May 22nd Enokida v Abe - Hey we've done it again

The only interesting inter-league games are the Tigers/Marines match ups where both teams show themselves capable of racing to big leads and then blowing them. This time it was Tigers turn - a five run lead should not disappear and not only our pitchers but both our catchers stunk (surprise, surprise). Hidaka was so bad he had to be replaced by Fujii who then worked his own magic. The only consolation is that the Marines did not have the power to win the game. In fact this year's Marines looked definitely lightweight which made the fightback even more difficult to bear. One also must consider the plans to use Kubo as closer to be in tatters. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 0  0  0  0 6 17 0
Marines  0 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 2  0  0  0 6 12 0

Starting Lineups

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

Starting Pitcher was Enokida

Marines
1. Nemoto (Second)
2. Ogino (Left)
3. Iguchi (First)
4. Imae (Third)
5. Saburo (DH)
6. Kiyota (Right)
7. Suzuki (Short)
8. Emura (Catcher)
9. Ishimine (Centre)

Starting Pitcher was Abe

Wada went with his idea of using Imanari as the left handed DH, Conrad being the right handed DH. This is basically the disaster it sounds and Imanari was ineffective throughout the game. Batting him above Ryota was also questionable. The game took a long time to get going though and various pointless ceremonial and dancing girls delayed things until about 6:15 or so. When it did kick off Nishioka bowed to his former teammates before digging a low pitch out and putting it neatly over the infield for a single. Yamato messed up the bunt popping up to Emura. Then Toritani grounded out to a nice stop at first by Iguchi but Nishioka took second. Murton hit right to set up runners on first and third but Arai even though he beat the first line of defence grounded out to short to end the innings. Enokida started by striking out Nemoto but the impression you got was that he didn't need seven pitches and could have done it earlier. The next two batters went down far quicker and you felt a bit more relaxed. Tigers second saw Imanari strike out looking - how he left that pitch is anyone's guess. Ryota and Hidaka also did nothing. Imae led off Marines second with a single to right which hung a bit but landed safely. Saburo walked and Marines had runners on first and second. Just to show that they weren't prepared to exploit the opportunity - Kiyota bunted the runners to second and third. Suzuki found it very easy to hit deep to left and Imae tagged up and motored home 1-0 Marines, runner on second. Emura grounded out to end the innings. Tigers third saw Nishioka single to centre with one out - another nice hit. Yamato grounded into a double play which rather killed off the innings. Marines third was just quiet and no one got on base.

Abe had done rather well but things fell apart in Tigers fourth. He walked the lead off batter, Toritani. Then Murton doubled over Ishimine who didn't pick it up in time - runners on second and third. Arai walked to load the bases which brought up the ineffective Imanari. His response to the situation was to hit the ball straight and gently to Abe. Abe threw to home for the force out and then Emura threw to first for the second out. Tigers had runners on second and third with two outs. Ryota was next and to demonstrate that he is more comfortable at the lower levels of the order hit along the ground. The ball deflected slightly off Abe's glove and beat Nemoto's dive to roll off into centre. It also brought home both runners 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Tigers had the lead. Hidaka then hit to left as Abe fell apart mentally. This put runners on first and third. Next was Shibata who swung at his second pitch - a high straight. He got a good contact on the ball and it just stayed inside the right foul pole for a three run home run 5-1 Tigers. It was Shibata's first career home run. Tigers were now in full control. The final batter was Nishioka who tried to hit left for a home run but the wind caught the ball and it drifted out into the glove of left for the final out. One would have thought that Enokida would be able to relax but not with Hidaka as his catcher. Iguchi led the Marines fourth off with a single to left. Then Imae also singled to left - runners on first and second with no outs. Marines decided to engineer a double steal and so when Saburo struck out both runners set off for the next base. Unfortunately the take by Hidaka was good and he had all the time in the world to throw to Ryota. Ryota just put his glove on the ground and let Iguchi slide into the tag for the second out. Enokida wasn't finished though and Kiyota singled to put runners on first and third, Imae not wanting to risk Shibata's arm. Then Enokida walked Suzuki to load the bases. This really wasn't very good work by the battery. It really needed a bit of luck and it came with Emura striking out. Tigers had managed to survive. The first pitching change came in Tigers fifth with Abe being replaced by Ueno. He started well enough getting Yamato and Toritani but then faced Murton. Murton blasted his second pitch over the left fence for a solo home run 6-1 Tigers. One would have thought the decisive blow. Arai grounded out to short to end the innings - he was having a quiet game. Marines fifth was another of those quiet innings. Maybe Enokida was settling down and Tigers were beginning to establish a stranglehold. Ryota singled with one out in Tigers sixth and then Hidaka did the same. Ryota tried to take third but an inch perfect throw by Kiyota enabled Imae to tag him out as he slid into the base for the first out. Still enterprising base running even if it didn't come off. Hidaka was safe on first with Shibata next. He hit right again and this time Hidaka didn't attempt third but stopped on second. Nishioka walked to load the bases and Marines were in trouble again. Tigers really should have made more of this opportunity but fluffed it badly with Yamato popping out in foul ground to end the innings. Enokida's luck finally came to and end in the Marines sixth. Iguchi got hold of his first pitch and powered it left for a solo home run 6-2 Tigers. Imae was next and faced with more poor calling - everything was outside got hold of a pitch in the zone and powered it over the right fence 6-3 Tigers. This was not what Tigers fans expected. Neither was it what the management expected and so Enokida was pulled and replaced by Tsuru. Hidaka mistakenly was left in and showed his quality by walking Saburo. This was enough and he was replaced by Fujii. It seemed to help as Kiyota immediately hit into a double play but with Fujii one cannot say that one is safe until the game is over. Suzuki hit a rather nice double to right. Then Kawamoto (replacement catcher) singled to bring in another run 6-4 Tigers, runner on first. Finally Ishimine grounded out. Tigers still held the lead but things were getting close.

Minami took over for Tigers seventh and started by making a mess of things. He walked Murton with one out and then threw a wild pitch which took Murton to second. Arai walked to set up runners on first and second which brought up Imanari. He cannot be said to have been a success at all. Once again he struck out looking. Finally, Ryota grounded out to third to end the innings. This would be the story of Tigers from now on - they would get runners on base but strand them each time. Katoh pitched Marines seventh and in a quite appalling piece of pitching walked Nemoto. Still Marines were quite prepared to make a mess of things and Ogino bunted Nemoto to second. This settled Katoh down and he pitched quite competently to retire Iguchi and Imae and end the innings. Tigers lead was intact. Shibata singled with one out in Tigers eighth. Nishioka walked and was pinch run for by Tagami. A wild pitch had taken Shibata to second and then third. Tigers managed to make a pigs ear off it though having Yamato bunt for the second out.The stupidity of this move defies belief - was it a failed squeeze? It did move Tagami out of the danger zone but so what. A sacrifice fly was the better option by far and would have been useful later on. It was poor tactical management by Tigers coaches. Toritani was next and he flew out to end the innings scoreless. Andoh pitched Marines eighth and retired the first two batters but then ran into trouble. Suzuki singled to centre followed by Kawamoto - runners on first and second. Fukuura (pinch hitter) struck out looking to end the innings though. The margin was still intact. Nakago pitched Tigers ninth and started by getting Murton to strike out. He then repeated the feat with Arai but amazingly, Imanari hit. Imanari then stole second but didn't get any further as Ryota struck out swinging as well. Kubo took over for Marines ninth and one can't escape the conclusion that he is not suited for the closer role. He had a two run lead and even though he was paired with Fujii should have held this. Instead Nemoto led off with a two base putting it over Yamato who had to track back and didn't make it in time. Ogino grounded out but moved Nemoto round to third. A sacrifice fly was on but wouldn't have been enough and would have been another out. Iguchi went left again - he had been fed an exclusive diet of straights with no variation and Kubo had drifted into the middle of the zone. It was both poor pitching and poor calling - conservative and unimaginative. The ball flew over the fence for a two run home run 6-6 scores tied and yet another save blown. To say things worse would be an exaggeration but they didn't get better. Imae did ground out but then Saburo walked. He was pinch run for by Katoh who made second on a wild pitch. Kiyota walked as Fujii persisted in calling outside pitches which Kubo couldn't deliver and then Kubo dead balled Suzuki - bases loaded. Here fortune favoured the Tigers and Kawamoto ran out of hits and grounded out to short to end the innings. The game went into extra innings.

Masuda pitched Tigers tenth and gave up a two out single to Saka (replacement second). Yamato was next and continuing his quiet theme by flying out to end that innings. Tsutsui pitched the Marines tenth and in fact would pitch all three of the Marines extra innings. Another bit of over-pitching and poor management. He struck out the first two batters and finished with Ogino flying out in foul ground. Matsunaga pitched Tigers eleventh. He gave up a lead off single to Toritani. Shunsuke (replacement left) bunted him to second - Shunsuke batting fourth and bunting. One can't quite comprehend the tactical mismanagement it takes to set up such a situation. Arai walked for the third time that night but Conrad (replacement DH) struck out looking. Ryota singled and Toritani went for home but was tagged out at the plate to end the innings. Tsutsui stayed in control in the bottom of the innings. Once again he retired the batters in order allowing no momentum to develop for the Marines which is good as Tigers were squandering chances with gay abandon. Rosa pitched Tiger twelfth and started by getting Fujii to ground out. Shibata also grounded out but Saka singled. It was Tigers last chance and here given Yamato's performance a pinch hitter might have been a good idea. Instead we got Yamato who grounded out to end the Tigers chances of victory. They still needed to survive the Marines twelfth and once again turned to Tsutsui. He got Kiyota to ground out to third. Then Suzuki popped up to short. Finally Kawamoto struck out swinging to end the game. A tied game.

Marines could be happier with the result than Tigers. They had hauled back a 5 run margin as Tigers poor pitching and catching had let them back into the game. Tigers in the meantime could not really be happy. They hadn't lost but had blown a big lead. They had also squandered chance after chance and the tactical play and switching of players had been abysmal demonstrating Wada's incompetence clearly. Imanari was left in for too long as was Yamato. Yamato is a competent player who was having an off night and should have been replaced. Nishioka and Murton shouldn't have been replaced as Tigers lacked the power when needed in the extra innings. Sadly Takahiro Arai picked up an injury in the twelfth and had to be replaced. Tigers need to play much better next game.