June 5th Shimoyanagi v Kaneko - Brazell - works exactly as advertised

This game marked the debut of Tigers new foreign batter and what a debut. Brazell looks highly promising and definitely did well. He doesn't have a fight song yet and the Oendan use the standard hitters song. His first at bat saw him get on base due to an error and his second was embarrassing but his third was sublime and fourth was also good. What's more he seems to have solidified the bottom of the order. Toritani still needs to be moved from first though and Arai brought back to third. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

Buffaloes
1. Ohmura (Right)
2. Yamasaki (Second)
3. Ikki (Left)
4. LaRocca (Third)
5. Tsuji (First)
6. Ohbiki (Short)
7. Suzuki (Catcher)
8. Sakaguchi (Centre)
9. Kaneko (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Akahoshi (Centre)
3. Sekimoto (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Katsuragi (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Shimoyanagi was impressive. He had to work hard but he kept Orix from scoring. Their first innings started with a hit by Ohmura. He was bunted to second by Yamasaki but then Shimoyanagi got into his stride and struck out the next two batters. Kaneko would also start well and would hold Tigers for five innings. In the first he retired them in order. With one out in Orix's second Shimoyanagi walked Ohbiki. The next batter Suzuki hit to set up runners on first and third but Sakaguchi's sacrifice fly attempt only went as far as short. The final batter was Kaneko who grounded out to end the innings. Tigers second started with a Kanemoto hit. One out later Brazell hit to Yamasaki who fluffed the take (Orix's fielding would be abysmal this game) and Tigers had runners on first and third as well. Kaneko was also up to the challenege and retired the next two batters to end the innings scoreless. Orix's third saw Ikki walk with two out. LaRocca hit and as Ikki ran from first his legs diverted the ball away from second into the outfield. He made home but was immediately given out for interference - no score that innings. In Tigers third Yamasaki made his second error allowing Toritani to reach first safely. Akahoshi hit and then Kaneko dead balled Sekimoto to load the bases with one out. Once again Tigers were unable to exploit the chance, Kanemoto striking out and Arai flying out to strand the runners.

Orix's fourth started with a hit by Tsuji. This disappeared in a Ohbiki double play but then Suzuki hit. Shimoyanagi, though, got Sakaguchi to ground out to end the innings. Brazell led off Tigers fourth and seemed determined to hit the ball out of the ground. This mean that he swung at everything and looked pretty stupid striking out to a feeble pitch which bounced in front of him. In Orix's fifth Yamasaki hit with two out and tried to steal second. The throw from Kanoh was perfect and he was tagged out to end the innings. Akahoshi reached first on another Orix error and stole second showing the Buffaloes how it should be done but then Sekimoto flew out to end the innings. So far the game had remained tight with neither team able to exploit their runners. Orix's sixth was also quiet as Shimoyanagi retired the batters in order. Kaneko who had done well seemed to run out of steam in Tigers sixth. He walked Kanemoto who then made second on Arai's ground out. Next batter was Brazell who slammed his first pitch into the left stand for his first home run with Tigers 2-0 Tigers. It was a hit of considerable power and broke the deadlock most effectively. Kanoh then hit to left - putting the ball past the desparing dive of third for a two base hit. He next stole third. Kanoh is maturing into a very fine hitting catcher, his one weakness is under the foul fly ball but he should conquer this. However, the final batter Shimoyanagi struck out ending the innings.

Shimoyanagi returned for the Buffaloes seventh and started with a hit to Ohbiki. One out later Sakaguchi hit to Sekimoto at second for a straightforward ground out but Sekimoto failed to take the ball and he was safe. Tigers seconds have all committed errors they shouldn't have and some work needs to be done here. With runners on first and second things looked good for Orix but Fernandez (pinch hitter) struck out to a fine piece of pitching by Shimoyanagi. Ohbiki grounded out and the innings was over with Orix still without a score. Kikuchihara replaced Kaneko on the mound for Orix. The latter had done well over five innings but run into problems in the sixth and couldn't have pitched another innings safely. Kikuchihara did well, he retired the Tigers batters in order. Atchison took Orix's eighth as Shimoyanagi took a well earned rest. He had pitched excellently and kept Orix off the scorboard with some wily and intelligent pitching. Atchison was also accomplished retiring the batters in order. Kikuchihara returned for Tigers eighth and with two out ran into big problems. He faced Brazell who rather then try to hammer the ball out of the ground hit nicely into left field. Next batter was Takahashi (finally back up as a pinch hitter in place of Imaoka and about time). He hit to centre to set up runners on first and second. This brought up Kanoh who worked the count full and after fouling some pitches placed the ball nicely in the sweet spot for Koshien, the right centre field. Brazell was home and so was Hirano (pinch running for Takahashi) 4-0 Tigers with Kanoh on third. Sakurai (pinch hitter) flew out to end the innings but Tigers lead was unassailable. The final Orix innings fell to Fujikawa who made short work of the three batters he faced. Tigers victory.

Orix had been shut out by a Tigers team which had good pitching and some good batting. Brazell's debut was spectacular and of course he was the hero of the game. Kanoh once again performed well and the team looked more solid.