April 4th Enokida v Cabrera - Ryota and the wayward throw

Some interesting statistics - this is the first time that Tigers have dropped their opening two series since 1998 and the first time they haven't scored a home run in their first six games since 1948 (thanks to Gen at Yakyu Baka for those gems). This is not a good start by any means. Enokida in his first game as a starter was superb unlike the much hyped Fujinami but at least he was throwing to Hidaka. I was sceptical about Hidaka but his performance was nothing short of excellent. We also got a superb little cameo from Komiyama in the ninth - both these catchers far outshine Fujii who thankfully did not make an appearance this game. Ryota Arai was once again mediocre and his error cost Tigers a tight game. Why Wada thought he should field third with so little preparation will escape most observers. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Luna (Third)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Ibata (Short)
6. Yamasaki (First)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Matsui (Right)
9. Cabrera (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (First)
5. Fukudome (Right)
6. Murton (Left)
7. Conrad (Third)
8. Hidaka (Catcher)
9. Enokida (Pitcher)

So given Tigers start, the question was how would Enokida fare. It was a pleasant surprise to see a different catcher behind the plate though one wondered about Hidaka. He and his pitcher didn't seem to be communicating that well at first for the first three innings though this was more due to Enokida's lack of precision with his pitches. They were still difficult to hit. Dragons went after Enokida from the start and failed. Ohshima flew out to left, Araki lined out to a nice catch by Nishioka and Luna popped up in foul ground - a very impressive start. Unfortunately for Tigers Cabrera's start was just as impressive and Nishioka, Yamato and Toritani were also quickly back in the dugout. Dragons second and the wayward pitching I mentioned started to manifest itself with the outs taking longer. But they kept coming and one was pleased to see Enokida pitching with confidence and confusing the Dragons batters. Cabrera had to work in Tigers second though. Ryota Arai led off with a single punched into right field. Fukudome battled but struck out then Murton hit left - runners on first and second. Conrad swung at one he shouldn't and Hidaka - like all our catchers - an occasional batter grounded out to third - all Luna had to do was step on the plate to end the innings. Dragons first base runner arrived in the third with Tanishige drawing a walk. Enokida didn't let that get to him and got Matsui to pop up. Conrad and Toritani went back for it with Murton coming in from left. Toritani eventually took it though Murton seemed to think it should have been his. Cabrera then tried to bunt - with one out it didn't seem the clever option. Enokida was superb here and Cabrera struck out with three failures. Finally, Ohshima flew out to centre. Tigers third wasn't so good. Enokida struck out but then so did Nishioka and Yamato who left one he should have gone for.

Enokida pitched with confidence in Dragons fourth and rapidly retired the batters. The final out was Wada, who in frustration hit right and fell nicely into the glove of Fukudome (another impressive game from him). Toritani started Tigers fourth by working a walk. Ryota was next and as he swung at his second pitch he broke his bat. The ball rolled off to Ibata who threw to second for the double play. Fukudome then flew out to left - he is at least trying to get distance on his hits. In Dragons fifth Ibata grounded out and then the ineffective Yamasaki was neatly fooled by an Enokida cutball to strike out swinging. He would shortly be replaced by Morino after this. Tanishige grounded out. Tigers fifth was quiet - Conrad did hit deep but it was always going to be taken by Ohshima. With Matsui and Cabrera out, Ohshima took a wild swing at his third pitch and connected. The ball flew off into left and landed just beyond the despairing dive of Murton before rolling away into the corner. Murton was up quickly but Ohshima used his speed to take third. Until then Enokida had been carrying a no hitter. Hidaka came out to the mound and had a reassuring chat with Enokida - a nice touch. Enokida was up to the challenged and got Araki to ground out to end the innings. The no hitter was gone but the complete game shutout was still on. Tigers sixth was also a quiet innings - once again led off by Enokida and once again Nishioka and Yamato had no answer to Cabrera.

The Dragons seventh saw their clean up against Enokida and the latter won. He struck out Luna and Ibata very effectively and induced Wada to ground out. Tigers seventh would be Cabrera's last - he had been throwing more pitches than Enokida and was tiring. In fact Enokida's pitching had made a rather fine performance by Cabrera look rather ordinary. Toritani grounded out to Cabrera but then Ryota singled to left. Fukudome got hold of his first pitch and hit superbly into right centre. This looked a double at the very least but Ohshima tracked back and took a wonderful catch near the wall to get the first out. It really was a vital piece of fielding. Ryota stole second with Murton's first pitch and as a result Dragons deliberately walked Murton to set up runners on first and second. Tigers had a great chance and Wada sent Takahiro Arai to the plate to pinch hit for Conrad. He hit a grounder to third where Luna tagged Ryota as he tried to get past to third. Tigers had blown a chance. Enokida returned for Dragons eighth and gave up his second hit of the game. This was unfortunately a lead off double to Morino. Next was Tanishige who bunted Morino to third and you knew you could relax - a big mistake by the Dragons. Matsui was fooled in five pitches and struck out looking. One out to go. This was to be Hirata (pinch hitting for Cabrera). However, when Wada had brought on Takahiro Arai to pinch hit for Conrad he put the older brother on first moving Ryota over to third. Presumably this was to protect Takahiro's damaged shoulder. It would have serious consequences. Enokida duly induced Hirata to swing, along third baseline straight at Ryota Arai. It just needed a sound throw to first for the out. Hirata was fast but not fast enough. Ryota's throw was terrible - pulling his brother off first and even then he couldn't get the ball. A very costly error as Morino was able to canter home 1-0 Dragons, runner on second. Basically Ryota Arai had blown the game and even though he is inexperienced these are plays that have to be made in tight games especially against the Dragons. Enokida stayed cool and struck out Ohshima to end the innings. Tigers still had two innings to turn the game round but didn't seem to have the ability to do so. Okada pitched the Tigers eighth and struck out Sekimoto (pinch hitting for Hidaka) looking. Shunsuke (pinch hitting for Enokida) grounded out as did Nishioka. For Dragons ninth Andoh made an appearance pitching to Komiyama. Andoh looked disinterested in his role but Komiyama was very accomplished. Araki struck out swinging and then Luna battled Andoh successfully finally singling to centre. The response was a neat 6-4-3 double play from Komiyama and Andoh to end the innings. Of course, Dragons went with Iwase for Tigers ninth. The batters surrendered tamely. Yamato grounded out to short, Toritani grounded out to Iwase himself and then Ryota - the cause of Tigers defeat grounded out to third to end the game. Dragons victory.

Enokida had been really unfortunate - he had done everything right with very little support but picked up a loss. Two hits and one walk on your first start in 8 innings of work and 103 pitches is quite a debut. He had overshadowed Cabrera who nevertheless took the victory. Ryota Arai's slackness had cost his team but Tigers batting has not yet fired. It has shown signs of stuttering to life but is not yet there. The lack of home runs is worrying though and this has to be laid down to Wada's influence. He was renowned for the paucity of home runs he hit during his career. Whilst small ball is important, long ball is also vital. Just more indication of Wada's total unsuitability for the management role. Tigers travel to Hiroshima still looking for a first series win.