October 19th Shimoyanagi v Chen - Okada's first post season win

This was the first time an Okada Tigers team has won in the post season and it was a dominating performance. Dragons did suffer from poor pitching but the Tigers offense was much stronger and more focused than before. They can improve though and get even better. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Toritani (Short)
6. Yano (Catcher)
7. Asai (Right)
8. Baldris (Third)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

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

Shimoyanagi got the Tigers off to a good start quickly disposing of Lee and Araki before battling Morino whom he got to fly out. Chen's first innings was poor. He started well by striking Akahoshi out but then his pitching wandered. Sekimoto hit his first pitch to left. Then Arai also hit his first pitch to left, a shot which Ibata couldn't hold - runners on first and second. Kanemoto hit his second pitch into right centre and Sekimoto charged home 1-0 Tigers runners on first and second. By now Chen's pitching was very shaky. His first pitch to Toritani was a ball and the second one was hit high to left for a three run home run 4-0 Tigers and a dream start. Yano grounded out and then Asai struck out as Chen managed to recover his composure a bit. Dragons second started with an enormous hit to left from Tyronne Woods. Asai ran back to the wall and then jumped to snatch the ball out of the air before it hit the wall. A truely awesome catch. Shimoyanagi walked Wada who made third on a Nakamura hit, Shimoyanagi was also having control problems. Ibata was next and he bounced one over Baldris' outstretched glove and Wada was home 4-1 Tigers with runners on first and second and one out. Next came Tanishige who obligingly hit into a double play and ended the threat. Tigers second saw more assured pitching by Chen and the batters were retired in order. Dragons third started with a Chen hit but ended with an Araki double play. Chen walked Kanemoto in Tigers fourth but nothing came of this. So far Tigers were in control.

With Dragons fourth Wada collected his second walk of the evening but Nakamura struck out and the innings was over. Tigers fourth saw a big waste of a scoring chance. Yano led off the innings with a two base. Asai hit to right and Yano just ambled to third - he made no effort to try for home and really could have done so but Tigers had runners on first and third with no outs. Baldris was next and tried to hit his first pitch to left where it was fielded by Nakamura who threw to second for the double play. Yano stayed rooted on third and he should have gone for home, especially given that the next batter was Shimoyanagi. This was clearly a wasted chance but Yano's running throughout the season hasn't been impressive - he has lost a lot of his former speed but he also doesn't seem interested in getting round the bases quickly. Shimoyanagi struck out and the innings was over. Ibata led off the Dragons fifth with a hit. He was bunted to second by Tanishige but Hidenori (pinch hitter) grounded out. Shimoyanagi walked Lee to set up runners on first and second but Araki hit to Baldris who made an excellent stop and tagged third to end the innings. Chen had been replaced by Shimizu who gave up a one out two base hit to Sekimoto. Both Arai and Kanemoto failed to convert him and the innings ended without score.

Shimoyanagi returned for the sixth and gave up a home run to Morino 4-2 Tigers. He got the next out but Okada decided that it was time to switch to the relief. Atchison was summoned and gave up a hit to Wada but the next two batters flew out and the innings was over. Shimizu exited to be replaced by Nakata for the Tigers sixth and if Chen was poor Nakata was truely awful. His second pitch to Toritani became the Tigers shortstop's second home run of the night, this time a solo effort to left 5-2 Tigers and the killer blow. Nakata wasn't finished though.Yano hit and was bunted to second by Asai. Lin (pinch hitter) also hit and Yano was round to third. This brought up Hiyama (pinch hitter) and after a battle Nakata unleashed a wild pitch which bounced off Tanishige's glove. Yano was home 6-2 Tigers. Hirano (pinch running for Lin and replacement right) sped round from first to third to set up another run. Hiyama walked and was replaced by Fujimoto (replacement second). Next batter was Akahoshi who worked the count full before the fourth ball sailed well over Tanishige's head - another wild pitch, another run 7-2 Tigers. This was the end of Nakata who was replaced by Saitoh. He got the next two outs striking out Sekimoto looking and Arai swinging but the game was out of the Dragons reach. Dragons seventh was pitched by Williams who couldn't locate his outside balls and as a result gave up a leadoff walk to Tanishige. Koike was next and he hit into a double play. Lee hit to centre followed by Araki to set up runners on first and second. Williams was struggling with his control. Next batter was Morino who worked the count full before swinging at an outrageous Williams high ball to strike out. He was furious with himself for being tricked by a bold piece of pitching. Innings over. Nagamine pitched Tigers seventh and was in control retiring the batters in order.

Dragons eighth was pitched by Kubota - a surprising choice. He started with Woods and got two quick strikes but then couldn't get the third one eventually firing a straight ball which Woods slammed into the second tier of Osaka Dome for an enormous solo home run 7-3 Tigers. Wada grounded out but Nakamura hit and you began to worry - would Kubota be OK? Had Okada made a mistake. Kubota though got the next two batters to fly out and end the innings safely. Nagamine continued for the Tigers eighth and with two out gave up a hit to Fujimoto. He tried to steal second but was thrown out and the innings ended. So to the Dragons ninth and of course Okada was taking no chances which meant Fujikawa. He struck out Tatsunami and then induced a flyout by Lee. Finally he faced Araki and seemed to be in trouble, Araki working the count full. Fujikawa's final pitch was a masterpiece - an inside straightball which had Araki totally flummoxed and out. Tigers victory.

A fine victory which tied the series at 1-1 with one more game to go. Tigers had done well and exploited rather weak Dragons pitching. Okada was delighted and chiefly talked about how it had been a long time since the team had performed this well and that his first post season victory had also been a long time coming. Batting and pitching had had the extra when needed and the Dragons had never really been able to put things together enough to challenge the Tigers.