July 12th Andoh v Kozlowski - A low scoring affair

This game should have seen a better performance by Tigers. Three hits off an ordinary pitcher was not enough. Andoh also pitched well but without the run support he needed. This really was poor play by the Tigers. Line scores

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

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (First)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Asai (Right)
6. Toritani (Short)
7. Yano (Catcher)
8. Baldris (Third)
9. Andoh (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Seabol (Third)
7. Soyogi (Short)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kozlowski (Pitcher)

Carp's first saw Andoh run into trouble after two outs. He walked Alex and then gave up a hit to Kurihara. Shima also walked and the bases were loaded. Luckily, Seabol flew out to end the innings. Tigers first was quiet with the batters falling in order. This also happened in Carp's second, Andoh having pulled himself together. In Tigers second Asai hit but then tried to steal second. He was thrown out and that was the end of any chance to score. Higashide led off with a hit in Carp's third but one out later was caught up in an Alex double play - end of innings. Tigers third was quiet - nothing happened. In Carp's fourth Seabol had a two base hit but nothing came of this. Tigers fourth was also quiet. The Carp fifth proved to be the crucial innings. Ishihara led off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Kozlowski. Another out later Akamatsu hit and Ishihara was home 1-0 Carp. The final batter was Alex who grounded out. Tigers response was flaccid. Kanemoto lead off with a two base and had to watch as his colleagues did nothing. Very poor batting. Carp's sixth was quiet.

Tigers sixth saw another chance wasted. With two outs Akahoshi hit and then made second on a balk. Sekimoto walked to join him and Kozlowski was replaced by Umetsu. He got Arai to ground out and end the innings. Andoh pitched the Carp seventh and retired the side in order. He had pitched reasonably well but had been let down by the poor performance of his batters. Tigers seventh saw Ueno retire the side in order - once again Tigers should have done better. Kubota pitched the Carp eighth and was variable. He walked Akamatsu who advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then he walked Kurihara to set up runners on first and third with two outs. He got the final out though and did not embarrass the side. Tigers eighth was quiet. Carp ninth saw Soyogi hit but nothing came of this. The final Carp pitcher was Nagakawa - he retired the three batters he faced for the save and the victory to the Carp.

Okada was non too pleased. Tigers batting had been abject and Andoh's hard work had been wasted. He made it clear that this sort of display was not acceptable and that Tigers performance had to improve.