but I think you're wrong on this particular point.

You are right about it being a valid strategy, of course. It would be very unlikely for Okada to make that call though. He's known not to intefere in detail decisions. He will change pitchers or batters but leaves the day to day decisions to his players. He expects them to show responsibility and good sense. He has been known to be very angry when a batter bunts at the wrong time.

Someone told me Kroon got suspended for his outburst against the umps but I hadn't noticed him being away. Can you verify this?

Kroon was fined 50,000 yen and 'technically' ejected from the game. The technical ejection really relates to the fact that any ejection was pointless. He wasn't suspended.