August 28th Enokida v Miyaguni - Bumbling along

One wonders what goes on in Wada's mind. Using Hidaka as his starting catcher in place of Fujii was a disaster and the former had to be replaced. At first Hidaka looked like he might be better than Fujii but after the first few games it was clear he was much worse. The continued use of this superannuated OB is an example in management ridiculousness that is difficult to understand. If Enokida really doesn't want to pitch to Fujii then he could be paired with Shimizu or Tigers could bring back their best catcher Komiyama. But let's stop kidding ourselves that Hidaka is a good catcher - he is Noguchi level. Fukudome seems to have injured his calf - one hopes it is temporary and that we don't have another Johjima on our hands. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Giants
1. Chono (Centre)
2. Kamei (Right)
3. Abe (Catcher)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Takahashi (Left)
6. Sakamoto (Short)
7. Lopez (First)
8. Terauchi (Second)
9. Miyaguni (Pitcher)

Tigers would once again waste a chance as they got a base runner on in the first. With Nishioka flying out Saka walked. Toritani managed to hit back to Miyaguni who was able to comfortably throw to second to start the double play. Enokida, didn't start well at all and with Hidaka calling didn't look particularly proficient. Chono was able to single to left. Kamei went to bunt and failed at two attempts so gave up and grounded out to second. This had the effect of a bunt and took Chono to second. Abe struck out swinging looking very foolish as he did so which brought up Murata. The night before he had hit a two run home run and this game did exactly the same - this one just clearing the wall 2-0 Giants. Our pitchers really do need to think what they are throwing to him. Takahashi hit right but flew out. Miyaguni wasn't particularly impressive and his first pitch to Murton in Tigers second was particularly loose. Murton hit a big straight solo home run to start the innings 2-1 Giants, a very good response. Arai and Fukudome grounded out and then Imanari singled left. Hidaka managed to pop up and fly out to third in foul ground - it was a nice catch by Murata. Giants second was quiet and no one was able to reach base including a very off form Sakamoto. Tigers third was also quiet, the innings ending with Saka striking out. With one out in Giants third Chono hit to Arai at first. He fielded and threw to Enokida who had run over. Enokida though had been rather slow in getting over with the result that Chono was safe. Kamei popped up to Arai which brought up Abe who doesn't have a good record against Enokida (it was 12-1 before this game). Enokida didn't throw a good pitch and Abe hit it hard and far into right centre where it bounced off the wall. Chono hustled round the bases and reached home safely 3-1 Giants, runner on second. It looked like a long night beckoned. Murata walked in four - it didn't start out as a deliberate walk but ended up that way - runners on first and second. Takahashi could only ground out to second ending the innings.

Toritani managed to lead Tigers fourth off with a single. Murton couldn't repeat his feat of the innings before and Arai struck out bringing up Fukudome. He hit hard along the right baseline with the ball hitting the pole for a two run home run 3-3 scores tied. Miyaguni had blown his lead. Imanari managed to ground out to short but Tigers were in a good position. Enokida managed to walk Lopez with one out in Giants fourth but they couldn't move him round and the innings was scoreless. Tigers fifth started with Hidaka hitting over the hapless Miyguni. Terauchi was able to field but couldn't get the throw away in time and Hidaka was safe on first. Enokida bunted him to second and then Nishioka singled right. Hidaka was held up on third and slow as he is he should have gone for home. This was the ideal chance for a leading run and the hit was deep enough. It was poor work by our third base coach - runners on first and third. A wild pitch took Nishioka to second but Saka grounded out to make the second out. Here we saw Hara's vindictiveness and pettiness come into play. Miyaguni hadn't really pitched well but had only thrown 75 pitches. He had another out in him and the psychological advantage was with him at the moment. Hara took him off at this time knowing that this would prevent Miyaguni from getting the win and brought on Aoki. It was a nasty piece of behaviour. Aoki took over and walked Toritani on a full count - bases loaded. This brought up Murton who once again with runners on failed to convert and grounded out weakly to Aoki ending the innings. Tigers had mismanaged the innings. One didn't see Enokida surviving much beyond Giants fifth either and so it proved. With Chono out, Kamei singled to centre. Abe came up again and once again doubled to right centre. This time though Giants stopped on third and second. Here Wada switched to Boyer. This wasn't like the Hara decision but a recognition that things were getting dangerous and that a pitching choice was needed. Boyer is not the pitcher I would have chosen though. So it proved, Murata hit right to bring in one run 4-3 Giants, runners on first and third. Takahashi was next and all the Giants needed for another run was a sacrifice. His hit bounced high above Boyer and behind him where it was fielded by Nishioka. He couldn't make the throw to second and Murata slid in safely. Takahashi was safe on first but Abe was home 5-3 Giants and a two run margin had opened up again. Sakamoto attacked his first pitch and hit high and far but Fukudome ran back perfectly and took a fine catch to end the innings. With one out in Tigers sixth Fukudome hit into centre but picked up his calf problem. He was pinch run for Shunsuke. Imanari struck out looking but Ryota (pinch hitter and replacement third, Saka having moved to centre) walked. This brought a pitching change and Aoki was replaced by Mathieson. He started very poorly dead balling Sekimoto (pinch hitter) with his second pitch to load the bases. Nishioka was next and Mathieson fed him a long series of straights which Nishioka mostly fouled. Then Mathieson let go a high slider and Nishioka thoroughly fooled swung and missed striking out to end the innings. It was a good piece of pitching by the Giants reliever. Kubo took over for Giants sixth and was teamed with Shimizu who raised the quality of catching on display. Kubo retired the batters in order with some cool pitching.

Tigers seventh saw Mathieson more dominant and the batters were easily disposed of. Giants looked to have control now and just needed to complete the formalities. Giants seventh was also quiet and the game was beginning to wind down after the intensity of the previous innings. Yamaguchi took over for Tigers eighth and with one out gave up a single to Shunsuke. In a desperate attempt to change the game Wada sent Asai in to pinch hit which wasn't likely to generate anything and didn't. As I said it was desperate. Asai managed to hit to Sakamoto for an innings ending double play. Andoh took over for Giants eighth and he retired the batters in order striking out two. Nishimura pitched Tigers ninth and got Ryota to line out to short. Then Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. Nishioka picked up a walk so that Nishimura could get at Saka the easier victim. Saka duly grounded out to second to end the game. Giants victory.

This victory gave Giants the rubber and tied the series between the two sides 9-9-1. It also opened the gap between the sides to 7 games and reactivated the Giants magic number. Tigers need to win the final game to avoid a sweep though their shi no rodo can be judged a success this time. Still they are behind the Giants with no real way of catching up unless the Giants bottle it. Wada's choice of Boyer was strange and his use of Hidaka incomprehensible. He looks more and more out of his depth (if that were possible) as the season continues and it is only the facts that he has a good team and that the other four teams are so abysmal which puts the Tigers in second.