July 7th Iwata v Yoshimi - Iwase fails

Make no mistake about it - the move of Arai to sixth was an attempt by Mayumi to punish his No. 4. This cannot be said to inspirational or sensible management and does nothing for Mayumi's reputation as a manager. Putting Murton at No. 4 was just bizarre as he has not shown any indication that he would prosper in that position. The continued use of Shibata at No. 5 is also embarassing. He really can't hit and doesn't drive in runs. Sekimoto at six is fine but maybe Asai at centre would be better. There is no justification for playing Kanemoto at seven though. The latter's ability to blow scoring chances is embarassing and stubborn stupidity is not a way to run the team. Time to dump Mayumi. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  3 3 10 0
Dragons  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  1 1  4 2

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Iwasaki (Short)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Hirata (Right)
6. Koike (First)
7. Ibata (Second)
8. Oda (Catcher)
9. Yoshimi (Pitcher)

This game turned out to be a pitching duel with both pitchers being able to keep the opposition from scoring. Iwata was better than Yoshimi and had fewer runners on. Tigers were able to outhit Dragons but even so it was the Dragons errors which cost them. Tigers first was quiet, batters going down in order. This also happened in the Dragons first with Iwata having the very satisfying experience of striking out Morino to end the innings. Murton led off Tigers second with a hit but was immediately out to a Brazell double play. Arai flew out to right to end the innings. Wada led off Dragons second with a hit to left but stayed on first as the next three batters failed to do anything. Tigers first failure came in their third. With two outs Iwata had a hit to short beating the throw. Hirano hit to right and then Sekimoto worked a walk to load the bases. Toritani struck out swinging to waste the chance and the innings was scoreless. Tigers had failed to take advantage of some poor pitching by Yoshimi. Dragons third saw two outs then Iwata dead balled Ohshima. However, Iwasaki grounded out to short off his first pitch to end the innings.

Tigers fourth was quiet, Yoshimi having recovered his composure to pitch quite effectively. Iwata matched him and Dragons fourth was also quiet. Tigers fifth was quiet as well but Iwata did walk Ibata in Dragons fifth with one out. It didn't avail them and the next two outs were straightforward. Tigers sixth was quiet and so was the Dragons. Neither team's batters were able to make any impression against the pitchers and the managers were engaged in a game of anything your pitcher can do, my pitcher can also do.

Brazell had a one out single to centre in Tigers seventh and manged to advance to second on Arai's ground out. Kanemoto grounded out to second to end the innings and what about punishing him? Dragons seventh saw the batters fall 1-2-3. Iwata had his second hit of the night in Tigers eighth with one out. It was interesting that the batters were unable to hit but the automatic out - the Tigers pitcher had two hits. Hirano forced Iwata out but was safe himself and then stole second. Sekimoto struck out looking to end the innings and the chance. Dragons eighth was one of those 1-2-3 innings. So to Tigers ninth. This was still quiet and the batters fell in order. The anything your pitcher rule, my pitcher can do held for the bottom of the ninth. With one out Iwasaki hit to centre - runner on first. The next two batters were the cream of the Dragons lineup, Morino and Wada (it's not exactly saying much). Morino flew out to left and then Wada grounded out to second to end the innings.

Tigers tenth and Yoshim returned. This was almost a disaster. Asai (replacement left) led off with a hit to right. Fujii bunted him to second and then Hiyama (pinch hitter) was deliberately walked - runners on first and second. Mayumi had pitched Iwata for nine innings and could have profitably replaced him with Fujikawa for the ninth. The kind of macho pride that Mayumi exhibits about pitchers is not very bright. Hirano hit a grounder to first which failed to turn into a double play but did force out Hiyama - runners on first and third. Hirano stole second to increase the pressure but then Sekimoto lined out to Yoshimi to end the innings. Another chance wasted. Surprisingly, having used a pinch hitter, Mayumi went with Fujikawa for the Dragons tenth. A brilliant move and almost certainly accidental. Fujikawa struck out Hirata and Koike before walking Ibata. However, he then struck out Oda to end the innings. Tigers eleventh was pitched by Iwase - Ochiai followng the anything your pitcher my pitcher rule. This turned out to be a disaster. Iwase had a terrible innings. The first Tigers batter was Toritani who hit his third pitch high and to the left where it hit the wall above the fielder's glove. Toritani was comfortably on first. Iwase couldn't handle the pressure this game and gave up a single to right to Murton. Toritani headed for home but the throw was good. Fortunately for Tigers, Oda messed up the take which cannoned off him into foul ground 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Brazell hit to left to set up runners on first and third. Arai hit to Iwase who was really out of sorts and missed with his throw as the runner slid home 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. At this point Ochiai pulled Iwase and replaced him with Suzuki. To replace your elite closer is really an embarrassment. Suzuki gave up a grounder to Asai forcing out Arai and moving Shibata (replacement centre with Hirano moving to second and Sekimoto to first) to third. Fujii then hit to short for the ground out but Shibata was home 3-0 Tigers, with Fujii on first. Fujii was able to make second on a wild pitch but Lin (pinch hitter) struck out. Still thanks to Dragons screw ups Tigers had a comfortable lead. To secure this lead Mayumi went with Enokida. He started out by striking out Carrasco (pinch hitter) but then ran into trouble. Ohshima hit to second for a single but then Iwasaki hit a three base between centre and right bouncing it off the wall. Ohshima was home 3-1 Tigers runner on third. Morino hit his first pitch straight to Enokida who checked to make sure Iwasaki didn't try for home before throwing to first for the second out. Next was Wada who hit his second pitch to Toritani for the final out. Tigers victory.

Tigers had waited a long time for the victory. They had had to work hard but had won thanks to Dragons mistakes in the eleventh. The failure of Iwase had been surprising as had Mayumi's use of Fujikawa in the tenth. It wasn't the ninth but still it proved the principle of using your closer in the non-save situation in a tied game. Enokida picked up his first save and the victory went to Fujikawa despite Iwata having pitched some of his best pitching.