August 4th Andoh v Chen - Shi no rodo starts

So Tigers are off on their annual road of death and started it as if they were already burried. Once again they did not play well in an away game but their opposition is on form at the moment. Chen, Dragons pitcher, was superb and the Tigers batting abject. Two hits was all they managed from one batter, no one else did anything. The Andoh/Yano pairing was once again poor. Andoh has not done well in his past three outings with Yano and it is perhaps a good idea to reconsider using them together. Revisiting the idea of using Yano as a starting catcher might also be a good idea - he did not exactly do well with Cheng later in the match. Dropping Yano back down to ni-gun and bringing one of the younger catchers up would be a very nice move, Komiyama would be a good back up for Kanoh. Akahoshi's leg is just a bad muscle strain and not a break - he will need around five days rest and rehabilitation. Scores

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

Tigers
1. Hirano (Centre)
2. Yamato (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Sakurai (Right)
8. Yano (Catcher)
9. Andoh (Pitcher)

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

The first innings was quiet for both sides. Andoh pitched his only satisfactory segment striking out Araki and Morino. It was downhill all the way after that. Chen then faced Kanemoto who led off the second and struck him out. He would strike Kanemoto out three times out of three - truely abysmal play by the Tigers No. 4 and batting which makes you question whether he shouldn't be in the second team either. He hasn't been peforming since May and really is taking up space. The rest of the batters also did nothing. Andoh's troubles started in the second. He would have runners on each innings for the rest of his session. Fujii hit to right and then Nomoto also managed a hit to short. Tanishige was walked to load the bases and get at Chen who grounded out to end the innings. Tigers third was quiet and the team had fallen in order. In Dragons third Ibata led off with a hit and made second on Morino's one out ground out but then Blanco grounded out to end the innings.

Tigers first hit came in their fourth, Yamato managed a one out single to right. However, he went nowhere after that as Kanemoto struck out to end the innings. Wada led off Dragons fourth with a two base hit. He made third on Nomoto's ground out and then Yano deliberately walked Tanishige to get at Chen who duly grounded out to end the innings. So far Tigers performance coudl be characterised as hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Tigers fifth was quiet again. Dragons fifth approached - Andoh's danger innings and here it was a danger innings. The first two outs came easily enough and then Andoh went to pieces. Unaccountably he walked Morino in four and then dead balled Blanco. Next up Wada who slammed his fourth pitch, a low slider over the centre wall for a three run home run 3-0 Dragons. Fujii flew out but the only thing Tigers could hope for was that Chen would tire and given his performance this season that was a very faint hope. Tigers sixth was merely a confirmation of that - with two batters striking out. Andoh did not last beyond the fifth and was replaced by Tsutsui. He hasn't been pitching well though this is also an effect of being paired with Yano and not entirely his own fault. Tsutsui walked Koike (pinch hitter) to start the Dragons sixth but then retired the next three batters.

Tigers seventh started brightly as Yamato led off with a two base hit. This was the last hit and last Tigers batter on base. Chen struck out Toritani and collected his third Kanemoto strike out. Yamato stayed on second. Dragons seventh was also quiet with Tsutsui pitching well. Tigers eighth was the same pattern 1-2-3. For Dragons eighth Mayumi chose Cheng. He has had trouble adjusting and doesn't really pitch well to Yano who wasn't very good this innings. Really, Mayumi needed Abe for this slot but of course he has been stupidly sent down to the second team. Yano's calling was abysmal and from the first pitch Cheng was in trouble. This was hammered to left by Wada for his second home run of the night 4-0 Dragons. Next batter Fujii hit is first pitch to right and then stole second. Koike walked to set up runners on first and second but Tanishige who bunted setting up runners on second and third. The perfect situation to use a bunt. Chen was next and he engineered a dash play which brought Fujii home 5-0 Dragons, runners on first and third. Ibata hit to centre 6-0 Dragons and the Tigers were reeling. Cheng let loose a wild pitch which took Ibata to second and then Araki hit a sacrifice fly 7-0 Dragons, runner on third. Finally, Morino struck out to put Tigers out of their misery. Chen had saved his best for last and in a truely spectacular end to his superb game struck out all three batters he faced swinging, Kanoh (pinch hitter) Asai (pinch hitter - what is he doing back in the top team?) and Yamato. Dragons victory.

A totally dominating performance by Chen backed up by good batting from his teammates. Tigers had been completely overwhelmed and one has to think that now is the time to make changes. Bring up young players who will at least try instead of this tired old team. Yano, Kanemoto, Andoh, Arai should all be sent down to the second team. This should also happen to Shimoyanagi. It may indeed be that the kantoku is a complete lemon but the team is stuck with him and needs to adjust to that and play to their talents. If they don't play to their talents they should make room for players who do.