June 23rd Fujinami v Miura - Five in a row

Tigers losing streak crept up to five games for the first time this season. Fujinami as teams get used to him seem to be able to figure him out which is partially him and partially his catcher who is nothing if not predictable. Tactics for this game were inept and here we have to lay the blame at Wada's feet. His inability to think beyond the programmed responses is a major issue but don't expect change here - he is an old boy from 1985 and that is all the qualification he needs. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Second)
2. Yamazaki (Short)
3. Morgan (Centre)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Nakamura (Third)
6. Aranami (Right)
7. Matasumoto (Left)
8. Takajyoh (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

One didn't expect Tigers to make a mess of this game but they demonstrated that they were capable of doing this. It started very well with Nishioka doubling to left centre. The it all went wrong. Wada showing just what a lack of imagination he has, had Yamato bunt Nishioka to third - why not kill off any chance of a big start to the game? Quite frankly these idiotic Pavlovian responses are not good for morale either. Next was Toritani who hit to right in attempt for the sacrifice fly - what a paucity of imagination. The catch was taken and Nishioka tagged up and went for home only to be tagged out at the plate to end the innings. Fujinami was not on good form today and started by walking Ishikawa. Just to show that Wada is not the only fool when it comes to bunts Nakahata had Yamazaki bunt Ishikawa to second. Morgan grounded out for the second out which kept Ishikawa on second. Then Blanco got a series of straights and whacked his third one over the fence for a two run home run 2-0 BayStars. One might even title this piece BayStars show Tigers how it's done. Nakamura doubled - it looked bad but then Aranami struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers to be honest looked clueless in their second. Murton struck out, Arai flew out to centre and then Itoh struck out as well. Luckily for Tigers BayStars didn't shine either in their second and the margin remained at two runs. Given their opponents Tigers could easily overturn a two run margin. This they did in the third. Ryota led the way - having to endure lesser batters batting ahead of him here he was leading the innings off. Miura was a bit loose and Ryota hit the ball into the left stand for a solo home run 2-1 BayStars. Two outs followed which brought up Nishioka. He was hot this game and punished a slider in the middle of the zone - driving that into the right stand for another solo home run 2-2 scores tied. See what I mean about a two run margin being nothing. Yamato grounded out to second to end the innings. Having gotten back into the game Tigers needed the pitching and catching to hold them there. Both failed. Ishikawa once again walked to lead off BayStars third. Yamazaki grounded out taking Ishikawa to second and then Morgan walked. Fujinami was getting into all sorts of trouble with Fujii being no help at all. Then Blanco took a dead ball to load the bases - Tigers handling of this innings wasn't very good. With Fujinami in a funk Fujii missed a fork and this brought in a run 3-2 BayStars, runners on second and third. Nakamura struck out but then Aranami doubled very effectively to left centre of a straight in the middle of the zone - an unenterprising pitch if ever there was one 5-2 BayStars, runner on second. Finally, Matsumoto struck out to end the innings with BayStars in the driving seat.

Tigers fourth did not start as planned with Toritani flying out. Murton hit over the infield for a single to left though and as Arai struck out stole second. Itoh was next but he hit a grounder to second and ended the innings. Then Tigers made a real mess of things which could have been much worse than it actually turned out. With two strikes, Takajyoh swung at his third pitch a low cutball which bounced outside. Fujii missed this and Takajyoh was able to make first. The throw from Fujii was poor and Takajyoh was able to make second as well. Miura went to bunt, messed up and was out - it is nice to see that Messenger is not the only one. Another wild pitch took Takajyoh to third but then Yamazaki swung and managed to propel the ball weakly forward where it was fielded by Fujii who threw to first for the final out. Tigers had had a lucky escape. By contrast Tigers fifth was quiet but there was to be no more of Fujinami who was pinch hit for by Hidaka. Hidaka would also take over the catching duties which was no improvement at all. Watanabe took over the pitching duties from Fujinami and dead balled Morgan to lead off the BayStars fifth. Hidaka didn't take long to mess up. Then we had the stupid bunt to end all stupid bunts Shirasaki (replacement third) bunted Morgan to second. Nakamura grounded out taking Morgan to third. Next came Aranami who walked - runners on first and third. Matsumoto flew out to end the innings. Nishioka led off Tigers sixth with a single - he was a three base away from the cycle. Yamato flew out and then Toritani hit into a double play ending the innings. With one out Miura singled right in BayStars sixth - this was getting a bit farcical. However, Ishikawa restored the balance by hitting into the innings ending double play.

Tigers seventh and they seemed to be going through the motions. Miura was holding onto his lead well and Tigers were bereft of ideas. Then with Murton out Arai doubled. Itoh grounded out to second though which left it all up to Ryota. Arai was on third and a simple single would have been enough but Ryota could only ground out to short and end that chance. Boyer took for BayStars seventh - his first appearance in the top team. He retired Yamazaki and Morgan but then Shirasaki singled to centre. Nakamura though struck out swinging and Boyer's first innings in NPB had been scoreless. Tigers eighth was led off by Saka (pinch hitter and replacement centre) who singled. Hidaka took advantage of the tiring Miura to single to right - runners on first and second. Nishioka flew out - no cycle for him. At this point Ino took over and with Hiyama (pinch hitter) next managed to walk the latter to load the bases. Toritani hit right only getting as far as first but doing enough to bring a run in 5-3 BayStars, runners on first and third. Then Murton singled left bringing in another run 5-4 BayStars, runners on first and second. Arai was the third out trying to hit to centre he over hit and flew out. Tigers were close. Then they went and blew it. Katoh took over and paired with the hopeless Hidaka walked Aranami. He was bunted to second by Matsumoto and then Takajyoh hit deep to right bringing in the run 6-4 BayStars, runner on second. Ramirez (pinch hitter) flew out to centre and then Ishikawa grounded out. Tigers were out of it. Sosa pitched Tigers ninth and walked Itoh. He tried to steal second as Ryota struck out and was tagged out himself. Why with a two run margin do Tigers try these pointless moves. They needed more than a single. Finally Saka grounded out to second to end the game. BayStars victory.

Tigers had lost their first series after inter-league. One can even say that they had been swept. The games had been played ineptly and chances had not been taken. Poor catching had contributed to this mess with neither of Tigers catchers having the competency to call for the first team. BayStars had taken enough chances to be able to be rather satisfied with their performance. They had held onto the leads they had forged and this for them is a big improvement. Tigers need to look at their tactics especially knee jerk bunts and steals. These need to be more integrated into a sound tactical pattern not a series of patterns and reactions which don't fit the game.