September 13th Shimoyanagi v Maeda - It's a win so its OK

After a long hard struggle Tigers eeked out a 1 run win. Carp were shut out this time. No complaints here - it was a better performance with perhaps Shimoyanagi's best performance for Tigers yet. He had to battle bases loaded situations and aggressive batters but kept Carp scoreless over seven innings on 92 pitches without taking the win. Maeda pitched well but wasn't in the same league - Tigers batters still need to figure him out. On unrelated news Kubota has been complaining of pain in the arm and has been deregistered. Whether he returns this season is doubtful. Giants also won so the Magic only fell to 16 (CM is 7) and the games between remains at five. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Imaoka (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Toritani (Short)
6. Katsuragi (First)
7. Lin (Right)
8. Yano (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 (Short)
8. Hirose (Third)
9. Maeda (Pitcher)

Akamatsu led off the first with a hit. A Higashide bunt drove him to second but then Alex struck out. In a high risk strategy, Shimoyanagi then walked Kurihara and Shima to load the bases. The next batter Ishihara lined out to right and the innings was over. Maeda had less trouble, retiring the first three Tigers in order. In the Carp second Shimoyanagi walked Kokubo but he was extinguished in a Hirose double play which left just Maeda. He duly flew out and the innings was over. Tigers second saw Toritani hit but nothing came of this. Carp's third brought up Akamatsu who hit again. Once again he was bunted to second by Higashide and made third on an Alex ground out. This time Shimoyanagi was confident enough to take on Kurihara and got him to ground out and end the innings. With Tigers third Akahoshi hit with two out and then stole second. However, Hirano struck out and the innings was over. Shima fell early in Carp's fourth and then Ishihara walked. Kokubo walked but the next two batters flew out and the runners remained stationary - end of innings, no score. Tigers fourth saw Kanemoto and then Toritani hit - runners on first and second with one out. Katsuragi, though, hit into a double play and that innings was over.

Carp fifth was quiet - the batters retiring in order. In the Tigers version Yano had a two base hit - presaging his later effort but nothing came of this one. The sixth was quiet, both pitchers being in control. The seventh also went the same way - Shimoyanagi would retire at the end of the Carp seventh having pitched superbly. Atchison took the Carp eighth and gave up a one out hit to Higashide. Another out later Higashide tried to steal second and was thrown out - end of innings. Tigers eighth was quiet and you got the impression that they were waiting for the ninth or extra innings. Maeda retired having kept the Tigers under control completely throughout his eight innings. Atchison returned for the Carp ninth but Toritani made a mistake with a Kurihara ground out - runner on first. The next out saw a superb catch by Kanemoto - running in and sliding he took a shallow fly from Shima. The next batter Ishihara hit to set up runners on first and third. Atchison then induced first Kokubo and Kida to fly out to end the innings. As a relief pitcher he still has to give up a run. Maeda gave way to Schultz who started with a Hirano hit. With two out Hirano got tired of waiting and stole second. Unfortunately, Toritani then struck out and the innings was over. Fujikawa pitched the Carp 10th. He wasn't at his best but was still good enough. With one out Akamatsu hit and tried to steal second but was thrown out. Higashide hit but the next batter, Alex flew out and the innings was over. Umetsu pitched the Tigers tenth and immediatley ran into trouble. Katsuragi hit but Sekimoto (pinch hitter) grounded out. Yano was next and he hit a two base to left. Katsuragi blistered round the bases to make home 1-0 sayonara victory.

This was Tigers fourth sayonara victory in five games and Yano's second sayonara hit out of those four. The victory went to Fujikawa. Okada isn't quite convinced that Tigers will take the pennant but to be honest its looking more likely.