Game 44 vs. Marines: Crafty Pitcher, Speedy Fielders

Takumi Akiyama has a bit of a complex. He knows his stuff is not particularly overpowering. But it was more than enough to get him through the first seven innings of the game allowing just one baserunner: Brandon Laird on a fly ball that had no business letting gravity pull it to the ground. The Marines pieced together a couple of runs late (one of them unearned), but it was not enough as the speedy combination of Ryuhei Obata, Koji Chikamoto and Takumu Nakano hit and ran the Tigers to an early lead that would hold up. Series tied! Roki Sasaki vs. Raul Alcantara tomorrow.