May 9th Nohmi v Glynn - Another shutout

Tigers and Mayumi's problems were really exposed. Once again the batting was abject but this time without the excuse of superb pitching. Glynn did well enough but honestly Tigers batters are not trying. Their inability to hit even the second rate BayStars pitching is worrying (one expects problems hitting a first rater like Miura). Lin made his return to the top team and seems set to supplant Sakurai (who is driving in runs - why not Katsuragi who isn't hot at the moment). Mayumi's handling of the pitching was incomprehensible but even so BayStars needed a large slice of luck in this game. The sudden throwing of Cheng into the relief was also unbelievable. Is he a starter or relief? This is one of the most talented pitchers of recent years to join the Tigers and one doesn't want to see him ruined by Mayumi's whims. Arai also needs to move back to third where he was more comfortable. It is interesting to note but I am already feeling nostalgic for the days of Okada. Box scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
BayStars  0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 X 4 9 1

Starting lineup

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (First)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Katsuragi (Right)
7. Fujimoto (Second)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Yamasaki (Second)
3. Uchikawa (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Yoshimura (Right)
6. Johnson (First)
7. Ohnishi (Centre)
8. Hosoyamada (Catcher)
9. Glynn (Pitcher)

Tigers start would exhibit the same abject batting they have shown over the past few games. Both Sekimoto's and Toritani's strike outs showed an inability to read some fairly clear pitches. Nohmi started with an Ishikawa hit (Ishikawa has been hitting well against the Tigers). He was bunted to second but this was as far as he got as Nohmi retired the next two batters. In Tigers second an error at first allowed Lin to get on base. BayStars fielding would be poor throughout the game but luck would ensure that they were not punished for this slackness. Nothing came of this error though. In BayStars second Johnson walked. Ohnishi hit to second and though Johnson was out he was safe. Ohnishi then tried to steal second but was thrown out to end the innings. Tigers third saw Akahoshi hit with two out but then Sekimoto grounded out to extinguish that chance. In BayStars third Hosoyamada led off with a hit. He eventually made third but the final out ensured he didn't get any further.

Toritani drew a leadoff walk in Tigers fourth but this is not what is expected from him. He needs to do more. Nothing came of this though. BayStars fourth was quiet as the batters fell in order. Tigers fifth saw Glynn begin to deteriorate but things went his way. Fujimoto hit but a double play from Kanoh knocked that chance out. Then Nohmi hit but Akahoshi failed to do anything. This was Tigers best chance against a shakey pitcher and in Glynn's previous game this seasdon they had punished his fading. Not this time. Nohmi then gave more encouragement by strkiing out three batters in a row but the batters ignored this. In Tigers sixth they fell in order to casual and pathetic shots. BayStars sixth saw Glynn lead off with a hit as Nohmi began to feel a bit deflated. He had pitched well and had gotten no support from the lazy batting. With one out he then balked (and yes this was a clear balk) taking Glynn to second. However, Yamasaki hit to Toritani who threw to third and Glynn was tagged out. Yamasaki was safe on first but the danger wasn't so great. Finally Uchikawa flew out to right and the innings was over.

Tigers seventh was quiet as the batters fell in order but you sensed that they had given up and weren't even interested in winning. BayStars seventh saw some poor pitching and some luck and some great pitching. Mayumi continued with Nohmi who started with a lead off hit to Murata. This was lucky - the swing got just enough on the ball to push it into right field. Then Yoshimura hit and Murata showed good pace to reach third, runners on first and third with no outs. Johnson was next and after getting a couple of strikes Nohmi dead balled him - bases loaded with no outs. Here though Nohmi lifted his pitching and Ohnishi flew out to right but not far enough for Murata to go for home. Then Hosoyamada flew out to third in foul ground and with two out it began to look like Nohmi would get out of the innings. Ohya sent Kinjoh in as a pinch hitter at which he has been quite successful but here he was very lucky. With two strikes he swung at a fork and got a lucky top edge on it. The ball flew ballooned up and managed to clear Kanemoto for a bases clearing two base hit 3-0 BayStars runners on second. There was nothing skillful about this hit and by rights it should have been a flyout. Here Nohmi should have been replaced but Mayumi with his usual muleheadedness left him in. Ishikawa hit and then Yamasaki walked to load the bases again. Luckily Uchikawa struck out but you sensed that BayStars were cruising to their second victory of the series. As Glynn had been retired for a pinch hitter Kudoh took the mound. Even here the BayStars luck and Tigers abject batting combined. The first two batters surrendered meekly and then Akahoshi hit towards Kudoh who dropped the ball and fumbled but because of where it landed still had time to throw Akahoshi out. For BayStars eighth Mayumi decided to try Cheng. Why? He has pitched two games as a starter and suddenly he is thrown into relief for the Tigers. Tigers have a group of good relief pitchers and Mayumi's rank stupidity is not needed here. Anyway Cheng gave up a two base hit to Murata. Yoshimura grounded out which took Murata to third and then Mayumi switched pitchers and Tsutsui took the mound. He got Johnson to ground out to first and then was replaced by Abe. Abe probably thought why am I bothering with this idiocy and really didn't try hard enough with the result that Ohnishi had a two base hit to left 4-0 BayStars runner on second. Hosoyamada grounded out and that innings was over. Tigers ninth was pitched by Yamaguchi. With two out he gave up a hit to Kanemoto and then walked Arai, runners on first and second. However, Lin was the final batter and he grounded out to end the game, BayStars victory.

BayStars had been lucky in their victory - Kinjoh's hit was really fortunate but they had been helped by a poor Tigers performance. Mayumi needs to do something very rapidly as he seems to be losing the respect of the players. He needs to use his relief more and also make more effective use of it. Batters need to perform but lightweights like Fujimoto and batters who are not performing like Katsuragi need to be benched in favour of Hirano (who makes things happen) and Sakurai (who drives in runs). Toritani and Arai need to be switched as that was the combination that worked for most of last year. Tigers need to win these away games if they are to have any chance of reaching the playoffs. Much more of this and the fans will be calling for the return of Okada.

Yeah, I was shocked when I saw that Cheng came in in relief. I imagine this means he has been moved to the bullpen. He has looked very promising as a starter, so don't know what's going on. But Tigers have a strange habit of punishing promising pitchers (i.e. Uezono) and giving too many chances to mediocre starters (i.e. Sugiyama.)

I am hoping that they just felt it would be good for him to turn his arm over. He is probably one of the most talented pitchers we have and we need to nuture this and not waste him.

One of the worst things you can do to a pitcher's arm is to convert him from a starter to a reliever if in fact you intend to keep him as a starter. Their arms are conditioned to one or the other, not both. Same is true for their mindsets.