May Day Standridge v Muranaka - Hors de Combat

Tigers switched pitchers and Standridge who had been rained out took the place of Shimoyanagi. Perhaps Mayumi should have stuck with Shimoyanagi as Standridge had problems. Chief among these problems is an inability to find the edge of the zone which Standridge likes to do a lot. Failure to do so means that he has to pitch inside the zone and he's not so effective when he does so. This generated trouble but even so Mayumi's pitching changes were not intelligent and Swallows were able to pull off the victory. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Whitesell (First)
4. Hatakeyama (Left)
5. Balentien (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Aikawa (Catcher)
8. Kawabata (Short)
9. Muranaka (Pitcher)

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

After the failed experiment of putting Aikawa in the No. 5 batting position Swallows dropped him down the lineup to a more natural No. 7. However, they had to battle injuries for the victory. Standridge started the first with Aoki grounding out. He then walked both Tanaka and Whitesell and set up runners on first and second - a presage of what was to come. This innings he was lucky as Hatakeyama hit straight to Toritani for the double play to end the innings. Muranaka started Tigers first comfortably retiring the first two batters but then walking Toritani. Here he ran into trouble possibly straining his side but he couldn't continue and lef the mound. Matsui replaced him and faced Arai who positively murdered his first pitch - hammering it into the right centre stand for a two run home run 2-0 Tigers. Brazell followed with a fly out to end the innings but the start had been good. Standridge though rapidly wasted the lead. Swallows batters rapidly figured out that he was vulnerable to waiting and left the outside the zone pitches and went after Standridge when he had to come into the zone. First was Balentien who on a full count hit a nice solo home run 2-1 Tigers. Miyamoto struck out but then both Aikawa and Kawabata hit to set up runners on first and second. The double play was on and Standridge tried to lure Matsui into this. He almost succeeded. Matsui bunted and Johjima threw to third for the out. Arai then threw to first but Matsui had just been able to beat the throw and was safe with another runner on second. Standridge continued to struggle and was hit by Aoki into centre for the tying run 2-2 runners on first and second. Tanaka hit to load the bases and it seemed Standridge was all over the place. He finally got Whitesell to fly out to Kanemoto but it hadn't been an encouraging piece of pitching. Swallows had taken full advantage of some poor pitching. Matsui after his wobbles in the first was secure in the second and Tigers batters fell in order. Hatakeyama led off Swallows third with a hit but then Standridge resorted to getting the batters to fly out and managed the next three outs safely. Tigers third started quietly with two batters falling but then HIrano worked a walk. He stole second on a wild pitch but Toritani tried to bounce one over Matsui and failed falling as the final out.

Swallows fourth saw some decent pitching from Standridge and the batters fell in order. In Tigers fourth Kanemoto managed a two out hit but Johjima grounded out to second - Tanaka being rock solid this game and the innings was over. Standridge after his relative security of the third and fourth disintergrated in the Swallows fifth. With one out Whitesell hit to right. Hatakeyama lined out straight to Toritani but here Standridge couldn't get the final out. His pitching style was to shave the corners and he just wasn't succeeding. Balentien walked to set up runners on first and second which brought up Miyamoto who has been hitting well. He jammed one past Standridge into centre for a timely hit 3-2 Swallows runners on first and second. Aikawa tried to hit to right but flew out to end the innings. However Tigers were now behind after such a bright start. Matsui started Tigers fifth by getting Shunsuke to ground out - Shunsuke was ineffective all game. Lin (Pinch hitter - Mayumi wisely deciding that Standridge would be incapable of pitching the sixth) hit his first pitch to right for a single. Matsui seems to have pulled a muscle in his leg at this stage as he pulled up and lef the mound for treatment. He returned several minutes later but then after one practice pitch limped off the ground unable to pitch. Kyuko replaced him, more from necessity than from choice. After his disaster of the day before Swallows management was very reluctant to use him but this time he kept things simple and focused on the task in hand. It didn't start out too well as Murton hit to left to set up runners on first and second. However Hirano flew out in foul ground and Toritani hit straight to Tanaka at second and the innings was scoreless. Kojima was the pitcher for Swallows sixth and did very well striking out Iihara (pinch hitter) looking with some very nice pitching. He then had a fascinating battle with Aoki before getting the Swallows centre to line out to Toritani to end the innings. Tigers sixth saw Oshimoto on the mound and he gave up a lead off hit to Arai. This came to nothing as first Brazell struck out and then Kanemoto hit into a double play to end the innings.

Swallows seventh and Kojima returned. Tanaka led the innings off by grounding out to first but then Whitesell walked. This was poor judgement by the umpire as with the count on 2-2 Kojima struck Whitesell out looking - in fact the previous two balls had been very close but the third ball was a definite strike. Once again an umpire had failed. Mayumi panicked and brought on Fukuhara, Kojima looked very displeased as well he might. Swallows switched Whitesell for Fukuuchi (pinch runner). With Hatakeyama at the plate Tigers were ready for the steal and in fact Johjima picked the right ball. Toritani was at second and the pitch was good but Johjima dropped the ball and failed to even make the throw. Fukuuchi was safe on second and Hatakeyama drove the ball nicely into centre bringing home Fukuuchi 4-2 Swallows runner on first. Poor play by the Tigers catcher - he needs to tighten up his handling and transferring of the ball. Next was Balentien who took a wild swing at his first pitch. This flew off the bat and just landed inside the right foul post for a two run home run. A total fluke but it put the Swallows 6-2 up and in a commanding position. The next two batters grounded out to end what had been a very unlucky innings for the Tigers. However, given that Swallows had been unlucky the night before one could say that this was payback. Tigers seventh was quiet with the batters falling in order. Enokida pitched the Swallows eighth and did well striking out two and getting Aoki to line out to him. He is much better as a second string reliever than a first line example. Matsuoka took Tigers eighth and gave up a lead off hit to Murton. However, nothing came of this with a Toritani double play ending the innings. Surprisingly we saw Watanabe in Swallows ninth and if anyone should be inserted to support KKK it is him and not Enokida. He retired his batters in order and was safe and secure. Tiger ninth was pitched by Barnette. With two batters out he gave up a two base hit to Kanemoto but then Johjima swung to early and flew out to Aikawa to end the innings. Swallows victory.

The pitching change hadn't worked and Tigers pitching coaches do need to look at Standridge's pitching around the edge of the zone. Here he is struggling. Swallows won the game and had derserved their victory, taking their chances well and exploiting Standridges weaknesses well. They had also handled their collapsing pitching with considerable coolness. Tigers had taken the series though and the batting has picked up a bit. Toritani and Brazell still need to play with more urgency though.