October 2nd Messenger v Alvarado - Toritani hits 100

Toritani did it! He drove in his 99th and 100th RBI to become the first ever shortstop in Japan to reach that achievement. Tigers faced with a pitcher they knew about were back to their dominant selves and duly knocked the Carp about. Sad that the Dragons lost to the Swallows but Tigers can still secure home advantage for the first stage of the Climax Series. Once again they have to work hard though as the Giants will want the same thing and recently Giants have played with more passion at Tokyo Dome. We are still seeing Kanemoto at No. 5 though despite the fact that he hasn't driven in a run since September 2nd. Sentiment is all very well but one does have to think about production and scoring runs. I have no trouble with Kanemoto being a regular but really he shouldn't be inserted into one of the star run scoring positions based on his past performance especially as he is inserted in front of two performing batters. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers  2 0 0 0 5 0 2 1 1 11 19 0
Carp    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2  4  9 2

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Iwamoto (Left)
4. Kurihara (Third)
5. Hirose (Right)
6. Maru (Centre)
7. Kokubo (Third)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Alvarado (Pitcher)

Toritani, back at leadoff responded well. Maybe Mayumi thought a change was needed but Toritani led off the innings with a hit. Hirano bunted him to second breaking the Tigers record for sacrifice bunts (now its 57). Murton picked up a walk and then Arai's ground out took the runners to second and third. Kanemoto walked to load the bases which brought up Brazell who hasn't performed well in bases loaded situations. This time, though, he hit nicely to left driving in two runs 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Johjima swung too soon and flew out to first to end the innings but a much better start from Tigers. However, Carp were able to hit back immediately. Soyogi hit to centre and was bunted to second by Kimura. Then Iwamoto hit to right which brought Soyogi home, 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Kurihara grounded out to third moving Soyogi to second but Messenger had the answer and struck out Hirose to end the innings. Messenger hadn't collapsed and even though he had given up a run had preserved the lead. Saka led off Tigers second with a hit but Messenger failed to bunt him round being out on three failed bunts. Neither Toritani nor Hirano did anything with Toritani trying to hit a two run home run to left but falling short. Kokubo hit in Carp's second with one out but then Ishihara hit into a double play and this ended the innings. Murton led off Tigers third by hitting straight to Kimura who made a complete mess of things allowing Murton on first. Arai then hit nicely to right to set up runners on first and second but Tigers batters could get no further and even with Alvarado being charged with a balk (which took the runners to second and third) Johjima could not convert and the innings was scoreless. Johjima though was making an effort not to hit to left but to use the right field as well. Carp's third was quiet as Messenger retired the batters in order.

Saka grounded out to start Tigers fourth but then Messenger hit to centre. Toritani hit to right but Hirano flew out. Then Murton stepped up and flew out to centre to end the innings. It was looking like he would be hitless. Alvarado was hanging on by the skin of his teeth but apart from the first innings had kept the score within manageable bounds. Hirose managed to hit in Carp's fourth but with two out it was unlikely that Messenger would give up a run and so it proved with Maru striking out swinging. As I mentioned Alvarado had managed to hang on but the Tigers fifth was an innings too far and he could no longer stem the flood. Arai walked to start the innings and Kanemoto hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. Another error by Kimura allowed Brazell to reach first safely but more importantly brought Arai home 3-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. Johjima flew out but Saka walked to load the bases. Here Mayumi decided to go for the pinch hitter and sent Lin to the plate. Lin hit emphatically to right and another runner was home 4-1 Tigers, bases loaded. This was enough for Nomura who replaced Alvarado before he did any more damage. Aoki his replacement unfortunately proved to be just as unable to stem the flow. Toritani hit to left bringing home two runners and reaching the magic 100 RBIs 6-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. Hirano grounded out which moved Lin to third. Murton hit to right and brought Lin home but Toritani tried to go too far and was out to end the innings Still 7-1 Tigers and a five run innings. Having used a pinch hitter for Messenger, Mayumi then called on Nohmi to pitch Carp's fifth. Poor Messenger - he had pitched quite well but once again would not be rewarded with the victory his work deserved. Nohmi though was excellent and retired his three batters in order. Umetsu pitched Tigers sixth and had an easy job of things retiring the batters in order. Carp's sixth was also quiet as Nohmi retained control comfortably.

Umetsu's memories of a perfect sixth disappeared in Tigers seventh as he ran into problems. Johjima led off the innings with a solo home run to his favourite left field 8-1 Tigers. Sakurai pinch hitting for Nohmi drove into left field. Toritani's ground out took Sakurai to second and Hirano's hit took him to third. Murton hit nicely to left to bring home another run 9-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. Arai struck out looking but Tigers had the game won. Watanabe pitched Carp's seventh and gave up a hit to Kurihara. Hirose's ground out to third provided the force out but Hirose himself was able to make second on Maru's ground out. Carp ran out of ground outs though as Kokubo hit to second to end the innings. Takeuchi pitched Tigers eighth and started with a hit to Shunsuke Fujikawa. Johjima hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. Mayumi persists in using Komiyama as the replacement catcher for Johjima and really this folly shouldn't be continuing. Komiyama replaced Johjima as catcher at this stage. With runners on first and third Saka hit a sacrifice fly 10-1 Tigers, runner on first. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) walked but then Toritani grounded out and the innings was over. Carp's eighth saw Fukuhara pitch and how much the run scored was Fukuhara or Komiyama is difficult to determine. Anyway it was irrelevant except as a means of judging the pitching/catching combination. Shima (pinch hitter) led the innings off by hitting his first pitch to left. Aizawa (replacement catcher) walked and after a strike out a wild pitch took the runners to second and third. Kimura grounded out to short and Toritani made sure of the out but a runner was home 10-2 Tigers, runner on third. Iwamoto was the final batter and he struck out to end the innings. Ohshima was the final Carp pitcher and he fared as well as his compatriots. Hirano started with a nice two base hit to right centre. Murton struck out but Arai hit smoothly to left bringing home Hirano 11-2 Tigers. Shunsuke Fujikawa hit to set up runners on first and second but Asai struck out. A wild pitch took Arai and Shunsuke Fujikawa to third and second respectively but Komiyama struck out looking. For Carp's ninth we saw Tsutsui again and whereas he had been accomplished with Johjima with Komiyama he was rapidly in trouble. Kurihara led off with a hit - a nice two base affair. Hirose walked and then Akamatsu (pinch hitter) hit to load the bases with no outs. Kokubo hit to left 11-3 Tigers, bases loaded and Mayumi decide that he had better change pitchers and brought on Kubota. Kubota persuaded Huber (pinch hitter) to hit into a double play but couldn't prevent a run 11-4 Tigers, runner on third. Aizawa was followed and he flew out in foul ground to end the game. Tigers victory.

A good victory but rather deflating because of the loss of the pennant. Tigers batters had hit well against a pitcher they knew and then had kept Carp on the hook all game. The Carp's late flurry showed the folly of using a replacement catcher not up to the job and unfortunately Komiyama is not at the same level as Kanoh and should not be replacement catcher for the first team. The Toritani counter has stopped as he reached his goal. The Murton counter stands at two hits to go for the new Japan record. Giants also won which means that they retain second place so Tigers have to keep on winning. Tigers are assured of a Climax series place through this victory as Swallows no longer have a chance of catching them.

Since it was so early in the game, I hadn't even thought of the scenario of a pinch hitter for Messenger, but it makes sense now. It was a little early, but looks like it paid off with the runs that ensued.
The sudden swap again with Toritani and Murton doesn't make much sense. I think I saw a stat that Toritani is leading the league batting with runners in scoring position. Considering that, it would make more sense to keep him third.
Although milestones take a backseat to winning games, the swap also seemed a disadvantage for that. Since Murton is chasing the hits record, it would make sense to keep him first and give him more chances to bat. Additionally, batting third would give Toritani more chances to reach 100 RBIs. Fortunately, both players were able to reach the milestones (as Murton tied the record today) despite Mayumi's sudden swap.

I wonder why Toritani was lead off and Murton 3rd when Murton is chasing the single season hit record and Toritani the RBI record? Could be because Mayumi was thinking more about the over all team balance than the individual records? In Mayumi's mind this is the best balanced line up, it has more to do with personal preference. I think Arai would be better suited as 3rd than 4th but overall this line up got over all good balance.

N26, funny that we wrote basically same comment without even seeing each other's first. As I wrote, winning is the most important thing, but even considering that the move doesn't make much sense. Murton is one of the best in the league in getting on base and Toritani is one of the best at knocking people in, so Murton--Hirano--Toritani seems like the best line-up.
Kanemoto still batting 5th? I won't even go there.