May 6th Kubo v Yamamoto - An abject batting show

Once again Tigers faced Yamamoto and had no answer. If anything they batted even more abjectly than the previous meeting. Once again Yamamoto without being particularly proficient was able to carry a no-hitter into the seventh innings and with a bit more luck would have managed to carry it into the eighth. Mayumi shuffled his lineup but was once again stricken with some strange ideas. It was nice to see Johjima being moved up to sixth - a position more in line with his talents but why was Asai preferred to Lin? Fielding wise at left there isn't any difference but Lin has a hot bat at the moment. Later in the game Mayumi would bench Shunsuke (who didn't look happy about the decision) and move Asai to centre and bring Lin on at left. All rather too late one thought. Possibly the Yamamoto issue (a mediocre pitcher with the Buffaloes) hinges on the fact that Mayumi thinks he knows the pitcher's style but doesn't. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Sledge (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Harper (First)
6. Yoshimura (Right)
7. Watanabe (Second)
8. Hosoyamada (Catcher)
9. Yamamoto (Pitcher)

Tigers started poorly with the batters falling in order and no one making base. Hirano was a bit unlucky falling to a nicely timed jumping catch by Ishikawa but the other two batters could have done better. Tigers cause wasn't helped by the fact that Kubo didn't have a good night and Johjima was also having an off day. He called for too many pitches shaving the edge of the zone and seemed oblivious to the fact that Kubo wasn't able to deliver. I actually would have welcomed Fujii (well not really but Johjima was very poor). Ishikawa started the game for BayStars with a hit. Matsumoto bunted him to second but then Sledge struck out looking and Murata grounded out to end the innings. Tigers second saw Brazell pick up a walk - he was the only batter who showed any intelligence for the Tigers. However, Johjima hit his first pitch straight to Murata for the double play and the innings was over. Kubo really ran into trouble in BayStars second. Harper hit a two base on a full count to start things off. Then Yoshimura walked and it was clear that Kubo and Johjima were not in empathy. Kubo had a lot to say when Kubo pitching coach visited the mound. Watanabe bunted to third and Kubo fielded but was too slow in getting the throw away and the bases were loaded with no outs. Hosoyamada then left the outside pitches and waited for Johjima to bring Kubo into the zone. The first strike was hit into centre for a two run timely hit 2-0 BayStars, runners on first and second. Yamamoto bunted the runners to second and third and Ishikawa then hit into left. Only one runner came home 3-0 BayStars with runners on the corner. Matsumoto showed that it wasn't just Tigers who could mess up shot selection and lined out to Toritani. Finally, Sledge grounded out to end the innings. One felt that BayStars should have had more but equally it seemed that this would be enough for the victory. Asai led off Tigers response with a walk but then Shunsuke hit into a double play - very inept batting by an on form batter. Kubo was the final batter and he grounded out. BayStars third at last saw some communication between Kubo and Johjima and the batters fell in order with Kubo striking out both Harper and Yoshimura.

Tigers fourth was quiet and once again batters were not waiting and working. BayStars fourth brought proof that despite their good play BayStars are still BayStars. Watanabe led off the innings with a hit to centre. He was then bunted to second by Hosoyamada. What was the purpose of this piece of folly especially as the next batter was Yamamoto who would bunt anyway. However, Tigers interveined and Kubo threw a low pitch which Johjima contrived to miss for a pass ball which took the runner to third. Yamamoto struck out trying to hit a sacrifice but Kubo walked Ishikawa and BayStars had runners on the corners again. This time Matsumoto flew out to left and Tigers had escaped. Tigers fifth was as disappointing (for Tigers fans) as the other four innings. In BayStars fifth Harper hit to centre with two out but Yoshimura wasn't able to convert. Tigers sixth saw the batters fall 1-2-3 and up to this point Tigers hadn't had a hit and had fallen in order. With two out in BayStars sixth Yamamoto hit to centre but didn't get beyond first.

Of course Yamamoto returned for Tigers seventh and finally gave up his first hit to Murton. This was stopped by Ishikawa whose throw to first was poor and allowed Murton to reach base safely. Then both Hirano and Toritani struck out swinging stupidly at pitches that they could have left. Toritani was particularly clueless in this regard - well away from a pitch that was clearly one to leave. Arai grounded out and Murton hadn't left first. BayStars seventh saw Kubo walk Murata with two outs but then strike out Harper looking with perhaps the best pitch of the game - a low straight ball. Yamamoto whose no hitter had disappeared was still looking at a complete game shutout and so returned for the eighth. He faced Brazell as lead off and Brazell hit deep and far the ball just hitting the yellow line at the top of wall before bouncing back into the field. It was centimetres away from a home run. Brazell was on second and then Johjima hit along the third baseline into the left corner bringing Brazell home 3-1 BayStars. Johjima went for second but as he slid in he was tagged out by a diving Ishikawa. Sledge had thrown to Ishikawa who just managed to make the out. A fine and important piece of fielding. Asai then flew out and Ryota Arai struck out to end the innings. Tigers might have saved their blushes but Ishikawa had saved the BayStars with that tag. Mayumi brought on Fukuhara to pitch BayStars eighth and he seemed to have no real problems retiring the batters in order. For Tigers ninth we saw Yamaguchi as Yamamoto's complete game chance had gone. Mayumi take note - don't leave your starter in unnecessarily. Yamaguchi had rather a good innings strking out all three batters he faced who didn't actually look like they'd learned anything. BayStars victory.

A very poor performance by the Tigers. Batting hadn't been up to standard and only Brazell had shown the application needed. Against a pitcher of Yamamoto's quality three hits and two walks were not sufficient. No one looked happy and several players sat in the dugout after the game contemplating their failure. Too many swings were lazy and shot selection was very poor. Tigers need to play with more intensity and not take holidays like this.