August 15th Standridge v Fujii - A change of scenery

What can one say about this sorry display? It wasn't that BayStars were particularly good - they weren't. Fujii was poor and was lucky to escape with only two runs damage and the mess over the relief pitching in Tigers sixth really did raise serious questions about Nakahata's links to reality. However, whatever travails the BayStars suffered, Tigers were worse by a long way. The pitching was terrible and the catching a farce. Neither Fujii nor Imanari showed any aptitude for the game and both were ridiculous. This also demonstrates the paucity of Wada's judgment - Fujii is regularly replaced but the replacement is Imanari who is proving as inept as Fujii. It is very much looking that Imanari will not pan out and one understands why Nippon Ham were happy to offload him. The more capable Komiyama is ignored almost certainly because he is homegrown. Tigers are still in with a chance to take this series though but they need to be much tighter with their pitching and calling. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Tigers    0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0  5 14 2
BayStars  1 4 1 0 2 1 0 2 X 11 13 0

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Aranami (Centre)
2. Uchimura (Second)
3. Nakamura (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Tsutsugoh (First)
6. Watanabe (Short)
7. Gotoh (Right)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Fujii (Pitcher)

Sekimoto was brought into the lineup and one wonders what for - he added nothing to the mix. The game started with Uemoto striking out and then Yamato hit to short making a two base of it. I didn't see this but from later evidence I suspect that Watanabe screwed up and the scorer was generous to BayStars as he would be later in the game. BayStars fielding contained a lot of errors which weren't recorded. Toritani walked and then Tigers usual problem came into play; the failure to score RBIs. Ryota Arai flew out to centre and Murton hit back to Fujii for the ground out to end the innings scoreless. Aranami led off BayStars first with a single to second. He was bunted to second by Uchimura, Nakahata of course going for the conservative approach. Nakamura flew out but then Ramirez singled nicely into centre and Aranami hustled round from second at top speed to score 1-0 BayStars, runner on first. Tsutsugoh then grounded out. So far so good for the BayStars. Fujii wasn't doing well but Tigers couldn't make their hits count. With Sekimoto flying out (and whatever prompted Wada to put him ahead in the order to Takahiro Arai escapes me) Takahiro Arai singled. Fujii singled and set up runners on first and second then Takahiro Arai tried to steal third which was novel to say the least. Wada was trying to set up a sacrifice fly but stealing third is a difficult proposition even for runners with greater acceleration than Takahiro Arai. He was out with Standridge flying out to centre shortly after. Having failed to score Tigers went to pieces in their second - or rather Standridge did. He dead balled Watanabe and the next batter, Gotoh singled right. The wasted bunt came from Tsuruoka taking the runners to second and third and then Fujii drew a walk to load the bases. Aranami hit his first pitch over the infield into the gap between right and centre who to be a bit honest were rather slow to field it though it was very humid out there. While they were sorting themselves out various BayStars raced round the bases and Aranami had himself a bases clearing triple 4-0 BayStars, runner on third. Uchimura grounded out to second where Uemoto made a huge mess of it bringing in another run 5-0 BayStars, runner on second. A wild pitch took Uchimura to third but he didn't attempt home when Nakamura grounded out to second. Finally, Ramirez grounded out to short. This had been a very productive innings for the BayStars. Tigers mounted a counter attack immediately though this wasn't different the way Fujii was pitching. Uemoto led off with a two base hit. Yamato hit to Uchimura at second - he dropped the ball. This was one of those errors that was ruled a hit to protect the BayStars modesty. Uchimura would have a terrible third innings. Anyway it put runners on first and third. Toritani hit the ball deep to right where it was taken by Tsutsugoh but the sacrifice fly was just a formality 5-1 BayStars, runner on first. Yamato then stole second - the throw from Tsuruoka was good but Uchimura missed the ball. Luckily for the BayStars it didn't roll far and Yamato couldn't move to third. Ryota Arai struck out as Fujii threw a nice series of pitches for a change and then Murton grounded out to the pitcher to end the innings. Standridge returned for BayStars third - a questionable decision one thought and for the first two outs things seemed OK but then Standridge went again. He faced Gotoh and was too casual. Gotoh's swing was a joyous affair hitting the ball into the assembled Tigers fans in the left stand - he enjoyed it, they didn't 6-1 BayStars and the margin restored. Tsuruoka struck out swinging to end the innings which was also the end of Standridge. To be honest he should have gone at the end of the second - he just hadn't been pitching well and with a catcher like Fujii this is a recipe for disaster.

Tigers fourth was relatively quiet. With one out Takahiro Arai hit nicely to left for a double. Fujii grounded out to short which kept Takahiro on second and then Asai (pinch hitting for Standridge) flew out to right to end the innings. Watanabe took over for BayStars fourth and we had a scoreless innings. Aranami struck out swinging which made a nice change to the game so far. Fujii continued for Tigers fifth and was in trouble again. He was by now mostly locating his pitches but there was still the odd strange one and with two out one of these came Toritani's way. This was hammered over the right stand for a solo home run 6-2 BayStars, Tigers were creeping closer and closer slowly. Fujii managed to fight his way through Ryota Arai to end the innings - he had somehow managed to preserve a lead and take a few years of Nakahata's life. Watanabe returned for BayStars fifth and was a complete contrast to his previous innings. The first two outs fell easily enough but then Watanabe got a bit loose facing Tsutsugoh and the BayStars first hit the ball into the right stand for a solo home run 7-2 BayStars. Watanabe fell apart and walked Watanabe. Gotoh singled right and this would have been a good moment for Wada to switch pitchers but all we had was Yabu come out to have an encouraging chat and pat Watanabe's bottom. Tsuruoka walked to load the bases and here Nakahata sent Morimoto on to pinch hit for Fujii. Morimoto hit straight to Toritani - a straightforward take hit at no great speed. Toritani dropped the ball, juggled and finally threw to second as Tsuruoka slid safely into second. A costly error, Watanabe was home 8-2 BayStars, bases loaded. Next was Aranami but this time he lined out to second to end the innings. Having made the sensible decision to replace Fujii, Nakahata brought on Kaga for Tigers sixth. He couldn't predict what happened next - Kaga was useless. Murton led the innings off with a single. Then Sekimoto singled left - Kaga was that bad, runners on first and second with no outs. Takahiro Arai drove nicely left bringing in a run 8-3 BayStars, runners on first and second. Imanari (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) singled right to load the bases and this was the end of Kaga who had gotten no outs. Tigers had a great chance. Shinohara took over and faced Brazell (pinch hitter). Now this is strange as Brazell has always been poor with bases loaded. What was Wada thinking? Shinohara struck out Brazell for the first out and here Nakahata made a strange decision. He replaced Brazell with Kikuchi. This almost blew the game for BayStars but for Wada's incompetence. Kikuchi let fly a wild pitch which brought home a run 8-4 BayStars, runners on second and third. Uemoto walked to load the bases again and things looked good. Then Wada replaced Yamato with Hiyama (pinch hitter). He has done this before even though Yamato is more likely to have a multiple run hit. Hiyama hit his first pitch into centre for a sacrifice fly 8-5 BayStars, runners on first and second. What Tigers really needed was the ball to hit the ground - a sacrifice fly was letting BayStars off the hook. Hiyama is a great hitter when you need one run but doesn't often drive in multiple runs. BayStars accepted the escape gratefully and Toritani struck out swinging to end the chance. Wada had handled his pinch hitters abysmally. Tsutsui pitched BayStars sixth and was also dismal. With one out Nakamura turned a loose pitch to left for another solo home run 9-5 BayStars. Tigers couldn't catch up if they kept on giving up runs. Ramirez singled left - a deep hit which bounced off the wall and with his lack of speed prevented from it being a double.Tsutsugoh walked but Watanabe flew out in foul ground. Then Kinjoh (pinch hitter and replacement right) also drew a walk to load the bases. This time Tsuruoka hit his first pitch to left for the fly out and Tigers had escaped without further damage.

Fujie pitched Tigers seventh and struck out Ryota Arai. Murton having discovered how to hit again singled right. Sekimoto struck out swinging but Takahiro Arai hit smoothly to centre - runners on first and third. Imanari could only strike out and another chance was wasted. Katoh pitched BayStars seventh and started well against his former colleagues striking out Morimoto and Aranami. Then he walked Uchimura much to everyone's surprise. Uchimura stole second but Katoh kept his cool to strike out Nakamura. Not that it mattered as BayStars were now cruising to victory. Ohhara took over for Tigers eighth and with one out gave up a single to Hirano (replacement centre). This was immediately extinguished by a Uemoto double play - he had had a poor game overall. Then Shunsuke (pinch hitter) grounded out. Tsuru pitched BayStars eighth and was also terrible. Ruiz (pinch hitter) led off the innings with a double to left. Tsutsugoh single right to set up runners on first and third and then Watanabe supplied the timely single 10-5 BayStars, runners on first and second. Kinjoh flew out to centre which did take Tsutsugoh to third. Tsuruoka lined out to Toritani - no run there. Morimoto was next and he singled left to bring in the run 11-5 BayStars, runners on first and second. Finally, Aranami grounded out to short to end the innings. Yamaguchi took Tigers ninth. He got Toritani to fly out but then Ryota Arai singled. Murton though hit into a third double play to end the game. BayStars victory.

Tigers had been crushed. Outplayed but not out hit they had floundered around helplessly. Poor pitching, batting and tactical decision taking had all contributed. Both catchers Fujii and Imanari had been terrible and really one wonders why they continue to be used. It was interesting to note that Sakai-owner justified his faith in Wada and be repaid in this coin. The body language in Tigers dugout was also interesting. Everyone sitting there silent and defensive with no attempt to engage others in conversation. This wasn't a happy team. That being said Tigers can still take the series if they try hard enough. BayStars made mistakes and with a tighter performance Tigers can win. But they do need to tighten up considerably.