August 10th Messenger v Shinoda - One lucky miscue

Tigers batting showed signs of life which was good. Even so Carp were just about able to hold on but one cannot see them making a play for a playoff place. Fortunately for Carp, Messenger's pitching was dismal and he lacked control this game. Still, it took a miscued shot from Shinoda to give them victory and it was a real miscue - a failed sacrifice fly that turned into a very fortunate three base hit. We also saw more of Andoh - why was this chump kept up and Kojima sent down after one game. Andoh managed to give up another run this game and could also be said to have ruined Tigers chances. Kanemoto was dismal once again and one has to say he must be wearing out his welcome by now but Tigers wasted too many runners on base anyway. Mayumi really believes in shi no rodo and his management of the games during this period has been so inept that he should be given an award for it. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

Murton started by hitting to short and beating the throw. Hirano bunted him to second - a waste but normal practice. Then Toritani grounded out taking Murton to third. Finally Arai grounded out to end the innings. With one out in Carp's first Soyogi hit to centre and then Akamatsu hit to right to set up runners on first and third. Kurihara grounded out to Toritani who spilled the ball badly and the runner was home 1-0 Carp with Akamatsu on third and Kurihara on first. Hirose then hit a deep sacrifice fly to right 2-0 Carp, runner on first. To increase the scoring chances Kurihara then tried to steal second - a guaranteed out and so it was. Tigers then screwed up their first chance in a big way. Brazell led off the second with a centre hit. Kanemoto grounded out but put Brazell on second. Shinoda panicked and dead balled Johjima and then walked Asai to load the bases with one out. Messenger did nothing - he just struck out looking - an attempt at a squeeze would have been useful or even a sacrifice fly. This left Murton who hit straight to short on his third pitch - why didn't he wait and increase the pressure on the pitcher? Ishihara hit to left in Carp's second but nothing came of this. Toritani picked up a walk in Tigers third and eventually Shinoda faced Brazell again. This time the Tigers first blasted the ball into the stands for a two run home run 2-2 scores tied. This was much better - hitting with a runner on. The lead had gone and ideally Kanemoto would have hit to set up a rally but he flew out to end the innings. Higashide walked to start Carp's third and was bunted to second by Soyogi but then the next two batters fell easily and the innings was scoreless.

Tigers fourth was another incompetent waste. Johjma led off the innings with a two base hit to left. Asai then grounded out to third but Kurihara made an error and he was safe on first with Johjima on second. This was a good situation and it needed a bunt from Messenger. Instead he grounded out to first of his first pitch - very poor batting. It is not that one expects him to hit but that he should do a bit more than fail miserably. Murton then failed again - flying out to right and to add insult to injury Asai was caught off base and tagged out to end the innings. Messenger then proceeded to dig the Tigers deeper into a mess. He started the Carp fourth abysmally walking Hirose and Shima. They were bunted to second and third by Iwamoto. Then Johjima decided to walk Ishihara to get at Shinoda and work a double play. This really was a high risk strategy and the better option would have been to try and get Ishihara and then Shinoda. Tigers often fail to exhibit patience when needed and to generate pressure situations for themselves. So the situation was bases loaded and Messenger trying to lure Shinoda to hit to second. I wrote above that the stroke was a failed sacrifice fly but it really could have been anything - poorly hit, it was perfectly placed and bisected the field for a bases clearing triple 5-2 Carp, runner on third. Next batter was Higashide who hit a sacrifice fly to right 6-2 Carp. Carp don't really have many batters so sacrifices form an important part of their armoury. Tigers really could learn from them in this respect. Finally, Soyogi struck out looking which is something Messenger could have done earlier in the innings. He had paid the price for being poor. With one out in Tigers fifth Toritani hit a nice two base - Tigers certainly didn't lack chances or extra base hits in this game. However, neither Arai nor Brazell hit and he stayed there. Carp's fifth saw Akamatsu hit to left but he stayed on first as Messenger (who was surprisingly still pitching. Note the different treatment of Kojima and Messenger) retired the next three batters. Tigers sixth saw Asai hit with two out but Sakurai (pinch hitter) grounded out to short off his first pitch. Waiting in his first at bat after coming up to the top team would have been more sensible. Fujihara pitched Carp's sixth and was reliable retiring the batters in order.

Things started to happen in Tigers seventh. Murton led off the innings with a solo home run 6-3 Carp. It would have been nice if he had made more of the chances earlier but even so this was welcome. The next three batters did nothing which wasn't so welcome. For Carp's seventh Mayumi chose Andoh who proceeded to undo all of Murton's admittedly slight good work. Andoh has no confidence and placement but still Mayumi persists with him and punishes others with instant demotion. He certainly likes cutting his nose off to spite his face. With one out Andoh was poor enough to give up a three base hit. Akamatsu struck out but then Andoh gave up a full count two base hit to Kurihara 7-3 Carp, runner on second. It was just poor pitching and his use this innings just can't be justified. Hirose hit to set up runners on first and third and Mayumi bowed to the inevitable and switched pitchers. We then found out who replaced Wakatake - it was Kawasaki who Huber (pinch hitter) to ground out to end the innings. Tigers though just kept on going - Shinoda was replaced by Ohshima for the Tigers eighth. He had been undistinguished and rather lucky to escape with only three runs against his name. Kanemoto managed to draw a walk and then Johjima hit hard to left for another two run home run 7-5 Carp. Asai hit to left and Yokoyama quickly replaced Ohshima. For Carp there was a real fear of deja vu. Mayumi used Kubota for Carp's eighth and he blasted his way through the three batters he faced. Chulk then pitched the Tigers ninth and was immediately in trouble walking Hirano. He tried to steal second and the throw was poor so he took third as well. Toritani grounded out to second which brought Hirano home 7-6 Carp and then Arai hit a nice two base. Brazell flew out to right which moved Arai round to third but which left Kanemoto as the final batter. He did exactly the same when a ground hit would have been better and the game was over. Carp victory.

Carp had just held on and had even with poor pitching been rather lucky to win. They had had the benefit of a lucky hit and had managed to just hang onto the victory. After the abject performance against the Dragons it was encouraging to see Tigers fightback even though it was ultimately unsuccessful. As both the Dragons and Giants lost the games between remained the same. Once again one has to condemn the folly of keeping Kanemoto in the six hole. He is not an effective batter there and he denies scoring opportunities to the effective batters (Johjima and Asai). Mayumi continues to display extreme incompetence with the pitching and coupled to the rather tired pitching staff we have to put up with his lack of comprehension and ability.