July 18th Standridge v Fukui - Brazell shines

In the explosion of batting coming from the restoration of the old lineup Craig Brazell has been strangely subdued. However, this game saw him join in the party driving in three of the runs scored by the Tigers. Standridge pitched his second complete game of the season as well but was this necessary? He was obviously delighted by the result but had taken 132 pitches to do so. Better management would have seen him replaced after the seventh. This was a nice display but not his best pitching and in the end the Carp have only themselves to blame that they got shut out - they had as many hits as Tigers and with two dead balls stranded 10 runners. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Carp
1. Maru (Centre)
2. Kimura (Short)
3. Shima (Left)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Matsuyama (Right)
6. Kokubo (Third)
7. Matsumoto (Second)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)

Carp were coming off a four game winning streak with a 3 game sweep of the Dragons at Nagoya Dome (when was the last time the Tigers did that?) so they could be expected to provide stiff opposition. It didn't turn out that way and despite getting plenty of runners on, the Carp batters couldn't find the wherewithal to get round Standridge. In fact, it was the Tigers who started better. Two out in the first and Toritani walked Arai hit to left to set up runners on first and second. Brazell followed and hit deep to left centre for a two base. Both runners rounded the bases - Arai going from first to home with some very smooth running 2-0 Tigers. Sekimoto flew out to right with Brazell on second and the innings was over. Carp's first wasn't so productive and Maru struck out looking. Both Kimura and Shima then grounded out to second and the innings was quiet. Tigers missed a chance in their second. Once again the action started with two outs. Standridge hit to short and was able to beat the throw. Murton hit and Tigers had runners on first and third. This time though Fukui was up to the challenge and got Hirano to strike out to end the threat. Carp then got runners on base in their second. Kurihara hit to right but Matsuyama hit to right. Kokubo flew out and then Matsumoto was hit by his first pitch from Standridge - runners on first and second. The next batter was Ishihara who failed grounding out to second for the out. Toritani led off Tigers third grounding out. Arai hit a nice two base to right and then Brazell hit to left to bring home another run 3-0 Tigers, runner on first. Sekimoto walked and then Kanemoto hit a grounder to second. The first throw for the force out was good but then the second to first went dreadfully astray and Brazell kept on motoring round the bases to home 4-0 Tigers, runner on first. Fujii hit to left centre and Kanemoto was able to round the bases for home 5-0 Tigers, runner on second. This incidentally was pretty much the end of Fukui. He got the final out of the third - Standridge striking out swinging but would be pinch hit for in Carp's third. He hadn't been able to establish any form of command at all. Carp's third was quiet with no runners reaching base and Tigers could relax and hold their lead (one hoped).

Alvarado pitched Tigers fourth and with two out Toritani hit to second who committed an error allowing him to reach base. This time Arai swung too early and flew out to second to end the innings. Carp's fourth was quiet with two strike outs but no base runners. In Tigers fifth Kanemoto had a two out hit to right. Mayumi decided it was the time to rest the old warhorse and replaced him with Shibata. He tried to steal second and was thrown out to end the innings. Carp then mounted another effort to get on the board in their fifth. With two out Ishihara singled to left. Then Amaya (pinch hitter) hit a two base to centre setting up runners on second and third - a dangerous situation. Maru though flew out to left to end the innings and the chance. After Alvarado came Ueno who controlled Tigers sixth well. Of course the only batter of note he had to face was Murton and he got the Tigers right to fly out for the final out. Standridge had a different experience and almost landed himself in a mess. Carp if they don't hit early tend to become a menace around the sixth innings and this is what happened with Kimura leading off with a single to centre. Shima also singled to centre to set up runners on first and second with no outs. Here things didn't work out as Standridge struck out Kurihara and Matsuyama in succession before getting Kokubo to fly out. Fine work by the Tigers pitcher.

Tigers seventh was quiet and once again Ueno kept the batters under wraps. Standridge showed signs he was tiring in Carp's seventh. With two out he dead balled Amaya (replacement centre) and then gave up a hit to Yamamoto (pinch hitter). Once again he had runners on first and second and once again he was able to prevent Carp from converting. The escape came in the form of Kimura who hit his first pitch to second for the ground out and the final out. Aoki pitched Tigers eighth and started by dead balling Brazell. He was pinch run for by Shunuske who took second on Sekimoto's ground out. Shunsuke couldn't advance further and the next two outs fell easily. Standridge returned for Carp's eighth. I would have replaced him at the end of the seventh. A complete game shutout is very nice but his arm will be needed later for the post season (which is beginning to look possible). Shima led the innings off with a two base hit to left. Luckily, Kurihara was having a rest day and flew out to Standridge. Matsuyama's ground out took Shima to third but then Kokubo failed to convert yet again and flew out to end the innings. Toyoda pitched Tigers ninth and retired the batters in order - they weren't really trying anyway, both Standridge and Murton struck out looking. So it was alll down to Standridge, would he get the complete game shutout. Two outs started the Carp's ninth but as ever the third out is always the killer. A straightforward groundout to first missed by Ryota Arai and suddenly the pressure was on. Akamatsu hit to short and was able to make first safely - runners on first and third. Next was Kimura who hit his first pitch straight to Standridge for the final out. Tigers victory.

A fine piece of pitching but it was clear that Standridge was operating on hope more than anything else by the end of the game. He had done well but really should have been replaced after the seventh. The victory would have been his anyway as Carp wouldn't have been able to overhaul the Tigers. Of this long series of nine games in a row Tigers have now won 5 out of 7. This is good going and currently they now have three out of four on the road. Shi no rodo this year might not be too bad if they can keep it up.