June 12th Iwata v Wakui - Seibu avoid a sweep

This game Seibu had to win to avoid losing all four games to the Tigers. They managed this on the back of some fine pitching by Wakui who started poorly but improved a lot during his session. Iwata wasn't so good and had trouble with his location - he aslo lacked the sheer aggression of Uezono the day before. Line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3  8 0
Lions  1 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 X 6 10 0

Starting lineups

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

Starting pitcher was Iwata

Lions
1. Kataoka (Second)
2. Hirao (First)
3. Nakajima (Short)
4. Brazell (DH)
5. G G Sato (Right)
6. Nakamura (Third)
7. Bocachica (Left)
8. Hosokawa (Catcher)
9. Takayama (Centre)

Starting pitcher was Wakui

Akahoshi hit and was bunted to second by Sekimoto as per normal. Kanemoto walked and Wakui was in a bit a bind. He stayed cool and struck out Lin to end the innings and keep the Tigers scoreless. Iwata was unlucky. Hirao hit but with two outs Brazell came to the plate. He took two strikes but then swung at a low outside pitch going away from him and got his bat under it. The ball flew high and past Kanemoto's glove (he had no chance but it could have gone anywhere) for a fluke two base hit. Hirao motored round the bases for the run 1-0 Lions.Wakui arrived at the bottom of the Tigers order. The first two batters Toritani and Katsuragi fell easily enough but then Noguchi hit. The next batter Fujimoto also hit and Tigers had two runners on. Akahoshi though grounded out to Kataoka who would have a very good game. Iwata started the second well striking out Nakamura but then walked Bocachica. Next batter Hosokawa was dead balled and Lions had two runners on with one out. It looked even more encouraging for Iwata after he struck Takayama out. Next batter was Kataoka. He hit to centre and a runner was home 2-0 Lions. The final batter Hirao flew out and the damage was limited to one run. Tigers third saw Arai hit but he was stranded as Wakui struck out Lin for the second time. Iwata ran into trouble again in the Lions third. Brazell hit and Nakamura walked setting up runners on first and second with one more out needed. Next batter was Bocachica who struck out to end the innings.

Both fourths were quiet with the teams being retired in order and the Tigers fifth was also quiet. Here, though we had a dubious umpiring call. Akahoshi hit to short and hustled to first but was given out. Replays showed that this was generous to the Lions to say the least - Akahoshi was safe. In the Lions fifth Brazell hit towards Iwata who failed to hold it but Fujimoto was on the ball like a flash and fired it to Arai for the out. Except that Brazell was called safe - if he was safe then so was Akahoshi. An example of poor first base umpiring which raises a question of bias as well. It didn't matter as G G Sato flew out to end the innings. He was ineffective against the Tigers this second series - coming up hitless in all his at bats. Tigers sixth saw Wakui strike out Arai in a nice piece of pitching. He then faced Kanemoto and with the count at 2-2 sent a cutball to the plate. Kanemoto hit this with some force into the Seibu gaia 2-1 Lions. Lin took his third pitch to right and for a while this looked like another home run but died and Sato made a nice catch - jumping up to take the ball as it came down just in front of the fence. The final batter Toritani struck out. Iwata returned for the Lions sixth and this wasn't one of his better innings. Nakamura hit. Then Iwata dead balled Bocachica (the ball landed on his foot as it curved down) - runners on first and second with no outs. It got worse as Hosokawa made first on a fielders choice (the wrong one) and the bases were loaded. Next batter Takayama who Iwata unaccountably walked - walk in 3-1 Lions. Kataoka took two strikes and then hit to left for a timely 2 run hit 5-1 Lions. At this point Okada recalled Iwata - he hadn't really been in control and had had difficulties all evening against the Seibu batters. Abe took the mound and Hirao bunted the runners to second and third. At this point Abe dead balled Nakajima who didn't appreciate it and glared at Abe (who did doff his cap). There was more than a suspicion that this dead ball wasn't totally unintentional but had the aim of setting up a double play. Whether it was or not this is exactly what Brazell did, hitting to Fujimoto where it went to Toritani and then to Arai for the double play. End of innings.

Wakui then ran into trouble in the Tigers seventh. Katsuragi hit to left and reached second on a wild pitch. Noguchi walked but then Fujimoto grounded out which moved Katsuragi to third and set up a sacrifice fly. Akahoshi was next but Wakui was excellent and struck him out. Then he faced Hiyama who he walked to load the bases. Next batter Arai - not someone you want to face in this situation but once again Wakui was up to the challenge. Arai struck out swinging and Lions were safe. Abe pitched the Lions seventh and got G G Sato to fly out. Then he faced Nakamura who got a good swing on the bat and hit a nice home run to centre 6-1 Lions. The next two batters fell easily enough but Lions had a comfortable lead by now. Wakui's eighth was easy - everyone grounded out including two to Wakui himself. He would retire after this innings having thrown 126 pitches and kept the Tigers in check. He did have some wobbles but this game had the ability to get out of them. The Lions eighth saw Hashimoto make his first appearance since being recalled to the first team. He started with a hit to Takayama but then struck out Kataoka. Next batter Hirao slammed a two base and Lions had runners on second and third with one out. Hashimoto struck out Nakajima and then got Brazell to ground out to ensure that the innings ended scoreless. A bit rusty perhaps but this was a nice first innings with a lot of good stuff. If Hashimoto can maintain it he will be a great boost to the relief.

Okamoto started the Tigers ninth and didn't start well. Katsuragi hit and then Asai (pinch hitting for Noguchi) hit a two base. Runners on second and third with no outs. Next batter was Fujimoto who grounded out to second - Katsuragi was home 6-2 Lions. Then Akahoshi hit a deep fly to centre - Asai was home 6-3 Lions. One felt that this wasn't really what was needed and indeed Okada didn't look happy. Certainly, two runs were scored but at the expense of two outs. The batters needed to think about getting on base as Seibu had runs to play with. Final batter was Baldris who hit his first pitch to second for a ground out and Lions victory.

Tigers had been outplayed by the more aggressive side. Good pitching and good batting had built a nice lead for them. Tigers can be happy in that they had taken three out of four games of the series and also that the Dragons also lost preserving the gap between the two teams at 8.5 games. Hashimoto looked promising and lets hope he maintains it.

Well, 6 in a row, so can't complain about dropping one to the best team in the PL. As usual, we couldn't score for Iwata. Do you have any stats on his run support this year? It's just my feeling, but it seems like he has had very little. Maybe not as bad as Darvish, but still bad.

Looking at Iwata - I wouldn't say that he lacks in run support. He is being pitched for the most part against the best pitchers others have to offer. His victory count is 5-3 (Wakui for example is 6-5).

Is Hirano injured ???

Yes - he picked up a leg strain in the match against Lotte on May 28th. His recovery is going well though and he should be back soon.