April 7th Iwata v Kenta Maeda - Tigers flounder

With the rain knocking out the April 6th clash, the starting pitchers were just shifted to the next day. Tigers struggled against Maeda, Iwata struggled against Carp. It all shows an interesting side of Wada - does he actually learn. He had ample evidence last season that Fujii was a second rate catcher but who is the starting catcher this season? The first game of the Fujii/Iwata pairing ought to have also provided evidence that this wouldn't work but we saw them paired again against a side that while abject has more batting than the Swallows. We also saw last season that Murton despite his many qualities was not a No. 4 batter. So what does Wada do? With Ryota Arai (another non No. 4 batter) out of action he puts Murton in at No. 4. Tigers were almost shut out again except for a lucky home run to Hidaka which spared the blushes. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Nishikoka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Fukudome (Right)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Conrad (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Iwata (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. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

Maeda started smoothly sadly to say for Tigers fans. He motored through the first three batters he faced in a comfortable 10 pitches. Iwata was anything but smooth - pitching to the worthless Fujii he was soon in difficulties. Kikuchi singled nicely picking a slider in the middle of the zone. Maru followed that with another single to centre. Kikuchi took third and then Lewis hit a deep sacrifice fly into centre 1-0 Carp, runner on first. Eldred hit a grounder to Toritani forcing out Maru but making first safely. He then stole second - so far Fujii's throwing out of the hand has been a joke. However, Kurihara also grounded out to end the innings. Murton started his second stint at fourth by grounding out to lead off Tigers second. Fukudome did the same and then Arai struck out swinging. Tigers were going to have to work very hard. It got even harder in the Carp's second. Soyogi grounded out to his counter part but Dobayashi got hold of a shuto and lifted it over the fence for a solo home run 2-0 Carp. The next two batters were Ishihara and Kenta Maeda who both fell convincingly. Tigers third was depressingly similar to the first and second with the batters falling in order. Fujii's burst of life the previous game was forgotten and he grounded out. Another Carp innings another run. This started with a one out single to Maru. Lewis also singled and set up runners on first and second. Eldred walked to load the bases and then Kurihara managed a bounce single to bring in a run 3-0 Carp, bases loaded. Tigers were in trouble but Soyogi came to the rescue hitting into a double play to end the innings.

Tigers first hit came in their fourth - from Nishioka who would have three of their four hits. He singled and then made second on Yamato's ground out. Toritani's ground out took him to third but he was running out of batters but Murton drew a walk. Fukudome tried to hit deep to left but flew out. For Carp's fourth we actually saw a quiet innings. Fujinami took over from the struggling Iwata and did well this innings. The batters fell in order but then it was the bottom of the order so it wasn't wholly surprising. Tigers fifth saw Arai collect another strike out, this one looking. Conrad grounded out and Fujii did the same. Tigers period of grace also ended. Maru walked with one out in Carp's fifth. Lewis hit a double to left centre and Maru raced home 4-0 Carp, runner on second. Lewis stole third - it was that dire. Eldred's fly out wasn't far enough and Lewis stayed on third. Kurihara walked as did Soyogi - bases loaded. Finally, Dobayashi struck out saving Tigers. Tigers sixth saw Nishioka's second single with one out - Hidaka who was pinch hitting and going to replace the useless Fujii. He grounded out but Nishioka hit successfully into left and made second on Yamato's bunt. Unfortunately Toritani grounded out so any hope of a score was rapidly extinguished. Tsuru took over and if anything things deteriorated. Ishihara singled and was bunted to second by Maeda. Kikuchi hit nicely to left centre bringing in the runner 5-0 Carp, runner on second. Then Maru hit right to bring in Kikuchi. Carp used their speed well 6-0 with a runner on first. Hidaka wasn't proving to be an improvement on Fujii. More use of Komiyama is a must. The final out was Lewis who grounded out to end the innings.

In Friday's game Tigers had staged a big comeback in their seventh but they weren't facing Kenta Maeda then. He still had a good innings in him and rapidly got Murton and Fukudome to ground out. Arai hit a grounder to third where Kurihara made a mess for a useful error putting Arai on first. Conrad went for the big hit and flew out to end the chance. Maeda had pitched seven scoreless innings with a walk and two hits on 92 pitches. That was some performance. Fujihara took over the mound for Carp's seventh. He immediately gave up a lead off single to Eldred who was pinch run for by Akamatsu. Kurihara walked and Soyogi then bunted the runners to second and third. With a six run lead Carp were still bunting! Of course it all went wrong for Carp from that point on. Dobayashi struck out swinging and then Ishihara flew out. Still Carp were comfortable. Yokoyama took over from Maeda for the Tigers eighth. Saka (pinch hitter) flew out to right and then Hidaka swung at his first pitch a 138 kmh insider slider hitting over the fence for his first home run in Tigers colours 6-1 Carp. At least Tigers weren't going to be shut out. Nishioka hit his third single of the night but the rally petered out after that and the innings ended with Toritani grounding out. Saiuchi took over for Carp's eighth. They weren't really trying and the three batters fell in order. Imamura pitched Tigers ninth. Murton flew out - his return to No. 4 had been anonymous. Fukudome grounded out to second as did Arai - no fumble to save him this time. Carp victory.

Carp's victory had been founded on a fine pitching performance by Kenta Maeda though they had also had the help of a truly abysmal performance from Tigers catchers. Neither Fujii nor Hidaka could be said to have shone. Tigers are still waiting for a series victory and one thinks that they need to get going soon as the Giants are racing ahead. One can't see Tigers on their current performance taking the next series against the Giants even though it is at Koshien. Tigers need to raise their performance considerably to challenge the Tokyo outfit. The second rate catchers also need to be cleared out rapidly and Wada needs to do some serious thinking about who should be No. 4. A sticking plaster solution like Murton is not going to help.

Letting Eldred steal against you is plain embarrassing. Fujii's hitting is a little bit better than the other catchers', but you can't let a guy with a noodle arm be your main catcher. It's pretty ridiculous.