September 21st Iwata V Uehara - Tigers destroyed part II

This match really hinged on one innings for the Giants but what an innings. Giants batters took apart the Tigers relief in a brutal fashion. It was impossible for them to fail and the Tigers pitchers had no response. After that a Giants sweep was a foregone conclusion. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Suzuki (Centre)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Lee (First)
6. Tani (Right)
7. Abe (Catcher)
8. Sakamoto (Short)
9. Uehara (Pitcher)

The match started quietly with the Tigers first innings producing nothing. Iwata followed suit and the Giants did nothing. Tigers second was led off by Kanemoto and he hit a solo home run to right 1-0 Tigers. It's good to see him hitting again but unfortunate he didn't have the chance to hit with runners on base. The next three batters fell easily and the innings was over. Iwata walked Lee in Giants second but Lee grounded into a double play to end the innings. Tigers third was also quiet with nothing happening. Giants third was also quiet and Iwata had worked his way through the Giants lineup without giving up a hit. Good pitching up to that point. Tigers fourth and with two out Kanemoto faced Uehara again and another home run followed 2-0 Tigers. He had reached his 100th RBI but unfortunately other Tigers batters had not got on base so the lead was not as big as it should have been. The final batter of the innings was Toritani who flew out. Giants fourth saw Ogasawara hit but nothing came of this. So far Iwata had pitched very well and dominated the match. Tigers were in control and it looked like the match would be tight.

Tigers fifth was quiet with the batters retiring in order. Giants fifth started with a Lee two base hit - ominous. Then Iwata threw a pitch which Noguchi failed to take - there was nothing wrong with the pitch but Noguchi's catching was not up to the required standard for this pitch. It was unaccountably poor and should not have happened. Anyway Lee moved round to third and Tani was next. He hit to left and Lee was home 2-1 Tigers. Abe struck out but then Sakamoto had a lucky hit which just landed between second and centre. Sakamoto is a lucky batter but he is prepared to take his chances and it pays off. As they say - you make your own luck. With runners on first and second and one out the next batter was Uehara. Hara replaced him with Ohmichi (pinch hitter). Uehara had pitched quite well and had successfully kept the Tigers at two runs. Iwata then dropped a pitch onto Ohmichi's foot which was painful but the dead ball loaded the bases. Suzuki was next and hit his first pitch nicely for a two base 3-2 Giants - runners on second and third. Okada acted quickly and Iwata was replaced by Watanabe. He got Takahashi (pinch hitter) to strike out and then was replaced by Egusa. Maybe Watanabe should have been kept on the mound. Anyway Egusa walked Ogasawara to load the bases again. This meant that Egusa was replaced by Atchison. He faced Ramirez having not given up a run in relief. Ramirez swung at a high pitch and got an impact on the middle of the bat. The ball flew into the gap between second and centre and two runners were home 5-2 Giants. Next up was Lee and there was no doubt about his hit - he picked up a slider and deposited it in the right stand for a home run 8-2 Giants and the Tigers were out of the game. Finally, Tani - round for his second at bat grounded out and the innings was over. But what a devastating innings.

Yamaguchi pitched the Tigers sixth and gave up a lead off hit to Yano but none of the shell shocked Tigers batters did anything to convert him and the innings ended scoreless. Giants sixth saw Abe hit a lead off home run - a very lucky hit. He swung at a low outside pitch and got a lucky impact and trajectory which carried the ball over the fence 9-2 Giants. Two outs later Takahashi hit but nothing came of that. Tigers seventh was quiet with the batters being retired in order. Abe pitched the Giants seventh and was very effective retiring the batters in order. Tigers eighth was a wasted opportunity. Lin hit and then Katsuragi (pinch hitter) grounded out. Yano hit to second who could only just stop the ball but the bases were loaded. Next batter, Akahoshi hit a sacrifice fly to left (one can't imagine a Giants batter doing this) and Lin was home 9-3 Giants. Hirano grounded out moving Katsuragi to third (he should have done that one out earlier) but what a waste. Then Imaoka struck out with runners on first and third and the innings was over.

Tamaki was the pitcher for the Giants eighth and he walked Tani. However, Abe hit into a double play to end the chance. Sakamoto struck out and the innings was over. Fujita started the Tigers ninth and gave up a lead off hit to Kanemoto. Toritani walked and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Sekimoto hit and Kanemoto raced round the bases to score 9-4 Giants with Toritani on third. Hara decided that maybe Fujita wasn't a good idea and he was replaced by Ochi who unleashed a wild pitch which allowed Toritani to score 9-5 Giants. Ochi then pulled himself together and struck out Takahashi (pinch hitter), Hiyama (pinch hitter and Yano in succession. Giants victory.

Tigers had lost the sole lead in the Central League. They had been outplayed by the more confident side who had lifted their game when they had the chance. The Giants had only really shone in one innings but they had been so bright that was all they needed. Giants relief had been weak and feeble but really it didn't matter.