April 13th Standridge v Shinoda - A win is a win

Both pitchers had wobbles but managed to subdue the batting. With Hiroshima this isn't really a difficult feat but with Tigers one has to say Shinoda did very well. Standridge struggled to find the zone throughout the night but seemed to be operating at a higher level than Nohmi the day before. The real surprise of the match was Shunsuke who looked positively useful and bustling throughout the game. This included a vital run saving piece of fielding when Kobayashi was in a spot of bother and which deserved a hero interview. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. HIgashide (Second)
3. Hirose (Right)
4. Tracey (Third)
5. Kurihara (First)
6. Iwamoto (Left)
7. Akamatsu (Centre)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Shinoda (Pitcher)

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

All started quietly and Carp found Standridge difficult to deal with falling 1-2-3 in the first innings. Shinoda started less securely and walked Murton who was bunted to second by Hirano. Some things never change but Shinoda handled both Toritani and Arai well and Murton didn't advance beyond second. Once again Carp could do nothing in the second and Standridge's control looked secure. Shinoda ran into more trouble in the bottom though. Brazell hit his first ball to centre. Kanemoto followed up with a hit to right and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. Johjima faced a nervous Shinoda who let fly a pass ball moving the runners round to second and third. Then Johjima wacked the ball deep to right for a sacrifice fly 1-0 Tigers, runner on third; Kanemoto having tagged up and moved round. The situation was all set for a second sacrifice fly but Shunsuke in his only error of the game picked the wrong pitch and hit along the ground to Soyogi at short. Kanemoto set off anyway but the throw was good and Ishihara blocked the plate well. Kanemoto was out and he might well have waited. The next batter was Standridge who hit (see what I mean) setting up runners on first and second (himself and Shunsuke). Murton grounded out to short to end the innings - a bit of a wasted chance but it looked like Shinoda was going to struggle. Carp's third saw the bottom of the order follow the top and the middle in getting out but there were signs that Standridge's control was slipping - too many pitches missing the outside of the zone. Tigers third saw the batters go down 1-2-3 for the first time.

Standridge really started to have problems in the fourth. Soyogi went easily enough - grounding out but then Higashide walked. Hirose was next and here Johjima made a mess of things. Hirose took a swing at a high pitch as Higashide stole second. Johjima though took his eye off the ball and let it spill from his glove and role away which gave Higashide the chance to take third. Johjima and Mayumi protested that Hirose had fouled the pitch but the umpire ruled that he hadn't and the replay backed that call up. Hirose then picked a pitch and hit into centre for the tying run 1-1, runner on first. By now Standridge was really rattled and facing Tracey let fly a wild pitch which took Hirose to second. Then with the count full he threw another wild pitch and Hirose moved to third with Tracey on first and two outs to go. This brought Kubo to the mound to have a chat and steady his pitcher. The chat had the desired effect and Standridge struck out Kurihara. Next came Iwamoto who grounded out to end the innings. Shinoda seemed to take heart from this and Tigers fourth was quiet with the batters falling in order. Carp's fifth was also quiet as Standridge was much more assured though his control was still not 100%. However, he managed to keep the batters off base. Tigers fifth saw Shunsuke lead off and he hit deep to centre. Akamatsu went back to take the ball by the backscreen but mistimed his jump and missed the ball which bounced off the wall. By the time Akamatsu had retrieved the ball Shunsuke was safe on third. Standridge couldn't follow his hit of his last at bat and hit straight to Soyogi. This time Shunsuke stayed on base and didn't attempt the run. Next was Murton who hit nicely into right field bringing Shunsuke home 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Hirano tried to steer the ball between third and short but only ended up hitting into a double play to end the innings. Carp's sixth was led off by Soyogi who thought he had hit nicely to right but was picked off by a nicely timed jump from Brazell. Higashide though did hit - a lucky blooper between second and right - but didn't get much further as the next two batters couldn't do anything. Tigers sixth saw some fine pitching from Shinoda who retired Tigers clean up in order.

Mayumi decided to bring Standridge back for Carp's seventh. This worked out well. Standridge had to work for Kurihara's out but the next two batters fell comfortably. Shinoda pitched Tigers seventh. Here he was in trouble very rapidly. Johjima and Shunsuke both hit to set up runners on first and second with one out. Asai (pinch hitter) was next and in a rather inept at bat finally hit to third. This took out Johjima and Tracey threw to Kurihara for the double play. Kurihara totally missed the throw allowing the ball role away. Shunsuke took third and Asai was safe on second. Murton followed and he hit to Kurihara who messed up the take but had his body behind the ball and enough presence of mind to pick up and tag first for the final out. For Carp's eighth, Mayumi sent Kobayashi to the mound. He started by striking out Ishihara and then faced Shima (pinch hitter). It might be that Shima is going to cause Kobayashi trouble as Kobayashi's pitching to him was not confident. As with the night before Shima hit a two base this time to right. Soyogi struck out with Hirose next. He hit into centre and this looked like a scoring shot. However, Shunsuke had positioned himself superbly and ran in to take a vital catch. If he had been standing in a normal position he wouldn't have had a chance of reaching the ball and it would have been a run to the Carp. Tigers eighth was pitched by Aoki as Carp also went to the relief then. Hirano led off with a hit and was then bunted to second by Toritani. What is the point of having your No. 3 bunt? Both Arai and Brazell flew out and that was the end of the innings. Kyuji pitched Carp's ninth and looked in control retiring the batters in order very efficiently. Tigers victory.

A hard fought victory in the end. Standridge had worked hard for his first win but had managed to reach that goal. Kyuji picked up his second save and his job had been easier. Tigers could be satisfied with this win - they had wasted chances but Shinoda had made them work hard. The fact that they had shown application and stuck to the task was very encouraging.

Take another look at the replay: the batter definitely clips the ball just before it enters Johjima's glove:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkrqZ_p6U0s

But you're right that it's still not the greatest piece of catching I've ever seen. It's frustrating that umpires won't (or can't) check the video for this kind of thing, that really seemed to mess with Standridge's pitching. Still, he was more effective than Nohmi.

Gritty performance all round, Shunsuke was impressive, I hope Mayumi throwing him in too early last season hasn't affected him and he can keep it up.

Does anyone know why Brazell was using a red bat?

The umpires can only call for a replay on a disputed home run not anything else.

The video isn't conclusive. To my mind the bat has gone past the ball but it is possible that the ball caught the back of the bat. However, the ball could equally have hit the bottom flap of Johjima's glove and bounced into and out of it. I would still say that the umpire got it right.

I looked again, you're right that it's inconclusive - it might be the bottom of Johjima's glove. It hits something anyway. In the end it didn't affect the outcome of the game. But the real thing this highlights is how poor the TV coverage of NPB is when compared to MLB. They'd have more than one camera angle to compare for sure.

I totally agree. Whenever I watch MLB in the US I am always impressed by the information given and the number of camera angles and replays of each play. Even NHK coverage (the best in Japan) looks amateur beside this.

It's more to do with how ball parks are built in Japan. Wider foul territories and little space reserved for TV cameras. Many of them are not owned by baseball clubs and are built for multi-purposes, not just for professional baseball games like in the MLB. By the way, Hanshin owns Koshien, but even then, the Tigers vacate Koshien for high school baseball games.

It ultimately boils down to the difference in country sizes. Also, the current (even before the earthquake) economy in the Japanese TV industry doesn't help.

Yes but TV coverage can be much better even with the limitations you mention. A lack of imagination and conservatism are big limiters.