September 19th Standridge v Bullington - So predictable

Standridge tires at around 100 pitches now. Managers and coaches need to be aware of this and switch him when he nears this mark. However, what happened this game was completely avoidable. Standridge had pitched well for six innings and thrown 95 pitches. For even an amateur like me that means that he should have been replaced for the seventh. However, for an amateur like Wada it means that he should pitch another innings. The Carp effectively exploited this and added two runs to their score. They were then able to hold the lead because Tigers batters can't bat at the moment and Mizutani is worthless. Remember this is a championship class team wrecked by the coaches and the management who conform to the worst examples of Japanese management. I was interested to see the resignation of Kato-commissioner who basically admitted that even though he wanted to bring Japanese baseball up to international standards he had failed. Tigers management team is living proof of this. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Carp
1. Maru (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Ka'aihue (First)
4. Eldred (Left)
5. Matsuyama (Right)
6. Soyogi (Short)
7. Kimura (Third)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Bullington (Pitcher)

Tigers started well and got to Bullington early. Nishioka grounded out but Saka got hold of a really loose pitch and banged it over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Murton doubled but Toritani who is useless walked leaving the work to others. Really, he needs to be moved out of the No. 4 slot very soon. Arai tried but struck out and then Fukudome grounded out to second. Carp's start was poor with the top three grounding out. Tigers were off to a good start. Tigers second was quiet though and all the batters also grounded out. Standridge couldn't hold his lead beyond the Carp's second though. He got Eldred to strike out to start the innings but then Matsuyama who was unaccountably moved down to seventh in the lineup the previous game (proof that not only Wada is stupid) doubled to left centre. Soyogi singled to centre off a reeling Standridge and the scores were tied 1-1 runner on first which became second due to a throwing error. Kimura grounded out to second taking Soyogi to third and Shimizu deliberately walked Ishihara to get at Bullington. Bullington, of course, was out grounding out to short to end the innings. With two out in Tigers third Murton doubled and once again Toritani took the easy option and walked. Once again Arai had to try and bring the runners round but Bullington had recovered his poise and Arai could only ground out to end the innings. Carp's third was strange. Soyogi singled left with one out and then Standridge was judged to have balked - runner on second. Ka'aihue grounded out to first taking the runner to third but then Eldred also grounded out to third ending the innings.

Tigers fourth was quiet with no one getting on base. In Carp's fourth Kimura singled with two out but then Ishihara was induced to ground out to third and end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet and the inactivity of the Tigers batters was getting frustrating for the fans who recently have been seeing too much of this. Two outs went down in Carp's fifth and then Kikuchi took a lucky swing at his first pitch and singled to centre. A wild pitch took him to second - Standridge was beginning to tire - but his come back; a strike out of Ka'aihue was excellent work to end the innings. With one out in Tigers sixth Toritani walked again. Arai who is getting frustrating hit into a double play - he may indeed have a grievance with Toritani being put into the No. 4 slot ahead of him but he is carrying it too far. Carp's sixth was quiet with the batters falling in order but this should have been it for Standridge. He had worked hard and fought successfully against his demons.

Eldred got the first two outs in Tigers seventh but then gave up a single to Shimizu. Here would have been the point to go with a pinch hitter and try to bring the runner home. Psychologically it was a perfect moment but what did Wada do? He sent Standridge in because Standridge was going to pitch the seventh come what may. Standridge grounded out to the pitcher to end the innings. It was incompetent management at its worst. Wada really is a clueless and irresponsible time-server and lickspittle. There was also the macho factor so prevalent in Japanese baseball that if your pitcher pitches seven innings mine will do the same. Standridge started Carp's seventh poorly giving up a single to Kimura. Ishihara bunted him to second and normally we would think - Ah a stupid bunt. Not this time, it was clearly a dangerous move. Iwamoto (pinch hitter) was next and he singled right to bring home the go ahead run 2-1 Carp, runner on first. Iwamoto was pinch run for by Akamatsu who stole second. At this point if Wada had gone for a new pitcher the damage could have been restricted but Wada was his usual supine stupid self. Standridge stayed on and Maru walked - runners on first and second. Then Standridge missed his catcher - runners on first and third with one out. Kikuchi was next and didn't bother with anything subtle he just banged the ball deep into centre field for the second out. Unfortunately, of course, the runner on third also touched up and was home 3-1 Carp, runner on second. 2-1 was recoverable, 3-1 wasn't. Note that the Carp went with the pinch hitter as soon as their was a chance. Tigers didn't. Finally, Wada acted and replaced Standridge with Katoh for the final out. If only Katoh had pitched the entire seventh none of this would have happened. Maru went for third on a delayed steal and made it but Ka'aihue struck out swinging to end the innings. Nakagawa pitched Tigers eighth and with two out gave up a single to Murton. With a runner on Toritani had a chance to even the score but failed swinging too soon and ballooning the pitch to short to end the innings. Kubota pitched Carp's eighth and immediately gave up a double to left to Eldred. Eldred stayed on second though as Kubota upped his game and blew away the next three batters. Mickolio took over for Tigers ninth and the batters failed in order ending the game. Carp victory.

Tigers have now dropped seven series in a row. The last time they did this was back in 1999 in the lost decade. Wada's decision taking has been so amateurish that one isn't really surprised. Carp had done well and used their resources sensibly but Tigers hadn't. It was one of those games where a supposedly second rate team taught the first rate team how to play baseball.