September 5th Messenger v Mishima - Two stupid old men

The stupid old men are Wada and Nakahata. Mishima pitched his heart out for the BayStars and not only was he over-pitched but after preserving the lead for nearly eight innings his manager should have been waiting at the entrance of the dugout to shake him by the hand and thank him for his efforts. Instead Mishima was ignored by Nakahata and the entire coaching team - it is no wonder that the BayStars are a B-class team. With Messenger - who was much better and significantly was paired with Shimizu we also saw stupid over pitching. There was no point in having him pitch the BayStars eighth - it was just ignorance on the part of Wada who it seems after a short bright period will never learn. Then Wada threw the game away in the BayStars ninth. Shimizu had done superbly well - if a little conventionally but Wada brought on Fujii to catch for Andoh. Fujii was a disaster once again. It is bad enough that Wada doesn't even now have any knowledge of which pitcher to use (it should have been Fukuhara - you use your closer in the bottom of the ninth of a tied away game if you want to win) - it is amazing that he can bring on a catcher who was a spectacular failure the night before. This game would have been winnable if Tigers had taken it into extra innings but it seems Wada has zero tactical sense and no clue how to manage a game. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Shunsuke (Centre)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Toritani (Short)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Imanari (Right)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Shimizu (Catcher)
9. Messenger (Pitcher)

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Second)
2. Yamazaki (Third)
3. Morgan (Centre)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Kajitani (Short)
6. Kinjoh (Left)
7. Aranami (Right)
8. Kurobane (Catcher)
9. Mishima (Pitcher)

This was a pitching duel with some quite superlative pitching from both pitchers at times. Mishima didn't start so well though walking Uemoto. Shunsuke went to bunt and grounded out to Mishima who threw to second for the force out. The Murton hit into a double play. The Messenger/Shimizu combination worked well together and it was good to see Shimizu coming up to the mound to talk with Messenger on occasion. It seems that Shimizu has some English and is prepared to use it. This is far better than Fujii. The BayStars batters were unable to get on base and fell in order. Tigers second was also quiet with Mishima striking out Arai and Imanari. He showed a very good command of his strike out pitch and it rescued him several times in the game. BayStars second was a bit more lively. The ever dangerous Blanco led off with a double to right which went over Imanari. Kajitani walked to set up runners on first and second with no outs but here Messenger didn't collapse. Ably marshalled by Shimizu he got Kinjoh to fly out to right and then struck out Aranami and Kurobane to end the innings successfully. It was Messenger at his best paired with a good catcher. Ryota led off Tigers third with a single to second - Ishikawa couldn't get the throw away in time. Then Shimizu hit into a double play. Messenger struck out looking to end the innings. BayStars third was quiet with a couple of more strike outs to Messenger's credit. The teams were very closely matched and Mishima was doing a great job of holding down the Tigers batters.

The fourth was a bit more promising from the Tigers point of view. With two outs Mishima ran into trouble with the third out. This was to have been Murton but he walked. Toritani hit right to put runners on first and third - Aranami being slow to react to the threat. Mishima tried to get Arai with inside pitches but ended up walking him to load the bases. This brought Tomonori to the mound and the very next pitch Mishima got Imanari to hit a grounder to second and end the chance. Mishima had done well in weathering the challenge. Morgan led Tigers fourth off with a bunt to third - a very stupid shot. Ryota was on the ball immediately and the out was a formality. Messenger walked Blanco in BayStars fourth with one out - Tigers were definitely wary of him but then got Kajitani to hit into a double play ending the innings. Tigers fifth was quieter and easier for Mishima who got a couple of strike outs to end the innings, the one which got Shimizu being particularly nice. With one out in BayStars fifth Aranami singled to centre and advanced to second on Kurobane's ground out. The final batter was Mishima who struck out swinging. Tigers sixth saw another spilled chance. Uemoto struck out - against competent pitchers he is all at sea. Then Shunsuke walked. Murton singled to centre - runners on first and second but Toritani struck out looking. He was also all at sea and totally misjudged the pitch which got him which admittedly was a top draw straight. Mishima then tried his inside outside trick on Arai again which worked this time - Arai swinging at an outside pitch he should have left and ending the innings. With one out in BayStars sixth Yamazaki singled and with Morgan and Blanco to come things looked threatening. But Messenger showed what an excellent pitcher he is and struck both out swinging to the total surprise of the BayStars.

Both pitchers were tiring but both had another innings in them. Ryota singled with one out in Tigers seventh but then Shimizu lined out to Blanco at first. It had looked a cracking line drive and Ryota had gone all the way up to second. All Blanco had to do to end the innings was to step causally on the sack which he did. Messenger did well and got the first two batters in BayStars seventh but then Aranami singled. Still Kurobane was the next batter and he provided the final out. Then we began to see managerial macho posturing and the stupidity that mars Japanese baseball. Both pitchers were tired but both would be put in. Mishima faced Messenger for the first out but Messenger singled into centre. It staggered belief that with all the evidence of Messenger being over-pitched and the effects of it Wada was still blythly going to over pitch him again. He had thrown 124 pitches already and should have been replaced at the end of the sixth. Mishima was also loosing steam rapidly. He struck out Uemoto but then Shunsuke singled - runners on first and second. This brought Tomonori to the mound and the coach didn't seem to show any appreciation of what Mishima had achieved but instead appeared to be scolding his pitcher. Murton flew out deep to right and Messenger tagged up and made third. This brought a pitching change and Yamaguchi took over. Whilst it was all being set up Messenger left third and disappeared into the dugout. The momentary hope surged that he was being pinch run for and that sense had prevailed. It hadn't Messenger just needed a comfort break. Yamaguchi faced Toritani who was useless and hit a weak grounder to third for the final out. Gotoh (pinch hitter) led BayStars eighth off with a single to right and was pinch run for by Matsumoto. Ishikawa bunted Matsumoto to second and one could relax. Messenger struck out Yamazaki looking and then by a supreme effort got Morgan to ground out and end the innings. Fujie took over for Tigers ninth and got Arai to pop up to second. Asai (replacement right) hit to short which Ishikawa fielded but couldn't prevent the single. Then Ryota hit left to put runners on first and second. Next was Shimizu and Wada decided to send in a pinch hitter. This was stupid as the replacement catcher is Fujii who is a disaster against the BayStars. You keep your performing catcher in as he has more chance of keeping you in the game. Hiyama hit to short for an almost poetic double play to end the innings. Then adding insult to injury Wada went with Andoh instead of Fukuhara. The innings was a complete mess for Tigers. Blanco singled left. Then Kajitani walked in four - runners on first and second with no outs. Koike (pinch hitter) bunted but Andoh got caught in two minds and by the time he reacted the bases were loaded. Fujii was not the catcher for this situation and Andoh wasn't the pitcher. In fact the Tigers have no one who could cope with this baring possibly Matsuda or Katoh on top form. The final pitch of the game was weak and Aranami hit over left for timely single 1-0 sayonara victory BayStars.

Wada's incompetence had once again cost Tigers a close game which would have been useful to win. The issue here is he will continue to be allowed to wreck Tigers chances of a pennant and be given another year to show that his baseball management skills are zero. Tigers really do need to bring in a real manager - one who doesn't waste the excellent performances of the pitchers and make stupid gestures like putting batters who can't cope in the clean up position. Roll on the days when Tigers are run like a real baseball club.