April 19th Messenger v Roman - Sayonara Grand Slam

Once again Fukudome came through at just the right moment. This was a spectacular example though - a bases loaded sayonara Grand Slam making him responsible for six out of seven Tigers runs. Once again Fujii was inadequate and was replaced when Messenger was also replaced. Wada's reliance on a mediocre catcher is getting ridiculous and the conservative theory prevalent in the Tigers management that age equals experience equals ability must surely be under pressure. More use of Komiyama is a must as Tigers cannot keep relying on Fukudome to pull them out of the fire all the time. Once again as well Koshien was not full with just over 32,000 people present. This ground used to be full but a succession of stupid choices with inadequate managers and a stubborn insistence on retaining these useless mouths has driven fans away. It has also reduced income and one wonders if Sakai-owner knows how to ensure an income stream. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Swallows  0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  0  0  0 3  7 0
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  0  0 4x 7 14 0

Starting Lineups

Swallows
1. Milledge (Left)
2. Kawashima (Short)
3. Takeuchi (Centre)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Balentien (Right)
6. Iwamura (Third)
7. Morioka (Second)
8. Nakamura (Catcher)
9. Roman (Pitcher)

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

Once again Conrad didn't start the game but would come in later this time. Messenger didn't start well with Milledge leading off with a single. Kawashima tried to bunt and popped it up to Messenger who threw to first to catch Milledge off base for a neat double play. With that boost Messenger was able to strike out Takeuchi and end the inninings. Nishioka grounded out to start Tigers first but then Yamato hit over the infield to right. Toritani grounded out taking Yamato to second but then Murton also grounded out so no score there. Swallows second was thankfully quiet with Iwamura finishing off the innings nicely by flying out. Unfortunately Tigers second was also quiet - the game looked tight and Messenger was getting the outs. The Swallows third saw the last three batters down as well. So far they had managed one hit and one thought that maybe Messenger would be OK but there had been signs of shakiness. Fujii who is not struggling with the bat led Tigers third off with a weak glancing hit - the ball bouncing along the ground but Fujii had the legs to reach first safely. He was bunted to second by Messenger. Nishioka managed to line out to Roman who fired the ball to second to catch Fujii off base for the double play and the innings end.

Things which had been so nice began to fall apart rapidly in Swallows fourth as Messenger lost his touch and Fujii had no answer. Milledge led the innings off with a double. Ogawa though in a typical stupid move once again had Kawashima bunt Milledge to third. Messenger struck out Takeuchi as the Swallows centre tried to hit for the sacrifice fly and then got Hatakeyama to ground out - a wasted opportunity. Tigers fourth was quiet with the batters going down in order and quickly, both Toritani and Murton getting out in foul ground. Murton did need a sliding catch from Morioka though. With two strike outs in Swallows fifth Morioka doubled to left but Nakamura couldn't do anything and flew out to centre. Roman by now was dominating the Tigers batters and throwing some nice stuff. The bottom of the fifth was quiet with no one reaching base. Messengers troubles, though, came home to roost in Swallows sixth. It started with a one out single to Milledge again. Milledge stole second and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. This was not good work by either Fujii or Messenger. Kawashima walked as did Iihara (replacement centre) to load the bases with one outs. Messenger was in a lot of trouble. Hatakeyama doubled right off his first pitch bringing in two runs 2-0 Swallows, runners on second and third. Balentien was deliberately walked to load the bases again and bring the double play into action. However, Messenger then walked Iwamura - oshidashi 3-0 Swallows bases loaded. This brought a pitching change Messenger was finished and replaced by Katoh. Morioka was next but flew out to Fukudome and Swallows did not chance his arm. Finally, Nakamura struck out swinging to end the innings. It could have been worse but was still pretty disastrous. The end of the Swallows sixth was also the the end of Fujii who would have led off the bottom. Instead he was replaced by Hidaka who singled to centre to lead off the innings. Ryota (pinch hitter) managed to hit into a double play though and then Nishioka grounded out to Roman to end the innings. It looked like Swallows were going to win.

Saiuchi pitched the Swallows seventh and really he has only appeared marginally comfortable with Komiyama. He doesn't really like Hidaka or Fujii though this could change. He started with a real howler - a double to Roman. Milledge flew out to centre and then Kawashima grounded out to short. One out to go with Roman still on second and this was Iihara who grounded out to Saiuchi and ended the innings. It was Tigers turn now with Roman having thrown only 78 pitches and looking good. The innings didn't quite work out as he intended. Yamato led off with a single to left centre. Toritani flew out but then Murton slammed his first pitch - a slider - deep where it bounced off the fence for a timely triple 3-1 Swallows. Even if it had been a double Yamato would have made home. Next was Fukudome and Roman tried to get him to swing but anything outside the zone Fukudome left. With the count 3-0 Roman sent a 144 kmh straight down the middle of the zone. Bad choice. Fukudome murdered the pitch slamming it off the backscreen for a two run home run 3-3 scores tied. Arai doubled off his second pitch. This was the end of Roman who was replaced by Emura. Saka struck out swinging but Emura dead balled Hidaka in what was provng to be a marathon struggle. Tigers had runners on first and second but Wada sent the worthless Sekimoto (pinch hitter) to bat and he flew out to centre to end the innings. Fukuhara took over for Swallows eighth and the question was would he work well with Hidaka. It seems so. He started by getting Hatakeyama to ground out. Then Balentien flew out and finally Iwamura struck out swinging. Ishiyama took over the pitching for Tigers eighth and gave up a single to Nishioka. Yamato bunted him to second - this is not the way to win games. Toritani walked but Murton could only fly out. This time Fukudome hit a grounder to second to end the innings. Kubo took Swallows ninth and it is good to see Tigers using their closer in the top of a tied game. He gave up a lead off hit to Morioka though. Nakamura bunted Morioka to second. Tigers fans could relax. Tanaka (replacement second) struck out looking and then Hidaka walked Milledge to get at Kawashima. This had the desired effect and Kawashima struck out to end the innings. You wonder what a hitter like Milledge is doing at first anyway. Really he should be in a position to drive in runs. Ishiyama continued for Tigers ninth and walked Arai who was pinch run for by Araki. Saka bunted him to second in the usual waste of an out and then Hidaka grounded out which took Araki to third. Wada sent Hiyama in to pinch hit but he hit high and into the glove of left to end the chance. The game went into extra innigs.

Swallows tenth and Ueda (replacement centre) facing Andoh. He flew out to left which didn't signal a good start for the visitors. Hatakeyama struck out looking and then Balentien swung and missed. Tigers tenth saw Yamamoto take the mound. Nishioka singled again but was forced out by Yamato's ground out; the double play not coming off. Toritani then hit into a double play to end the innings. Swallows eleventh saw Miyamoto (pinch hitter) strike out swinging. Morioka flew out and Nakamura grounded out. Andoh had had to work for these outs but had shown very nice application. Murton faced Furuno for Tigers eleventh and singled off him. He was pinch run for by Shunsuke who was bunted to second by Fukudome. Pardon? Is there a sense of reality in Tigers management? Conrad (replacement third) walked but Saka struck out looking. One out to go and this proved to be Hidaka who flew out. Poor planning by the Tigers management. So to the twelveth. Tigers pitcher was Tsutsui. He induced Tanaka to ground out for the first out. Milledge struck out swinging - well it had been a long game. Then Kawashima flew out to Fukudome. Swallows could not win the game now but they could still lose. Their pitcher was Shichijoh. Things started well for him Asai (pinch hitter) struck out looking. Then Nishioka singled. Yamato also singled over infield to set up runners on first and second. Toritani popped up to second and Swallows needed one more out to be safe. Shunsuke batting fourth (amazing) singled into left to load the bases. The next batter was Fukudome. His fourth pitch was a high straight which he hammered over the left fence for a sayonara grand slam. Victory to Tigers 7-3.

A very nice victory following a 4:38 hour marathon. Once again Fukudome had come through very nicely. The win went to Tsutsui. Messenger needs to be paired with a different catcher though. The inconsistency when paired with Fujii is too much and Tigers need him to be much more consistent. Fujii consistently proves that he can't cope with this level and needs to be dropped down to ni-gun and be replaced by Shimizu. Fukudome had driven in six of Tigers runs and hit two home runs. He has really made a difference to Tigers.