August 9th Shimoyanagi v Lewis - shi no rodo back on track

Strictly speaking yesteday's game (August 8th) re-started shi no rodo but it was so bizarre it had its own special status. This latest effort owed a lot to wasted chances by the Tigers (their first three hits were two base) but also to good play by the Carp. They did stick to their task and punished poor play and poor pitching. Shimoyanagi showed once again that he is fading and poor calling by Yano rather hobbled the relief. Both these players are running on empty and need to make way for younger players. It may not guarantee an improvement in performance but will create a greater chance. Kanemoto also needs to go - he is finished for this season and hasn't done anything since May. The trouble iis he doesn't look like he is going to do anything in the remaining part of the season.

Apparently Tigers are going to focus on Dominica as a potential source of players looking at the success of players like Blanco and Wirfin. This is all very well but it needs a change in organisation to take full advantage of the situation. Tigers waste their young resources scandalously and rely too much on older players. Everyone was highly critical when Ochiai dumped Woods and Nakamura and happily let Kawakami and Fukudome go to the US. However, look at the Dragons replacements and their position in the league. The problem for Tigers is their structure and reliance on the older players like Yano and Kanemoto who are becoming a bit long in the tooth. Until Tigers are able to give younger players playing time ahead of old veterans then any Dominican signings are probably going to languish in the second team. Any move to use this channel must be accompanied by reforms closer to home to enable it to be fully exploited and this has to start with an entirely new coaching team. Scores

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

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

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

Lewis would have some problems and would not be at his best at first. In Tigers first he gave up a two out two base to Toritani and with Kanemoto the next batter you would have hoped for a score. It was not to be and typified Kanemoto's batting problems as he struck out swinging. Shimoyanagi was once again poor and Yano wasn't much better. It was just a mediocre performance by Tigers veterans. Higashide led off Carp's first with a hit. He was bunted to second by Akamatsu but Amaya flew out. Shimoyanagi did not feel like taking on Kurihara and walked him before getting McClain to ground out. Tigers second two base hit came in their second, this time to Katsuragi. This time Yano struck out to end the innings and here one must credit Lewis - he messed up but then got out of the messes. Phillips led off Carp's second with a two base hit. Kokubo grounded out to seocond but the throw was aimed at Phillips who was caught off base and out. Kokubo was safe but the mistake shouldn't have happened. Kokubo stole second but Shimoyanage retired the next two batters without him getting any further. Tigers third was quiet - the batters fell in order. The same happened in Carp's third and the score remained 0-0.

Toritani then led off Tigers fourth with another two base hit. Surely something would come from this? Kanemoto though flew out weakly to short, his timing completely awry. Arai flew out to left and Brazell went right for his fly out. Throughout all this Toritani remained locked on second. Kurihara led off the Carp's fourth with his second walk - it was almost as if Shimoyanagi and Yano were afraid of him. McClain hit to left and this brought up Phillips. His first pitch was nice and inviting so he hit it for a home run 3-0 Carp. Terrible pitching by Shimoyanagi but then he can't locate as well as he used to and for a pitcher of his velocity this is fatal. The next three batters fell in order but Hiroshima were well set. Lewis then protected the lead nicely retiring the Tigers batters 1-2-3 in the fifth. Shimoyanagi managed to dead ball Amaya in the Carp fifth but nothing came of this. Tigers sixth gave the hint of a revival. Hirano engineered a bunt hit to short. Kanemoto walked and then Arai hit to left to load the bases. Once again it would have been worth it for Hirano to try for home. This brought up Brazell who grounded out to first but Carp messed this up and this time Hirano was home 3-1 Carp. Katsuragi struck out looking to end the innings. Amazingly Mayumi brought Shimoyanagi back for the Carp's sixth. This proved the nail in the coffin for Tigers chances. McClain led off with a solo home run 4-1 Carp. Then Phillips hit a nice two base to centre, runner on second with no outs. At this point Mayumi realised he should have replaced Shimoyanagi and brought on Watanabe. Egusa was the right pitcher for this situation but Mayumi has shown himself totally unaware of this. Kokubo grounded out taking Phillips to third and then Ishihara hit a sacrifice fly 5-0 Carp. Kida (pinch hitter) walked. He tried to steal second but was thrown out.

Lewis was replaced at the end of the Tigers sixth and the new pitcher was Hayato Aoki. He struck out Yano and was then replaced by Takahiro Aoki in a move of utter pointlessness. Tigers pinch hitter Lin was switched for Asai who was dead balled by Takahiro Aoki. Management of Tigers seventh by Brown was strange and could have backfired more than it actually did. Hirano grounded out and then Schultz replaced Takahiro Aoki. He immediately gave up a hit to Takahashi (pinch hitter) to set up runners on first and third. Mizuta (pinch running for Takahashi) which brought up Toritani who had his third two base hit of the game driving in both runners 5-3 Carp, runner on second and the Tigers back in contention. Once again something was needed from Kanemoto but he struck out looking to end the innings. For Carp's seventh Egusa took the mound and he much prefers Kanoh to Yano. The first two outs fell easily but then Amaya hit to centre. He stole second and Yano's calling went to pieces. Rather than let Egusa strike out Kurihara on his own he tried to engineer it and ended up walking the Carp first. McClain who was having a good night then hit to left (once again and exposing Yano's calling as ill considered) driving in a run 6-3 Carp. Finally Phillips grounded out to end the inings. Tigers eighth was quiet as Schultz retired the Tigers batters in order. Cheng replaced Egusa and also had problems with Yano. Kokubo led off the innings with a hit and was bunted to second. Then Shima (pinch hitter) hit a two base to left driving in the run 7-3 Carp, runner on second. Shima decided to try and steal first but was thrown out and Higashide struck out to end the innings. Nagakawa pitched Tigers ninth and started by walking Yano. Two outs later Hiyama hit to right and then some poor fielding allowed the runners to advance to second and third. This time Toritani flew out to end the innings. Carp victory.

This time the victory was attributalbe to good play by the Carp batters. Brown's management of the seventh could have been disastrous but he got away with it. Carp's batters fought hard and kept the score ticking over. Poor calling by Yano was also a significant factor with most of Carp's scoring shots coming from hits to left. It really is time he goes back down to the second team and Komiyama and Shimizu are brought up to get playing time. Kanoh, not Yano is Tigers best catcher and this needs to be acknowledged. Kanemoto also needs to go down with Arai moving to four. Abe needs to be brought back up with Kojima, Ishikawa and Uezono. If Tigers coaches can bring Nohmi's potential out they can do it with these guys.