September 5th Akiyama v Saitoh - Both Fujikawas hit RBIs

To some extent Tigers were able to shake off their lethargy and whallop the Carp, so normal service was back. There was still some poor pitching though not from Akiyama and like Mayumi I would have left him in for the seventh. He pitched very well again for six innings and took a one hitter into the seventh. Definitely a talent to watch. Tigers batting finally woke up and of the batters we should see Arai and Toritani hit 100 RBIs this season. Murton and Johjima look less likely to achieve this goal. One must consider though, that recently Tigers have been a bit too casual with the Carp and paid the price. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers  0 0 5 2 0 0 0 1 3 11 22 1
Carp    0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0  5  5 1

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Shunsuke Fujikawa (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Johjima (Catcher)
8. Uemoto (Second)
9. Akiyama (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Amaya (Centre)
4. Kurihara (Third)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Hirose (Right)
7. Iwamoto (First)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Saitoh (Pitcher)

Tigers needed a good start from Akiyama and they got it especially as they started slowly themselves. Their first innings was quiet and innocuous. Soyogi led off Carp's first with a hit and was bunted to second by Kimura. He reached third on a ground out and then Kurihara flew out to end the innings. It would be interesting to analyse how often this pattern happens and how often teams score from the bunt in the first innings. Arai led off Tigers second with a hit. He was not bunted to second by Brazell who instead struck out. Kanemoto also struck out and then Johjima grounded out. End of innings. Carp did have the benefit of a walk to Iwamoto but Akiyama asserted a tight control from their second onwards and they generated no hits until the seventh. Tigers third saw Saitoh melt down very convincingly. With one out Akiyama hit to centre. Then Murton hit to left - runners on first and second. Shunsuke Fujikawa hit nicely to left bringing Akiyama home 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Toritani then hit deep into left centre for a three base timely hit 3-0 Tigers, runner on first. Arai flew out but Brazell launched into a huge home run 5-0 Tigers. Finally, Kanemoto struck out swinging to end what had been a very good innings for the Tigers. Carp had no response and fell smoothly in order in the bottom.

Tigers fourth continued the scoring spree. With one out Uemoto hit and was bunted to second by Akiyama. Murton hit and then Shunsuke Fujikawa hit to right bringing Uemoto home 6-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Toritani drove into the centre and another run scored 7-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Finally, Arai grounded out to end the innings. Carp's fourth saw their clean up surrender tamely to Akiyama who was enjoying himself. Johjima hit to centre in Tigers fifth but this time the innings was scoreless. In Carp's fifth everyone tried to hit to left but all flew out and that innings was scoreless. Tigers sixth saw Murton hit but Shunsuke Fujikawa hit into a double play to end the innings. Amazingly the sixth was the first change of pitcher for the Carp, Imai taking over from the ineffective Saitoh. Carp's sixth was quiet as the batters once again fell 1-2-3. Akiyama had pitched very well so far.

Toritani led off Tigers seventh with a hit but then an Arai double play ended that chance. Arai was having a quiet game. Brazell hit and managed to make second on a Carp error and then Kanemoto took a dead ball on his forearm. He was replaced by Asai but Johjima struck out and Tigers failed to exploit the chance. As I mentioned Akiyama returned for Carp's seventh and why not. He had dominated the Carp batting and his pitch count was low. However, he tired rapidly and gave up successive hits to Amaya and Kurihara before getting Shima to fly out to centre, runners on first and third. Here he allowed his nerves to get to him and facing a batter he would normally dispose of in his sleep gave up a three run home run to left 7-3 Tigers, the ball just making it over the fence. Still a four run lead was comfortable. Even so Mayumi decided to switch pitchers and brought on Kubota. Iwamoto grounded out to third but Arai messed this up and Iwamoto reached second. A wild pitch took him to third but Huber (pinch hitter) struck out looking which brought up Aizawa. Kubota's pitch was terrible and easily hittable which the lightweight Aizawa did just clearing the fence for a two run home run 7-5 Tigers. The margin had suddenly become rather close. Soyogi also tried to hit to left but flew out to end the innings. Chulk pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a lead off hit to Uemoto. He was bunted to second by Kubota (who was needed for the eighth) and then Murton hit into centre. The fielding was good and the pick up and throw nice with the ball arriving in Ishihara's glove just as Uemoto slid in. However, Uemoto forced his way to the plate just before the tag and was safe 8-5 Tigers, runner on first and the end of the Carp's chance. Shunsuke Fujikawa grounded out but Toritani hit to set up runners on first and third. Toritani then stole second but Arai flew out to first to cap a poor day for him. Kubota duly returned for the Carp eighth and retired the first two batters before walking Kurihara. This Mayumi decided was enough and Kyuji Fujikawa took the mound. He got Shima to fly out in foul ground to end the innings. Ohshima started Tigers ninth and struck out Brazell. In a game of musical pitchers Nomura then switched to Kishimoto. Asai hit to right and Johjima hit to centre - runners on first and third. Uemoto then hit an entitled two base bringing home another run 9-5 Tigers, runners on second and third. Kyuji Fujikawa was next and drove nicely into left field bringing home a run 10-5 Tigers, runners on first and third with one out. Some truly poor pitching here. Murton hit a sacrifice fly to right 11-5 Tigers, runner on first and finally Shunsuke Fujikawa flew out to end the innings. The final innings was a formality. True Kyuji Fujikawa managed to dead ball Hirose to lead off the innings. Iwamoto grounded out to first which took the runner to second but the result was never in doubt. Both the next two batters struck out swinging to end the game. Tigers victory.

A very satisfactory win - Carp had not been allowed to play and Tigers had shown their power. Akiyama picked up his second win of the season and Kyuji Fujikawa his 23rd save of the season and his 150th overall. Tigers pitching had performed better apart from Kubota who had had an off day. Maybe Watanabe would have been a better choice but he had pitched deep the day before and needed the rest. Tigers face the Dragons at Skymark (why the pointless change of venue?) and Koshien for the next series. If they play properly they should take the series as the Dragons away record is pretty poor (21(1)39). Currently they maintain a 0.5 game lead over the Dragons so a couple of victories would be very useful.

Yeah, I was really surprised to have two games at Skymark this week. Really odd that they would do this so soon after the break from Koshien. Still, I'll take it over Koshien any day, so I'll be there tomorrow. Maybe they should use Skymark for one of the August series instead of the dome. Strange scheduling.

Tigers still have quite a few games left against Dragons where as Giants still have quite a few games against Baystars which give the Giants a slight advantage, but at the end of the day, it's up to Tigers themselves. Facing Dragons on their turf in the play offs will be tough so it'll be crucial to clinch the pennant.

Despite the easier schedule for the Giants, we have five more games against them, which should really decide the pennant. Fortunately, all of these are at Koshien! I also feel it's vital to get the pennant. The silly playoff system gives a huge advantage to the first place team, so I really hope we can stay where we are. We have little chance if we have to play playoff games at Nagoya Dome.

The pennant is indeed vital. Tigers playoff record under Okada was appalling but we don't really know how they will perform under Mayumi as his regime hasn't been tested yet. However, Dragons are really strong at Nagoya Dome and Mayumi's record there this season is very, very poor - one win only. It is vital to avoid that stadium.

From talking to Japanese Tigers' fans, it seems that most view the Cental League yuusho as the most important and the Japan series as secondary in importance.
So, what's more important to you - the League or the Japan series?
For me it's the Central league Yuusho - 144 games - if you're on the top after all that, then you're the true champion.