October 5th Iwamoto v Ishikawa - Ryota the chump

Yes Ryota Arai managed to screw up a fine performance by Iwamoto (whose ERA is 0.00) and who now has a record of 2-1. Ishikawa discovered something of the form that made him Swallows ace but was matched by Iwamoto who was once again impressive working with Komiyama. Even though these matches don't really matter Ryota Arai's record at third has been very mediocre. DD comments in the report on the Nagoya game that fans were calling for Wada's head and this is a general sentiment totally born out by the performance of the team. If Red Sox can do it so can Tigers but don't expect Sakai-moron to change things though. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Yuhei (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Takeuchi (Right)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Kawabata (Third)
6. Fukuchi (Left)
7. Aikawa (Catcher)
8. Morioka (Short)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Nohara (First)
7. Nakatani (Right)
8. Komiyama (Catcher)
9. Iwamoto (Pitcher)

Iwamoto was nervous in his first start at Koshien and walked Yuhei. He was bunted to second by Tanaka and you knew you could relax as no run was going to result. Takeuchi hit a fly to right and Yuhei tagged up and took third but Iwamoto sent one wizzing past a befuddled Hatakeyama for a strike out looking to end the innings. Tigers start was poor and once again one comes up with the impression that Uemoto is not a lead off batter. Why can't we have Hirano back in that role? Briefly no one got on base. Swallows second was quiet as Iwamoto controlled things with some fine pitching. Ryota Arai led Tigers second off with a single to left. Kanemoto singled to centre and Tigers had runners on first and second with no outs. They wasted the opportunity. Nohara flew out to centre, Nakatani struck out swinging and Komiyama grounded out to second. Iwamoto walked Morioka to start Swallows third. He was bunted to second by Ishikawa and then Yuhei hit a grounder to first which took the runner to third but frankly you didn't expect anything to result. Tanaka hit a straightforward grounder to Ryota Arai who this time managed to field but then his throw was abysmal and Nohara had no chance. Ryota at third is rapidly becoming a joke. Morioka was able to scramble home 1-0 Swallows, runner on second. Takeuchi was next and he flew out. Tigers third saw Yamato hit with two out but Toritani who should be leading off flew out to third in foul ground. Hardly the required response.

With one out in Swallows fourth Kawabata singled. Fukuchi walked but then the next two batters got nowhere. Iwamoto might get into trouble but he is very able to get out of it. Tigers fourth saw no one get onto base which was very disappointing. Swallows fifth was also quiet - this time the batters were unable to make a dent in Iwamoto's pitching. Tigers fifth was also quiet and even though this was a meaningless match one was beginning to get a bit frustrated. Tigers should be playing better but this has been symptomatic of Kataoka's coaching, poor hitting and poor batting. Takeuchi led off Swallows sixth with a lucky double. Hatakeyama grounded out but then there was nothing lucky about the next two walks, Kawabata and Fukuchi loading the bases. Once again Iwamoto was equal to the challenge inducing an innings ending double play from Aikawa. Tigers sixth started quietly with Uemoto and Yamato failing but then Toritani reaching first on an error by Hatakeyama. Ryota Arai then struck out swinging.

After his struggles of the sixth it was surprising to see Iwamoto pitch Swallows seventh. He struck out Morioka but then Ishikawa managed a lucky single to left. Yuhei flew out to second but Ishikawa advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tanaka walked and here Wada decided to change pitchers. This was undoubtedly the right decision as Iwamoto had reached 115 pitches. Katoh took over and induced Takeuchi to fly out. Tigers seventh and the perfect moment to respond. The ground was full and Ishikawa should have been a good target. Instead Tigers wasted the opportunity. Kanemoto skied one to Aikawa and then Nohara struck out looking. Next was Morita (pinch hitter) and he did the same as Nohara - a real waste. Nohmi pitched Swallows eighth and he is going for the strike out crown for this season. As a consequence his pitching can only be described as poor. Miyade (replacement first) flew out to left but Kawabata hit right and this turned into a three base hit. Balentien (pinch hitter) was next and he singled bringing in the run 2-0 Swallows, runner on first. He was pinch run for by Miwa who was able to steal second. Kawabata grounded out to third and then Morioka struck out swinging. You know I would have been happier if that idiot Wada had not worried about the strike out record but actually put in a real reliever and tried to win the game. Tigers eighth was a totally disappointing affair with no one getting on base. Apart from Iwamoto and Komiyama no one had really tried though Ishikawa had been good. For some reason Shimizu took over as catcher for Swallows ninth. Miyamoto (pinch hitter) singled. Yuhei's ground out took him to second where he stayed. Nohmi managed a strike out of Tanaka but then had to settle for a ground out to get Takeuchi. Sugiuchi still holds the strike out crown. Tigers ninth was pitched by Barnette and the batters fell disappointingly 1-2-3 to end the game. Swallows victory.

It hadn't been good and it hadn't been very clever management at all. Ryota Arai has serious trouble wherever he fields though maybe first is his best position. The folly of having Nohmi pitch relief because of the strike out crown is part of the reason fans turn against Wada. They want to see victories not pointless records. Even though the game is meaningless for a place a victory is much more enjoyable to watch. Stupid records are all very well but not if they get in the way of a win.