August 21st Shimoyanagi v Ohtake - Kanemoto's laser

Amazingly Tigers swept the Carp - a payback for the series at Kyocera Dome (they lose at home and win away). Kanemoto hit 20 home runs for the fifth time in a row and Sbimoyanagi joined a select club of pitchers with 10 wins at 40. Tigers had to fight hard for the victory as Carp pressed all the way and the result was in doubt right until the ninth innings. Line scores

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 10 2
Carp   0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 4 11 1

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Higashide (Second)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Ishihara (Catcher)
7. Kokubo (Third)
8. Soyogi (Short)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

A game which you didn't expect Tigers to win - after all they wouldn't return a sweep would they? However, they did exactly that. Ohtake wouldn't pitch well and started by walking Akahoshi. Two nights ago walks had doomed Carp and even though there weren't nearly as many this game they would doom Hiroshima again. Hirano bunted Akahoshi to second and then Toritani put a 2-1 fastball into the right centre stand for a home run 2-0 Tigers. The next two batters were both out and the innings was over. Carp also started well but things didn't go quite right for them. Shimoyanagi walked Akamatsu and then messed up a bunt putting runners on first and second with no outs. However, that is where the runners stayed as he retired the next three batters in order. In Tigers second Katsuragi led off with a hit but was immediatley out as part of a Sekimoto double play. Noguchi did nothing and the innings ended. Carp second saw a two out two base hit by Soyogi (Carp would hit a total of five two base hits, three of them being leadoff hits). The next batter though was Ohtake who duly grounded out to end the innings. Tigers third started with Shimoyanagi striking out. Akahoshi walked and was bunted to second again by Hirano. Ohtake then walked Toritani and faced Kanemoto. Another ball left in the zone, another home run - this time a three run 5-0 Tigers. Lin flew out and Tigers had a commanding lead. Carp commenced to chip away at this immediatley. Akamatsu led off with his lead off two base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch all with no outs. Higashide grounded out to Hirano but Akamatsu was ready and was safely home 5-1 Tigers. The next two batters were also out and the innings was over but still with a four run lead for the Tigers.

Perhaps surprisingly Ohtake (he had given up five runs) returned for the Tigers fourth. He gave up a lead off hit to Katsuragi but nothing came of this. Shimoyanagi struck out the first two batters he faced in the bottom but then dead balled Kokubo with his first pitch. Soyogi though flew out to end the innings. Hirano hit with one out in Tigers fifth but then fell to a Toritani double play - end of innings. Carp's fifth started quietly, Ohtake flying out but then Shimoyanagi dead balled Akamatsu (his second in as many innings). Akamatsu stole second and then Higashide had his two base hit 5-2 Tigers. Alex flew out but Kurihara hit to centre 5-3 Tigers and Carp were chipping away. Finally Shima flew out. Kanemoto led off the sixth with a hit. Two outs later Sekimoto also hit to put runners on first and third but Noguchi flew out to Shima to end the threat. Shimoyanagi exited at the end of the fifth and was replaced by Watanabe. He hasn't been pitching well recently and this game would be no exception. He started with Ishihara's lead off two base and then gave up a hit to Kokubo - runners on first and third with no outs. Soyogi flew out and Okada went to Egusa. He gave up a hit to Maeda (pinch hitter) and the score was 5-4 Tigers with the lead almost gone. Egusa got the next two batters and Tigers ended the innings with a one run lead.

Ohtake was replaced by Schultz for the Tigers seventh and after getting Sakurai (pinch hitter) to ground out gave up a hit to Akahoshi. He stole second and was bunted to third by Hirano. Obviously, Tigers were intending to add an extra run cushion but Toritani couldn't manage the hit and instead flew out to centre. Kubota pitched the seventh which used to be a sign for relaxation - Tigers had entered the JFK zone and were going to win. Not this year. With one out Kubota walked Kurihara and then gave up a hit to Shima. Kurihara reached third on the second out, an Ishihara ground out and Kubota got the final batter to fly out and end the innings. Brower pitched the Tigers eighth and unlike his problems of two nights before was comfortable retiring the side in order. Atchison took the bottom and almost lost his clean relief record (he has not given up a run in relief yet). He gave up a lead off hit to Soyogi. Kimura (pinch hitter) bunted him to second but then the second pinch hitter, Amaya, struck out. Two outs and the next batter was Higashide who was having a good game. He hit to left and Soyogi (who is quick) started for home. This is where Kanemoto coming rapidly in from left unleashed his laser throw straight to Noguchi who tagged Soyogi out for the final out and the end of the innings. If the throw hadn't made it it would have been the tying run and the Tigers would have blown a five run lead.

The final Tigers innings was pitched by Nagakawa. He got the first two batters to fly out and then faced Hiyama (pinch hitter). Hiyama is hot at the moment and hit a two base. Akahoshi was walked but Hirano also walked to load the bases. With Akahoshi on second almost any hit is going to score and so when Toritani drove one into centre field two runners were home 7-4 Tigers. Due to a throwing error the runners advanced to second and third with Kanemoto next. He lined out to first and the innings was over with a comfortable cushion. With a shakey closer a three run cushion is much better than a one run and Williams still has to find his feet yet. He started with a two base hit to Alex. Kurihara flew out and then Ohgata walked putting runners on first and second and the tying run in play. Ishihara grounded out moving Alex round to third but Kokubo flew out to Kanemoto - end of innings. Tigers victory and sweep.

A fine victory built on good batting and good relief pitching. Carp had pressed all the way but in the end hadn't had the extra or the luck to reach Tigers score. Shimoyanagi picked up his 10th win and became only the fifth pitcher in Japan to reach this target at the age of 40 (the others being Wakabayashi - Tigers: Murata - Lotte: Kudoh - Giants: Yamamoto - Dragons). Williams picked up his fourth save and improved on his previous outing. Giants game was rained off and so the lead increased to 7.5 games.