August 13th Iwata v Utsumi - Cometh the hour, Cometh the Kanemoto

Tigers snapped their losing streak by beating the Giants in a tight game and the Magic Number is switched back on (It is now 36 - CM is 31). A Kanemoto hit seperated the two sides in what was a low hitting game. The gap between the Tigers and Giants is back to 8 games and Tigers head back to Osaka to take on the BayStars at Kyocera Dome. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Suzuki (Centre)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Ogasawara (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Tani (Right)
6. Nioka (Third)
7. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
8. Sakamoto (Short)
9. Utsumi (Pitcher)

In what would be a pitching duel for most of the game Utsumi started nicely by retiring the Tigers in order. Iwata was not so secure - Suzuki lead off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Kimura and then Iwata let go a wild pitch. Suzuki of course took advantage of this and moved up to third. Next batter was Ogasawara who continued hit and Suzuki was home 1-0 Giants - not a good start. Iwata restricted the damage to this one run by getting Ramirez to hit into a double play and end the innings. In Tigers second, Kanemoto led off with a hit but then ran into the Takahashi version of a double play. Lin struck out and the innings was over. Iwata had settled down by now and cruised through the Giants second retiring them in order. Likewise Tigers third - Utsumi was in control and wasn't troubled by anyone. Giants third saw Utsumi hit. He was out when Suzuki hit into a second ground out and then Suzuki stole second. The final batter was Kimura who flew out and the innings was over. Basically, Tigers had managed one hit in the first three innings and so at the top of the fourth it was Akahoshi who led off. He hit but Nioka's throw was terrible and Akahoshi sped round the bases to third. Sekimoto grounded out to third and Akahoshi was home 1-1 scores level. Then Toritani hit - Tigers wouldn't generate another hit until the 10th innings. Kanemoto hit into a double play to end the innings. Giants fourth started with Iwata walking Ogasawara but another Ramirez double play and Tani groundout kept the scores level.

The Tigers fifth was more of the same - a Lin walk followed by a Baldris double play. In the Giants fifth Tsuruoka walked but nothing came of this. The Tigers sixth and seventh were both quiet as was the Giants sixth - no batter reached base. It would be a matter of who blinked first. For a moment it looked like it would be the Tigers. With two outs in the Giants seventh Nioka walked. Then Tsuruoka hit and the Giants had runners on first and second. Sakamoto hit the first pitch he faced to centre straight into Akahoshi's glove and the innings was over. Iwata retired after this innings - he had pitched well and kept the Giants under control when needed. Utsumi continued into the Tigers eighth. He retired the Tigers in order - a very fine piece of pitching showing good control and ability. The Giants eighth was pitched by Atchison who fell over as he ran to the mound but once on it was in control and retired the batters without problem. Tigers ninth was likewise quiet - Yamaguchi being the pitcher. The Giants ninth started with an Ogasawara walk. Atchison struck out Ramirez and then Ogasawara tried to steal second. He failed and was thrown out. Finally, Atchison battled Tani before striking him out on a full count and the game entered extra innings. Hara went with Kroon for the top of the 10th. He started poorly walking Sekimoto and then Toritani with no outs. Exit Kroon and enter Fujita. He faced Kanemoto who wanted to put a hit to right. He did more than that slamming a three run home run into the stand 4-1 Tigers. Fujita got the next two outs and then was replaced by Ochi for the final out. Williams was summoned as the closer and started with a leadoff home run to Nioka 4-2 Tigers. He continued his aggressive pitching though and got the next three batters Tigers victory.

An important victory which allowed the Magic Number to kick in again and stopped the losing streak. Tigers had taken their chances against a strong Giants side and had shown considerably more application this game. It was a low hitting game and Tigers made their hits count more. Williams picked up the save (his second) and Atchison the victory.

Do you happen to have any stats on the run support for each Tigers starter? It seems that they just don't score when Iwata pitches. I think it has put a strain on him to be in so many close games and he was out of form for a while. Good to see him give up only one run in this outing against such a powerful team. But, he still couldn't pick up the win!

I haven't compiled anything yet. Sometimes its good - sometimes it isn't is all I can say at the moment. Shimoyanagi has also suffered from the lack of run support at times but has also had good support as well.