August 8th Tsutsui v Ohtake - Our kantoku is an idiot

Yes if confimation was needed this game would provide all the evidence. It really was amazing - with several talented young starters languishing in the second team Mayumi handed this start to a relief pitcher. Once this went wrong he then used an unreliable starter as a relief pitcher. Only in Tigers land can we create the situation where we embarass ourselves against a mediocre side (and the Carp are really mediocre). We have Abe sent down to the second team, we have Cheng who actually pitches one start and is very good but then doesn't get another one. We have all the effort expended on Kubota becoming a starter and his one effort is such a failure that he hasn't appeared again. Really what is going on in the minds of the management? Is their face so important that they cannot admit to Abe, Ishikawa, Uezono, Kojima that they got things wrong? Can they not trade Sugiyama or retire Kanemura? Poor management handed a victory to the Carp that really they didn't deserve and just as things were looking so good. What is it in Mayumi that he feels the need to screw up things? Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  6 0
Carp    0 0 0 7 0 0 1 0 X 8 10 0

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Amaya (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. McClain (Third)
6. Suenaga (Left)
7. Ishii (Short)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

Ohtake would start well without being spectacular. In fact the puzzle is how he managed to work a complete game shutout with such a limted range of pitches and ability. Still, one must give him credit for perseverence and actually getting a result. Tigers first was quiet and the same applied to Carp's first. The second saw Kanemoto walk but with one out Brazell's first double play of the evening ended the innings. Tsutsui walked Kurihara to lead off the Carp's second but nothing came of this. Katsuragi led off Tigers third with the first hit of the game. Now why Mayumi was stupid enough to take the performing batter out (Sakurai) and put Katsuragi in on a long discredited theory is beyond me but that is Mayumi. Kanoh almost got his hit past McClain but was caught out before Tsutsui bunted. Hirano failed to convert and the innings was over. Tsutsui began to show the strain in the Carp's third. He wasn't comfortable and he started with a two base to Ishihara. Ohtake tried to bunt but Tsutsui took a great catch and then proceeded to retire the next two batters to end the innings.

Tigers fourth was quiet but it was Carp's fourth were the action started. As I mentioned Tsutsui wasn't comfortable and was visibly struggling. He did get Amaya to ground out but that was the only piece of good news for him. Kurihara hit a fly which landed in no mans land and became a two base. A lucky hit but there was nothing lucky about McClain's hit turned nicely along the third baseline for a two base timely hit 1-0 Carp runner on second. Suenaga hit to left stretching and swinging for a rather lucky impact - runners on first and third. Then Ishii walked to load the bases. Here Mayumi decided to change pitchers which was fair enough, Tsutsui was out of his depth and with only one run scored there was a good chance to limit the damage given the mediocrity of the opposition. However, his choice of relief was just as idiotic as his choice of starter. He chose Kanemura. Kanemura has never been a relief pitcher and of course he was hopelessly out of his depth. Ishihara hit to centre driving in a run 2-0 Carp bases loaded. Ohtake flew out without a run being scored but then everything went pear shaped. Higashide hit to centre to drive in another run 3-0 Carp, bases loaded. Then Akamatsu also hit to centre driving in two runs 5-0 Carp, runners on first and third. Akamatsu stole second and Amaya hit to left. Kanemoto just failed to hold the catch which was an almost impossible sliding chance but two more runs were scored 7-0 Carp runner on second. Finally, Kurihara flew out to end what had been a disastrous innings for the Tigers. It is difficult to believe that even a beginner manager could make such a mess of things but Mayumi had demonstrated that anything was possible. Tigers fifth saw Katsuragi hit again but once again nothing came of it. Surprisingly Kanemura returned for the Carp's fifth. This time the side fell in order but with a 7-0 lead they could afford to. Kanemura needs to be dispatched to the second team as soon as possible. Kanemura then opened the Tigers sixth innings which indicated he would pitch the bottom but struck out. Hirano hit a two base and then made third on a wild pitch. This one went between Ishihara's legs. Yamato walked to add another runner but Toritani who should have done better swung wildly at his first pitch and flew out to first - a waste. Kanemoto also failed and the innings was scoreless. Carp's sixth was quiet as the batters fell 1-2-3.

Tigers seventh was a waste. Arai led off with a two base hit but then the next three batters failed miserably even to move him to third. Carp's third showed how it should be done. The pitcher was Watanabe who really doesn't like pitching for Mayumi. His performance is lackadaisical and slack most of the time. He started with a hit to Akamatsu but then Amaya hit the ball at him. Watanabe got his glove on the ball but failed to hold it and all he did was slow it down conveniently for the Carp. This meant that a certain double play if he had missed it became runners on first and second with no outs. Kurihara flew out to right which took Akamatsu to third and then McClain also flew out to right. The fly brought Akamatsu home 8-0 Carp, runner on first. Finally, Suenaga grounded out to Watanabe who almost blew that one dropping the ball before picking it up and throwing it to first for the out. Tigers eighth was quiet as the batters surrendered meekly. Carp's eighth was pitched by Cheng who was in control and retired the batters with ease. So to Tigers ninth, Ohtake was trying for a complete game shutout. It didn't look on at first, Toritani contemptuously hit his first pitch into right for first. Kanemoto of course failed. Arai then also hit to right setting up runners on first and second. Here fate played its part, Brazell hit straight back at Ohtake who was able to work the double play for the final outs. Carp victory.

It does seem strange to say that a complete game shutout wasn't really due to the winning side but this is really the case. Incredibly stupid pitching selection by Mayumi had handed them a gift which of course they took full advantage of. The fourth innings had generated 7 out of their ten hits and a failure by Tigers batters to convert their chances had made things easy. One has difficulty in fathoming the decision to use Tsutsui as a starter given that he has proved to be an excellent relief pitcher. The horror for Tigers fans is that we have the risk of this happening again as Mayumi is due to be our kantoku till the end of the year.