April 2nd Andoh v Yoshimi - Tigers pitching blows it

Let's start with Kanemoto, as most will by now know he has a torn right shoulder rotator muscle. This is a painful injury really only cured by rest. However, Kanemoto isn't going to rest (he's not the iron man of Japanese baseball for nothing). However, I would suggest that it might be a very good idea if he did take a rest. That way he avoids damaging the shoulder even more. Standridge has pretty much agreed terms and flies to Japan on Monday for the medical and contract signing. Given Andoh's performance this game its none too soon.
This game loss was entirely due to poor pitching by Andoh and then Tsutsui. It was Tsutsui who actually took the loss but Andoh wasn't much better. Neither starter lasted beyond the fourth innings and both were pretty poor though Yoshimi was worse. Andoh though gave up hits to batters he should have never done so. Dragons basically bat 1-5 and everything else is making up the numbers. Occaisionally, one of the lower members has a good game but normally they don't produce much. However, this game their contribution was vital and also indicated the poor pitching on display. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 0
Dragons  0 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 X 6 14 0

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ibata (Second)
2. Cesar (Centre)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Matsui (Right)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Iwasaki (Short)
9. Yoshimi (Pitcher)

Hirano drew first blood in Tigers first with a one out hit. Unfortunately nothing came of this. With two out in Dragons first Morino had a two base but Blanco was unable to convert. The second innings was perhaps both pitchers peak - both managed two strike outs, Yoshimi got Arai and Brazell swinging but Andoh got Wada and Matsui both looking. Here the pitching was sublime, both fell to outside fastballs which were perfectly placed and shaved the edge of the zone. After his fine second, Yoshimi disintergrated. Sakurai led off Tigers third with a hit. Next batter was Andoh who made a complete mess of the attempted bunt (again) and flew out to a fine catch by Blanco. Murton hit to centre to set up runners on first and third and then Hirano turned one nicely into left for a hit 1-0 Tigers,runners on first and second. Toritani also hit to left driving in another run 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Kanemoto popped one up to short but Arai hit beautifully into right centre bringing the runners home 4-0 runner on second. Johjima was next and he hit his first pitch for a double which brought Arai home 5-0 Tigers, runner on second two out. However, Brazell grounded out to second to end the innings but that had been a very good innings. Dragons strong point is their ability to counter attack immediately the opposition has scored so Andoh needed to pitch well. In fact he didn't and like Yoshimi showed signs of wanting to disintergrate. Iwasaki hit his first pitch into right field. Yoshimi bunted - showing Andoh how to do it and the runner was safe on second. Ibata was next and drove the ball past Andoh for a centre hit which brought Iwasaki home 5-1 Tigers runner on first. Cesar flew out but Andoh produced a pass ball facing Morino which moved Ibata round to second. Morino hit and Hirano did a superb job fielding it but wasn't able to complete the throw and Dragons had runners on first and third. Andoh then faced Blanco whom he battled and eventually walked to load the bases. Now things looked dangerous and next was Wada. The first pitch was an outside strike which Wada disagreed with and said so. However, he tried to hit his third pitch into right field but grounded out to end the innings. Andoh had managed to hold the lead very nicely.

Yoshimi returned for Tigers fourth and gave up a hit to Murton. Murton stole second but Dragons coaches were already talking animatedly into the telephone to summon a replacement pitcher. Yoshimi wasn't pitching well and they wanted to replace him as soon as possible. Hirano was next and drove the ball nicely along the first baseline where a superb stop from Blanco prevented the run and got the final out of the innings. However, it was the end of Yoshimi. Andoh followed him into the showers in Dragons fourth. Once again he started poorly with a hit to Matsui. Oyama (replacement catcher) also hit and Dragons had runners on first and third. Andoh then let fly a wild pitch which brought Matsui home 5-2 Tigers runner on second. The TV camera cuts to Mayumi who has a face like thunder. To say he was angry would be an understatement. Andoh battled Nomoto (pinch hitter and replacement Right) who then hit into left centre for a timely two base hit 5-3 Tigers runner on second. This was enough and Andoh was summoned back to the dugout in disgrace. Now in this situation the logical pitchers for Tigers are Egusa or Sajikihara. The latter is still on the second team and but the former is available. Mayumi ignored this option and went for Tsutsui who couldn't cope. Tsutsui has looked nervous since the start of the season and today was no exception. He exhibited a tendency to drift left and Dragons batters would take full advantage of this. He faced Ibata who hit to set up runners on first and second. Then Cesar who turned the ball along the third baseline. Arai wasn't covering his base but was standing inside and the ball went over the sack for a two base hit 5-4 Tigers, runners on second and third and only one out. Here Mayumi had a chance to switch to Egusa but continued with Tsutsui who drifted left to Morino. The batter hit over Arai and safely into left field for a two base hit bringing both runners home 6-5 Dragons, runner on second. The game had been turned around completely and Tigers had blown a 5 run lead. Blanco flew out to centre and then facing Wada, Tsutsui's control deserted him and to avoid a catastophe (three balls, no strikes) Johjima made the fourth pitch into a deliberate walk. This brought up Matsui who flew out to end the innings but it had been a disaster for Tigers. To ensure that Tigers did not strike back Ochiai sent Kobayashi to the mound for the fifth. He got the first two outs and then was replaced by Hirai for the final out of the innings. Dragons have a strong relief and Tigers would find out just how strong they actually were. Watanabe pitched Dragons fifth and gave up a lead off hit to Oyama. He was bunted to second by Iwasaki but then the next two batters fell easily and the innings was scoreless. Brazell drew a one out walk in Tigers sixth but Sakurai hit into a double play to extinguish the chance. Watanabe returned for Dragons sixth and was shakey but better than either Andoh or Tsutsui. He gave up a leadoff two base hit to Cesar. A Morino fly out took Cesar to third but then Blanco struck out. Wada was deliberately walked and Fujii (pinch hitter) grounded out to end the innings.

Takahashi pitched Tigers seventh and walked Murton with one out. Mayumi sent Sekimoto to the plate to pinch hit for Hirano (not the brightest of decisions).Sekimoto hit into a double play to end the innings. Dragons seventh was exciting to say the least. Nishimura was the pitcher and with one out he gave up a second hit to Iwasaki, Sekimoto proving a bit slow. Nomoto flew out but Ibata hit again and Dragons had runners on first and second. Cesar flew out to right and the innings was over. Tigers eighth saw Toritani hit. Mayumi then called for the steal which resulted in Toritani being out. Kanemoto struck out and Ochiai brought on Asao to get Arai out. This was successful and the innings was scoreless. Tigers chances were running out. Finally, in Dragons eighth we saw the pitcher who should have replaced Andoh, Egusa. He pitched well and retired the batters in order. Asao started Tigers ninth and got Johjima to fly out. Dragons then switched to Iwase who struck out Brazell looking but then gave up a hit to Sakurai. For the last throw of the dice, Mayumi sent Yano in to pinch hit but he struck out to end the game. Dragons victory.

Back in 2006 (if I recall correctly) Tigers had had a similar big lead against the Dragons and had blown it but in middle relief not starters. Andoh didn't look convincing in his first start even though he picked up the win. Andoh disintergrated suddenly and even though Mayumi's choice of Tsutsui to replace Andoh was strange he couldn't have predicted how the match actually turned out. Tigers pitching at vital moments had been poor and there had been too many loose pitches. Once again the batting had been strong but really five run leads should not be abandoned so easily.