August 18th Sho v Alvarado - Embarrassment

Murton was rested for the game probably because he hadn't been hitting recently. Fair enough but his replacement was bizarre. What gave Mayumi the impression that Shibata was a suitable batter for the lead off position especially as he had Hirano who has been hitting well recently in both one and two available? It has been clear for some time that Shibata is not top team material yet and if his speed isn't used then there is no point having him in the top team. A line up of HIrano at one and Sekimoto at two would have been far more intelligent with Asai taking the right field.
As for the game I mentioned that Tigers needed to keep the games tight if they wanted to win. They didn't and some abysmal fielding in the eighth cost them a winnable game against the lesser outfit. Being swept by the Carp is a real insult especially as it was Tigers themselves who engineered the defeat not the Carp. In both the past two games, Tigers got to the starters and knocked them out. With the talent available it should have been a 2-1 series but shi no rodo and Mayumi have combined to cripple Tigers offense. Tigers play the BayStars next and at least they have a chance to bounce back against the worst team in Japan though the Friday game is likely to be cancelled due to rain. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Tigers
1. Shibata (Right)
2. Hirano (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Sekimoto (Second)
7. Kanemoto (Left)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Sho (Pitcher)

With such a vital game one would have thought that it probably wasn't a good idea to give a tyro pitcher a run out but this is what Mayumi did. None of his choices have prospered and Tigers really do need to prepare their new pitchers better. Sho started acceptably though - with one out he gave up a two base hit to Kimura. He was able to retired Hirose and Kurihara to get out of the innings. Alvardo started poorly. He did get the worthless Shibata to ground out but then Hirano drove a big three base hit into right. Toritani grounded out to first but Arai hit to third who wasn't able to take in time. Hirano was home 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. Alvarado balked taking Arai to second and Tigers were in with a great chance. Brazell though wasted the chance with a terrible swing and flew out to centre. Sho was a mess in Carp's second as well and one really does wonder about Tigers preparation. He did get out of the innings without damage though striking out three. Sandwiched between the outs were a two base to left for Barden and a deliberate walk for Ishihara so that he could get at Alvarado. Tigers second was quiet and with such a poor pitcher Tigers lower order should have done better. Carp's third started off with a ground out to second. Next was a ground out to third which Arai spilled dismally. He is making far too many errors at the moment - runner on first. HIrose grounded out to short which took the runner to second and then Sho gave up a two run home run to Kurihara. Poor pitching and poor calling but 2-1 Carp. Maru flew out to right to end the innings. Tigers third started with Sho striking out looking - a sign that Mayumi wanted his useless pitcher to pitch another innings. Shibata was a bit more useful and hit. He stole second - at least his speed was used and then Hirano hit to right - runners on first and third. Surely, Tigers could have used the speed to get the run home. Toritani also hit to right bringing home a run 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and third. Arai struck out - not good but with Brazell at the plate Alvarado balked again. The runners moved round one base meaning a walk in 3-2 Tigers, runner on second. Once again Brazell spurned the golden chance, this time striking out. Alvarado was poor but Tigers batters were also terrible.

Given Sho's performance so far it was to be expected that he would fail to hold the lead but he didn't lose it. Barden led off Carp's fourth with another two base to left. Sho had learned nothing from the previous hit. Shima walked but then Ishihara grounded out to the pitcher. Here Mayumi switched to Kojima who because he did well in the bases loaded no outs situation is being used in preference to Watanabe. He is regressing at a rapid rate but one must give credit to Mayumi for at least acting quickly to replace his pitcher. Ishii (pinch hitter) struck out and then Higashide hit to centre bringing home the run 3-3 scores tied, runners on first and third. Kimura though flew out. Kojima has become a specialist at giving up runs on other pitchers accounts whilst keeping his own fairly clean. Kishimoto pitched Tigers fourth and retired the batters in order striking out both Sekimoto and Kanemoto. Watanabe took over from Kojima and started well getting Hirose to ground out Kurihara struck out looking but then Arai picked up a grounder from Maru and threw too high pulling Brazell off base and allowing the runner to reach safely. An appalling bit of fielding and it seemed as if the positions were reversed and Tigers were the B class second raters not the Carp. Maru though tried to steal second and was out ending the innings. Tigers sixth was quiet - with Shibata failing once again. Barden walked to lead off Carp's sixth probably deliberately, Watanabe showing some guile. He then retired the next three batters easily trapping Barden on first. Toyoda pitched Tigers sixth against the cleanup who were supine and worthless.

Enokida for the Carp's seventh. With one out Kimura hit to short and beat Toritani to first. He tried to steal second and was thrown out but then he walked Hirose. Kurihara was next and he grounded out to second to end the innings. Sekimoto grounded out to start Tigers seventh but then Toyoda ran into problems with Kanemoto and the veteran slammed another solo home run to right, his second in two games 4-3 Tigers. Fujii hit and Umetsu quickly took over the pitching duties. Then Mayumi used Murton as a pinch hitter. He hit into a double play to end the innings. Why not Hiyama - with a runner on and an important chance it is vital to use the experts not the amateurs. Kobayashi pitched the eighth and was really poorly served by his colleagues. He got Higashide to fly out but Barden who was having a great game hit to right. This wasn't itself a serious issue even when Akamatsu (pinch running for Barden) stole second. Shima was next and hit straight to Toritani for the ground out. Toritani had plenty of time but chose to throw to third for the out. This was stupid - Kobayashi is an accomplished pitcher and would be facing Ishihara. Even if there was a runner on third there wasn't a sacrifice on. Throwing to first would have gotten the second out and put pressure on the batter. To throw to third Toritani need to throw the ball perfectly into Arai's glove for the tag out - this wasn't a force out situation. Instead Toritani;s throw whistled past Arai's shoulder into foul ground - poor throw! Akamatsu had slid in and he picked himself up as Arai chased the ball and made for home 4-4 scores tied and Shima on second. Then came Ishihara - here Fujii made a poor call and Ishihara swung and got a lucky impact carrying the ball to right centre for a timely two base hit 5-4 Carp, runner on second. Fujii had messed up again as Kobayashi had followed his call this time. Kobayashi still had two outs to get which he did getting Maeda to fly out and Higashide to ground out. Aoki pitched Tigers eighth - their last chance but the stuffing had been knocked out of them and they succumbed easily. Mayumi tried Uemoto as a pinch hitter for Shibata - an admission that Shibata had been a disaster in lead off but it made no difference. The batters fell in order. Fukuhara pitched Carp's ninth and retired the batters in order. So to Safarte and Tigers ninth. I do believe that Tigers have yet to get a hit off him and this was the case for this innings as well. They fell in order to end the game. Carp victory.

Tigers had been swept by the Carp who moved into second place. The sad thing is it was not because Carp were any good but that Tigers were very poor. Fielding wasn't tight enough and in two games Tigers had broken through the starting pitcher to the relief and failed to take advantage. In all areas Tigers had proved to be lacking - pitching, batting and fielding had all shown laziness and poor play which given the level of opposition should not have happened. Tactical and strategic management had been pathetic and Mayumi's weaknesses had been cruelly exposed. His lack of motivational powers had also been laid bare and his coaching team had shown themselves unable to counter these serious failings.