June 20th Andoh v Nagai - A pitcher's lot is not a happy one

N26 mentioned some interesting stats and how Tigers ERA and runs scored were better than Hiroshima's. This is true but it doesn't factor in an inability to hit with runners on and to hold leads. The pitchers cannot keep the opposition of the scoreboard and the batters (this is not a weak batting lineup) cannot hit. There are serious failures in the coaching and an urgent need for some good batting coaching. Andoh was responsible for the latest failure but the way it happens indicates a very unhappy team. I wrote at the beginning of the season how Tigers should go with their young pitchers. Instead we have a reliance on tired old arms. What of Uezono, Ishikawa, Iwata, Kojima, Chen? Tigers ni-gun is doing very well with this mainly young rotation (they are leading the Western League). All of them have been tried and rejected by over-conservative and short-sighted pitching coaches. They really need to be given long runs in the top team. At the moment any victory by the Tigers seems to be due to luck not to good planning. Box scores

               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Golden Eagles  0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 0
Tigers         0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2  7 1

Starting lineups

Golden Eagles
1. Naoto Watanabe (Short)
2. Hiraishi (Right)
3. Masato Nakamura (Left)
4. Kusano (Short)
5. Yamasaki (First)
6. Teppei (Centre)
7. Johbu (Third)
8. Shima (Catcher)
9. Nagai (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Arai (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Sakurai (Right)
7. Toritani (Short)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Andoh (Pitcher)

Golden Eagles would start nicely, hitting from the outset but Tigers would take a long time to get going. In their first Hiraishi hit with one out and then Nakamura hit to set up runners on first and second. Kusano hit into a double play though and removed the chance of a score. Tigers first was quiet as the batters fell in order. Teppei hit in Golden Eagles second but nothing came of this. Kanemoto walked to lead off the Tigers second but stayed on first as the next three batters did nothing. Andoh, who hadn't looked at all impressive then proceeded to throw the match away. He started impressively striking out the first two batters he faced. Things looked good but then Hiraishi hit again. This was followed by another hit from Nakamura (also his second) - runners on first and third. Kusano was next and he hit to right, the ball carrying nicely over the fence for a three run home run 3-0 Golden Eagles. Yamasaki then drilled one over the centre wall, home run 4-0 Golden Eagles. Teppei hit to left, a two base as Andoh just served up rubbish. Johbu hit to right, another two base and 5-0 Golden Eagles, runner on second. Shima was the only one who missed out on this hitting feast as he was deliberately walked to get at Nagai who struck out swinging to end the innings. A terrible piece of pitching. Tigers third saw their third hit, from Lin (pinch hitting for Andoh). Akahoshi bunted him to second. He has been practising bunts quite hard after his disaster against the Marines. However, Sekimoto grounded out and the innings was over.

Andoh of course didn't return for the Golden Eagles fourth. To do so would have been quite suicidal. Instead his place was taken by Egusa who managed to balk. This meant that Nakamura who hit to short was able to take second base but Egusa was quite able to get the final out. Nagai ran into a bit of trouble in Tigers fourth but was able to escape. With two out, Brazell hit. Sakurai followed up with a hit of his own and Brazell made third nicely showing that his leg problems might be easing. Toritani though still can't remember which end of the bat is which and flew out to end the innings. Golden Eagles fifth was also exciting - Yamasaki led off with a walk. One out later Johbu hit and a wild pitch took the runners to second and third. Shima walked in four which brought up the second out with the bases loaded. Finally, Watanabe struck out to end the innings and the Tigers had escaped. Tigers fifth was quiet and the batters were out in order. Golden Eagles sixth was also quiet as the batters fell to ground outs, Tsutsui being the pitcher and doing much better than his last outing. Nagai returned for Tigers sixth and showed that he was getting tired. With one out he gave up a hit to Arai. Kanemoto was next and he hit a two base to right - runners on second and third. Next batter Brazell who is not a one dimensional home run batter but quite a versatile hitter. He demonstrated this nicely by hitting to right driving in both runners 5-2 Golden Eagles, runner on first. Nomura decided that Nagai had had enough and replaced him with Arime who duly got the final out to end the innings.

Watanabe pitched Golden Eagles seventh and was secure retiring the batters in order. This time the relief was much more secure. Akahoshi hit in Tigers seventh and then stole second but once again Sekimoto failed to convert him and the innings was scoreless. Abe pitched Golden Eagles eighth and was also much more secure. He retired his three batters in order as well. Arime returned for the Tigers eighth and dead balled Kanemoto. This brought up Brazell who managed to hit into a double play and end the innings. Abe started Golden Eagles ninth with a hit to Teppei but he was picked off going for third which left a runner on first. He went nowhere and the innings was scoreless. For Tigers ninth Nomura chose Gwyn. He had a straightforward job finishing by getting Hiyama (pinch hitter) to fly out. Golden Eagles victory.

Andoh's meltdown had been the key. From pitching well, he suddenly couldn't pitch at all and this kind of disintergration is worrying as it suggests problems with the pitcher. Brazell is a real find and once again showed his worth but the rest of the team isn't pulling its weight. Replacing Toritani would be a good idea but this is problematic as there is no-one quite as good at short in Japan. If he is rested it would mean that more errors at short could be expected. One has to start thinking of this season as a rebuilding season but rather than the younger players being given experience we are having to put up with the same old faces. This should change as should several of the coaching team.