May 15th Enokida v Matsuba - Deflating

Perhaps a change of tactics. Combining a shaky pitcher with a second rate has-been catcher against his old side maybe wasn't a good idea. Remember Hidaka has supplanted Komiyama not because he is good but because he is 'experienced'. It seems that Tigers have a great deal of trouble with home grown catchers. They seem to shy away from them and bring in imports. The trouble is that for the most part they bring in the discards of other teams. Fujii, Hidaka and Imanari are all in that category with Imanari being practically useless in the catching role. One doesn't expect 100% success in imports - there will always some players from outside who fail but Tigers seem to have more than their fair shares of disasters. No one is capable of sitting down and actually thinking about what is needed and who will best fit the role and the team. The only time we saw this level of consideration was when Mayumi sat down with Johjima. This brought in Messenger and Murton. Otherwise it is very hit or miss especially with batters and catchers (mostly miss sad to say). Watching Hidaka call to Enokida one has been aware of a gradually rising feeling of discomfort - this was a failure waiting to happen. Hidaka struggles with the relief as well which incidentally does not seem to be happy either. One comes to the conclusion that Nakanishi does not understand the principle of an elite relief and is demotivating his pitchers. Yabu was much better as a coach. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Buffaloes
1. Sakaguchi (Centre)
2. Kawabata (Right)
3. Baldris (Third)
4. Lee (First)
5. Rottino (Left)
6. Gotoh (Second)
7. Yamamoto (Short)
8. Itoh (Catcher)
9. Matsuba (Pitcher)

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

It was good to see Hidaka dropped back down to eighth in the lineup. Seven was far above his hitting abilities and he was clearly out of his depth. The decision to move him up seems to have been taken for appearances sake. Our coaches had a belief that the catcher should bat seventh - never mind whether the catcher has the ability to do so. Otherwise Hidaka's batting showed no indication that he would fit in well at seven. Enokida started with a strike out of Sakaguchi and then got Kawabata to ground out. That was basically the end of the good news for the Buffaloes first. Why Hidaka and Enokda thought that a 134 kph straight in the middle of the zone was an appropriate pitch for Baldris' second pitch will always be a mystery. The sheer cluelessness of the pitch just blows your mind. Baldris accepted the offer greatly putting the ball over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 Buffaloes. Still it was only one run. Lee singled and then Rottino got hold of a low pitch and propelled it over the fence as well for a two run home run 3-0 Buffaloes. Finally Gotoh grounded out to end the innings. Tigers found it difficult to get going against Matsuba though. Two outs before Toritani drew a walk. Toritani then tried to steal second but was thrown out ending the innings. Yamamoto singled to lead off Buffaloes second. Itoh bunted him to second - with your pitcher next how stupid is that? Matsuba struck out looking and then Sakaguchi flew out to Toritani. Tigers second saw Murton resume his interrupted at bat and it was a successful one with a single to centre. Ryota grounded out to short forcing out Murton but reaching first safely. Then Arai struck out swinging. Shunsuke singled right to put runners on the corners and then Hidaka hit along the ground to bring in the runner 3-1 Buffaloes, runners on first and second. Interestingly and showing just how hittable Matsuba would have been had Tigers really applied themselves, Enokida singled to centre. Shunsuke set out for home. The throw was good and as Shunsuke slid in he had to avoid Itoh's block and didn't touch home. Shunsuke thought he had touched home and Wada did argue the point but Shunsuke was still ruled out. This is an argument in favour of the MLB practice of charging the catcher. The Buffaloes third was depressingly poor. Kawabata doubled to right and then with one out Lee hammered a straight home run into the backscreen 5-1 Buffaloes. Rottino and Gotoh both grounded out but Enokida's days were numbered. Tigers third should have been better - Toritani walked again with two outs and didn't attempt to steal second this time. It didn't help - Murton grounded out to end the innings. Murton is batting well but his run production does need to be higher.

Yamamoto led off Buffaloes fourth with another single - off a similar pitch to the one he hit in the second. It is definitely poor work to serve a batter the same pitch he has hit the at bat before. The second ultra stupid bunt was laid down by Itoh which if anything was more stupid as the Buffaloes enjoyed a four run lead into the bargain. Matsuba struck out,swinging this time and then Sakaguchi grounded out to Nishioka. Tigers fourth saw nothing happen. Batters who should have been hitting didn't and no one reached base. Tsuru took over from Enokida for the Buffaloes fifth but didn't last long. Kawabata led off with a single this time. This brought up Baldris who took a ball in the head from Tsuru for his first pitch. Tsuru was immediately ejected and Buffaloes had runners on first and second with no outs. The replacement pitcher was Fujihara who walked Lee to load the bases. This was an incredibly poor display. Rottino struck out but Gotoh worked a walk - oshidashi 6-1 Buffaloes, bases loaded. The Yamamoto drilled a sacrifice fly deep to right 7-1 Buffaloes, runners on first and third. Finally Itoh popped up in foul ground and Arai took the catch to end the innings. Tigers hit back with a Hidaka single - his calling might have been dismal but his batting was OK. Itoh (replacement right) worked a walk and you realised that with a bit more application Tigers could have had more runs by now. Nishioka hit into a double play - the victims being Hidaka and himself, Itoh reaching second safely. Next was Yamato who singled to centre bringing in Itoh 7-2 Buffaloes, runner on first. Toritani was the final batter, flying out to left to end the innings. Buffaloes sixth was a continuation of the fifth. Mitsumata (pinch hitter and replacement third) drew a lead off walk. With one out Kawabata singled right and put Mitsumata on second and himself on first. Then Baldris singled right as well. Both runners were able to reach home due to some poor work by Tigers 9-2 Buffaloes, runner on second. Lee struck out and Rottino flew out ending the innings with Buffaloes basically home and dry. Higa pitched Tigers sixth and got both Murton and Ryota but managed to give up a single to Arai. Saka (pinch hitter) flew out to centre and another depressing innings was over.

Kiyohara took over for Buffaloes seventh and finally managed to stem the run flow but not without some struggle. Yamamoto singled with one out and then Itoh singled in the very next at bat - runners on first and second. Mitsumata flew out to left but Yamamoto stayed on second. Finally, Sakaguchi flew out to left as well ending the innings. Tigers seventh was pitched by Matsumoto who struck out all three batters he faced. Tigers batters should have been doing much better but seemed to be like a rabbit caught in the headlights waiting to be squashed. Kiyohara continued to put runners on in Buffaloes eighth though this time it was only one - a one out single to Shunta Gotoh (replacement centre). He didn't advance beyond first though. Hirai pitched Tigers eighth and retired the batters in order - that is all that needs to be said. Tsutsui took over for Buffaloes ninth and managed to retire the batters in order as well - a rare case for the Tigers this game. The pitcher for Tigers ninth was Kishida. With two out he gave up a single to short to Imanari (pinch hitter). Next was Nohara (pinch hitter) and he flew out to end the game. Buffaloes victory.

It was a game that Tigers should have won but lost through poor tactical decisions. The use of Hidaka as catcher was an obvious and glaring error as his calling patterns were familiar to the Buffaloes from long acquaintance. He also called rather ineptly which is unsurprising. He surprisingly got high marks for his two hits but come on - he knows the pitchers intimately - it is to be expected that he would be able to hit them. Tigers for an expensive batting side had been exposed as unable to drive in runs especially when Matsuba was pitching and vulnerable. None of the cleanup performed and at the moment Toritani and Ryota are not pulling their weight. Murton is hitting but not driving in runs at the frequency required. It is all very well to beat the Giants and the Swallows but there are other teams and Tigers need to be more active against them. They have a good chance with Softbank and so all is not lost but they do need to play better.