Eight pitches. That’s all it took to bring the Tigers bats out of their postseason slumber. A leadoff hit by Nishioka, sacrifice bunt by Uemoto, RBI double by Toritani and a 2-run HR by Gomez put the Tigers in the lead — one they would not relinquish all night as they cruised to a 4-1…
Disco’s dead but the man born in the disco era is showing signs of life. Disco went out in a blaze of glory on July 12, 1979, as fans (and haters of the genre) gathered at Comiskey Park in Chicago to burn up records, clothes and more. Kosuke Fukudome was born April 26, 1977, right in the…
Not another September meltdown. Not a repeat of last year. That’s all fans, players and management alike have talked about since the middle of this season, as the Tigers started to contend for first place. A six-game losing streak earlier this month gave everyone nightmares and it felt like the Tigers were simply going through…
They needed just one more run. In the last 5 1/3 innings they put nine guys on base, and only one needed to cross home plate. None did. The Tigers were aiming for their first three-game series sweep since their 8-game winning streak at the start of July, but fell short. Down 3-2 in the sixth, Yamato rapped…
They wanted a sweep. They needed a sweep. They didn’t get it. The basement-dwelling Yakult Swallows pulled off a come-from-behind win in the second game, 5-3. Starter Minoru Iwata looked to have this one under control, but with a one-run lead in the sixth, he gave up a hit to leadoff hitter Kawabata, then served…
When it rains, it pours. Even when the weather is nice, as it was all week, it still felt rather gloomy at Koshien. The Tigers got swept by the Giants at home for the first time since 1999. The slump has been well documented, including my own analysis (click here), so I will not talk…
This was a week to be forgotten, particularly this past series against the Dragons. The men in black put a measly 2 runs up in three games, and never held a lead the whole 27 innings. Without going into too much detail, the hitters could not do anything right when runners were on base. Hitting…
The Tigers completed their annual 3-week long road trip on Thursday in Tokyo. As I was away from Japan for most of it, I will simply post all the scores here without commenting on the action. For the record, they went 6-9 on their road trips, winning just one of their 5 series, and 5-1 at…
Another week, another .500 record. After wasting a chance to gain ground by losing 2 of 3 to the Swallows last week, the Tigers repeated the feat again this week. They then took the first two against the Carp in convincing fashion, but fell way short in the series finale. You would have thought this…
It seems like some weeks the Tigers get you excited for the playoffs, while others make you wonder if they even deserve to make it. This week had a little of both. Not terribly surprising when you go 2-2, winning in exciting fashion twice and losing badly to inferior opponents twice. This was supposed to…