May 16th Standridge v Yoshikawa - Interleague starts

Hardly an exciting start though a pleasant one for Nippon Ham fans. Kanemoto is due to bat fourth throughout the interleague. Wada is obviously a joker of the first order not a manager. Once again a non-existent batting performance in the most important spot in the side and surely even Wada can see that Kanemoto is no longer a No. 4 batter? Question marks also need to be raised against his fielding as well. Once again our catcher was underwhelming and this is another joke which has long since passed its sell by date. Still with the rest of the team failing to perform it was irrelevant whether Standridge gave up one or eight runs. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Fighters
1. Itoi (Right)
2. Koyano (Third)
3. Tanaka (Second)
4. Nakata (Left)
5. Inaba (First)
6. Yoh (Centre)
7. Imanami (Short)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Yoshikawa (Pitcher)

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

It all started so disastrously for Tigers - the first batter in the Fighters lineup, Itoi (who had never hit a lead off home run before) drilled one into centre for the opening blast 1-0. A poor call and a very poor pitch. One out late Tanaka took a dead ball and then Nakata singled to left. Inaba walked to load the bases but Standridge managed to get out of that retiring Yang and Imanami to end the innings. However, Yoshikawa started so well that you knew this was going to be a long night for the Tigers - the batters fell in order. Fighters second was quiet and this enabled Standridge to get a bit of confidence. Tigers second was also quiet with the batters flailing ineptly. Standridge's bit of confidence soon dissipated in Fighters third. With one out Tanaka singled left. Then Nakata hit deep to left where Kanemoto failed to take near the fence and let the ball land. It wasn't an easy take it is true but Kanemoto should have taken it. If he is going to be used at left he needs to justify his position in the side and take these. There was also the straightforward chance he dropped earlier so one does wonder if his fielding is going? Whatever the case he needs to lift his game considerably. Anyway Nakata used the opportunity very well racing round the bases to make home 2-0 Fighters, runner on second. Inaba grounded out to first and moved Nakata to third but then Yang struck out to end the innings. The bottom of Tigers order then failed to do anything and Tigers third was quiet.

Tsuruoka singled with one out in Fighters fourth but then Yoshikawa hit into a double play to end the innings. Fighters generated 10 hits which shows how inadequate Fujii's calling was but they lacked the wherewithal to drive in a similar number of runs. Rather fortunate for the Tigers who didn't really pay for their profligacy. Tigers picked up their first base runner in the fourth. With two down Murton hit a fly to right where Itoi dropped the ball and fumbled enabling Murton to reach second. Kanemoto was next and he grounded out to first wasting the chance. Itoi then led off Fighters fifth with a single to centre and was bunted to second by Koyano - the first stupid bunt of the night. Once again you could relax and watch as the next two batters were quickly out. Tigers fifth saw their first hit - a lead off single to Arai. Brazell struck out swinging and then Arai made second on Yamato's ground out. This left things down to Fujii but unlike Kanemoto he is not known for his batting skills and so the innings ending flyout was not a surprising event. The Fighters sixth was one of Standridge's better innings and he handled the middle order well with no one getting on base. Tigers sixth saw some signs of life at last. With two out Hirano walked. Murton took a huge swing and slammed the ball into right centre between centre and right. HIrano rounded the bases for home 2-1 Fighters, runner on second. Another chance for Kanemoto but this time he flew out to left. Can we have someone who can hit with runners on in this position please?

Watanabe pitched Fighters seventh and did well - he also kept the runners off base. With Yoshikawa having given up a run in the sixth Fighters decided to go to the relief. Yoshikawa probably had another innings in him but why take the risk (Wada take note). Moriuchi was the pitcher for Tigers seventh. With two out Lin (pinch hitter) singled. Here Wada could have brought in a pinch hitter for Fujii but he would lose his catcher. It would have given him the opportunity to try out Imanari against his old team but this is too imaginative for Wada who remember stupidly dropped Komiyama down to the second team and retained Okazaki. Fujii flew out to Inaba in foul ground to end the innings. For some reason Watanabe continued to pitch into Fighters eighth. Koyana singled left and made second on Tanaka's ground out. Nakata flew out and then Wada switched pitchers. Tsutsui threw one pitch which got Inaba to ground out to end the innings. Wada did toy with using Imanrai as pinch hitter to lead off the eighth but then went with Sekimoto instead. He struck out but was followed by a Toritani single. Amazingly Hirano was asked to bunt him to second - with one out? This was stupidity of the grossest order. Murton walked (almost certainly deliberately) to get at Kanemoto who lined out to first to end the innings. Fukuhara pitched the ninth and normally he does well with Fujii but not tonight - Wada should have changed his catcher. With one out Hoffpaur (pinch hitter) singled to centre. Then Tsuruoka hit to right to set up runners on first and third. Nioka (pinch hitter) struck out but Itoi walked to load the bases. Koyano was next and he was enjoying the endgame singling again and bringing in a run 3-1 Fighters, bases loaded. Finally, Tanaka grounded out but Fighters were almost home. Masui pitched Tigers ninth and with two out Shunsuke (replacement centre) singled. The last batter was Hiyama (pinch hitting for Fujii which should have happened sooner). He grounded out to first to end the game. Fighters victory.

It had been competent and well handled. Fighters pitching had held up well and not given the Tigers any chance. Of course the discredited scheme of playing Kanemoto at No. 4 also played a big part. Since he has been restored to this position in the order, Kanemoto has not driven in any runs. Wada needs to admit that the idea was a failure sooner than later and move Kanemoto down the order. Tigers need to bounce back in the next game as they weren't very inspired at all.