April 3rd Uezono v Chen - Tigers get it wrong

Whilst Andoh detoriorated significantly Uezono improved very much over his first start. He was economical and in control and very astute. However, Mayumi, Johjima and Arai errors would doom Tigers to a close defeat. Once again Dragons showed their strength - this is a side which can shed prominent match winners and still remain formidable. Tigers can learn a lot from them. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ibata (Second)
2. Cesar (Centre)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Matsui (Right)
7. Oyama (Catcher)
8. Iwasaki (Short)
9. Chen (Pitcher)

Murton who is really proving a boon to the Tigers led off with a walk. However, he stayed on first for the entire innings as no one converted. Morino hit a two base to left in Dragons first but as there were two outs it was fairly straightforward for Uezono to get the final out. Tigers batters fell 1-2-3 in the second but Dragons batters managed more. Wada hit a two base and a ground out from Matsui moved him to third.Oyama then hit a deep sacrifice fly to centre and it was 1-0 Dragons. Iwasaki flew out and that innings was over with a slender lead for the home team. Tigers third, once again, saw the batters fall in order. The same happened in Dragons third with no runner troubling the field.

Chen faced Yamato in the Tigers fourth and he hit to centre. Next batter was Toritani who hit back at Chen - the ball was deflected for a two base and Yamato showed a lot of speed in getting home 1-1 scores tied. No doubt annoyed with himself, Chen made sure that Toritani stayed on second by retiring the next three batters. We then have no change until the Dragons sixth - both pitchers were in control and batters fell 1-2-3 in the innings. The Dragons sixth saw Chen lead off. He managed a two base hit to left which no doubt surprised everyone. However, one out later Cesar flew out to Toritani who was able to catch Chen off base and end the innings.

Chen returned for Tigers seventh and with two out gave up a right field home run to Johjima 2-1 Tigers. That was the only score of the innings though and now Tigers needed to hold the lead. Mayumi set about ensuring that wouldn't happen. Uezono returned for the Dragons seventh and gave up a lead off hit to Morino. Here Mayumi panicked and replaced Uezono with Egusa. Whilst the choice of Egusa was not a bad one in itself there was really no need to replace Uezono. He had thrown only 64 pitches and he had been in control for most of the match. In fact he had pitched far better than Chen. However, on the choice of Egusa maybe Kubota would have been a more logical decision as well. Egusa started by throwing a wild pitch which took Morino to second. He then walked Blanco before facing Wada. Wada's first pitch was hittable and was duly dispatched to left, runner home scores tied 2-2, runners on first and second. At this point Mayumi decided that maybe Egusa wasn't such a good idea and called for Kubota. Kubota showed how it should be done. Firstly Fujii (pinch hitter) grounded out to first locking the runners on first and second and then Oyama was induced to hit into a double play ending the innings. Efficient and ruthless pitching which extinguished any hope of a lead. Asao was the pitcher for Tigers eighth and he started with a hit to Sakurai. However, Sekimoto (replacement first) who hasn't been playing well hit into a double play and the chance was gone. Murton struck out looking and the scores remained the same. Kubota returned for Dragons eighth and was once again in control striking out two of the three batters he faced. Whilst it worked one hopes that Kubota will not be over-pitched like he has been before. Tigers ninth saw Yamato walk but another double play took care of that chance. Kanemoto flew out and the innings was over. For Dragons ninth Mayumi chose Messenger who's still learning. He wasn't helped by an Arai error with the first batter he faced - Cesar. Then he gave up a hit to Morino which set up runners on first and third with no outs. A very ominous situation to be in. Johjima didn't help things by deciding to deliberately walk Blanco to load the bases with no outs. Very few pitchers can deal with this sort of situation (Nohmi is one) and Messenger couldn't either. There are so many options open to the batting side, especially if its the Dragons. Wada was next and hit a sacrifice fly to centre off his second pitch - sayonara run, 3-2 Dragons victory.

Dragons took the series and a fine performance by Uezono had been wasted. Mayumi's decision to replace Uezono was a panic move and unnecessary. If he left Uezono in the likelihood of the pitcher getting out of the innings without damage was high. Uezono had enough left in the tank which also would have meant Kubota in the eighth and Fujikawa in the ninth and a victory. With no Woods to face Fujikawa owns the Dragons lineup. Johjima also should not have walked Blanco which put unnecessary pressure on his pitcher and handed the initiative to the Dragons. All in all the game was poorly handled by the Tigers but well handled by the Dragons who used their chances well. But, it is important to remember this is the sort of game that the Tigers need to win if they want to have a shot at the pennant.