June 11th Shimoyanagi v Wasdin - Seibu sweep

Last year Tigers took the series against Seibu 3-1. This year was the mirror image with Seibu taking the final game to win the series 3-1 and sweep Tigers at Seibu Dome. They did it with an indifferent pitcher but Shimoyanagi was worse and only lasted two innings. Up until the sixth innings this game was highly competitive and both sides were in with a chance but after this the Tigers batters seemed to give up and Lions finished with a comfortable win despite the closeness of the scoreline.

The changes to the lineup have worked well for the most part. Arai is much happier batting third. However, Hiyama at five was a waste of time. Two singles are not what one expects of the number five batter and this has been a mistake. Toritani needs to lift his batting performance as well but as a short he is currently producing some of his best work. He far outclipsed Nakajima in this role but Lions can live with Nakajima's weaknesses at short given the runs he drives in. Toritani needs to get that part of his game going again. Box scores

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

Starting lineups
Tigers
1. Hirano (Right)
2. Akahoshi (Centre)
3. Arai (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Hiyama (DH)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Sekimoto (Second)
8. Toritani (Short)
9. Kanoh (Catcher)

Pitcher was Shimoyanagi

Lions
1. Kataoka (Second)
2. Kuriyama (Left)
3. Nakajima (Short)
4. Nakamura (Third)
5. Etoh (DH)
6. G. G. Sato (Right)
7. Hirao (First)
8. Ginjiro (Catcher)
9. Satoh (Centre)

Pitcher was Wasdin

Wasdin's first innings would be OK. Akahoshi would hit with one out and make second but that was all as Kanemoto would fly out to end the innings. Kanemoto was mediocre in this game and really contributed nothing. In Lions first and ominously Kataoka led off with a hit. He stole second and with two out Nakajima hit to right. Kataoka tried for home but was thrown out. Finally Nakamura struck out with Nakajima waiting on second. Tigers second was much better than the first. Hiyama led off with and two outs later made second as Toritani walked. This brought up Kanoh who drove the ball into cenre for a hit. Hiyama was home 1-0 Tigers runners on first and second but Hirano couldn't take the rally any further and the innings ended. Lions response was immediate and devastating. Shimoyanagi was pitching abysmally and Lions took full advantage. The innings started with a walk to Etoh. The next batter G. G. Sato hit setting up runners on first and second. This brought up Hirao who hit a grounder to second. As Sekimoto ran in to take the ball he was blocked by Sato who timed his run to second to prevent the Tigers second getting the ball. Sato should have been given out for interference but the umpires allowed the situation to go unpunished setting up a bases loaded no out situation. Mayumi came out to argue the situation but as is usual in these situations couldn't get the umpires to change their minds. Ginjiro would later get away with similar interference later in the game. Anyway, Ginjiro was next and he hit straight at Shimoyanagi who fielded it poorly allowing the runner on third home 1-1 scores tied, runners on second and third. Shimoyanagi was able to recover and throw Ginjiro out. Kataoka flew out without a score resulting and it begun to look like Shimoyanagi would escape without too much damage. The next batter was Kuriyama who has a useful ability to hit RBIs and stroked his fourth pitch nicely into the gap between right and centre for a bases clearing three base hit 4-1 Lions. Nakajima hit his first pitch to left and it was 5-1 Lions, runner on first and a commanding lead. Nakajima stole second but Nakamura flew out and no further score resulted. Wasdin had a nice cushion but set about reducing it. Akahoshi led off with a hit which brought up Arai. His home run the night before had been to right, this one was to right - a nice hit 5-3 Lions and only a two run gap now. Abe replaced the abysmal Shimoyanagi and retired the Lions batters in order striking out Hirao looking with a superb pitch to end the innings.

Tigers fourth was quiet as the batters fell in order. This was also the case for the Lions fourth. Tigers fifth followed the same pattern but the Lions fifth was dfferent. Abe had pitched two innings but three is near his limit. Kuriyama led off with a hit to centre. The next batter Nakajima had an incredibly lucky hit. He scooped the ball up and it flew wildly into right suddenly falling and landing just in front of Hirano who jumped to take the ball and fired it to second. Kuriyama was out as but Nakajima was safe. Nakmura hit to right and Lions had runners on first and third. Here Abe panicked and threw a wild pitch which bounced in front of and under Kanoh allowing Kuriyama to reach home 6-3 Lions, runner on second. Abe then walked both G. G. Sato and Hirao to load the bases as he lost control but regained it and struck out Ginjiro looking. However, the mistake would prove vital as it would give Lions what was to prove a vital extra run. Wasdin then continued his campaign to reduce the lead as much as possible. With one out Hiyama had his second hit of the game. This brought up Brazell who has been largely ineffective this series. He however, got one in his zone and hammered it with enormous power into the right stand for a two run home run 6-5 Lions and the Tigers were getting close. With two out Toritani hit but Wasdin was able to strike out Kanoh to get out of the innings with a lead. Egusa replaced Abe who had held the line well apart from his temporary flutter and started with a hit to Satoh. He was bunted to second by Kataoka but stayed there. Egusa got the second out and then was replaced by Atchison for the final out, a Nakajima ground out.

Mitsui replaced Wasdin who hadn't pitched well and who if he hadn't had the run support couldn't have held the lead. Mitsui must have been surprised how easy it all was as the Tigers batters fell in order. Atchison continued with the Lions seventh and made short work of the three batters he had to face. Mitsui returned for Tigers eighth and once again sailed through the batters with ease. He was clearly delighted when he struck out his old colleague Brazell to end the innings. For Lions eighth Mayumi went with Williams who looked very insecure. He started by dead balling Hirao on the leg, which was more serious than it looked as Hirao had to be replaced by Kurose. Then Ginjiro bunted - a very short bunt just in front of the plate. Ginjiro delayed his run just enough to prevent Kanoh getting the ball in time to throw to second. Once again the interference was unpunished. Then Williams woke up and was able to retire the next two batters but not a well controlled innings. Tigers ninth was taken by Onodera who like Mitsui found it all rather straightforward. No Tigers batter reached base and the game was over rather quickly. LIons victory.

The interference by Lions batters was an irritation but didn't really affect the final result which was due to Tigers poor play. Still it would have been nice to see it receive its just deserts. Yano, in particular if a runner impeded would run into the player doing the impeding to show this clearly and maybe Kanoh should adopt this tactic. In the end the game was a comfortable victory for the Lions as the steam went out of the Tigers after Brazell's home run.