July 7th Fujinami v Kenta Maeda - Hiroshima humiliated

As they often do in an emergency Carp called for Kenta Maeda to pull their chestnuts from the fire. This time it didn't work and Tigers pulled off a sweep of their opponents. Wada used the opportunity this game presented to put Imanari into the five slot. This was on the grounds that he has been hitting lots of singles not that he has been driving in lots of runs. Wada will always find a way to demonstrate that he doesn't know how to manage. However, Imanari is currently the Wada Golden Boy who can do no wrong (apart from catching where he can do no right). Sometimes I do feel that even with my lack of experience in the game I could do a better job than our current manager and I would even welcome Horiuchi as Tigers manager in place of Wada. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Carp
1. Lewis (Left)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Maru (Centre)
4. Eldred (First)
5. Matsuyama (Right)
6. Soyogi (Short)
7. Dobayashi (Third)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

Nishioka returned to second despite not being 100%. This in itself wasn't an intelligent move. Why not wait until he was fit especially as Saka wasn't exactly failing in the position. Maeda didn't seem to be at his best this game which was another welcome aspect of the game which was delayed by rain. He struggled with the first two outs and then walked Toritani. Murton struck out swinging though indicating that the old Maeda was lurking there somewhere. Fujinami had a lot to prove having been disappointing recently and started very well retiring the Carp in order. Imanari started the Tigers second with a bang - or a double to be precise. Arai grounded out to Maeda which kept Imanari on second. Saka flew out to centre and Imanari tagged up and reached third. Fujii, though, swung at the first hittable pitch and lined out to first to end the innings. Fujinami retired the first two batters in the Carp's second but then allowed Soyogi to single to centre. Dobayashi followed and walked to set up runners on first and second. Ishihara struck out swinging and the Carp's fleeting chance had gone. Tigers third was quiet - Maeda seemed to have found his rhythm and the batters were already struggling. It didn't help his batting and he was out first thing in Carp's third. Lewis hit right though but Kikuchi struck out. Lewis tried to increase the chances by stealing second but was thrown out - once again Fujii had put in a good throw. This of course was the end of Carp's third.

With two out in Tigers fourth Imanari tried a bunt hit to third. It worked - a surprised Dobayashi was a bit slow in chasing it down and Imanari was safe on first. Arai flew out to left and the innings was scoreless. Carp's fourth was quiet - their hits had dried up and they were struggling with some admittedly fine pitching and calling. Saka led off Tigers fifth with a single to centre. Fujii tried to hit to centre as well but flew out and then Fujinami went to bunt. He failed and Maeda fielded and threw to second for the force out. Fujinami made first safely but Nishioka lined out to short - Soyogi being surprisingly reliable so far. Carp's fifth saw no one get on base and the game remained poised in a no mans land. The first score would come the very next innings. Yamato led off the Tigers sixth by striking out. Next was Toritani and Maeda must have been tiring as his first pitch to Toritani was a bit too high. Toritani's swing was nice and the ball flew comfortably over the fence into the Carp gaia for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Murton grounded out to second but once again Imanari singled. He tried to steal second but this was a disaster and he ended up being the third out. By now Maeda had thrown 101 pitches but was still going to be called on to pitch Tigers seventh as he led off Carp's sixth. He flew out and then Lewis struck out. Then a bit of luck for the Carp. Kikuchi hit left and Saka failed to hold the ball deflecting it into left field. By the time Murton had fielded Kikuchi had taken second. Maru walked and Tigers began to look under pressure. Next was Eldred who swung too soon and popped up to first where Arai took the catch in foul ground to end the innings.

Arai started Tigers seventh by flying out to right but then it started to rain and rain heavily. The players went off and the covers went on. This delay continued for 62 minutes before the game was restarted. During the interval Nomura decided that it would be a good thing to replace Maeda and when play resumed Ohno was the pitcher on the mound. He got Saka to ground out and then Fujii to line out yet again, this time to third. Wada made no such mistake over pitchers in Carp's seventh which was pitched by Tsutsui. He was sound and retired the batters in order preserving Tigers lead. Tigers eighth saw the first two outs go down and then Yamato doubled nicely to right. This brought a change of pitcher with Kikuchihara taking over. He faced Toritani who was induced to ground out to third and the innings was over. Carp were looking less and less like they were going to overturn even this one run lead and this was demonstrated in their eighth. They faced Andoh for the first two outs and then for no reason at all Katoh for the final out. This was Hirose who flew out to Toritani to end the innings. Mickolio took over for Tigers ninth and for some reason seems to have deteriorated. He is not the pitcher he used to be by any means. Murton grounded out but Imanar doubled again - he was having a fine game. He was pinch run for by Shunsuke - a move of such pointlessness that one thinks it was a way for Wada to get his other favourite some playing time. Arai bounced the ball to third and by the time it came down he was safe on first and Shunsuke was safe on third. Saka stroked the ball nicely into left picking his spot and bringing in the insurance run 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Then Fujii hit the ball to Soyogi who dropped it and stood there like a pregnant lemon while the bases loaded. By the time he picked up the ball it was too late. Wada sent Hiyama (pinch hitter) in next but he struck out. Nishioka followed and even though he was not 100% he was able to stroke the ball nicely into left to bring in two more runs 4-0 Tigers, runners on first and second and the killer blow. It also brought a change of pitching with Imai taking over. He struck out to end the innings and give Carp some relief. Carp's ninth was pitched by Fukuhara who started inauspiciously with a single to Kikuchi. Maru hit straight to Toritani forcing out Kikuchi but evading the double play. Eldred struck out swinging and the Tigers fans started the ato hitori call. Matsuyama went for his first pitch but hit it straight to Arai for a game ending ground out. Tigers victory.

Tigers had swept Carp taking the third game of the series. They have now taken 5 of their last 6 games against the Hiroshima outfit and are clearly dominating them at the moment. Carp look rudderless with no idea or hope what to do. Fujinami picked up the hero interview for a fine display of pitching which had been economical and well directed. Tigers next series is in bumpkinland against the Dragons again. It is another of these short two game series as well.