Seizing the lead is a good thing but more than that holding it is vital. For this good fielding is of paramount importance. Guess what was lacking from Tigers this game. They had done well to get to Fukui and to bring home their runners but then blew it. It is interesting blogging the constant stupidity and incompetence prevalent in the Tigers organisation. This is coupled with a total inability and refusal to actually admit what is wrong. The parallels with the lost decade are very instructive - a failure to appoint competent personel to coach and manage and a total disregard for fans. I have seen this attitude described as perverse stubborness. Tigers get a new general manager in September - someone who was a dismal manager and part of the team which created the lost decade. More of the same beckons. Scores
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Tigers 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 6 2
Carp 1 0 0 0 1 3 3 0 X 8 11 1
Starting lineups
Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Hirano (Right)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Saka (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)
Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Soyog (Short)
4. Eldred (First)
5. Dobayashi (Third)
6. Mukae (Right)
7. Amaya (Left)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)
Tigers can still happily knock Fukui out of the game but they are unable to hold onto what they gained. We saw Uemoto and Hirano fall then Toritani hit to Eldred at first. A mess up allowed him to reach first and he stole second as well. Ryota Arai struck out swinging. The jury is still out on Ryota Arai at fourth but he is reasonably prolific at times. Nohmi's first was a mess and here one must assign responsibility to Fujii as well who was more than incompetent. Kikuchi singled with one out. Soyogi's ground out took the runner to second and then Eldred walked. Dobayashi hit to third and Ryota Arai's throw was poor to say the least. This brought a run home 1-0 Carp, runners on second and third. Mukae was next and he struck out to end the innings. In Tigers second Takahiro Arai walked with one out. He got no support from anyone and the innings was scoreless. Amaya led off Carp's second with a double to left. He made third on Kura's ground out and it seemed inevitable that Carp would add the extra run. Good work by the Tigers - about the only time this game prevented the run and Amaya stayed on third. Fukui then struck out everyone swinging in Tigers third Nohmi, Uemoto and Hirano. Carp's third was similarly quiet with Kikuchi, Soyogi and Eldred falling one after the other.
Fukui imploded in Tigers fourth. Toritani led off with a single. Ryota Arai singled to centre and Kanemtoo walked to load the bases with no outs. Takahiro Arai hit a grounder to third forcing out Kanemoto but bringing in the tying run 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and third. Saka hit deep into right centre bringing in the two runners, Takahiro Arai rounding the bases very nicely 3-1 Tigers, runner on second. Fujii walked and Nomura took note of the warning signs and brought on Yokoyama. This did the trick for Carp, Nohmi in what has to be the most pointless waste of the season bunted the runners to second and third. Yes, he is the pitcher and no he isn't really a batter but all this did was give the Carp another out and with one out to go it was much easier. Uemoto skied the ball to Kura but still Tigers had a comfortable lead. The lead stayed in the Carp's fourth. Dobayashi lined out to Nohmi and Mukae singled. He stayed on first though as the bottom of the order failed to move him round. Amaya's fireworks were yet to come. Tigers fifth was quiet - Yokoyama making sure that no one got on base. To be honest Tigers could have and should have tried to add more runs but like they often do sat back and relaxed. Carp then proceeded to show just how complacent they were in doing this. Higashide (pinch hitter) grounded out to second and then Akamatsu hit a double. Kikuchi flew out to right whereupon Akamatsu tagged up and took third. Soyogi singled right to bring in a run 3-2 Tigers, runner on first. Eldred struck out looking but it was a warning to Tigers. They failed to heed it. Sarfate took over the pitching and retired the batters in order. Now it was the Carp's turn. With Dobayashi out, Mukae took a dead ball. Amaya popped one up to second where Uemoto dropped the ball and Carp had runners on first and second. Kura rapped out a double to left centre and the speedy Carp runners flew round the bases to seize the lead 4-3 Carp, runner on second. Higashide skied one to the almost useless Fujii who is safe under these. Then Wada changed pitchers to Cheng, a tired Nohmi might not have gotten the third out. As it was neither did Cheng - he does have trouble pitching to Fujii. Akamatsu hit into centre to bring in the runner 5-3 Carp with Akamatsu taking second. Things were really disintergrating for Tigers now - Akamatsu stole third, some abysmal work by Fujii. Luckily the final batter was Sarfate who struck out swinging. Tigers had lost the lead and once this happened you didn't expect them to regain it.
Wada went with his pinch hitters for the seventh and also his over delayed change of catcher. Sarfate was equal to the challenge. Imanari (replacement catcher) struck out looking and Brazell (pinch hitter) flew out to left but Uemoto did single. He then tried to steal second but was thrown out to end the innings. Tsuru was the pitcher for Carp's seventh and it became clear that the change of catcher hadn't made any difference - Imanari was just as inept as Fujii. Soyogi singled right and was bunted to second by Kimura (pinch hitter - what a waste of a pinch hitter). Dobayashi hit deep to centre, the ball bouncing over the fence for an entitled two base 6-3 Carp, runner on second. Mukae skied his first pitch to Imanari; there were a lot of skiers this game. Then came Amaya who hit deep to left and if there was ever a demonstration that Kanemoto's usefulness as a left fielder is gone this was it. The slow lumbering Kanemoto, unable to throw was unable to prevent Amaya rounding the bases for an inside the park home run 8-3 Carp. Amaya is very fast but not that fast, still the innings had been a very interesting illustration of the rarer ways of scoring. Finally Kura grounded out to end the innings. With Kawauchi on the mound and two out in Tigers eighth, Ryota Arai doubled left. Next was Kanemoto who grounded out to first and ended that chance. Tsutsui pitched Carp's eighth. No one is really sure how he'll pitch and he did give up a one out single to Akamatsu. Akamatsu stole second, his second steal of the night but couldn't advance beyond that base and the innings was scoreless. Takahiro Arai led off Tigers ninth with a single and then we saw a procession of pinch hitters fail to do anything. Yamato (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. Nakatani (pinch hitter) flew out to right and finally Sekimoto (pinch hitter) grounded out to third to put Tigers out of their misery. Carp victory.
Tigers really had been outplayed - their errors were punished and their casual style also punished. In all aspects of the game Tigers had shown themselves wanting, their really had been nothing good to talk about. If there is one bright spot to be taken from this game it is the performance of Saka who has driven in five RBIs since his call up and taken 9 bases. Still this is a very small ray of light in what was a very gloomy display.
Previous Topic
Starting lineups
Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Hirano (Right)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Saka (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)
Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Soyog (Short)
4. Eldred (First)
5. Dobayashi (Third)
6. Mukae (Right)
7. Amaya (Left)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)
Tigers can still happily knock Fukui out of the game but they are unable to hold onto what they gained. We saw Uemoto and Hirano fall then Toritani hit to Eldred at first. A mess up allowed him to reach first and he stole second as well. Ryota Arai struck out swinging. The jury is still out on Ryota Arai at fourth but he is reasonably prolific at times. Nohmi's first was a mess and here one must assign responsibility to Fujii as well who was more than incompetent. Kikuchi singled with one out. Soyogi's ground out took the runner to second and then Eldred walked. Dobayashi hit to third and Ryota Arai's throw was poor to say the least. This brought a run home 1-0 Carp, runners on second and third. Mukae was next and he struck out to end the innings. In Tigers second Takahiro Arai walked with one out. He got no support from anyone and the innings was scoreless. Amaya led off Carp's second with a double to left. He made third on Kura's ground out and it seemed inevitable that Carp would add the extra run. Good work by the Tigers - about the only time this game prevented the run and Amaya stayed on third. Fukui then struck out everyone swinging in Tigers third Nohmi, Uemoto and Hirano. Carp's third was similarly quiet with Kikuchi, Soyogi and Eldred falling one after the other.
Fukui imploded in Tigers fourth. Toritani led off with a single. Ryota Arai singled to centre and Kanemtoo walked to load the bases with no outs. Takahiro Arai hit a grounder to third forcing out Kanemoto but bringing in the tying run 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and third. Saka hit deep into right centre bringing in the two runners, Takahiro Arai rounding the bases very nicely 3-1 Tigers, runner on second. Fujii walked and Nomura took note of the warning signs and brought on Yokoyama. This did the trick for Carp, Nohmi in what has to be the most pointless waste of the season bunted the runners to second and third. Yes, he is the pitcher and no he isn't really a batter but all this did was give the Carp another out and with one out to go it was much easier. Uemoto skied the ball to Kura but still Tigers had a comfortable lead. The lead stayed in the Carp's fourth. Dobayashi lined out to Nohmi and Mukae singled. He stayed on first though as the bottom of the order failed to move him round. Amaya's fireworks were yet to come. Tigers fifth was quiet - Yokoyama making sure that no one got on base. To be honest Tigers could have and should have tried to add more runs but like they often do sat back and relaxed. Carp then proceeded to show just how complacent they were in doing this. Higashide (pinch hitter) grounded out to second and then Akamatsu hit a double. Kikuchi flew out to right whereupon Akamatsu tagged up and took third. Soyogi singled right to bring in a run 3-2 Tigers, runner on first. Eldred struck out looking but it was a warning to Tigers. They failed to heed it. Sarfate took over the pitching and retired the batters in order. Now it was the Carp's turn. With Dobayashi out, Mukae took a dead ball. Amaya popped one up to second where Uemoto dropped the ball and Carp had runners on first and second. Kura rapped out a double to left centre and the speedy Carp runners flew round the bases to seize the lead 4-3 Carp, runner on second. Higashide skied one to the almost useless Fujii who is safe under these. Then Wada changed pitchers to Cheng, a tired Nohmi might not have gotten the third out. As it was neither did Cheng - he does have trouble pitching to Fujii. Akamatsu hit into centre to bring in the runner 5-3 Carp with Akamatsu taking second. Things were really disintergrating for Tigers now - Akamatsu stole third, some abysmal work by Fujii. Luckily the final batter was Sarfate who struck out swinging. Tigers had lost the lead and once this happened you didn't expect them to regain it.
Wada went with his pinch hitters for the seventh and also his over delayed change of catcher. Sarfate was equal to the challenge. Imanari (replacement catcher) struck out looking and Brazell (pinch hitter) flew out to left but Uemoto did single. He then tried to steal second but was thrown out to end the innings. Tsuru was the pitcher for Carp's seventh and it became clear that the change of catcher hadn't made any difference - Imanari was just as inept as Fujii. Soyogi singled right and was bunted to second by Kimura (pinch hitter - what a waste of a pinch hitter). Dobayashi hit deep to centre, the ball bouncing over the fence for an entitled two base 6-3 Carp, runner on second. Mukae skied his first pitch to Imanari; there were a lot of skiers this game. Then came Amaya who hit deep to left and if there was ever a demonstration that Kanemoto's usefulness as a left fielder is gone this was it. The slow lumbering Kanemoto, unable to throw was unable to prevent Amaya rounding the bases for an inside the park home run 8-3 Carp. Amaya is very fast but not that fast, still the innings had been a very interesting illustration of the rarer ways of scoring. Finally Kura grounded out to end the innings. With Kawauchi on the mound and two out in Tigers eighth, Ryota Arai doubled left. Next was Kanemoto who grounded out to first and ended that chance. Tsutsui pitched Carp's eighth. No one is really sure how he'll pitch and he did give up a one out single to Akamatsu. Akamatsu stole second, his second steal of the night but couldn't advance beyond that base and the innings was scoreless. Takahiro Arai led off Tigers ninth with a single and then we saw a procession of pinch hitters fail to do anything. Yamato (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. Nakatani (pinch hitter) flew out to right and finally Sekimoto (pinch hitter) grounded out to third to put Tigers out of their misery. Carp victory.
Tigers really had been outplayed - their errors were punished and their casual style also punished. In all aspects of the game Tigers had shown themselves wanting, their really had been nothing good to talk about. If there is one bright spot to be taken from this game it is the performance of Saka who has driven in five RBIs since his call up and taken 9 bases. Still this is a very small ray of light in what was a very gloomy display.