April 15th Shimoyanagi v Asakura - Mayumi fails again

Some poor play by Tigers allowed the Dragons an easy win. Kanoh was furious at the level of play he had to put up with but to be honest. Mayumi"s match management was appalling. To some extent one must make allowances for him finding his feet but he must drop this idee fixee that pitchers must pitch seven innings which is always a big risk with Shimoyanagi. All Dragons had to do was sit back and wait for the errors to come. Box scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Dragons 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 9 11 0
Tigers  0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  7 2

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Ibata (Short)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Nomoto (Right)
7. Fujii (Centre)
8. Oyama (Catcher)
9. Asakura (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Sekimoto (First)
7. Mench (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Shimoyanagi (Pitcher)

Mayumi went with Shimoyanagi whilst Ochiai kept his pitcher of the night before. Shimoyanagi's start was abysmal. Firstly he dead balled Araki who stole second. He then walked Ibata to set up runners on first and second with no outs. Morino as he so often does hit into a double play but Araki escaped to third. Next batter was Blanco who Shimoyanagi also dead balled - he had no real control at this stage - runners on first and third. Wada hit to centre driving in the runner 1-0 Dragons runners on first and second. Nomoto flew out and the innings was over. What was surprising is how little damage Tigers had escaped with from this poor start just one run. The poor start continued into the bottom of the innings, Asakura was in control and got the three batters he faced out with ease. Dragons second saw more of the same as the first innings. Fujii had a two base hit to lead off. Then with two out Araki hit a two base to centre and Fujii was home 2-0 Dragons runner on second. The final batter was Ibata who grounded out. Asakura's assurance of the first deserted him in the second. Kanemoto led off with a two base hit. One out later Sekimoto also followed with a two base hit 2-1 Dragons runners on second. However, in a problem that would haunt them for the evening Tigers failed to convert the runner. Sekimoto reached third on a Kanoh hit but with Shimoyanagi next it was unlikely that another run would result and so it was. Shimoyanagi though was transformed by the run. He retired the Dragons in order in their third and in fact would not allow a hit until the seventh. Asakura was struggling. Akahoshi led off the Tigers third with a two base hit. Hirano struck out but a wild pitch took Akahoshi to third and then he charged home on a Toritani ground out 2-2 scores level. Kanemoto struck out swinging and the innings was over.

Dragons fourth was quiet with the batters falling in order. Tigers fourth was the same. Dragons fifth saw another Shimoyanagi dead ball (his third), this time Ibata perhaps indicating that his control problems were not far under the surface. However, the innings ended without score and Ibata stuck on first. Tigers fifth was eventful. Kanoh led off with a hit. Shimoyanagi bunted him to second and then Akahoshi hit driving Kanoh to third. Akahoshi then stole second and Tigers had runners on second and third with one out. Hirano though flew out but Toritani walked to load the bases with Kanemoto next. He - in an unusual failure for him with runners on - flew out to second to end the innings. Tigers had wasted a real chance with some poor batting. Dragons sixth was quiet with Shimoyanagi in complete control. Tigers sixth likewise was quiet and the action moved to Dragons seventh.

Here Mayumi made his big mistake. The score was tied 2-2 and it was time to go to the relief. Instead he asked for another innings from Shimoyanagi. Why is difficult to fathom. Shimoyanagi is normally a six innings pitcher. Additionally, he is coming off off-season surgery and hadn't started well. Certainly, he had pitched nicely for four innings but to ask him to go beyond the sixth innings was tempting fate. What makes this decision even more incomprehensible is that it is generally known that Shimoyanagi is only good for six innings. In fact Mayumi's whole handling of that innings was very poor. After the initial mistake of putting Shimoyanagi in again he compounded it by not pulling him quickly when he deteriorated. Shimoyanagi when he deteriorates goes quickly and suddenly and cannot get out of an innings. He cannot be left but must be pulled quickly to prevent damage. This did not happen and he was left in too long blowing the game. Mayumi lost the game here. But this is not hidden or unknown, this is common knowledge and Mayumi as a radio commentator would have been aware of this. Anyway the innings.

Shimoyanagi started by striking out Fujii. Then Oyama had a two base hit. Here was the warning signal. Koike (pinch hitter) was next and he hit to set up runners with on first and third with one out. Araki hit a fly to left which Kanemoto dropped for an error but this allowed the runner home 3-2 Dragons runners on second and third. Once again an opportunity to replace Shimoyanagi not taken. Ibata walked to load the bases and next was Morino. He hit to right over a poorly positioned Mench and drove in three runners 6-2 Dragons Morino on third. Blanco hit to left and Morino was home 7-2 Dragons runner on first. Here Mayumi finally woke up and replaced Shimoyanagi with Watanabe but the game was already lost. Wada hit to set up runners on first and second but a Nomoto double play ended what had been a perfect innings for the Dragons. Shimizu took the mound for Tigers seventh and gave up a lead off hit to Kanoh. He was replaced by Payano. Mayumi had selected Katsuragi as pinch hitter and decided to replace him with Asai. Katsuragi is on form, Asai isn't, another move of incomprehensible stupidity. Asai flew out and then Sakurai (pinch hitter) struck out to end the innings. Just to prove he didn't know what he was doing Mayumi then summoned Ishikawa to the mound for the Dragons eighth. It's a situation for a relief pitcher not a starter. Ishikawa was not very comfortable. He walked Oyama with one out and then gave up a hit to Araki to set up runners on first and third. Finally he struck out Ibata to end the innings. Payano got the first two outs in Tigers eighth and was replaced by Saitoh who got Arai to strike out. Ishikawa returned for the Dragons ninth and was shaky. He walked Morino and then gave up a two run home run to Wada 9-2 Dragons rubbing the Tigers nose in it. Takahiro Donue (pinch hitter) hit but the next two batters failed to add to the score. Hirai replaced Saitoh for the Tigers ninth and had no problems retiring the Tigers in order. Dragons victory.

Tigers had been comprehensively outplayed. Poor fielding, batting and pitching had contributed to a crushing defeat. Mayumi's decision making had been a joke and he seemed to have had no idea what to do. He made mistake after mistake and failed to appreciate the situation he found himself in. Ochiai by contrast had seized his chances and made good use of them. Kanemoto had had a poor game and only Kanoh had shone, everyone else had been abysmal.