June 1st Standridge v Darvish - Darvish supreme

Jim Allen's article on charging the pitcher on today's Daily Yomiuri website is well worth a read. It's a very interesting perspective especially as Japanese players don't tend to charge the catchers in the same way MLB players do even though catchers are just as guilty in blocking the plate. ESPN even has a video article on how to charge a catcher - quite interesting. On to the game and this was always going to be a difficult challenge as Darvish is pitching supremely well and Tigers are batting supremely badly. They did beat Darvish last year but they were a much more motivated outfit. Tigers pitching this game was much better and much more focused but even so they escaped with a lot of luck. Fighters did waste quite a few chances which the earlier Fighters would have taken but can safely be said to have outplayed Tigers. Tigers record for May was a dreadful 7-16 and they have now been scoreless for 20 innings, it does look like another long run of scoreless innings is developing. Kobayashi is looking less and less like a top team pitcher and one thinks he needs a spell in the second team as a rest. None of the sidelined relievers of last season have yet made an appearance and Mayumi's bulllpen is not firing at all. Tigers face the hot Hawks at Koshien for the next interleague series and really need to do something drastic if they are to have a chance of winning. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Starting pitcher: Standridge

Fighters
1. Tanaka (Second)
2. Yoh (Right)
3. Itoi (Centre)
4. Nakata (Left)
5. Inaba (First)
6. Hoffpauir (DH)
7. Imanami (Third)
8. Ohno (Catcher)
9. Iiyama (Short)

Starting pitcher: Darvish

Tigers first was not auspicious, Murton struck out in three, Hirano struck out, Toritani flying out. Standridge didn't start so well and as usual this season had control issues. He threw three dead balls and hit Ohno, Fighter's catcher twice. Why he had to do that to poor Ohno I don't know? OK - brush the batter back from the plate but don't hit him. If you can't control the pitch don't throw it. Anyway with one out in Fighters first, Standridge walked Yoh and then came his first dead ball - Itoi - runners on first and second. Nakata struck out and then Inaba flew out to right and the innings was over. Tigers had escaped their first threat. Tigers second also saw the batters fall in order, Brazell being the last batter. He has been switched with Johjima (for good performance etcetera, etcetera) but Kanemoto has been left at five. In Fighters second Ohno picked up his first dead ball with two out and then made second on a wild pitch. Like I said Standridge has control problems. Iiyama hit to centre and Ohno went for home but was tagged out at the plate due to a great throw by Shibata. He has made an impact in centre and is possibly on his way to supplanting Shunsuke as the regular for that position. Another escape for the Tigers. Tigers third and their first chance. Johjima led off swinging at his first pitch and was out - same old, same old. Lin hit his second pitch to short and beat the throw to first. He then stole second which was rather surprising and welcome and advanced to third on a Darvish wild pitch. This was very enterprising work and just needed a sacrifice fly for the lead. It was not to be - Shibata worked hard but struck out on a full count and then Murton struck out in three - Darvish may indeed be one of the enemy but the pitching was beautiful to watch. Fighters third was quiet with no runners reaching base and was a good innings by Standridge.

Toritani hit a single to left with one out in Tigers fourth. Arai struck out and with Kanemoto at the plate Toritani tried to steal second. He's actually faster than Lin but this one didn't work and a smart throw by Ohno saw him tagged out to end the innings. In Fighter fourth Hoffpauir had a two out hit but didn't get beyond first. So far honours had been remarkably even though Fighters did have a slight advantage. Brazell was the next Tigers batter to hit with one out in the fifth. He was forced out by Johjima but Lin also grounded out to end the chance. Ohno led off Fighters fifth with his second dead ball. One has to say stupid pitching by Standridge especially as he also walked Tanaka to set up runners on first and second with only one out. Luckily for Tigers, Fighters couldn't convert and the innings was scoreless. Tigers last hit came in their sixth. A two out single to centre from Hirano. Darvish struck out Toritani and after that the Tigers batting gave up. Mayumi decided that five innings were enough for Standridge which was very generous of him. Standridge had issued too many dead balls and not been in control so it was a wise move. It almost went wrong as Enokida, his replacement, wasn't particularly good. He started with a two base hit to Nakata. Inaba bunted him to third. Nioka (pinch hitter) was deliberately walked to set up the double play. Ugumori (pinch hitter) struck out though and then Enokida walked Ohno to load the bases. Enokida faced Iiyama in a similar situation to that of Fukuhara the night before. This time lightning didn't strike twice and Iiyama struck out swinging to end the innings and let the Tigers off the hook.

Tigers seventh was a formality and they wouldn't generate any base runners. All three batters were very quickly back in the dugout. Enokida started the Fighters seventh and retired Tanaka but then walked Yoh. Itoi flew out in foul ground and Mayumi decided to switch to Kobayashi for the final out. This was straightforward, Nakata flying out to second. Tigers eighth saw Johjima lead off by flying out to first off his first pitch. This swinging at the first pitch he sees is getting embarrassing and someone needs to have a chat with him about it. Both Lin and Shibata grounded out to end the innings. Fighters eighth was also pitched by Kobayashi. Inaba flew out but then Nioka walked. Kaneko (replacement short) hit to left - runners on first and third. Next was Ohno and he got his well deserved revenge for the two dead balls driving the ball to left for a timely hit 1-0 Fighters, runners on first and second. Kobayashi is not pitching well at all - it was only one run but in such a tight game it was the killer blow. Iiyama grounded out to third which allowed the runners to move round to second and third. This was the end of Kobayashi and Kojima was brought on for the final out of the innings. This was Tanaka who flew out to short to end the innings. Of course, with a one run deficit Tigers theoretically had a chance but with the way Darvish was pitching this wasn't a realistic prospect. Murton hit his first pitch to right - he had been completely dominated by Darvish. HIrano went next hitting straight back to Darvish. Then finally Toritani who swung and flew out to third. Fighters victory.

Darvish had thrown a complete game shutout with only 102 pitches. Fighters batters had wasted a lot of chances but come through with the run when it mattered. Tigers don't have any plans to send Kobayashi to the second team at the moment but this is something they should think about doing. Bringing Tsuru or Tsutsui up might well be worthwhile though given the situation between Mayumi and his pitchers it might well be a futile gesture. Could Tigers have won this game? Their only chance came in the third where they had the chance of at least a run. Failing to take the chance doomed them to defeat. Tigers simply aren't playing well enough at the moment and do need to play at a much higher level to win these games. They are not currently at the level to compete with stronger teams and only a change in management will bring this about.