May 26th Abe v Ono - Williams and Fujikawa fail again

What can a manager do? He makes all the right choices with the relief and they blow a tight match. Mayumi decided to try Abe as a starter which was an interesting decision to say the least. Abe did nicely in his four innings but is probably a better relief pitcher. Williams and Fujikawa though are a worry - Williams is probably on his way out but Fujikawa still has a few more years left in him. For him not to perform leaves a huge gap in the Tigers pitching. Box score

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Marines  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 11 0
Tigers   0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  9 1

Starting lineups

Marines
1. Nishioka (Short)
2. Fukuura (First)
3. Saburo (Centre)
4. Iguchi (Second)
5. Satozaki (Catcher)
6. Ohmatsu (Right)
7. Benny (Left)
8. Imae (Third)
9. Ono (Pitcher)

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

Abe started with a Nishioka hit and then picked up a nice double play from Fukuura. The final batter Saburo grounded out and the Tigers were off to a good start. Ono didn't start so securely. Akahoshi, back after his rest, hit and was bunted to second by Sekimoto. One out later, Kanemoto walked - it's nice to see him picking up the walks. However Arai grounded out and the innings was scoreless. Iguchi led off the Marines second with a hit. He then chanced Kanoh's arm and lost. Abe though managed to mess up this innings. Satozaki walked and then Ohmatsu hit - runners on first and third. Benny hit to left and it was 1-0 Marines, runners on first and second. The next two batters were out easily. Hirano hit in the Tigers second and then Abe hit to set up runners on first and third with two outs. Akahoshi though couldn't convert and the innings was scoreless. With one out in Marines third Fukuura hit. One out later Iguchi also hit and then Satozaki walked to load the bases. Maybe Abe as a starter was not such a good idea. The final batter for the Marines was Ohmatsu who struck out to a fine piece of pitching from Abe. In Tigers third Sekimoto led off with a hit. Two outs later, an Arai two base put runners on second and third. This time the batter, Katsuragi didn't get out but hit nicely driving in two runs 2-1 Tigers runner on first. The final batter, Hirano, grounded out but Tigers had a lead.

Marines fourth was quiet as Abe retired the batters in order. In Tigers fourth, Kanoh led off with a hit but the batters failed to convert him and this innings was scoreless. Marines fifth was pitched by Egusa. More practice is needed to use Abe as a starter. He had a lively first innings. Nishioka hit and was bunted to second. Saburo walked but then the next two batters found themselves flying out to some deceptive pitching. Tigers fifth saw Arai hit with two outs but nothing came of this. In Marines sixth Benny hit but like the previous innings nothing came of it. For Tigers sixth Naruse (the new pitcher) walked Hirano but was able to control the batting. Ono had done well without being spectacular.

Egusa was replaced by Atchison for the Marines seventh and he retired the batters in order. In Tigers seventh, Naruse walked Toritani but that was all and the innings was scoreless. Tigers troubles started in the Marines eighth. Naturally, Mayumi chose Williams who wasn't good. He gave up a one out hit to Satozaki. This was followed by an out and a walk to Benny. Still two outs - things should be OK. However, Williams managed to give up a hit to Imae - runner home 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and second. This became runners on second and third with a wild pitch but luckily Lambin (pinch hitter) struck out to end the innings. Tigers eighth was pitched by Sikorski who isn't normally so reliable but was so this innings. He did start with a walk to Katsuragi. Yamato (pinch runner) was bunted to second by Hirano but then the next two batters failed and the innings was scoreless. So to the Marines ninth, so to Fujikawa. He was dismal and really needs to lift his pitching. He has been throwing a lot of rubbish and this innings was no exception. He started with a two base hit to Nishioka, in itself not a big problem though inconvenient. One out later he gave up a three base hit to Saburo 3-2 Marines - runner on third. The next two batters he got out but really Fujikawa you should have got the biggest poser on the Marines team (Saburo) out. Ogino pitched the Tigers ninth and gave up a hit to Sekimoto but he didn't advance beyond first and the innings was scoreless. Marines victory.

The Marines had taken advantage of some sub-standard pitching by Williams and Fujikawa. Tigers had had a lead going into the eighth and Mayumi had taken the right decision to use his elite closers. However, he couldn't expect them to let him down so badly. This was really a victory thrown away by the relief.

Do you know why Mayumi pulled Abe so quickly? Was he being held to a specific pitch count because he doesn't usually start? Obviously he had some struggles, but he had only given up 1 run, so I thought it was too soon to pull him.

I would say that they had seen enough. If he becomes a starter he's going to need a bit of conversion. To be honest I was very surprised they used him in this role given all the talk of using Kubota.

What do you mean by Saburo being a poser? You mean the way he is dressed and attitude? As in flashy? Saburo is one of the better hitters on Marines, I'd say.

Seems as if Fujikawa, Williams are not like they once used to be and without them in relief I think Hanshin will struggle quite a lot. I predicted before the season that Hanshin would end in the top of the table some place and you Christopher were not that optimistic about Hanshin. I think your predictions are correct.

Yes basically his attitude and style. He rather reminds me of Shinjyo who was also a poser. That being said I do think that Saburo has a lot of ability.

I like Saburo. We need more personality in this Japanese game. I like the many kinds of personality in MLB.

Not sure why they suddenly gave Abe a chance to start when they should be giving chances to people like Ishikawa, Kojima, and Uezono. (The first two they gave up on too quickly and the third they seem to have a personal grudge against.) Anyway, with Iwata coming back and Kubota maybe being a starter, the rotation should be pretty full, so don't know if we'll see Abe in that role again.

Nice recap of the game from the Tigers perspective, but not so much from the Marines perspective. Saburo is a poser? Ok cant argue with that because cant define what "poser" really means to refute it, plus everyone is entitled to their opinion. Personally I think the guy is a good ballplayer and it is nice to see a little personality in the game.

Sikorski isnt reliable though? He is one of the best setup men in all of NPB!!? The guy who has a 1.00 ERA and who has 4 wins and who has pitched 18 innings while only giving up 2 runs while averaging over a strikeout per inning? given up 5 hits the whole season? Leads the league in "hold points" (while that is a dodgy stat, regardless he has the most of them). Same guy who still has the Giants record for number of appearances in a season?

Seems pretty reliable to me.....

Sikorski has never been particularly reliable against the Tigers. I take your point about his overall record though. I'm afraid that the recaps will focus mainly on the Tigers - I'm trying a bit more balance this year though.

Oh ok then that makes it a lot more clear, yeah some players just do poorly against certain teams for sure. Wasnt trying to be critical at all, you do a really good job on your recaps. I mean it is called TIGER tails, so obviously you are a Tigers fan and it isnt required that you even be balanced if you dont want to, right?

Half the fun of being a fan is making excuses or justifications for your team about why they almost won or should have won, I enjoy doing that too when I write or talk with people.

Keep up the good recaps, Im not a Tigers fan but I enjoy reading them anyway to see what is going on with them at any given time.