August 27th Vogelsong v Ogasawara - Kubota reverts

Neither Vogelsong or Kubota would pitch well and like Hiroshima the week before walks would doom the losing side. Here also was one of the few times when management decisions impacted negatively on the Tigers victory chances with some incomprehensible decisions being made. Giants won so the magic number was switched off yet again (the CM is now 21) and the games between now stands at seven. To have any realistic chance of overtaking the Tigers, the Giants need to complete a sweep of the BayStars tonight (possible) and then sweep the Tigers at Koshien (difficult but exciting). Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ibata (Short)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Lee (Right)
4. Woods (First)
5. Nakamura (Third)
6. Morino (Left)
7. Koike (Centre)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Ogasawara (Pitcher)

Vogelsong started deceptively - he retired the Dragons top three without any problem. Ogasawara did the same and the action moved to the second innings. Here Vogelsong ran into trouble with a lead off hit to Woods. One out later a Morino hit followed and Woods moved round to third. Koike though hit into a double play and Vogelsong escaped for the moment. Tigers second was much the same as the first - Ogasawara was in control and retired the batters in order. With Dragons third Tanishige led off with a double - already Vogelsong was giving away too many hits. Ibata walked but the next two batters were easily out and the innings was over. So far Vogelsong had had enough to escape the jams he was getting into. The first Tigers hit came from Takahashi who led off the Tigers third. He fell to a Yano double play and then Vogelsong was out - end of innings.

In Dragons fourth Nakamura hit and then decided to chance Yano's arm by stealing second. Whilst Yano's throwing is weak it's not that weak and Nakamura was tagged out. Morino struck out and the innings was over. Tigers fourth saw Toritani hit and then Kanemoto hit - runners on first and third with two out. Lin grounded out and the innings was over. So far Vogelsong had done OK. He had given up too many hits and obviously had had to fight but had managed to keep the Dragons at bay. This was to change in the fifth. Once again he started with a lead off two base, this time to Koike. Next batter Tanishige walked - it looked like Vogelsong was beginning a meltdown. Ogasawara bunted the batters to second and third and then Ibata walked - bases loaded. Araki next and he put one over the head of Hirano for a hit. Two runners were home 2-0 Dragons - runners on first and third with one out and the end of Vogelsong. Another undistinguished performance in which he had been unable to hold a position and possibly he will be on the way to the farm team once Fukuhara is ready. Egusa took the mound and got Lee to ground into a double play to end the innings and limit the damage.

Tigers hit back with a Sekimoto hit. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then Takahashi hit a two base 2-1 Dragons - runner on second with no outs. Here was the first incomprehensible decision of the night. Takahashi was replaced by Katsuragi (pinch runner). Why? He had had two hits from two at bats, one of which was scoring. You shouldn't be doing this to someone who is playing well. Yano flipped a little pop catch to Tanishige who fired the ball to second to catch Katsuragi off base and get the second out. Finally Sakurai (pinch hitter) grounded out and the innings was over. Tigers had trimmed the lead and were in a good position to overhaul the Dragons. Atchison replaced Egusa and was superb retiring the Dragons in order.

Ogasawara returned for the bottom of the sixth and started by walking Akahoshi. He was bunted to second by Hirano and then Toritani walked - runners on first and second with one out. This out would prove significant. Kanemoto was next and he hit - to load the bases. This was also incomprehensible, Akahoshi is the fastest man on the Tigers - he should have been allowed to try for home. His skills at making home are unrivaled. Instead, Tigers set themselves up for a double play. Far better to score the tying run and then attack from there. Ogasawara exited to be replaced by Kobayashi. He got the required double play from Lin and the chance was lost. More aggression round the bases is essential in these cases - sure runners will be out but more often than not they will score. Atchison was once again superb in the Dragons seventh retiring the batters in order once again. Tigers seventh was pitched by Asao who gave up a hit to Yano with two outs. He was replaced by Takahashi who got the final out and preserved the Dragons slender lead.

Kubota pitched the Dragons eighth and was dreadful. He started with a lead off hit to Ibata. Araki bunted him to second and then Lee hit setting up runners on first and third with one out. Woods walked to load the bases and then Nakamura struck out looking. Maybe Kubota would escape. Not so he walked Morino for an oshidashi (walk in) 3-1 Dragons. Kubota then unleashed a wild pitch and another runner was home 4-1 Dragons. Finally, Kubota did what he should have done two batters ago and got the final out but Dragons were now in control. In Tigers eighth Akahoshi walked and made second on Hirano's ground out but nothing came of this. Dragons ninth was pitched by Watanabe who gave up a hit to Hirata but kept the situation under control and the innings scoreless. Finally Iwase took the mound and unlike his Olympic failure was assured and retired the Tigers batters in order - Dragons victory.

A good victory by the Dragons. They had worked well and had benefited from a couple of strange decisions by the Tigers management. Taking a performing batter off for someone else is plain stupid especially as that replacement doesn't perform. Being over conservative in your base running also plays into the oppositions hands. However, Okada has run the side well this season and so can be forgiven for the odd off game.