August 3rd Standridge v Greisinger - Squandered Opportunities

It is not that Giants are back on top that is the disappointing thing about this game - like the Tigers lead, 0.5 of a game is nothing. It is rather that Tigers failed to bat sensibly against a replacement pitcher and wasted good scoring opportunities. A failure to wait and watch meant that the first available pitch was swung at with the inevitable out. Nomaguchi was very vulnerable but was allowed to escape without damage. Tigers batters only have themselves to blame for this and for wasting the great opportunity that Greisinger's retirement presented them with. Of course, the Andoh home run was not helpful but by then the game was won for the Giants and even without it the result would have been the same. Basically, the batting needs to be much better next time round.

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 11 0
Giants  0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 X 6  8 1

Starting lineups

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

Giants
1. Sakamoto (Short)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Ogasawara (Third)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Kamei (Right)
6. Edgar (First)
7. Wakiya (Second)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Greisinger (Pitcher)

This was Greisinger's first start of the season and he was a bit rusty. Toritani led off Tigers first with a hit and was bunted to second by Hirano. This was a more conservative approach than of late. Murton grounded out which moved Toritani to third but then Arai flew out to right and the innings was scoreless. Standridge started well but dead balled Ogasawara with two out. Ramirez grounded out nicely to third and the first innings was over without any score. Greisinger's game ended in Tigers second though. He faced Brazell as lead off and the Tigers baseman's hit cannoned off his leg and into the right field for a single. Greisinger needed treatment and after returning a couple of practice pitches convinced him that he couldn't continue. He was replaced by Nomaguchi but on the face of it this was a big blow for the Giants. Kanemoto grounded out forcing out Brazell, runner on first. Johjima tried to hit to third but only succeeded in hitting into a double play to end the innings. Standridge wasn't at his best this game either and he gave up a lead off hit to Kamei in Giants second. Wakiya hit to third but Arai was unable to make up his mind where to throw and the Giants had runners on first and second. Tsuruoka then also hit into a double play to end the innings. Tigers then made a real mess of the third. Asai led off with a hit. Standridge managed to engineer a double play - a bunt to left or right was all that was needed. Toritani hit a nice two base but then Hirano flew out to left - hitting with runners on is not his strong point. Giants third was nice and straightforward with the batters going down in order.

Tigers fourth saw another mess after the situation had been set up for them so nicely. Murton was dead balled to lead off the innings. Brazell hit to centre to set up runners on first and second and then Kanemoto did what he does best at the moment which is pick up a walk to load the bases. The chances were good. Johjima swung far too wildly and flew out to short off his second pitch. Then Asai hit his second pitch into centre where Matsumoto took the catch and the chance was gone. Both Johjma and Asai needed to wait for Nomaguchi to make a mistake but instead they let him off the hook. With Tigers wasting chances one had to hope that Giants would do the same but it was not to be. Ogasawara seized on a loose pitch in Giants fourth and put it over the right wall for a lead off solo home run 1-0 Giants. The next three batters though did swing too soon and were rapidly out to end the innings. A one run deficit was dispiriting but not fatal. In fact Tigers had an immediate chance to rescue the situation. Standridge flew out to start off their fifth and then Toritani walked. HIrano bunted which was messed up by the Giants and Tigers had runners on first and second. This became runners on second and third as Tigers worked a double steal. So far the innings was looking promising and it was almost a certainty that the Tigers would draw level. Murton though hit a liner straight to Nomaguchi who not only held the ball but fired it to third to catch Toritani off base. He was tagged out as he tried to dive for safety and the innings was over. Murton really isn't suitable for third (even though he is a fine player) and his shot selection showed the general poor choices the Tigers batters made throughout this game. A sacrifice fly would have been the much better option in this situation. Giants then proceeded to take advantage of this profligacy with a nicely constructed fifth. The first two outs were ground outs to third but then Standridge dead balled Kudo (pinch hitter). Sakamoto walked and Matsumoto hit to Standridge who couldn't take the ball and allowed it into centre. One runner was home 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Ogasawara then hit nicely into centre for another run 3-0 Giants, runners on first and third. Finally, Ramirez flew out to second to end the innings. Giants were now comfortable and looked like they would win. Kubo pitched Tigers sixth and finally, Tigers put a run on the board. Arai led the innings off with a two base hit. Brazell flew out to centre and Kanemoto managed another walk. Johjima, this time hit to left to bring Arai home 3-1 Giants, runners on first and second. Asai grounded out to short which forced out Johjima but left Kanemoto on third and Asai on first. This was the moment for a pinch hitter and Mayumi put in Lin but he struck out to end the innings. Fujihara replaced Standridge - it hadn't been the latters best outing but he hadn't pitched too badly. Fujihara did very well retiring the batters in order.

Tigers seventh was quiet - Hara brought on Abe as catcher which meant a much needed improvement in calling for the Giants. All three batters were out easily but once again swinging too quickly and not waiting. For Giants seventh Fujihara got the first out and then was replaced by Andoh, hardly the pitcher one would want in this situation. Tigers currently have three catchers and they don't need three. If Shimizu was dropped down to the second team and Andoh with him the bullpen could be strengthened by two more pitchers. This is getting a point of urgency, Mayumi is trying to operate a bullpen with too few pitchers in it and Andoh doesn't seem to be pulling out of his funk. He got Chono (pinch hitter) to line out but then Sakamoto hit to right and Matsumoto walked, runners on first and second with two outs. Fortunately for Andoh Ogasawara lined out to Brazell to end the innings. Micheal started Tigers eighth and Hara rapidly realised what a mistake this was as he gave up a hit to Arai. He was quickly replaced by Yamaguchi. The Giants pitcher then managed to give up a hit to Kanemoto - runners on first and second with one out. Once again Johjima was too quick with his shot and flew out and whilst Asai waited he grounded out to end the innings. Andoh returned for Giants eighth and got the first two outs but then couldn't get the third. Edgar hit to left. Wakiya walked and this brought Abe to the plate. He hit his 32nd home run of the season - a three run 6-1 Giants and this time the game was out of sight. Finally Yamaguchi struck out to end the innings. Tigers ninth saw Toritani hit a two base with one out. Hirano's ground out took him to third and then Murton hit to left driving in a run 6-2 Giants, runner on first. This brought a bit of Hara panic and he switched pitchers bringing on Ochi. However, before he had a chance to record an out Murton tried to steal second and was thrown out. End of game and Giants victory.

Tigers had wasted too many chances. Poor and inept batting had let the Giants escape too many times. Giants on the other hand had taken their chances very well. Tigers pitching had been reasonable apart from Andoh and Fujihara had shone this game. On the face of it Kanemoto had had a good game (one hit and two walks) but practically speaking he does need to improve his performance significantly. Johjima is more valuable to the team and really does need to be moved up the order with Kanemoto going down. Tigers started shi no rodo with a loss but this is not really of any relevance as they have done so before several times and still come out of August with a winning record. But their batting does need to be better if they want to achieve this, this year.