May 23rd Messenger v Karakawa - Curate's egg time

It is always nice to win but I cannot for the life of me see the point in Messenger's second over-long outing; this time 146 pitches over 6.2 innings. Messenger whilst having good stuff was also pitching very wearily and it showed in his body language. He was basically finished by the fifth but our stupid management kept in him for the sixth and then amazingly the seventh. There was just no need for this. That he survived with one run only was more luck than design and with some mediocre calling from Fujii the pitch count went up and up. Messenger's arm is needed for the later half of the season as well and if he continues to pitch these marathons it won't be available. Tigers management really do need to exhibit something closer to common sense in their treatment of starters. The good part for Tigers was the fielding near the wall particularly Yamato. Marines were particularly poorly served in this respect and Ogino had a nightmare of a game. One couldn't escape the impression this game of Marines being a lightweight outfit and also them being a bit outgunned. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   1 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 13 0
Marines  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 1

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. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Shibata (Right)

Starting Pitcher was Messenger

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

Starting Pitcher was Karakawa

A bright start was desired and delivered. With two out Toritani hit sharply to left. The ball bounced infield and then veered off just after third base ending up in the corner. Toritani reached second comfortably. Murton was next and hit into centre over the infield which brought Toritani home 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. Arai singled left to put runners on first and second but Imanari as he so often does managed to blow the chance - grounding out to second. Messenger's start was encouraging and then rapidly deteriorated. Two outs and Iguchi singled right. The pitching though hadn't been particularly inspiring. Iguchi stole second which was embarrassing as Fujii totally missed this. Then Imae hit to short. Toritani jumped up and got the tip of his glove on the ball but couldn't hold and dropped the ball - runners on first and second. Fukuura walked on a full count to load the bases and Tigers were in trouble. Kiyota hit right but Shibata was secure under the ball and took the catch to end the innings. Tigers second was quiet - in fact the batters seemed to surrender tamely. Emura singled with one out in Marines second but stayed on first. It was about this time that Messenger's weary pitching became noticeable. Karakawa wasn't pitching well either and gave up a lead off single to Nishioka who dug out a low pitch nicely. Yamato went to bunt and failed with two attempts. He then hit to short which forced out Nishioka but allowed him to reach first safely. Toritani worked a walk - runners on first and second. Then Murton hit hard to right centre - into the gap between centre and right. The ball bounced off the wall unkindly for Tigers as it landed right for the throw infield. However, it was still enough for Yamato to make home 2-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. One would have thought that Toritani could have also gone for home. Arai walked - Karakawa was very poor here and there was no point in Arai trying to hit anything pitched at him. Imanari as he did the game before hit weakly back to the pitcher who threw to home for the force out. However, Imanari does have speed and he was able to make first safely - bases loaded. Ryota was next and on a straight in the middle of the zone hammering it to left. Ryota thought it had gone but it dipped at the last moment and landed on the junction of the wall and fence but inside the field. Here we saw another demonstration of Marine's poor outfield work - Ogino made a complete mess of his jump and possibly he could have taken it. In any case it was a bases clearing double 5-0 Tigers. Fujii was the next batter and he grounded out to short - his batting was rather poor this game. One would have thought that Marines would counter attack and they did just that. Ogino led off with a double to left centre. Iguchi worked a walk - some very poor pitching and incompetent calling combined here; runners on first and second. Imae helped Tigers out by swinging at his first pitch and flying out to Arai in foul ground. Then Messenger walked Fukuura to load the bases. More trouble. Kiyota went after a loose pitch and hit deep to centre. Here we saw the outfield superiority of Tigers in action. Yamato tracked back and jumped perfectly to take the catch. He then fired off a rocket like throw. Of course, the run scored as the hit was so deep but it could have been much more costly 5-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Just to prove he is a complete chump Messenger reloaded the bases walking Suzuki. Finally, Emura struck out looking much to everyone's surprise to end the innings. Marines had not made enough of a golden chance against poor pitching and calling.

Tigers fourth was quickly over with the batters going down in order. Marines though were still getting runners on and failing to exploit the chances. Nemoto cracked one to first where Arai dived but failed to hold the ball. By the time he recovered Nemoto was safe on first. Ogino hit his second pitch to left to set up runners on first and second. This time Iguchi struck out swinging and it had to be said he didn't really look interested this at bat. Then Imae flew out to centre to end the innings. Tigers fifth saw Murton single with one out. With Arai at the plate he set out to steal. Arai struck out looking - a call he was really pissesd about and which brought Wada to the plate to query. It was an extremely questionable decision being clearly too low on the replay and possibly outside. Murton had taken second safely though. This left things down to Imanari who flew out to end the innings. Messenger needed the fifth to ensure his victory and started by walking Fukuura again. The next two batters tested Yamato at centre but both lost. Then Hayasaka (pinch hitter) struck out swinging to end the innings. This should have been the end of Messenger who had thrown 119 pitches by now. Karakawa continued and retired the three batters he faced in Tigers sixth. It was thus a surprise when Messenger returned for Marines sixth. This was another long innings with Nemoto offering strong resistance before succumbing. Messenger's pitch count had swelled to 132 by the end of the innings.

Now we entered the macho pointless 'my pitcher can pitch longer than yours' phase of the game. Both starters should have been relieved and both morons in charge continued with their starters. Tigers benefited the most from this. Nishioka led off Tigers seventh with a single. Once again Yamato went to bunt failed with two attempts and then hit to short. This time Nishioka made second safely with Yamato being the out. Toritani hit deep to left and Ogino positioned himself safely under it and dropped the catch. The error allowed Nishioka to glide home 6-1 Tigers, runner on second. Murton popped up to Iguchi in foul ground but Arai hit right. Here one thought that there would be a run but Nishioka was held up on third with Saka pinch running for Arai on first. Imanami was next and by now Karakawa was very, very tired. It showed when he sent down a weak curve which Imanari managed to get enough bat on to drive into right for a timely hit 7-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. This finally brought a pitching change with Ueno taking over the mound duties and striking out Ryota looking. The posturing continued though and Messenger took the mound for Marines seventh. There was absolutely no reason and no logic for the move - resting the successful starter especially with the comfortable lead was the wise course. Messenger hadn't even been dominant. Two outs followed and then things began to unravel. Fukuura singled left. Then Kiyota hit a two base to left centre - runners on second and third. This was the end for Messenger and he was replaced on the mound by Katoh. He had basically pitched until he could pitch no more and the folly of the whole business was incredible. Katoh took over and retired Suzuki getting him to swing too soon and pop up to third and end the innings. Marines just found it impossible to convert their chances. Fujii started flying out to Ishimine who had replaced Ogino at left. Then Shibata singled to centre. Nishioka followed up with another single and Tigers had runners on first and second. Yamato went for a low pitch but only scooped it up to right for the out. Then Toritani hit to centre but flew out to end the innings. Katoh walked Kawamoto (replacement catcher) to start Marines eighth. Hosoya (pinch hitter and replacement first) hit to third which forced out Kawamoto but didn't produce the double play. Then Nemoto singled to set up runners on first and second. Katoh struck out Okada (replacement centre) but that was it for him and he was replaced by Andoh. The latter got Iguchi to fly out to left and once again Marines had missed out. Minami pitched Tigers ninth and gave up a lead off single to Murton. However, his pinch runner (Tagami) didn't move off first as the next three batters found different ways to get out. This included Conrad (replacement DH) who struck out swinging. He really needs to do something quickly and is living on borrowed time now. Imae led off Marines ninth with a single to centre. Marines seemed in a hurry to get things over as this innings took five pitches. Fukuura swung at his first and flew out. Then Kiyota hit his second pitch to Toritani for the game ending double play. Tigers victory.

The victory had been founded on two elements - good batting by Tigers and weak batting by the Marines. Neither team's starter had been any good with Messenger giving up eight hits and five walks in his marathon session. He had clearly been over pitched in a failure of management which sadly with him was not unique. If Tigers want his arm for the latter half of the season they are going to need to think about his pitching limits.