August 12th Messenger v Fukui - Finally a win

It was a long time coming and it is not necessarily the start of anything good in what has been a blown season but it is all the same very welcome. Tigers finally won a game comfortably beating the Carp in a nice display of power batting. Both Arai brothers homered in this display. Even so, reports indicate that Sakai-owner is not happy with Wada. One can't blame him but has to ask who appointed Wada? Memory can be selective and Sakai-owner needs to acknowledge the disastrous selections of managers under his helm. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp    1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2  6 0
Tigers  0 1 2 0 0 5 0 0 X 8 13 0

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Soyogi (Short)
4. Eldred (First)
5. Amaya (Left)
6. Dobayashi (Third)
7. Iwamoto (Right)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)

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

Like the victory against BayStars back on July 29th this game started with the opposition drawing first blood. Akamatsu started with a lead off walk.He was bunted to second by Kikuchi in a move that actually worked. Soyogi providing the single to right for the run 1-0 Carp, runner on first. Edgar struck out and at the same time Soyogi decided to steal second. Once again Fujii was not up to the challenge and the steal was successful. Amaya walked on a full count but then Dobayashi struck out swinging to end the innings. Fukui was dismal but managed to get through the Tigers first. He dead balled Hirano - shades of a few seasons back when Hirano was a magnet for Carp dead balls. Then he walked Toritani to set up runners on first and second. Ryota Arai popped one up to second and Kanemoto flew out to end the innings. So far the same old, same old. Messenger after his wobbly start would actually settle down and throw some good stuff. The Carp second was usefully the bottom of the Carp order and they were disposed of handily. Tigers second saw them take advantage of Fukui's waywardness. Takahiro Arai led the charge with a double to right. Murton hit to centre but not deep enough for a run. Runners on first and second. Fujii of course hit straight to a fielder - this one being second. However, Tigers had outs to play with and Takahiro Arai was home 1-1 scores tied. Murton was forced out as Carp went for the double play but Fujii was safe. With an out to play with Wada had Messenger bunt Fujii to second which meant only one run that innings. Uemoto walked and then Hirano grounded out to second - still the lead was erased. Akamatsu singled left to start Carp's third and stole second. Kikuchi grounded out to second which moved Akamatsu to third - Carp had a good chance here. Soyogi hit one straight to Toritani for a liner which kept Akamatsu on third. Eldred hit deep but into the glove of Hirano for the final out of the innings. Fukui fell apart in Tigers third. He walked Toritani which brought up Ryota Arai who hit into the left stand for a two run home run 3-1 Tigers. Kanemoto then walked in four and Nomura decided that enough was enough. Imai took over and got Takahiro Arai to fly out. He then walked Murton. Fujii struck out swinging but then Messenger picked up a walk to load the bases. Uemoto struck out looking to end the innings. Maybe not as much as they would have liked but Tigers had a nice lead.

Carp's fourth saw some very nice pitching by Messenger - two more strike outs added to his collection. Imai continued to live dangerously - Hirano singled to short and beat the throw. He was caught up in a Toritani double play but then Ryota Arai singled. Kanemoto also singled and Tigers had runners on first and second. Takahiro Arai could only ground out to short and end the innings. Carp's fifth saw their first single for a few innings - Higashide (pinch hitter and replacement second) hitting left. He stayed on first though as the next two batters failed to move him round. Nakata took over for Tigers fifth and pitched competently enough retiring the batters in order. Carp's sixth saw all three batters fly out and Messenger was cruising by now. The bottom would see Tigers remove all danger of a Carp win. Nakata was the unfortunate victim. The innings started innocuously enough with Uemoto flying out to second. Hirano then singled right. Toritani walked and Ryota Arai hit to centre to load the bases. Next was Kanemoto and frankly one didn't expect much from him so it was a big surprise when he cracked his third pitch right bringing in two runs 5-1 Tigers, runners on second and third. Takahiro Arai was next and also to everyone's surprise his first pitch was lofted into the left stand for a three run home run 8-1 Tigers. Asai (replacement right) singled but Fujii struck out looking. Finally, Messenger grounded out to end what had been a most successful innings for Tigers.

Carp did need to get back into the game quickly and Dobayashi supplied a good start to the seventh hitting a three base to left centre. Unfortunately for them they couldn't make anything of this despite Dobayashi making home on Iwamoto's (replacement right) ground out to second 8-2 Tigers. Kura also grounded out and then Higashide flew out to end the innings. It was also the end of Messenger's session and it had been a good one. For Tigers seventh we saw Kawauchi who gave up a single to Hirano with one out. Once again Hirano hit to an infielder and beat the throw. Still nothing came of this enterprise and the innings was scoreless. Tsutsui pitched Carp's eighth and was a bit wobbly. He hasn't been pitching well of late and it showed this innings. Akamatsu led the innings off with a single to centre. Two flyouts followed and then Eldred singled left to set up runners on first and third. It fell to Amaya who flew out to centre to end that threat. Sarfate had no problems in Tigers eighth retiring the batters in order but to be honest the batters weren't too bothered - a six run lead was enough. For Carp's ninth Wada brought on Kyuji Fujikawa - a clear case of overkill but better safe than sorry. Kyuji wrapped up the Carp's innings in seven pitches striking out Iwamoto for his second out. Tigers victory.

A nice victory - Tigers had got it right this time and won a consolation game. This makes their second victory in August. Their next series is away at Yokohama and we shall see whether they can use this victory as a springboard or revert to loosing ways again. Later in the week they face the flaccid Swallows and hopes must be strong that Tigers can take a couple of games from the weak birds. However, this is shi no rodo and given the inadequate preparation and coaching of this team we must be careful not to get hopes too high.