August 24th Kubo v Shinoda - 4/10 - must try harder

The dates for the rescheduled games have been released and it's clear that a big chance has been missed. The two potentially vital Tigers/Giants games at Koshien have been allocated to the 28th and 29th September whilst Tigers last game is a contest against Yokohama on 7th October and Giants last game is against Swallows on 8th October. Surely, it would have been better to put the Tigers/Giants games as the last games of the season? What better way to provide a great climax to the season especially if both teams are still in with a chance? As it is we have a load of irrelevant games following the important clash which if they were before the two games would have much more significance. Surely, someone in NPB understands the significance of marketing? It seems not.
The game at Kyocera Dome was a disappointment both in management and batting terms. Tigers should have never lost to this second rate outfit and allowing Shima to hit a home run was really plumbing the depths. Neither Kyuji Fujikawa or Johjima come out of that mess with any credit and Mayumi rightly looked furious. He may have screwed up earlier but Tigers didn't play well against frankly inferior opposition. Kubo was poor again and really is struggling - his pitching looks tired and he doesn't seem to be able to raise his game. Once again that non-batter Shinoda was allowed to drive in a run. All his RBIs have been against Tigers - they really do pitch badly to this non-entity (batting wise). Mayumi though compounded the situation by pitching Kubo into the sixth when he had already thrown 103 pitches and was clearly tired. It was inviting Carp back into the game. The teams wore their retro uniforms again - why not in the Giants series? Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp    0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 5 14 1
Tigers  3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4  8 0

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. Kimura (Second)
3. Amaya (Centre)
4. Kurihara (Third)
5. Shima (Left)
6. Hirose (Right)
7. Iwamoto (First)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Shinoda (Pitcher)

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

Kubo's first innings was a curate's egg. Yes he did strike out two looking but he also gave up a three base hit to Kimura. Signs of what was to come. Shinoda though was shown up in his first innings. With Murton out HIrano hit to short and made first safely. Toritani then hit on a full count to left for a two run home run 2-0 Tigers. Arai hit a two base but Brazell flew out. His production recently is down and he needs to start hitting again and not swinging so wildly. Kanemoto was next and he also hit a two base - this was a bad pitch but it brought home Arai 3-0 Tigers, runner on second. Johjima flew out but the innings had been very nice for Tigers. Kubo though couldn't hold it. He needed to retire the batters in order and faced a collection of non-entities. However, he is tired and it shows. He walked Hirose with one out and then gave up a two run home run to Iwamoto 3-2 Tigers - something that shouldn't have happened but which indicated poor pitching. The next two batters struck out but a nice comfortable situation had been almost blown. Shusuke Fujikawa then led off Tigers with a hit. Then Kubo hit and Tigers had runners on first and third. Murton hit a sacrifice fly which you felt was maybe a bit of a waste in the situation but still it was a run 4-2 Tigers, runner on first. Kubo stayed on first until Toritani walked but Arai struck out swinging to end the innings. The lead was back to two runs but there was a sinking feeling in the stomach that Tigers would struggle to hold it. In fact after this innings Tigers batting was really lazy and pathetic, they generated two more hits against the second weakest pitching offense in the Central League. Kubo continued to struggle - Soyogi led off Carp's third with a two base hit. Carp would hit a lot of extra base hits of Kubo but not off Tigers relief. He was bunted to second by Kimura and things looked dangerous. They looked even more dangerous when Amaya walked. Kurihara was next and he lined out straight to Arai which was a stroke of luck. Finally, Shima flew out to short to end the innings and Tigers had escaped. Even so, Kubo was having to work very hard. Tigers third was not good. Brazell and Kanemoto both grounded out and both weakly. Both batters need to apply themselves more especially Kanemoto who despite his recent runs still does not look suitable for No. 6. Johjima hit a grounder and the inevitable Carp error allowed him to reach first. Shinoda then deliberately walked Shunsuke Fujikawa to get at Kubo who this time grounded out to short to end the innings.

Kubo's struggles continued in Carp's fourth. He got the first two outs and then relaxed and gave up a hit to Kura - runner on first. Shinoda was next and he hit his second pitch to left centre - Kubo had thrown another bad pitch. Kura scampered home to a run that should have never happened had brought the score to 4-3 Tigers, runner on second. Soyogi hit to centre but Kimura grounded out to end the innings. Tigers fourth was very poor and the batting failed. Murton struck out - some truely bad batting. Hirano walked showing what could be done but then Mayumi signalled the steal and Hirano was out as Toritani struck out. The innings was over. Carp's fifth contained three strike outs but these sandwiched a hit to Kurihara and a walk to Shima. Still, they were an indication of what a fully fit and consistent Kubo would have been able to do to the Carp's batters. Brazell produced a hit in Tigers fifth which they then wasted - neither Kanemoto or Johjima responding appropriately. Kubo returned for Carp's sixth which was just asking for trouble. The impression you get is that pitch count or what actually happens in the innings before plays no bearing on Mayumi's judgment. The fact that Carp's lesser batters had been hitting extra base hits should have served as a warning as should the 103 pitches already thrown. Kubo has been, perhaps, the most abused of Tigers pitchers and he is finding it difficult to pitch at the required level with any consistency. It is a recipe for disaster. Kura demonstrated this by hitting his first pitch to left for a two base. Shinoda flew out to second which is what should have happened on the previous occasion and then Soyogi hit his first pitch along the first baseline for another two base 4-4 scores tied, runner on second. This was the end of Kubo who shouldn't have been pitching the sixth anyway and Egusa took the mound. Kimura bunted to third and luckily beat the throw to set up runners on first and third. Egusa then induced Amaya to hit into a double play and end the innings. Tigers then wasted their sixth innings. Shunsuke Fujikawa grounded out to third off his second pitch - waiting would have been better but even so it would be nice to see Lin, Sakurai or Asai in that position - they have more power and Asai is fast enough and mobile enough for centre. Sakurai (pinch hitter) was next and he swung at his first pitch and flew out - waiting would have been better. Murton did wait and was unlucky to fly out to left and end the innings.

Nishimura pitched Carp's seventh and started with a lead off hit to Kurihara. However, he kept the runner locked on first and retired the next three batters. Shinoda started Tigers seventh by beaning Hirano. Of course, that was immediate ejection but Hirano was able to continue and seemed to be OK. Ohshima took the mound and Tigers fans spirits lifted - Tigers were into Carp's relief but even that did not motivate the lazy batters. In a move of stunning stupidity, Mayumi then had Toritani bunt him to second. It was a real waste of an out. Arai was next and walked - a disguised deliberate walk but Tigers had runners on first and second with Brazell and Kanemoto next. Neither did what they should and both struck out surrendering weakly to a mediocre pitcher. Nishmura returned for Carp's eighth and one wondered what Mayumi was thinking - having overpitched one pitcher he was now planning to overpitch another? There was no need to ask Nishimura to go another innings. Kura led off with a centre hit and then Ishii (pinch hitter) hit to left - runners on first and second. Soyogi grounded out to Nishimura for the force out at third but there were still runners on first and second. This brought Kubota to the mound - one wonders why he didn't start the innings? He immediately made a difference striking out T. Maeda (pinch hitter) and then getting Amaya to snatch at his first pitch and fly out in foul ground to Johjima. For Tigers eighth the Carp pitcher was Chulk and once again Tigers batting was poor. Mayumi used Lin as a pinch hitter as third batter when Sekimoto or Hiyama would have been the better option in this situation. But none of Tigers batters could be said to have covered themselves with glory. Kyuji Fujikawa took Carp's ninth and firstly got Kurihara to ground out to second. The next batter was Shima who received a 135 kmh forkball in the middle of the zone for his first pitch. This was a dreadful pitch and was hit into the right stand for a solo home run 5-4 Carp. Kyuji Fujikawa had made a big mess of things with a stupid pitch to a has-been batter. Shima is no Tyronne Woods and the out should have been a formality but it was indicative of Tigers performance that night. The next two batters flew out and we moved to Tigers ninth. The game wasn't lost yet and would be closed by Yokoyama who isn't such a great challenge. Yokoyama got Murton and Hirano to ground out but then walked Toritani. Arai hit to left which set up runners on first and second with two outs and Brazell next. He blew the chance - flying out to centre off his second pitch. Game over and Carp victory.

Whilst not a big loss in the scheme of things - Giants are back to No. 1 now by one game but this can be overturned - the nature of the loss was frustrating. Tigers were expected to win and in fact the NHK report on the game showed the Tigers logo as the game winner on its introduction but the report indicated that Carp had won. Tigers had squandered a nice lead and Mayumi had mismanaged things again. However, the concern was the batting which did not perform as it should have. This is a batting side and it was hardly faced with a strong pitching lineup but like the games against the Giants it just gave up. The first two innings showed what could be done but then after that nothing. This is a worrying aspect - with Tigers pitching as fragile as it is the batting cannot take a holiday. Brazell, Murton, Toritani and Johjima all need to lift their performances. Tonight we have Andoh scheduled to start and one can only hope he is on form. It was bad enough to lose in this manner to such an abject side like the Carp it would be really humiliating to lose a series to them.