August 15th Standridge v Nakamura - The turnaround

With Tigers still one game away from the return of Nishioka they desperately needed a victory especially after the dismal showing the game before. Standridge would suddenly fall apart in the eighth but one can't say that this was predictable and given his pitch count it was unsurprising that he was put in for the eighth innings. He shouldn't have been put in for the ninth but this probably was Wada's intention. Fukudome announced his return emphatically having settled in rapidly and Murton showed a rare sign of life hitting the winning run and apologising for his ejection the game before in the hero interview. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Carp
1. Lewis (Left)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Maru (Centre)
4. Ka'aihue (First)
5. Matsuyama (Right)
6. Kimura (Short)
7. Dobayashi (Third)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Nakamura (Pitcher)

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

The start was worrying - with one out Kikuchi doubled - obviously Fujii got his call wrong. Maru walked and Tigers looked to be in trouble. This time, though, Carp could not turn their advantage into runs and Ka'aihue flew out to left with Matsuyama lining out to second to end the innings. Tigers had survived. Yamato rapidly went down but Saka walked. He stayed on first with Toritani striking out and Murton grounding out as per usual. Standridge walked Dobayashi in Carp's second with one out. Dobayashi tried to steal second but was caught by a good throw and was out. Then Standridge struck out Kura to end the innings. Tigers second was quiet and they seemed to find Nakamura difficult to deal with. With one out in the third Carp got another base runner - Lewis who singled to left. He fell to Kikuchi's 6-4-3 double play. Nakamura then started to wobble in Tigers third. With two out he walked Yamato and then Saka - runners on first and second. Toritani flew out to right. It was interesting to note that Tigers had had three base runners so far with no hits. Hits would be difficult for them to come by throughout the entire game but they would make the ones they did get count.

Carp were still getting base runners and two more appeared in their fourth. One was Ku'aihue who walked with one out. The next was Matsuyama who singled right to set up runners on first and second. However, they again failed to convert with Kimura striking out and Dobayashi grounding out to Ryota who had a surprisingly mistake free game this time. Murton and Arai didn't trouble Nakamura much but Fukudome did. He found his first pitch eminently hittable and deposited it in the centre right stand for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Ryota tried the same trick but struck out swinging and ended the innings. Tigers held this slender margin well in Carp's fifth with Standridge pitching sensibly and retiring the batters in order. Fujii walked to lead off Tigers fifth which surprisingly brought the end of Nakamura. He hadn't pitched that well but hadn't been that bad and surely had some more pitching left in him especially as the next batter was Standridge. Yokoyama took over and lured Standridge into a three bunt failure for the first out. Yamato and Saka then both flew out to end the innings. Carp's sixth saw more sensible pitching and Standridge got all three batters to ground - more effective work but it needed to continue as the one run margin was easily overturnable. Toritani hit right to lead off Tigers sixth taking second as a result. Both Murton and Arai tried to drive him in but Yokoyama was sublime here and both struck out. He balked at Fukudome who was deliberately walked to get at Imanari (pinch hitter) - one wonders why Ryota was pinch hit for? Imanari grounded out to second ending the innings.

Carp's seventh was stunning - the three batters all went for their first pitch and all failed. Matsuyama grounded out to Arai at first. Kimura popped up to second and Dobyashi grounded out to third - a very economical innings. Socolovich took over for Tigers seventh and with two out walked Yamato. Yamato tried to steal second but was tagged out as he slid in ending the innings. Wada maybe should have retired Standridge but he was pitching well and his pitch count was low so it was unsurprising that he was asked to pitch the eighth. In fact there was nothing to indicate that Standridge would have any problems. He struck out Iwamoto (pinch hitter and replacement first) to start the innings. Then Abe (pinch hitter) singled right - still nothing to worry about. Something bothered Standridge though and he walked Lewis to set up runners on first and second. Kikuchi hit right bisecting the field to bring home Abe 1-1 scores tied runners on first and third. Suddenly Carp were back in the game and Tigers in trouble. Maru walked to load the bases and a Carp sweep looked a distinct possibility. There was a bit of relief from Ka'aihue who's mistimed swing bounced nicely to Standridge for the ground out. No one moved off base. Then Matsuyama swung to third where Sekimoto (replacement third) fielded and threw to Arai for the final out. Standridge's lead had gone but Tigers were still level. Nagakawa took over for Tigers eighth and got Saka to fly out in foul ground. Then significantly he dead balled Toritani. This unsettled him and he was too loose to Murton who swung nicely and powerfully for a two run home run 3-1 Tigers. Tigers were back ahead and Standridge had his win again. Nagakawa got Arai to strike out swinging and then Fukudome to fly out to right but it was a case of shutting the stable door. Carp hadn't been able to exploit their base runners except for one occasion and there was no way they would face Standridge for their ninth. Instead we saw Fukuhara pitch the Carp's ninth. Soyogi (pinch hitter) swung too soon and popped up to short. Then Dobayashi struck out swinging and so did Iwamoto to end the game. Tigers victory.

Tigers had avoided the sweep and had managed to win a tight game. This time the Carp had been the ones who wasted their chances five hits and five walks should have seen more than one run. Tigers had used their hits very well and all of them had been extra base - there had been no singles. The win went to Standridge and Fukuhara picked up the save. Tigers had shown that they could win at Kyocera Dome as well.