April 12th Nohmi v Kenta Maeda - Opening Day

The start of the season and due to the delay Tigers were able to start the season at Koshien for the first time in around 40 years. A memorial ceremony was held for the victims of the quake before the game which was Nohmi's first opening day start. He wasn't at his best it is safe to say but was backed by a formidable batting lineup. Nohmi had stated that he would have liked a complete game shutout but this proved to be beyond his abilities. Still a win is a win. Unfortunately, we saw signs that Mayumi still doesn't know what to do with his starting pitching but more of this later. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. Higashide (Second)
3, HIrose (Right)
4. Tracey (Third)
5. Kurihara (First)
6. Iwamoto (Left)
7. Akamatsu (Centre)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

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

With Koshien packed the game started nervously for Nohmi with Soyogi hitting a two base on a full count. Carp then handled the situation rather well, Higashide bunted Soyogi to third and then HIrose hit a neat sacrifice fly into the right corner bringing the runner home 1-0 Carp. Nohmi walked Tracey but then got Kurihara to fly out to end the first. Maeda didn't fare much better in Tigers first. His third pitch to Murton was loose and Murton, like Hirose he hit to right but with better contact propelling the ball over the fence for his third lead off home run of his career 1-1 scores tied and a very nice response from the Tigers. Hirano was next and he started his season where he left off last season hitting a nice two base. Unfortunately Tigers couldn't exploit this with both Arai and Brazell swinging at their first pitch and getting out - One is reminded of how Carp had scored their run from a similar situation. Nohmi continued in nervous vein in Carp's second giving up consecutive hits to Akamatsu and Ishihara with one out. Maeda bunted them to second and third but then Soyogi didn't come up with the goods and flew out to Murton to end the innings. Tigers second was quiet with Maeda striking out Kanemoto and Shunsuke. Higashide led off Carp's third with a nice hit to centre but one out later fell to a Tracey double play and the innings was over. So far Carp had been outhitting Tigers nicely but this was to gradually change. Nohmi led off the innings with a hit to centre. Murton and Hirano failed to do anything but Toritani drove nicely to left centre. Nohmi rounded the bases (carefully this time) and was safely home 2-1 Tigers, runner on second. Arai failed to convert and flew out to end the innings but Tigers had the lead.

Carp's fourth was quiet with an inspired Nohmi at his best striking out all three batters he faced. Tigers fourth was also quiet with the batters falling in order. Nohmi though started to tire in Carp's fifth. He got the first two outs and then gave up a hit to Soyogi. Higashide followed and also hit his first pitch - runners on first and second. This brought up Hirose who hit into centre the ball falling inconveniently in front of Shunsuke and allowing the runner home 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and second. Tracey was next and struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet and Nohmi repeated the pattern of the Carp's previous innings in their sixth. Two outs and then an inability to get the final out. This time Akamatsu hit to centre and then stole second. Here a bit of luck intervened for the Carp. Ishihara, the batter swung. The pitch came off the top off the bat and blooped into infield with Brazell coming in to retrieve the ball. Nohmi headed for first but in the meantime Akamatsu was home 3-2 Carp, runner on first. Maeda was the next batter and he flew out. Tigers needed to respond to this setback and they did so emphatically. Hirano hit to second and beat the throw to first. Toritani walked - runners on first and second and then Arai drove smoothly into right bringing Hirano home 3-3 scores tied, runners on first and second. Brazell took an enormous swing and hit but it just died near the centre fence and was taken by Akamatsu. Both Arai and Toritani tagged up and moved round the bases - one out. Next came Kanemoto who hit along the first base line where it was fielded by Kurihara. He threw to Ishihara at home to try and cut off the run but the throw was too high and Toritani slid safely in under Ishihara's tag for the run 4-3 Tigers, runners on first and third. Johjima hit deep into centre and Arai tagged up and was home 5-3 Tigers, runner on first. Finally, Shunsuke flew out to end the innings but Tigers were comfortably in the driving seat.

Here Mayumi made what could have been a bad error. Nohmi hadn't pitched particularly well and had struggled in both the fifth and sixth. Clearly he was tiring and this was a good opportunity to go to the bullpen. Instead Mayumi sent Nohmi to the mound for the Carp's seventh. The pattern repeated - two outs then trouble. Nohmi walked Hirose and then threw a wild pitch which took the latter to second. Tracey was next and he also walked. To his credit Mayumi realised his mistake and pulled Nohmi replacing him with Kubota. This did the trick and Kubota got Kurihara to ground out to short to end the innings. However, it would have been wiser to have used Kubota to start the innings. Nomura made no such mistake and for Tigers seventh went with Aoki who retired the batters in order. For Carp's eighth we saw Kobayahsi in his first start for Tigers. Maybe Mayumi should have stuck with Kubota but it was a valid move to try his new signing. Kobayashi started with a lead off hit to Iwamoto. Akamatsu struck out swinging and then Shima (pinch hitter) hit to left with the ball bouncing off the fence just inside the left pole. Iwamoto was safely home and Shima was on second 5-4 Tigers. Kobayashi didn't let this phase him and retired the next two batters to preserve the lead. For Tigers eighth the pitcher was Ueno with Kura as the catcher. Maybe Carp should have stuck with Ishihara as the combination didn't work well. With one out Arai hit nicely to left and made second. Asai (replacement left) then hit into centre and Arai was home 6-4 Tigers. Johjima was deliberately walked to get at Shunsuke but he hit to load the bases. Mayumi sent Hiyama (pinch hitter) to the plate and he hit his first pitch to left bringing home a runner 7-4 Tigers bases loaded. Murton though flew out to end the innings. Carp's ninth with Kyuji Fujikawa to come. He was at his best striking out all three batters swinging and using his fork to great effect. Tigers victory.

Tigers had won a nice victory proving too strong for Carp on the night. Neither pitcher had been particularly good but Tigers superior batting lineup had proved the difference. Johjima played the whole game which was highly encouraging. Fujikawa picked up his first save and the victory went to Nohmi. All in all a nice balanced performance by the Tigers.