September 25th Andoh v Atori - Tigers are back on top

With the Giants losing this was a good game to win and puts the Tigers in sole possession of the top place in the Central League. It does not guarantee a win - at the moment all it means is that the Giants blinked. But they only blinked. Once again Imaoka showed proof of his recovery and is back to something like his 2005 form. An inspired move by Okada to bring him back. Okada though is not happy with Kanemoto who in 17 at bats has not produced a single hit. Tigers do need him to start hitting again. The rest of the team performed well and the batting was much improved. Incidently, the Daily Yomiuri report on this match starts talking about the Carp towards the end of the report. Not exactly a good example of editing. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Fujita (Second)
3. Uchikawa (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Yoshimura (Right)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Shimozono (Left)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Atori (Pitcher)

Atori's surname is actually Ohta but he is registered as Atori and this is the name I will use. Andoh started with a strike out but then Fujita hit. Uchikawa was next and hit into a double play which ended the innings. Atori would start well and deteriorate. He struggled with his control throughout his entire stint and never looked secure. He walked Hirano with one out but neither Imaoka or Kanemoto could do anything. BayStar's second saw Yoshimura hit a three base with one out and things looked dangerous for Andoh. He got Kinjoh to ground out whilst locking Yoshimura on third and then Shimozono struck out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Toritani hit a two base. He tried to stretch it into a three base but was tagged out. Sekimoto hit but in an indication of his wandering control Atori dead balled Katsuragi and then Yano to load the bases. With one out things looked serious for him. Andoh was next and he tried to hit into left field. If Shimozono had been standing further back this would have been a hit but the BayStars left was well positioned and took a comfortable catch. Akahoshi then tried a deep fly to right maybe not the right choice and Yoshimura took the catch to end the innings.

BayStars tried again in their third. Aikawa hit. Atori bunted but the bunt was short. Yano gathered and went for the runner going for second. The throw was too high and both runners were safe with no outs. Ishikawa was next and he aslo bunted and Yano went for the runner going for third. This time he was successful and Aikawa was out - runners on first and second. Fujita then grounded out to Hirano who fluffed the double play but still had time to get Fujita going for first. Runners on second and third with two outs and Uchikawa next. He though grounded out to Andoh and the innings was over. Tigers third was quiet with Atori showing some nice stuff. Hirano though thought he had been hard done by. He hit to second who took the ball with a dive and threw it to first. Hirano dived for the plate but was given out - replays showed that Hirano had made it so maybe it balanced the Yano mistake of the previous game out. BayStars fourth was uneventful with the batters falling in order. Atori started Tigers fourth with a walk to Toritani. Sekimoto hit to set up runners on first and second but Katsuragi struck out. Yano followed with a fly which Toritani to third but with Andoh next you did not expect much. However, Andoh did well and with a nicely struck centre hit drove Toritani home 1-0 Tigers runners on first and second. Akahoshi hit to load the bases - Kinjoh standing very close and cutting off the run and this brought up Hirano. He drove a slider past second for a timely hit 2-0 Tigers bases loaded. Next batter Imaoka and his first pitch was perfectly placed right of short and into the gap between centre and left for a two base. Sekimoto of course was home but with Tigers two speedsters on base the bases cleared 5-0 Tigers runner on second. A superb hit. Atori was finished and he was replaced by Takamiya who got Kanemoto to ground out to end the innings.

Andoh's fifth saw the BayStars respond - Shimozono led off with a hit. Two outs later Ichikawa slammed one into right field and in a fine example of good running turned it into a three base. Shimozono of course was home 5-1 Tigers. The final batter was Fujita who struck out. Sanada pitched Tigers fifth and was successful in preventing any further score despite giving up a leadoff hit to Toritani. Andoh returned for the BayStars sixth and you did wonder about this. His hit to Ishikawa had indicated he was tiring and Okada was taking a risk here. Sure enough Uchikawa led off with a hit and then Murata slammed a two base into left field. Uchikawa of course was home 5-2 Tigers with Murata on second and no outs. Okada persevered with Andoh. Yoshimura hit a deep fly to centre (he was trying for a home run) and Murata tagged up and moved round to third. This brought up Kinjoh who flew out to right for the sacrifice fly 5-3 Tigers and the BayStars were closing in. Finally, Shimozono grounded out and the innings was over with the Tigers still in the lead. Sanada pitched the Tigers sixth and gave up a hit to Hirano but nothing came of this.

Andoh didn't return for the BayStars seventh. His pitching hadn't been spectacular but had been enough to retain the lead. He had thrown 88 pitches and had shown good control until the sixth when his pitching had deteriorated quickly. Williams took the mound and was once again excellent. He retired all three batters in order. Tigers seventh saw Toritani hit but nothing came of this as Yamaguchi, the BayStars pitcher stayed in control. Even so Tigers batting was better unlike the 1-1 tie they were getting hits which is what they should have done earlier. Williams returned for the BayStars eighth and got Fujita to fly out but then Okada replaced him with Atchison. He wanted Atchison to focus on the BayStars cleanup batters. Atchison gave up a hit to Uchikawa but then struck Murata out brilliantly and got Yoshimura to fly out to Katsuragi who took a nice catch to end the innings. Yamaguchi continued with Tigers eighth and gave up a leadoff hit to Yano. He was bunted to second by Saka (pinch hitter) and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Hirano was the final batter but he struck out and the score remained the same. Finally Fujikawa took the mound. He did have a bit of a battle with Shimozono but was otherwise dominant and retired the batters in order. Tigers victory.

An important and fine victory which returned Tigers to the top of the League. Fujikawa picked up his 36th save and the 100th save of his career and was honoured in a small ceremony. He shared the hero interview with Imaoka. Andoh got his 13th win. Tigers now need to up the pace - they have 10 games remaining as opposed to the Giants nine. However, their last seven games are away and they are going to have to work extra hard to win because if they remain in the lead they will be in a position to win the pennant away. Their opponents despite being mostly B class (4 Swallows, 2 BayStars and 1 Giants) are going to fight very hard to prevent this happening on their home grounds. Even the home games aren't easy (1 Giants, 1 Carp, 1 Dragons) as all three teams have ample reasons of their own to win. Giants to try and win the pennant and the Carp and Dragons to get the third playoff place. Still with Imaoka on form Tigers prospects are brighter than before.

After our troubles recently, I was so happy to see a four-game series with Yokohama on the schedule! Fortunately we got over our recent struggles against them and got 3 wins and a tie, getting back into first in the process. We weren't overpowering, but all wins count the same. Now Saturday is the big one!