April 5th Messenger v Hisamoto - Finally home runs

The abject Carp managed to squander a five run lead against a Tigers pitcher who had to be removed from the game after two innings. It is a shame that Fujii wasn't also removed though he did have a good night with the bat. However, Tigers could have won the game in the ninth if Fujii had been able to direct the relief effectively. He couldn't. Ryota Arai picked up a hamstring injury - let's hope it lasts a few games. Once again Fukudome proved to be a match winner and I am really beginning to take back all I wrote earlier. The guy is phenonmenal. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 1  0  0  1 7 14 0
Carp    3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  0  0  0 6 11 1

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (First)
5. Fukudome (Right)
6. Murton (Left)
7. Conrad (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Messenger (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Kikuchi (Second)
2. Maru (Centre)
3. Lewis (Left)
4. Eldred (Right)
5. Kurihara (First)
6. Soyogi (Short)
7. Dobayashi (Third)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Hisamoto (Pitcher)

Hisamoto started by dismissing the first two Tigers but then Toritani singled nicely to centre. However, Ryota struck out swinging to end the Tigers first stab at glory. Messenger unfortunately was dismal from the start. Kikuchi led off with a single into right. Maru slammed his first pitch deep to left centre. Carp are quick so it was no surprise that this double resulted in a run 1-0 Carp, runner on second. Lewis hit right which brought Maru in 2-0 Carp. The ball squirted under Ryota's glove (why does that not surprise me) and Lewis was able to take second. Eldred flew out but Lewis tagged up and took third. Kurihara walked as having thrown almost everything in the zone Messenger tried to avoid it for this at bat. Soyogi hit deep to right for the sacrifice fly 3-0 Carp. Kurihara touched up and tried to reach second but was caught and tagged out for the final out of the innings. Still this is the Carp - one doesn't really worry about a three run margin with them. Tigers second was quiet - no runner getting on base and Fukudome looked like he was going to have a quiet evening. Messenger though wasn't finished. Dobayashi walked and then stole second - we had a typical Fujii performance here. Ishihara struck out swinging and Hisamoto bunted the runner to third. OK then it looked liked Carp had wasted their chance. Not so...Kikuchi walked and then Maru hit a triple 5-0 Carp runner on third. Lewis struck out swinging to end the innings but at 5-0 one could say the Carp were in control. Messenger would only give up more runs so he would not make an appearance for the third. Tigers third started with a big surprise - Fujii led off with a double. Shunsuke (pinch hitting for Messenger) flew out to left and Fujii tagged up and took third. Then Nishioka hit a deep fly to centre which brought the rotund one home 5-1 Carp. Yamato singled but Toritani flew out. Carp still had a four run lead. Fujihara took over for Carp's third and with Fujii calling gave up a lead off double to Eldred. Kurihara walked - runners on first and second with no outs. Soyogi bunted the runners to second and third - a failure of imagination that is all too common in Japanese baseball. What a waste of an out with a side on the ropes. Dobayashi hit a grounder to second where Nishioka of course threw to home to catch the runner coming in - runners on first and third. Finally, Ishihara grounded out to short. Some nice defence by Tigers and inept play by the Carp.

Ryota flew out to start Tigers fourth and then Fukudome popped up to Ishihara. Murton singled but Conrad grounded out. Fujihara's second innings, Carp's fourth was much better than his first and he retired the batters in order striking out two. Fujii led off Tigers fifth with a single - two hits in a row. Takahiro Arai (pinch hitter) flew out to right though but Fujii tagged up and took second. He certainly was trying. Nishioka flew out to left and this time Fujii couldn't move round. Yamato drew a walk but Toritani popped up to end the innings. Carp's fifth was pitched by Tsuru and Lewis immediately singled. However, Lewis allowed himself to drift too far off first and was tagged out with a good throw from Tsuru. Eldred and Kurihara then grounded out and that innings was scoreless. Tigers sixth was rapidly over with the batters falling in order. Carp were maintaining control nicely by now. Carp's sixth was also over quickly and the game had settled into that kind of stalemate one often sees in the mid innings.

Here Fukui took over for Tigers seventh and rapidly demonstrated the Carp's ability to implode. Conrad was the first to benefit from this largess singling into right to lead off the innings. Fujii was next and he singled as well taking Conrad to third as Eldred fumbled the take. Fujii took second and Tigers were very nicely placed. Fukui panicked and let fly a wild pitch bringing home Conrad 5-2 Carp, runner on third. Then the batter, Hiyama (pinch hitter) managed to fly out. Nishioka was next and drove straight past the pitcher to bring in Fujii 5-3 Carp, runner on first. This brought a pitching change, Yokoyama taking over. He wasn't much good immediately giving up a single to Yamato - runners on first and second. Toritani flew out but Ryota got hold of his third pitch - a low straight and drove it into centre for a timely double. Ryota was home and so was Yamato who is fast round the bases 5-5 scores tied, runner on second. Unbelievable as it may seem Carp had blown a five run lead. Imamura took over and Fukudome tried to hit deep but flew out to end a very productive innings. Katoh took over and Kimura (replacement third) led Carp's seventh off with a single. One would have thought that Fujii would have been replaced here but Wada left him in to reek his havoc. Kikuchi bunted him to second - even with Fujii as catcher Carp will contrive to mess up. Maru singled left but Kimura stopped on third with Maru on first. Maru stole second and Katoh struck out Lewis but then a visit to the mound by our pitching coach resulted in a pointless intentional walk of Eldred to load the bases. It also brouight a new pitcher Andoh taking over. He induced the flyout of Kurihara to end the innings. Tigers had escaped. Tigers eighth was pitched by Imamura who basically struggled. Murton singled to lead off the innings. Conrad worked a walk - runners on first and second with no outs. It would have been nice if Fujii had been allowed to continue his hitting streak but the idiot Wada had him bunt the runners to second and third. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) managed to fly out shallowly and Conrad did not attempt the run. Nishioka was deliberately walked to get at Yamato who struck out swinging to end the innings - scoreless. Fukuhara pitched Carp's eighth and once again fought Fujii's calls coming out the winner retiring the three batters his way. This was a vital innings from the Tigers veteran preventing Carp from bouncing back. Mickolio took over for Tigers ninth and faced Toritani as lead off. It all seemed to be going down until Mickolio sent down his sixth pitch, a 147 kmh straight in the higher part of the zone. Toritani latched onto it slamming it over the left fence for a solo home run 6-5 Tigers. Ryota Arai singled into centre but Fukudome flew out and Murton hit into an innings ending double play. Kubo took over for Carp's ninth and the save beckoned. It didn't go that way as Wada continued with Fujii as catcher. The first two outs were down quickly enough and then Maru drew a walk Fujii calling too many low outside pitches again. The same thing happened with Lewis who also walked - runners on first and second. Once again the pattern of low outside pitches continued and the third was left a bit high with Eldred latching onto it and singling. This brought Maru home 6-6 scores tied but Lewis tried to take third and was tagged out. The game went into extra innings.

Nakazaki started Tigers tenth by walking Conrad. Fujii hit into a double play but then Kubo walked. However, Nishioka grounded out to end that chance. Kubo returned for Carp's tenth. Kurihara flew out but Soyogi singled over the infield. Abe (replacement third) bunted him to second and even with Fujii calling one could relax. Kubo duly struck out Ishihara to end the innings. Yamato faced Nakazaki again in Tigers eleventh and flew out. Toritani walked but Ryota hit into a double play and pulled his hamstring trying to reach first. He was replaced by Saka. Nakahigashi (replacement left) started Carp's eleventh with a bang - a double in fact. Kikuchi hit a grounder to second but NIshioka disdained the throw to first and threw to Conrad at third instead who tagged Nakahigashi out successfully. Kikuchi was safe on first but from the Tigers point of view a runner on first is better than a runner on third. Maru flew out and then Hirose (pinch hitting for Lewis) grounded out to end the innings. The final innings loomed. If Tigers failed to score Carp could still win but at least would not lose. Egusa pitched the Tigers 12th and faced Fukudome. The fifth pitch was a straight in the middle of the zone. One wonders why this was thought suitable at this stage of the game. Fukudome drove it smoothly over the right fence for his first home run in Tigers colours 7-6 Tigers. Murton and Conrad both popped up trying to swing and Fujii grounded out. Tigers now had to hold this slender lead. This time they did. Kubo did not throw low outside pitches but went high and down the middle and struck Eldred out. Kurihara grounded out to second - ato hitori. This was Soyogi who flew out to end the game. Tigers victory.

A marathon which had taken 5 hours and a minute (the old time limit of last season not applying). Tigers had earned a valuable victory. Carp should never have thrown away the five run lead but Tigers had fought back well and worked very hard. Fukudome was the hero of course but he had come through with the vital hit when it was needed. Kubo had worked well having to fight Fujii and his bizarre notions of catching. With a different catcher Tigers would have won the game in the ninth without the extra innings. Still a win is a win and at least they won't lose this series.

With Arai out a bit, interested to see how they rearrange the line up. I was also skeptical about Fukudome, but might be time to give him a shot at batting 4th. Murton hasn't fared well there in the past, so Fukudome could be the best option. With Murton off to a good start, however, I would like to see him moved up to maybe batting 3rd and Toritani moved further down. But just my armchair managing on a rainy day with no game...

I think it might be time to slot big brother in. Conrad can handle third so Takahiro Arai can cover first.

Arai for Arai? That's what I fear they might do. But I think big brother should have to earn the 4th spot back.

Yes but the elder Arai has always had the talent for No. 4. It's the mental element that has been the issue. The younger Arai as I recall mentioning is a good six or seven. Give the elder support and he delivers (actually with Wada this is difficult).