August 31st Standridge v Shimizu - Taking your chances

Tigers returned to Koshien for the first time in almost a month after beating up the Swallows and proceeded to do the same to the BayStars. Despite the scoreline this wasn't the straightforward massacre it seemed as Standridge wasn't good and BayStars had ample chances early on to establish a lead themselves. In the end Tigers took what chances Shimizu gave them and then demolished BayStars relief though their relief catcher Kurobane can't be said to have done particularly well. This is the second game in a row in which Tigers have had 20 hits and whatever one thinks about the pitching the batting performs more often than not. Giants lost to the Swallows which gave the Tigers a one game advantage in the Central League lead for the first time since the three game sweep by the Giants. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
BayStars  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1  9 0
Tigers    0 1 3 3 0 6 0 0 X 13 22 1

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Uchikawa (Right)
2. Ishikawa (Short)
3, Harper (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Sledge (Left)
6. Shimozono (Centre)
7. Castillo (Second)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Shimizu (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Johjima (Catcher)
8. Shunsuke Fujikawa (Centre)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

BayStars started well off a rusty Standridge who would struggle with his location all evening. Uchikawa hitting to right and then being bunted to second. Harper and Standridge battled it out for a while with Standridge winning out in the end by getting Harper to fly out to short. Murata grounded out to Arai and the first chance was gone. Shimizu started by striking out Murton and then giving up a hit to Hirano. Toritani hit his first pitch to right where Uchikawa took the catch but a wild pitch took Hirano to second. This didn't help, though, as Arai grounded out to end the innings. BayStars second was even more of a waste. Standridge started by giving up a two base hit to Sledge. Shimozono struck out looking - a sign of Standridge at his best but then Castillo hit to set up runners on first and third. A case of interference (which I didn't see) added Takeyama to the bases - now loaded. Next was Shimizu who fortuitously hit to Toritani for an innings ending double play. Tigers had escaped for the second time. Having been gifted an exit they then proceeded to take full advantage of it. Brazell led off the second with a big hit - a solo home run to right 1-0 Tigers. Kanemoto grounded out and Johjima struck out but Shunsuke Fujikawa hit. However, the last batter was Standridge who grounded out to end the innings. BayStars third was quiet as Standridge protected the lead but with a lot of effort. Tigers third saw a nice ruthless streak as Shimizu began to tire and lose location. Murton hit to short and beat the throw which to be honest was a rather poor one. Then Hirano bunted him to second. Toritani walked which brought up Arai. He has been hitting to right more recently and it has been working very nicely. He did so this time but Uchikawa was up quickly and made a superb throw to Takeyama who was covering the home plate. Murton had raced round and slid in just before the tag - safe! 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Brazell was next up and banged his first pitch into right bringing Toritani home 3-0 Tigers with no outs and runners on first and second. Kanemoto struck out for the second out swinging at an outside pitch. Next was Johjima who was looking for his favourite stroke along the third baseline. He had a couple of failures but then connected nicely for a two base hit into the left corner. This brought Arai home 4-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. Shunsuke Fujikawa was deliberately walked to get at Standridge who grounded out to Shimizu but Tigers were clearly in the driving seat.

BayStars tried to respond in the fourth and once again wasted a chance though they did get on the board. Murata walked and Sledge struck out. Shimozono hit to left but this only took Murata round to second. Castillo flew out, however, Takeyama took a rather wild swing at a pitch which blooped up and landed in no mans land between the right infield and outfield for a timely hit 4-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. The final batter was Shimizu who grounded out to second. Tigers fourth was an illustration of how it should be done. Shimizu's pitching by now had gone to pieces and Tigers batters took full advantage of it. Murton hit to centre and once again Hirano bunted. Here the throw to first did not arrive in time and Hirano was just in front of it. Castillo who was covering first looked aggreived but Hirano was safe. Toritani drove his first pitch into centre field and Murton was home 5-1 Tigers, runners on first and third , Then Arai hit into centre field bringing Hirano home 6-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. This was the end of Shimizu who used to be so successful against Tigers but now seems to be just cannon fodder. He was replaced by Takamiya who at first didn't make any difference as Brazell hit into centre and another runner made home 7-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Kanemoto struck out again and Obana switched pitchers to Ejiri. An unenviable situation but Ejiri did well this innings inducing Johjima to line out to Castillo at second - no run there and then got Shunsuke Fujikawa to fly out to third and end the innings. But Tigers had the game won. Standridge returned for BayStars fifth his last innings. Here he gave up a two base hit to Ishikawa, this one flew out to centre and stayed in the air a long time. Shunsuke Fujikawa seemed to have it covered but it drifted away from him in the wind and he was just able to get the tip of his glove on it to no avail - it was a hit. Harper hit to centre bouncing it off the wall. Ishikawa hesitated to see if it was a hit and then set off for home. A marvelous piece of fielding followed. Shunsuke fired the ball into Toritani who threw direct to Johjima covering the plate. The ball arrived just before Ishikawa who was tagged out as he slid in. The BayStars protested but the umpire was well placed and replays backed him up. Harper was on first but stayed there as Murata grounded out to end the innings. Lin (pinch hitter) led off Tigers fifth with a hit to centre. He would later replace Murton at right. Murton struck out but Hirano also hit nicely to centre setting up runners on first and second. Toritani flew out and then Arai took a dead ball. Ejiri was tiring and there was nothing malicious about this one, Ejiri actually doffed his cap in apology. This brought up Brazell who faced Katoh. Katoh threw some inside pitches - he really had no option but this time Brazell didn't react but grounded out to second. BayStars had escaped. Mayumi had acted wisely in replacing Standridge who hadn't been particularly good but it was his first start back after a while. Over the past few games Mayumi seems to have been paying careful attention to pitch counts maybe because circumstances force him to. He hasn't got so many pitchers to choose from. Tsuru took the mound for the BayStars sixth and he had trouble locating his inside pitches - too many of these were balls not strikes. He showed this with the first batter, Sledge who worked the count full before hitting to right. Shimozono struck out but Castillo hit to centre, runners on first and second. Kinjoh (pinch hitter) was next but he flew out to Lin and then Fujita (pinch hitter) flew out to left to end the innings. Rather nervy but effective in the end. Then things really fell apart for the BayStars. Kobayashi was the pitcher and he was paired with Kurobane - they did not communicate. Kanemoto led off the Tigers sixth with a solo home run - this one bounced off the top of the Koshien fence into the gaia 8-1 Tigers. Johjima flew out to left but Shunsuke Fujikawa hit a nice two base to left. Lin struck out but Asai (pinch hitter) drew what is for a him a rare walk. Hirano was next and drove his first pitch a low slider into right for a two base timely hit 9-1 Tigers, runners on second and third. Toritani hit into centre bringing both runners home 11-1 Tigers, runner on first. Arai worked the count full and then was actually waiting for the home run ball to reach him driving it into the left stand for a two run home run 13-1 Tigers. Brazell hit and Kanemoto hit and a wild pitch took them to second and third before Johjima struck out to end what had been an embarrassment for the BayStars.

In contrast BayStars seventh was quiet and Watanabe had an easy job of it striking out two and getting Harper to ground out. Tigers seventh was pitched by Fukuda who also had an easy time of things retiring the batters in order. BayStars eighth was just as easy for Watanabe as the shell shocked BayStars batters surrendered 1-2-3 to his pitching. Two more strike outs went down in that innings. Hirano led off Tigers eighth with a hit and arrived at second on a wild pitch. Toritani walked and it began to look like more runs were in the offing. However, Tigers batters were satisfied and Arai hit into a double play. This took Hirano to third but then Brazell flew out to end the innings. Sajikihara pitched BayStars ninth and ensured the batters went down in order finishing in fine style by striking out Ninuma to end the game. Tigers victory.

Tigers heroes for this match were Brazell, Arai and Toritani who had all hit well. BayStars need to pitch much better to avoid another defeat like this - their relief in particular was poor. Both Arai and Toritani have now exceeded their previous RBIs for Tigers and both look to be heading for career years. Standridge picked up his ninth win without being at his best but he had enough to keep the BayStars under control. BayStars are due to face Shimoyanagi next who is fading and they have to hope that their batters come through for them and that their pitching holds up better. Otherwise it will be another long night.