June 9th Standridge v Naruse - Fujii comes through

The problem with Johjima is ostensibly elbow related but also there is a punishment element (thanks Gen). Because Johjima hasn't been hitting recently he was taken out of the lineup and replaced by Fujii. Given that Fujii is not exactly a stellar hitter this defies logic and is symptomatic of the petty nastiness so often favoured by Japanese management. As if taking Johjima out is going to motivate him and make him play better. If there is a problem dropping him down to the second team would be the better option, giving him a chance to work on things. Our coaching team are pathetic and it explains the poisonous atmosphere the day before. The sooner Mayumi and his sycophants go the better.
Rather pleasingly Fujii didn't get the cold shoulder this game and in fact played a very good game. Some of his calling wasn't of the best but he generally got things right and formed a nice rapport with Standridge. Particularly impressive was the use of the inside line very effectively and Standridge's control was much better. Marines were once again abysmal and their fielding was a joke. Still due to the generosity of the scorers they came away from the game with no recorded errors (they made three). Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 5 13 0
Marines  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2  7 0

Starting lineups

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

Starting pitcher: Standridge

Marines
1. Okada (Centre)
2. Imae (Third)
3. Iguchi (Second)
4. TaeKyun (First)
5. Ohmatsu (Left)
6. Fukuura (DH)
7. Satozaki (Catcher)
8. Hosoya (Short)
9. Ishimine (Right)

Starting pitcher: Naruse

No doubt Marines hoped for a great performance from their ace Naruse to reestablish themselves. However, it was not to be and Naruse struggled. The game started late after some strange ceremonies but moved along very quickly. Tigers first looked bad - batters falling in order,, maybe the Marines were back. Standridge also started well but for the final out nearly blew it. He had rejected several calls from Fujii accepted one and then rejected it. Iguchi got hold of the pitch and hit high to left where Shunsuke took it right by the fence for the final out. Standridge and Fujii had a chat about this after the innings and in fact the only problem that would emerge from the session was that Fujii wanted Standridge to pitch lower, He kept on signaling this but it is doubtful it had much effect. Standridge did look like he was really enjoying the experience of pitching to Fujii though. Tigers second was interesting and Naruse was a bit too complacent in his pitching. With two down he faced Sekimoto. The Tigers second has been batting rather poorly of late but this time worked hard and hit to left. Next was Kanemoto and Naruse got himself into trouble throwing three balls in a row. He then had to throw strikes and after two sent a straight ball down the middle of the zone. Kanemoto is fading but he will hit that sort of pitch with his eyes shut. The ball was driven to right and hit the fence about 30 cm below the home run line. Sekimoto showed good application to round the bases for the first run 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Then came Fujii who drove his second pitch powerfully into centre. Kanemoto set off and showed an amazing turn of speed. One wouldn't have thought he had it in him. He rounded the bases and blistered for home sliding in as the ball arrived in Satozaki's glove - safe! Fujii used the focus on Kanemoto to move to second (nice work) and it was 2-0 Tigers. Shunsuke grounded out to short but Marines were reeling. Significantly, when Fujii returned to the dugout he was congratulated by his teammates, unlike the night before. TV coverage focused more on the Marines dugout this game and so we didn't see so much of the Tigers but Mayumi was shown when Fujii drove in his run. He looked as pleased as punch with a big smile on his face. That is really rare for Mayumi who is normally a miserable sod. Standridge then kept them scoreless in the bottom. He did walk Fukuura on a full count with two outs but then struck out Satozaki swinging with a nice curve. Tigers third started with a Murton hit to centre. Hirano bunted which as bunts go looked really pointless. Neither Toritani nor Arai did anything and Murton stayed on second. Marines third was quiet with two batters grounding out to Standridge.

Tigers fourth and Brazell drove his first pitch along the first baseline for a two base hit. Sekimoto struck out but Kanemoto hit to short. Hosoya made a real mess of the take and the ball bobbled around before Hosoya was able to pick it up and throw it Imae at third. However, Brazell slid in safely and Kanemoto was on first. Next was Fujii who blooped one up into right. Iguchi went back to take it but Ishimine called for it and Iguchi pulled away. Ishimine, though, didn't have the pace to reach the ball and the bounce was too high for him to take. Iguchi should have taken that one. It was a hit and as such Brazell was home 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Mayumi signaled a double steal but Kanemoto was tagged out at third with Fujii safe on second. The final batter of the innings Shunsuke grounded out to end the innings. Fujii suddenly had two RBIs to his name. TaeKyun walked in Marines fourth but nothing came of this as Ohmatsu grounded out. Tigers fifth saw another run - Murton struck out looking but Hirano hit to right. Toritani lined out to short and then Arai hit into right centre. Both Okada and Ishimine went for the ball which was probably the latters. Okada though didn't pull away and as a result the fielders almost collided. Of course they missed the ball which rolled away towards the fence. Hirano was home 4-0 Tigers and Arai was on third. Brazell hit into centre where this time Okada made the catch. Fielding errors had cost the Marines dearly and they looked more demoralized than the Tigers. Marines first hit came in their fifth. Prior to this their only base runners had been two walks. Hosoya hit nicely to left with two outs but once again the third batter was not able to do anything and the innings was scoreless. Naruse's tribulations continued in Tigers sixth. Sekimoto led off with a hit to centre - he was then pinch run for by Shibata. With Sekimoto having hit twice and shown good speed round the bases one would have thought he would have stayed on. Not with Mayumi who wanted a favourite on - even when he's getting things right, Mayumi is still Mayumi. Kanemoto flew out reverting to type and Naruse faced Fujii. It was obvious he was scared to take Fujii on and the Tigers catcher drew a walk. Shunsuke flew out for the second out but then Murton hit strongly to right and Shibata was home 5-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Hirano tried to hit over short but lined out to end the innings. Once again Marines were unable to respond and Standridge used a very effective inside line to strike out Okada.

Naruse didn't pitch Tigers seventh. He had lacked effectiveness and had been rather timid in his pitching. He had also thrown 112 pitches. Kobayashi took the mound and gave up a hit to centre to Toritani. However, the Tigers short didn't advance beyond first as the next three batters failed to do anything. By now the Marines were figuring out the patterns used by Fujii and Standridge and would take advantage of these in their seventh. First though TaeKyun grounded out to Standridge. Next was Ohmatsu who got hold of a low inside slider and hammered it into the left stand for a solo home run 5-1 Tigers. Fukuura hit to centre and Satozaki hit to right - runners on first and third. Standridge was tiring and Fujii's lack of creativity was causing problems. Hosoya was next and he hit into a short double play to end the innings though to be honest from the replays it looked as if he reached first safely. Still the innings was over and Standridge had escaped with minimal damage. Kobayashi pitched Tigers eighth and with one out walked Fujii. Shunsuke hit weakly back to the pitcher who was able to turn a double play - there was no doubt about this one. Tigers Kobayashi took the mound for Marines eighth and if other Tigers were now more welcoming of Fujii he still wasn't. He didn't go for strike outs this time and with two out gave up a hit to Imae. Iguchi was then induced to ground out and end the innings. Once again a bare acknowledgement of Fujii's congratulations. In Tigers ninth Hirano hit to centre but neither Toritani nor Arai did anything yet again and the innings was scoreless. Marines ninth was pitched by Kubota. This was surprising as he hasn't been used in the closer's role for a long long time and he was taken off it because he lacked the temperament. Here Fujii didn't do too well. TaeKyun was the batter and he received a slider which he hit into centre. It was the ball that Fujii had called for. Next was Ohmatsu who drew a full count walk after a 0-2 count - runners on first and second. Mayumi acted brutally fast and pulled Kubota who looked very unhappy. Maybe if left in he would have done the job but having complained enough about Mayumi leaving pitchers in too long it was good to see him acting quickly. Fujikawa replaced him and following Fujii's call also gave up a hit off his first pitch, bases loaded with no outs. Kyuji started by throwing two balls Satozaki and the Marines fans got even more excited. However, he was induced to fly out to right but not far enough away for a sacrifice and the first out was down. Here Mayumi decided to replace Brazell with Ryota Arai - what for? It was just unnecessary. Kohbe (pinch hitter) was next and he struck out swinging - the bases were still loaded but Tigers fans could start the ato hitori call. Next batter was Ishimine and with the count at 0-2 and the ato ikyu call competing with a Marines chance march Kyuji let go a wild pitch. This brought a runner home 5-2 Tigers, runners on second and third. It was not a good pitch and Fujii had no chance of stopping it. In addition it doesn't go on the culprit's record but on Kubota's Life isn't fair sometimes. The final pitch was an outside straight which Ishimine swung at - strike out. Tigers victory. This time Kyuji was much more friendly to Fujii who was also surrounded by friendly teammates as well.

An unnecessarily dramatic ninth but a good win for the Tigers. They can start to think about building a winning streak now. Fujii had had a cracking game and was rather overawed by his hero interview. Still he deserved it and had called a good game. It seems we'll be seeing a lot more of him as well as Johjima has been deactivated with elbow problems today. One hopes he can overcome his weaknesses (too predictable in his calling and not imaginative) Kyuji picked up his 12th save but one still wants to see the back of Mayumi and his cronies. That hasn't changed.