Most signs pointed to the Tigers having a good series this week. They were riding a 6-game winning streak at Muskat Stadium (Kurashiki, Okayama, where Tuesday’s game was held) and a 9-game winning streak at Koshien (where they played Wednesday and Thursday). They also had a two-game winning streak, sat in first place and were facing the last-place Chunichi Dragons. Their cleanup hitters were clicking (.346, .405 and .379 since league play resumed). However, they were also facing some young strong pitchers in the first two games, and were trotting out their two struggling veterans. Let’s see how this series played out in a game-by-game summary.
Game 1: Starter Minoru Iwata has not been himself since he was given the task of shutting down the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the last game of interleague play on June 16*. Fortunately he came out strong in this one, allowing just one run (on a sac fly) over 7 innings. Unfortunately for the Tigers, that was all the Dragons needed as our guys could not bring anyone home in this one. A huge chance in the second (runners on 2nd & 3rd with no outs) was nullified by a double play on a base running miscue. The Dragons added two more insurance runs off Hiroaki Saiuchi late. Final Score: Dragons 3, Tigers 0.
Game 2: Speaking of struggling starters, Atsushi Nohmi came into this one having not won a game since June 24 and not impressing in any of his losses. He started this one off on the wrong foot as well, giving up a monstrous 2-run home run in the first frame. The Tigers struggled at the plate again in this one, registering just three hits in the first six innings. The Dragons tagged three more on Nohmi before he left (ego-) bruised up midway through the sixth. The lone solace and offense from the Tigers came in the bottom of the 7th, when Matt Murton took the first pitch deep to left center. Other opportunities presented themselves but in two cases, line drives right to their infielders ended rallies. Tuesday the Muscat streak ended, Wednesday the Koshien streak was over, too. Final Score: Dragons 5, Tigers 1.
Game 3: So the team needed a big night out of Takumi Akiyama to avoid a sweep. This was his first start of the year, and while he has shown potential in his time with the club, he just has not produced good numbers since his debut in 2010. In this one he looked good early on, and got a lot of help from his fielders. Through five, he had allowed no runs, while Murton drove in Hiroki Uemoto in the first, and Mauro Gomez hit another towering blast in the fifth to give the young starter a decent lead. Unfortunately, he did almost exactly what Shoya Yamamoto had done a few days prior. In his final inning, he lost whatever he had going, giving up two runs. Fortunately he got out of the sixth with a tie, and the game remained knotted until extra innings. In the 11th, Uemoto led off with a walk, then was (yawn) predictably bunted over to second by (yawn) Yamato. Pinch hitter Keisuke Kanoh also walked, as did Gomez, loading the bases for Murton. Talk about your funny finishes. The first pitch to our redhead (who got 3 hits today) was wild, and Uemoto came home to end it. Final Score: Tigers 3, Dragons 2.
Series Notes: *On June 16, despite an 11-2 lead after 8 innings, the team had Iwata take the mound in the ninth. Was it his request? I have no idea, but managers need to take responsibility for their careless overuse of pitchers’ arms. He threw 140 pitches and allowed 2 runs in the 9th that game, and struggled in 3 starts after that… Tuesday’s shutout loss was the Tigers’ eighth of the year. It is tied for worst in the Central… The Tigers have now had an incredible six games end in walk-offs against the Dragons this season. They’ve been on the winning side in four of these. One ended with a hit-by-pitch (March 28 – Kentaro Sekimoto), one was tied with a bases-loaded walk (May 6 – Ryota Arai had the game winning hit after that), and Thursday’s game ended on a wild pitch.
Here are the CL standings after tonight’s game.
