August 25th Andoh v Ishikawa - A rain soaked struggle

Okada was not happy about the previous day's cancellation for rain so the sides played this game in the rain. Both pitchers were not at their best but somehow managed to keep the game scoreless until the sixth. After that the Tigers pressure told and the Swallows couldn't hold the stronger side. With Aoki back the result could have been possibly reversed as one cannot see him wasting the chances the Swallows had. Tigers Olympic players are due to start the upcoming series against the Dragons after a short rest. The Magic Number is now 29 (CM is 23). Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Fukuchi (Centre)
2. Kawashima (Short)
3. Iihara (Left)
4. Hatakeyama (Third)
5. Takeuchi (First)
6. Tanaka (Second)
7. Guiel (Right)
8. Fukukawa (Catcher)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

For some reason Okada likes to play games at Jingu and so Vogelsong at first didn't last. Takahashi started at first for Tigers. Ishikawa started the Tigers first well - he retired the side in order. Andoh didn't start well but gave up a lead off hit to Fukuchi. He stole second and then Andoh walked Iihara. Runners on first and second with one out. Fukuchi advanced to third on a Hatakeyama flyout and then Iihara stole second. Noguchi occaisionally has sawdust in his head early in a match and this was one of those occasions two steals in one innings. Takeuchi grounded out and Andoh had his first escape. Tigers second started with a Kanemoto two base hit. One out later Sekimoto hit to centre but Kanemoto was held up on third by Wada and the run was not scored. The next two batters both failed and the innings was scoreless. The Swallows second saw Guiel hit a two base which turned into runners on first and third with one out on a Toritani error. Andoh though induced a short flyout from Ishikawa and then a ground out from Fukuchi and that chance went begging. Tigers third was quiet with the batters falling in order. Swallows third saw a marvelous piece of fielding by Kanemoto. Kawashima hit to left and Kanemoto ran in to take the ball. As he approached he stooped to catch the ball in his glove just before it hit the ground and without breaking stride held onto it for the out. Hatakeyama hit to centre but nothing came of this and the innings ended scoreless. So after three innings there was no score. Andoh hadn't had an innings without a batter on base and this would continue through his session. Ishikawa had been the better pitcher of the two but would deteriorate later in his session.

Tigers fourth saw Ishikawa in control with perhaps his best pitching of the game - the Tigers 3, 4 and 5 fell in order. Andoh, however, continued to live dangerously. With one out he dead balled Guiel. Then Ishikawa hit and Andoh dead balled Fukuchi to load the bases with two outs. His pitching wasn't very good to say the least. Still he managed to get Kawashima to ground out to him for the final out and another escape. Tigers fifth saw the batting wake up. Sekimoto hit (he would go 3 for 3 with a walk in the game). Then after a Takahashi fly out Noguchi hit a two base and Tigers had runners on second and third. Next batter was Andoh who struck out looking and then Akahoshi grounded out to short ending the chance. In Swallows fifth Iihara led off with a hit and made second on a Hatakeyama ground out but then advanced no further as the innings petered out. Tigers sixth saw Kanemoto hit with two out but Lin - who would have a quiet game with the bat - would fly out. Andoh's sixth and final innings would be a bit more lively. Guiel started it all with a lead off two base hit (his second of the night). Andoh then walked Fukukawa to set up runners on first and second with no outs. This became second and third with one out as Ishikawa sacrifice bunted. Fukuchi was maybe a bit too keen and flew out in foul ground for the next out. Finally Yuichi (pinch hitter) grounded out and the innings was over. After six innings Andoh retired - he had not pitched well but had somehow managed to avoid giving up the scoring hit. That in itself was remarkable given the fact that he had had runners on base every innings.

Ishikawa returned for the seventh which proved to be an innings too far. Sekimoto led off with a hit and then Takahashi also hit. Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Noguchi bunted the runners to second and third and Okada went with Sakurai (pinch hitter). He hit to third and one runner was home 1-0 Tigers. Akahoshi was next and he hit a sacrifce fly to left 2-0 Tigers. The final batter was Hirano who flew out but Tigers had taken the lead. Okada switched to Atchison for the Swallows seventh and he didn't start well. Iihara hit to first and an error allowed him to make home safely. Then Hatakeyama hit to second which allowed Hirano to get Iihara but he was safe on first. This out would prove vital. Takeuchi hit and then Tanaka hit and the Swallows had loaded the bases with one out. The next batter was Guiel who hit into a double play to end the chance. He was mortified but Tigers were rather relieved. Takada switched to Matsuoka for Tigers eighth and he led off with a Toritani home run to right 3-0 Tigers. The rest of the innings passed without incident. Kubota took the Swallows eighth and had a smooth innings retiring the batters in order. Tigers ninth was pitched by Oshimoto who was rather successful retiring the batters in order all striking out. Finally Williams took the mound. He did give up a hit to Iihara who advanced to second on a ground out but the final batter, Shida (pinch hitter) also grounded out and the match was over - Tigers victory.

A very good victory for the Tigers, they had won their last four away games and built up a nice momentum for the return to Koshien. Andoh picked up his 12th win of the season, the first time he has reached this level. Williams picked up his fifth save and had looked a lot more assured. Swallows had wasted a lot of chances though and the lack of their star Aoki had perhaps showed. As a result Ishikawa had been left without run support and Tigers batting had waited for the chance and then taken it successfully.