May 27th Fossum v Wakui - Not satisfactory

Whilst the last game was dull - this one had more excitement and thrills to make up for it. Unfortunately it was the Lions who supplied these not Tigers who were still in subdued mode. The scoreline was a bit flattering (the Lions benefited from a 9th innings Watanabe meltdown) but make no mistake the Lions controlled the game. Whether Fossum was the right pitcher for the night is also open to question - this was his second poor start in a row and maybe Uezono would have been better. This time Tigers fielding was poor and allowing a squeeze play was not very alert. The last of those against Tigers was either Golden Eagles or Fighters but I forget which side. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Lions
1. Kataoka (Second)
2. Kuriyama (Centre)
3. Nakajima (Short)
4. Nakamura (Third)
5. Brown (Left)
6. Takayama (Right)
7. Hirao (First)
8. Hosokawa (Catcher)

Tigers
1. Hirano (Second)
2. Saka (Short)
3. Murton (Centre)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Johjima (Catcher)
7. Katsuragi (Left)
8. Sakurai (Right)
9. Fossum (PItcher)

We saw the return of Saka to the top team in place of Toritani and Katsuragi at left. However, putting the ineffective Katsuragi in ahead of the much more effective Sakurai is strange. One can see the right-left-right arrangement of 6, 7, and 8 but really given that Katsuragi isn't hitting this is a minor consideration. It's better to put the more effective batter in at a higher position than worry about such things as the side he bats. Fossum started with a hit to Kataoka who then stole second as Kuriyama struck out. Nakajima hit to left and Kataoka was home 1-0 Lions, runner on first. That had all been very efficient and didn't bode well for the rest of the game. This impression continued with a walk to Nakamura - runners on first and second. Brown flew out but Takayama hit and it was 2-0 Lions runners on first and third. Takayama stole second showing a Lions playing with considerably more zip than the night before but Hirao struck out to end what had been a poor start by Fossum. Wakui started as Fossum should have, smoothly retiring the three batters he faced in order. In Lions second Kataoka came up to bat again with two out and this time hit a two base. However, Kuriyama couldn't convert and the innings ended scoreless. Tigers only run came in their second when Brazell took a loose pitch deep to right for a solo home run 2-1 Lions. This makes the seventh solo home run in a row that Brazell has hit. He does need to hit them with runners on. Lions third saw Fossum's best pitching retiring the Lions cleanup in order with no problems. Hirano hit a nice two base with two out but once again for him he was not converted. Tigers really do need to make use of these upper order extra base hits and produce runs from them.

Fossum got into more trouble with the Lions fourth partially to do with slackness as well. Takayama led off with a two base hit. He was bunted to third by Hirao but then Hosokawa also bunted and Takayama charged home being ruled safe for a successful squeeze play 3-1 Lions. Wakui grounded out but Lions were now in a comfortable position. Tigers tried to bounce back - Murton hit and then Brazell produced a two base which put the runners on second and third. Here Tigers had a real chance - all Johjima needed to do was hit a sacrifice fly but he chose to hit past Wakui who took a nice catch to prevent the run. Poor shot selection by the Tigers catcher. The next batter was Katsuragi and this is where the adherence of to a right-left-right order failed. If the batter is not playing well then it doesn't matter which side he bats - he is not going to hit in these situations. Katsuragi didn't hit and in fact flew out in foul ground. Sakurai might have been better in this situation and Tigers had wasted the opportunity. In Lions fifth Kuriyama hit with one out. He then made second on a delayed steel - Lions were definitely more aware. Nakamura was deliberately walked again but this time Brown flew out with the runners on first and second. Tigers fifth saw the batters fall in order. Uezono took over from Fossum for the Lions sixth and struck out the first two batters he faced. Hosokawa hit to right which should have been easy but Sakurai dropped the ball for an error - runner on second. This was not as serious as it seemed as the next batter was Wakui who duly struck out but the mistake was basic and shouldn't have happened. Tigers sixth was also quiet and Wakui was nicely in control.

Uezono's control drifted in the Lions seventh and he issued a lead off walk to Kataoka who promptly stole second. Kuriyama also walked and Lions had runners on first and second. Here a nice piece of fielding intervened. Nakajima flew out to centre and the throw to second was excellent catching Kataoka off base and there were two outs. Nakamura then grounded out to end the innings. Tigers seventh saw Wakui begin to tire. He walked Brazell but then Johjima hit into an inconvenient double play. Katsuragi hit but then Sakurai struck out to end the innings. The game had drifted away from the Tigers. Egusa pitched the Lions eighth and started by walking Brown. Brown tried to steal second which was wishful thinking in the extreme and of course he was out. Egusa retired the next two batters very comfortably and the innings was over. Watanabe decided to stretch Wakui for another innings which almost turned out to be Lions undoing. It's nice to see that Mayumi isn't the only coach who doesn't know his pitchers limits. Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out but then Hirano walked. Next Kanemoto (pinch hitter) also walked, then Murton - bases loaded with one out. Wakui was clearly tired and struggling with his control. Another walk would have meant a run and probably given the Tigers the momentum to take the lead. Instead after receiving one ball Arai hit to short for a 6-4-3 double play - ARRGH! This was really poor batting and Tigers last chance had gone. For Lions ninth we saw Watanabe who has steadily been deteriorating. This seems to be the situation for the Tigers relief pitchers, they start well but then deteriorate after a few games. Watanabe started by giving up a three base hit to Hosokawa - not the ideal way to get your innings going. He then walked Kataoka to set up runners on first and third with one out. Hirano's throw off Kuriyama's ground out was poor in the extreme and Hosokawa charged home 4-1 Lions, runners on second and third. Nakajima's hit brought another run home 5-1 Lions, runners on first and third then Nakamura walked to load the bases. T. Sato (replacement left) hit a sacrifice fly to centre 6-1 LIons, runners on first and third and then Takayama hit to load the bases again. Finally Hara grounded out but one can only call it an inept innings from Tigers. Tigers ninth was by contrast quiet - Hoshino started the innings and got Brazell to fly out to centre. He was then replaced by Onuma - Hoshino seems to be only trusted with one out a game. Johjima hit but the next two batters flew out to right and the game was over. Lions victory.

Tigers had not done well this game. They had failed to lift their play and had wasted two very good opportunities. Lions had played with more drive and style and had deserved their victory even though the final score was slightly flattering. Sakurai's errors in right are also a problem - he shouldn't be dropping straightforward fly balls like that. Tigers don't really have any plus marks from this game at all.