May 23rd Nohmi v Komatsu - At last a win

Tigers finally broke their five game losing streak with a nice. This reversed the previous night's game result and what was even nicer was that everyone hit. However, this should not be interpreted as a new dawn and changes to the batting order should still be made. Box scores

           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers     1 0 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 7 14 1
Buffaloes  0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 13 2

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (First)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Sakurai (Right)
7. Lin (DH)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Fujimoto (Second)

Pitcher was Nohmi

Buffaloes
1. Ohmura (Left)
2. Ohbiki (Short)
3. Fernandez (DH)
4. LaRocca (Third)
5. Shimoyama (Right)
6. Okada (First)
7. Suzuki (Catcher)
8. Yamasaki (Second)
9. Sakaguchi (Centre)

Pitcher was Komatsu

Tigers would once again start brightly but this time would continue nicely. Akahoshi led off with a two base hit and made third on a Sekimoto hit. One would have thought he should have tried for home but he didn't. However, Komatsu was struggling to assert himself and Toritani hit to hit driving in the runner 1-0 Tigers runners on first and second. Kanemoto walked to load the bases and then Sakurai lined out to short - a deep fly which caused Sekimoto to go for home. He didn't make it and Tigers had two outs with runners on first and third. Lin flew out and the innings was over. In Buffaloes first Ohmura led off with a hit. Nohmi wouldn't pitch that well but would do well enough to give his team a start that they could build on. With one out Ohmura tried to steal second but was thrown out. Fernandez struck out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Lin hit but one out later he was extinguished in a Fujimoto double play. In Buffaloes second LaRocca led off with a hit. A pass ball took him to second and a ground out to third but then the final out intervened and the innings was scoreless. Komatsu still hadn't established himself and ran into more problems in the Tigers third. With Akahoshi out, Sekimoto hit. Immediately after Toritani walked setting up runners on first and second. Kanemoto hit to left centre a two base driving in the run 2-0 runners on second and third, with one out. Arai grounded out to second who tried for the double play but only got the runner going for second, Arai was safe on first. Arai then stole second but Sakurai struck out and the innings was over. Buffaloes third saw them strike back. Nohmi hadn't been impressive and with one out gave up a hit to Sakaguchi. He stole second and advanced to third on Ohmura's flyout. Ohbiki then grounded out to Fujimoto who messed it up allowing the runner to reach first safely. Not only that he it allowed the runner on third to reach home safely, 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. A costly error. Ohbiki then tried to steal second but unlike the day before was unsuccessful and was thrown out.

Tigers though were not about to let their lead evaporate. Lin led off the fourth with a solo home run 3-1 Tigers and the lead was restored. Fujimoto hit but then was replaced by Hirano (as a pinch runner) - a decision which had an element of punishment in it. Fujimoto needs to lift his game considerably. Once again Buffaloes tried to respond - LaRocca started it through the medium of a dead ball. Shimoyama, then Okada hit and the bases were loaded. Here, Nohmi lifted his game and struck out Suzuki and then induced Yamasaki to fly out ending the innings without damage. In Tigers fifth Kanemoto walked but nothing came of this. So far Tigers had been dominant despite the only average pitching of Nohmi but this would change in the bottom. With one out Nohmi gave up back to back hits to Ohmura and Ohbiki. Fernandez hit deeply to right centre - a two base hit and both runners charged home 3-3 scores tied and a runner on second with one out. Nohmi was able to prevent any further score but he had blown a valuable lead. For Tigers sixth Komatsu was replaced by the Tigers castoff Vogelsong. He did well retiring the batters in order. Likewise, for Buffaloes sixth Atchison took the mound. He did walk Yamasaki with two out but nothing came of this.

Vogelsong had a propensity to start well but not to be able to maintain it. This was the case in the Tigers seventh. Hirano walked and then Vogelsong dead balled Akahoshi to set up runners on first and second. Sekimoto bunted them to second and third and Buffaloes looked in real danger. Exit Vogelsong to be replaced by Shimizu. He got Toritani to ground out to second and Hirano went for home. Yamasaki - Buffaloes second - fired the ball to Suzuki who tagged Hirano out and Tigers had runners on first and third. A nice piece of work but only delaying the inevitable. Kanemoto hit to drive in a run 4-3 Tigers runners on first and second. Kawagoe replaced Shimizu and gave up a hit to Arai which put Toritani home 5-3 Tigers, runners on first and second. Finally, Sakurai flew out in foul ground in what was a quiet game for him. Atchison continued in the Buffaloes second and had to fight hard to preserve the lead. Ohmura hit and then tried to steal second, but was thrown out for the second time that evening. Ohbiki walked and then Fernandez hit again but this time only a single, runners on first and second. The next batter, LaRocca grounded out which took Ohbiki to third but then Shimoyama struck out looking and the innings was over. Lin hit to centre to lead off theTigers eighth and then the runner (Fujiwara pinch running) made third on a Buffaloes error. Kanoh was next and he hit to left driving in the run 6-3 Tigers runner on first. The next two batters struck out but Tigers were stretching away. Williams replaced Atchison and suffered from initial control problems, dead balling Okada. Tsuji (replacement catcher) hit to set up runners on first and second which became runners on second and third on Yamasaki's ground out - Williams was in trouble. He responded magnificently striking out the next two batters to end the innings without damage. Yoshino pitched the Tigers ninth and started with a hit to Toritani. This was followed by a Kanemoto hit and Tigers had runners on first and third. Sakurai hit the sacrifice fly and Tigers were ahead 7-3 with Kanemoto on first. The next two batters though failed to convert him and the innings was over. For the final innings Mayumi chose Fujikawa. He was shakey, starting the innings with a two base hit to Ikki (pinch hitter). This was followed by a hit from Fernandez which didn't result in a run as Kanemoto was in too fast. But Fujikawa now had runners on second and third with no outs. He lifted his game to strike out LaRocca and then Shimoyama stopping the Buffaloes momentum dead. Finally Okada flew out to end the innings. Tigers victory.

A desperately needed victory. Tigers had been pushed all the way by an aggressive active Buffaloes team. They had been able to make their hits count though whilst Buffaloes hadn't. Kanemoto, Toritani and Arai had all contributed which makes a change from their collective muted performance of the past few games but Tigers still have a lot of work to do.