April 24th Fukuhara v Chen - Dragons get out of gaol

Wasted chances and some poor mistakes continue to dog the Tigers. Imaoka failed miserably and unfortunately his mediocrity in the field helped the Dragons get back into the game. Okada needs to allocate third base to Sekimoto and stop fooling around. Line scores

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

Starting lineups
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Third (Imaoka)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Ford (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Fukuhara (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Lee (Right)
4. Woods (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Morino (Centre)
7. Nakamura (Third)
8. Tanishige (Catcher)
9. Chen (Pitcher)

Dragons did not start well. Nakamura fumbled an Akahoshi ground out and the Tigers lead off was safe on first. He then stole second whilst Sekimoto was striking out but Arai also struck out. However, Kanemoto hit to left and Akahoshi was home 1-0 Tigers. Imaoka flew out to end the innings. Fukuhara started well but walked Ibata. Nothing came of this and the Dragons innings ended scoreless. In the second Toritani walked and Yano hit. They were bunted to second and third by Fukuhara and this time Akahoshi struck out to end the innings. So to the Dragons second which started with a Wada hit but nothing happened after this. The Tigers third started with a Sekimoto fly out but Arai received a foul ball and he then stole second. Kanemoto struck out and Imaoka once again flew out. In the Dragons third, Araki got a hit to short and his speed ensured he reached first safely. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then stole third. The next batter Ibata hit towards second. Sekimoto had advanced to the runners track between first and second and took the ball. He then locked Araki on third before throwing to first to ground out Ibata. The final batter also grounded out to end the innings and strand Araki. The Tigers fourth started with a Toritani two base - runner on second no outs. Toritani advanced to third on a Ford ground out but needed something else. He got it next batter with a Yano hit 2-0 Tigers. Fukuhara tried to bunt and whilst he had been successful in his first at bat he was not so successful this time. On his third attempt he was hit on the finger and sustained a fracture which will take six weeks to heal. He had to retire and the Dragons fourth was pitched by Watanabe.

Watanabe got the first two batters but gave up a hit to Morino. However, the final batter Nakamura flew out to Sekimoto. The Tigers fifth involved a Arai hit but nothing came of this and this time Imaoka struck out to end the innings. The Dragons fifth was also like this - Araki took a foul ball but then was thrown out trying to steal second, end of innings. Nothing happened in Chen's sixth innings and was retired at the end of this. An indifferent performance had seen him throw 107 pitches in six innings. The Dragons sixth was once again pitched by Watanabe and you wondered if this was an innings too far - so it proved. Watanabe started by giving up a hit to Lee. This was slammed back at him and he reached out to grab it but only succeeded in deflecting it to right away from him. By the time Sekimoto was able to field it Lee was safe. Next was Woods who hit to third base. This passed near the sack and was within the reach of any decent third base (one cannot imagine Nakamura missing it for example). Imaoka though half-heartedly stooped and let the ball through for a two base hit. Runners on first and third with one out. Wada was next and he walked to load the bases. This was the cue for Watanabe to leave the mound and Egusa to take over. Why Egusa is persisted with is one of the great mysteries - like Imaoka. Egusa started by giving up a sacrifice fly to Morino 2-1 Tigers. He then faced Nakamura and allowed a two base hit 2-2. Tanishige was deliberately walked and Ochiai sent in Tatsunami to pinch hit. He struck out to end the innings.

Come the seventh and the leadoff batter Hirano, slammed a ball past the Dragons relief Kobayashi. Or so he thought, in an excellent piece of fielding Kobayashi caught the ball to dismiss Hirano. Akahoshi hit and Arai was deliberately walked to bring up Kanemoto. He was also walked to load the bases. Ochiai had had enough and switched to Hirai. He faced Hiyama (pinch hitting for Imaoka) and Hiyama worked the count to 1-3. His next ball was not a strike but unfortunately Hiyama swung and fouled it making the count 2-3 and missing the chance of a walk in run. The next ball was a strike out to end the innings. Surprisingly Egusa pitched the next innings and was just as poor as his previous effort. The only difference was that he didn't give up any runs this innings. Two walks were wasted. Hirai faired better in the Tigers eighth only giving up a hit which was not exploited. The Dragons eighth was taken by Kubota who started in generous mode giving up a two base leadoff hit to Morino. Morino made third on a Nakamura sacrifice bunt. The situation - one out, runner on third. Once again Sekimoto was superb. The next batter Tanishige hit infield towards third. Sekimoto was on the ball so fast he locked Morino on base before throwing to first for the second base. Pinch hitter Nishikawa struck out to end the innings.

For the ninth Tigers faced Iwase. He struck out Akahoshi but then gave up hits to Sekimoto and Arai in succession. Runners on first and third, one out. Kanemoto was walked to load the bases and Iwase faced Fujimoto who grounded out to second. The final batter Toritani grounded out to Iwase allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief and get out of the innings. Kubota took the Dragons ninth and dismissed the side in order. The game moved into extra innings. Takahashi not Iwase took the tenth and he gave up a hit to Yano but nothing came of this. Kubota continued pitching and gave up a hit to Wada but once again nothing happened. In the eleventh Takahashi walked Kanemoto and then gave up a hit to Fujimoto setting up runners on first and second with two outs but the next batter Toritani flew out to centre. The Dragons eleventh was straightforward with Kubota dismissing the side in order and the action moved to the twelveth and final innings. For Dragons this was pitched by Kawakami. He gave up a hit to Katsuragi (pinch hitter). Katsuragi was bunted to second by Yano and advanced to third on a Hirano fly out. Next up was Akahosh and he was walked by Kawakami. Akahoshi promptly stole second (his second steal of the night) to set up runners on second and third with two outs. The final batter, Sekimoto, struck out looking to end the innings. The final innings was Fujikawa. No problems here, two outs and a hit to Woods but the final batter Wada grounded out to Sekimoto to end the game. Scores level.

A curates egg by the Tigers. Why Imaoka started will remain a mystery. His contribution this series has been negligable. Okada seems to refuse to acknowledge that Sekimoto should start at third base and as the first game against the Giants will show he continues this mule-headedness (though not with Imaoka who is benched). Kubota pitched four very good innings and Okada felt he needed the practice. In this he was right and I am sure that it helped Kubota enormously.

Well, after such a great start I think Okada finally realized it was time for him to screw things up by giving too many chances to players that don't deserve them. Yeah, we need to give up on Imaoka as a starter. He's just not going to get back to form. And I just don't like bringing in Hiyama with the bases loaded...I guess Okada was thinking back to last year's grand slam. There were other players I would rather see up there with such a great scoring chance. I would even prefer Fujimoto. At least he has a better eye and at least might have drawn a walk--as you mentioned, something Hiyama should have done!
Oh, well. We still haven't lost a series this year so I'm staying positive. I just hope Okada doesn't tinker with things too much and screw up a good thing.

By the way, any news on the Fukuhara injury? I'm hoping it was just a precaution and nothing serious. Would be terrible to see that after he got off to such a surprisingly good start...

Fukuhara has a broken finger on his right hand. I understand the bone was splintered and he will be out of action for around 6 weeks.

Terrible news about Fukuhara. Except for one awful game against the Giants, he had been in surprisingly great form. Well at least we have potential depth, with Vogelsong, Kanemura, and Uezono waiting in the wings...Andoh also appeared to hurt his knee while batting last night. He is OK?

Andoh will be OK. He was also hit in the game against the BayStars but was able to continue. He needs to improve though. There were signs of what he could do but consistency is also needed.