August 16th Nohmi v Kenta Maeda - Fujikawa fails again

The Johjima news is not good. Following examinations he has decided to have surgery to drain his left knee. He will also need to rest his elbow for 8 weeks at least. This basically means that his season is over. Tigers now have a big problem at catcher with Fujii not really being good enough and Kanoh also injured. Komiyama is the chosen substitute and he needs to raise his level significantly. This mess needn't have happened if the Tigers coaching had decided to keep Kanoh as catcher.
A complaint has been registered with the police about Kanemoto. According to the complaint Kanemoto threatened the owner of an investment firm to get some investment money returned to him. Kanemoto has denied this. Interestingly Sakai-owner was over in America recently and watched some MLB. However, just to show how in touch with things he really is he confessed to not knowing the Kei Igawa was playing in the Yankees farm team. No wonder we're stuck with Mayumi.
Finally onto the game and Kyuji being knocked out of the game. The Carp had a very good performance from Maeda but needn't have won the game. Kyuji though ran into trouble and wasn't comfortable at all. These things occasionally happen but what was worrying was that this isn't the first time this month. He gave up the losing run against Giants and also struggled against the Swallows. It's possible that this isn't just one blown game and the coaches need to look into things carefully. Sure Carp were lucky with their hits but one also wonders about the effect of shi no rodo which despite the bravado does cause troubles for the Tigers. Kyuji has not been over-pitched at all so the problem is more likely to be mental rather than physical. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Kimura (Short)
3. Hirose (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Maru (Left)
6. Akamatsu (Centre)
7. Barden (Third)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Shunsuke (Centre)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

The signs from the first innings was that this game was going to be a pitching duel. Nohmi started well striking out two in Carp's first innings. Kenta Maeda also started well though he did give up a one out hit to Hirano. Toritani forced out Hirano and then Arai grounded out to first and the first was over. The second was quiet with no one getting on base or troubling the scorers. No strike outs in the second but some very good pitching all the same. It's a pity that Maeda was on form. Carp managed to generate a hit in their third - from Ishihara. He was bunted to second by Maeda but then Higashide grounded out to second to end the innings. Tigers third by contrast was quiet though Maeda did record his first strike outs of the game.

Hirose managed to single to right in Carp's fourth with one out but then stayed on first Kurihara flew out and Maru hit to Brazell. Toritani walked in Tigers fourth but then blew it with an ill advised attempt to steal second. No score there. Akamatsu led off Carp's first by grounding out to second but Hirano fluffed it and he was safe on first. This never looked like going anywhere even though Akamatsu stole second as the first two batters flew out to Fujii being unable to cope with Nohmi's pitching. Maeda was the final batter and he struck out swinging. Kanemoto recorded a hit to right with one out in Tigers fifth but then both Shunsuke and Fujii struck out looking - poor bating/fine pitching. The sixth was quiet except for the fact that Maeda struck out the Nohmi, Murton combination again.

With one out in Carp's seventh, Maru hit to left. Akamatsu struck out swinging but Maru stole second. Then Barden drew a walk - a sign that Nohmi was tiring. Ishihara swung and managed to hit to left bringing home a runner 1-0 Carp, runners on second and third. Maeda was the final batter and he struck out. Tigers seventh saw Brazell hit with two out but the next batter was Kanemoto and guess what happened? Kanemoto was out, flying out with left. Mayumi then sent a tired Nohmi in to pitch the Carp's eighth. There was no need for this and it was just typical stupidity. With two out Nohmi ran into trouble giving Hirose another hit. The latter was pinch run for by Nakahigashi who stole second, Fujii was having a terrible game and failing to throw out anyone. Kurihara walked and then Maru hit to right. The bases were now loaded. At least it was Akamatsu next who doesn't prosper in bases loaded situations and he struck out swinging to end the innings. A typical piece of Mayumi folly. After reducing Nohmi's pitch count he had pushed it up again. Tigers then had a chance to have a go at a tiring Maeda. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) hit right with one out. He was pinch run for by Uemoto. Then Hiyama hit left and Tigers had runners on first and third. Next was Murton and he went for a squeeze play. Perhaps he felt he had more chance but really it was a poor move. It worked but only tied the scores at 1-1 with a runner on second. Hirano was next and grounded out to second. Fujikawa took the mound and one didn't give the Carp much hope even though Kyuji was pitching to Komiyama. It didn't work out well as Kyuji was poor. Barden picked up his second walk of the night to lead off - he should have been an easy out. Ishihara blew his three bunt attempts and you thought that things were looking up. Next was Ishii (pinch hitter) who swung and once again was lucky - the ball flew off to right for a two base hit - runners on second and third. Then Fujikawa walked Higashide on a full count to load the bases - he was struggling. Tomonori Maeda (pinch hitter) was next and he poked at one which flew off to right for another lucky two base - two runners home 3-1 Carp, runners on second and third. Nakahigashide struck out and Higashide got caught off base and was tagged out to end the innings. This was basically the end of the match. Next was Carp's closer Sarfate who has a fearsome record and has never been beaten by the Tigers. He will make a fine addition to the relief next year or maybe the year after. He retired Tigers cleanup in order. Carp victory.

Not a good game to lose as the Giants won and took second. Tigers should bounce back and take the next two games - after all they are only playing the Carp. The worry is Kyuji who does need to focus on his pitching. Quality of catching is also becoming an issue and Tigers are in a major mess over this at a vital stage of the season.