April 14th Fujinami v Miura - Another first win

Tigers bounced back nicely and on the back of some good pitching from Fujinami were able to take their second series. Once again Koshien was full undoubtedly because of the pulling power of Fujinami who whilst not being brilliant put in a solid performance and deserved his first win. Fujii also performed better which is a relief but it is interesting to see the Tigers PR machine cranking into gear and trying to sell an unpopular catcher. There was a big question mark over him after his debacle of the day before with fans but this performance has at least bought some breathing space. How long it will last is anybody's guess but expect Wada to cling onto his choice even if things do go bad. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Uchimura (Second)
3. Morgan (Right)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Ramirez (Left)
6. Nakamura (Third)
7. Aranami (Centre)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Fukudome (Right)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Conrad (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Fujinami (Pitcher)

Collectively, Tigers had to up their performance after their mess of the previous game and we can happily say that they did. This time when Ishikawa hit his first pitch he hit it straight to Nishioka who fielded successfully and threw to first for the out. Uchimura took longer with eight pitches before he swung and missed. Morgan was just three and Fujinami had survived his first innings at Koshien. Miura started well - he is no longer the 'Tiger Killer' of legend but a fading pitcher who still has a considerable skill set. He has not beaten the Tigers since May last year but was able to retire the batters in the first. Fujinami continued his progress through the second until he got to Nakamura who drove left for a single. Aranami was next and popped up to third in foul ground to end the innings. Fujinami was taking more pitches but still getting the outs. Miura had a rather nice second striking out Fukudome and Arai which no doubt boosted his confidence. The third was better and whatever one may think about Fujii he was working well with Fujinami this game. I would still like to see Fujinami with other catchers but this was going well. Miura retired the bottom of the Tigers order 1-2-3 and so far you had to say that honours were slightly with the BayStars.

BayStars fourth started with Uchimura grounding out to Fujinami and Morgan flying out but then Blanco drove into centre. Ramirez flew out to left and that ended the innings. So far BayStars had gotten runners on but hadn't really done anything with them. Tigers got their first base runner in the fourth. Nishioka led off with a single - he is turning out to be a highly effective lead off batter though a bit weak in the field. The inevitable sacrifice bunt followed and then Toritani hit right bringing in Nishioka 1-0, runner on first. This is the second time one of these moves have worked and this is worrying as Wada might start to use it too much. Murton flew out and then Fukudome hit a grounder. Fujinami now had a lead - could he hold it? With one out Aranami hit to left and then with Tsuruoka at the plate tried to steal second. Perhaps surprisingly Fujii threw him out - he was having a dream day. However, things were not going well with Fujinami who was struggling and here Fujii wasn't exactly much help. Tsuruoka walked in four as pitches peppered the zone. Miura then singled to the surprise of everyone including himself - runners on first and second. Finally Ishikawa was lured into flying out to left. Fujinami in the end had handled that innings well. Tigers then decided to go after a tiring Miura. Arai led off the bottom of the fifth with a single. Conrad flew out and then Fujii hit. One can't complain about his batting which is one of the highest averages in the team. Ishikawa fielded but put in a rather wild throw which allowed Arai to get to third with Fujii on first. Fujinami was told to bunt and laid down the perfect squeeze, the ball rolling away to right. The BayStars were a bit slow and Arai was quick reaching home safely 2-0 Tigers, runner on first with Fujii taking second. Nishioka's hit was more conventional - a single to right to bring Fujii home 3-0 Tigers, runner on first. Nishioka stole second; everything was going right for Tigers. Yamato singled left bringing in Nishioka 4-0 Tigers, runner on first and then made second on a wild pitch. However, this was the final score as Toritani grounded out to the relief of a bewildered Miura. BayStars tried to hit back and the start of their sixth saw Uchimura single right but then he stayed on first with the batters then struggling. It would be the final innings for Fujinami who had kept the runners under control and shown some good stuff. However, he still needs to work on his economy of pitching and here I think Fujii is not the catcher for this. A few games with Komiyama or Hidaka would be very useful. Tigers sixth was quiet and no one got on base.

Andoh took over for BayStars seventh and with one out gave up a single to Aranami. Watanabe (pinch hitter) hit into a double play which was most helpful. Conrad led off Tigers seventh with a single. He was pinch run for by Araki who was bunted to second by Fujii. Now if Fujii is hitting regularly you don't want to waste this rare opportunity by having him bunt. This though is Wada's rationale or rather lack of it. Next was Sekimoto (pinch hitter and replacement third) who still has to justify the faith placed in him. He grounded out to Miura which did take Araki to third. Nishioka though struck out swinging and normal service with bunts was resumed. Fukuhara pitched the BayStars eighth and was his usual self. He did throw more low outside pitches for the third out which proved to be Uchimura who grounded out. Mishima replaced Miura who had struggled hard and turned in a quality performance but not good enough. He struck out Yamato but Toritani tripled. The first extra base hit of the game. Murton managed to strike out swinging and then Fukudome flew out. BayStars had survived another runner on third. Kubo pitched BayStars ninth and started poorly with a single to Morgan. We saw a succession of ineffective low outside pitches to Blanco, the actual strike out ball was a high pitch down the centre. The low outside pitches did work with Ramirez who went down in three swinging at anything. It was poor batting by the BayStars left not particularly good pitching. Nakamura got more of the same and singled to set up runners on first and second. BayStars had a chance to save their honour. Aranami who got a nice mixture of pitches then flew out to left to end the game. Tigers victory.

A workmanlike but not spectacular performance from Fujinami who does need to work on his economy slightly though. Good work by Fujii who we have to admit after his myriad incompetencies had come through with a very decent performance. However, we are forced to conclude that the BayStars haven't done anything that leads one to believe that they can challenge for a Climax series place. They may indeed surprise us but it looks at the moment that baring mess ups Tigers can take a lot of games from the Yokohama outfit. Tigers have now won two series with all victories being shutouts. They travel to Tokyo Dome next where no doubt the Giants will be plotting revenge.