July 6th Standridge v Muranaka - Was it necessary?

Standridge pitched his complete game in this match up. He threw 145 pitches but was it really necessary? The photographs show him embracing Johjima but really shouldn't he have been pulled long before the end? His following start was also long and we know how Mayumi has over-pitched Kubo. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 10 0
Tigers    1 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 X 6 13 1

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Whitesell (First)
5. Aikawa (Catcher)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Ueda (Right)
8. Onizaki (Short)
9. Muranaka (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Hirano (Right)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Johjima (Catcher)
7. Asai (Centre)
8. Yamato (Second)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

Aoki led Swallows off with a hit. A foul fly from Tanka kept him on first but Iihara hit to move him to second. Then Standridge dead balled Whitesell (what has he done to deserve this?) to load the bases. Aikawa obligingly hit into a double play to end the innings. Tigers first saw Toritani lead off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Hirano and then Murton hit to right - a two base driving in the run 1-0 Tigers. Arai flew out and Brazell struck out, failing to convert Murton. Swallows were still in combative mode and tried to fight back in the second. Ueda hit on one out. Onizaki also hit which set up the bunt chance for Muranaka. He failed - three bunts and he was out, not good. Aoki hit to centre and Ueda raced round to home. Johjima, though, blocked the plate nicely and Ueda bounced off him and was tagged out - end of innings. Muranaka then proceeded to start Tigers second by dead balling Johjima. Mayumi in a fit of stupidity signalled the steal and Johjima was out at the same time as Asai. Yamato did nothing but Tigers still held a slender lead. Tanaka led off Swallows third with a straightforward ground out to third but Arai messed this up. He has improved a lot recently but still occasionally relapses. Tanaka was able to reach second on the error. A first ground out took him to third and the sacrifice was a distinct possibility. Takeuchi (replacement first) struck out and things looked brighter for Tigers. They looked even brighter when Aikawa grounded out to end the innings. Standridge, of course, was rapidly out leading off Tigers third. Toritani followed him but Hirano hit nicely. Murton followed this with a two base to set up runners on second and third. Arai tried his favourite centre/short shot but ended up grounding out to short to end the innings.

Swallows had run out of steam and their fourth was quiet as Standridge retired the batters in order. Brazell struck out but Johjima hit. Asai also hit and then Tigers engineered a double steal to set up runners on second and third. Yamato walked to load the bases but Standridge struck out swinging. For Swallows one more out to get - Toritani who hit to left bringing home a run 2-0 Tigers, bases loaded. Hirano - never comfortable in these situations - flew out in foul ground to end the innings. Standridge needed to protect the lead. He did so quite well in Swallows fifth though he did dead ball Aoki. Tanaka's ground out took Aoki to second but Iihara's ground out finished the innings. Still proof that Standridge was not 100%. Tigers fifth was quiet - Muranaka hadn't pitched badly. Miyamoto managed a two out hit in Swallows sixth but Ueda grounded out to second and that was that. Johjima led Tigers sixth of with a walk but was then out again trying to steal second. Once again, one admires the enterprise but feels that it might be better employed elsewhere. Tigers sixth was scoreless by the way.

Swallows seventh was Standridge's best innings - he struck out Onizaki swinging and then Guiel (pinch hitter) looking and then got Aoki to ground out to first. Tigers seventh was pitched by Masabuchi who didn't seem to be able to cope. Standridge led off the innings with a hit. Toritani hit and Hirano hit to load the bases with no outs. Murton hit one back to Masabuchi who threw to first for the out but gave up a run 3-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. Arai then hit a sweet two base to clear the bases 5-0 Tigers runner on second. Watanabe replaced Masabuchi but didn't stem the run flow giving up a centre hit to Brazell which brought Arai home 6-0 Tigers, runner on second. Both Johjima and Asai flew out to end the innings but Tigers had the lead they needed. Swallows response was a bit slow and they didn't get going until they had two outs in the eighth. Then Takeuchi hit and a Aikawa walk set up runners on first and second. It was all down to Miyamoto who grounded out to second off his first pitch. Takaichi pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a lead off hit to centre to Kanemoto (on his pinch hit appearance). Standridge struck out - this was a sign he was going to pitch the ninth - a complete game was in the offing but Mayumi would have been better off resting him. Toritani also struck out and then Hirano grounded out. Swallows ninth and could Standridge shut them out. He started badly giving up a centre hit to Ueda - he was tired. An error took Ueda to second and then Onizaki hit to right for a timely hit 6-1 Tigers. D'Antona flew out but Aoki hit to set up runners on the corners with one out. It was unlikely that Swallows would be able to come back but they could tarnish Standridge's victory. However, Tanaka hit the ball straight to Arai for a double play and the end of the game. Tigers victory.

This was a good victory but really Standridge shouldn't have pitched beyond the seventh. There was no point in tiring out his arm at all and a nice rest after the seventh would have been much better for him. Mayumi seems to be too fixated on records and milestones and still hasn't developed the necessary managerial ruthlessness yet.

Was this the game in Kurashiki? Saw the place on TV and it looked packed. 27,000 at a rural stadium is very good. Hard to believe those poor folks get only 1 regular season game a year when much smaller towns with much smaller crowds get more eg Yonago.

Yes you're correct - that was the location.

Thanks for the reply. Amazing they only have one regular season game a year at Muscat Stadium although in the interest of economics, they can pull almost double that crowd at Koshien. It seems like Hanshin relocate their home game to rural areas much less than the other Central League teams. Would I be correct in saying, they only move one of their home games (this Kurashiki game) each year?

They do also play some home games at Kyocera Dome and Skymark Stadium but Kurashiki is the only 'rural' home game. The other rural games they played were Yonago (though Carp were the home side) and one to be played in Nagano (BayStars are the home side).