July 27th Standridge v Chen - Dragons declawed

This time Standridge threw 127 pitches in another complete game. Whilst he pitched very well and deserved his win this was too much again. He was tired in the eighth and struggled through the ninth. This pursuit of unnecessary complete games rather than preserving your pitchers arms for the real challenges ahead is very poor management. Tigers are now comfortably on course for the playoffs and a possible pennant if they can overhaul the Swallows. However, one doesn't want the pitching to implode suddenly in the final stages. Nohmi is already showing signs of over-pitching, Kubo has been out of action for a while and one doesn't want this to happen to Standridge. Tigers have a talented pitching lineup but it shouldn't be wrecked by Mayumi's pig-headed stubbornness in making his starters go unnecessarily deep. With one run to the Dragons credit the shutout had long disappeared and an eight run lead Mayumi should have used his relief pitchers possibly in the eighth but certainly in the ninth. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Dragons
1. Araki (Second)
2. Nomoto (Right)
3. Hirata (Centre)
4. Morino (Third)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Guzman (First)
7. Iwasaki (Short)
8. Ohyama (Catcher)
9. Chen (Pitcher)

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

Both Brazell and Kenemoto sat this game out - Kanemoto with a cricked neck. This meant that Sekimoto moved up to five and Uemoto was inserted at seven. It was lucky he brought a good bat with him as he is a poor third for second behind Hirano and Sekimoto. Dragons were appalling in the field and didn't look themselves at all. The game started with Standridge going for his second complete game shutout but that dream didn't last long. With one out he dead balled Nomoto. Hirata grounded out to Toritani - a superb dive and throw but not in time to prevent Nomoto from reaching second. Morino hit into centre and Nomoto raced round the bases to reach home safely 1-0 Dragons. Fujii missed the throw from Hirano which allowed Morino to take second. However, Wada grounded out to Sekimoto to end the innings. Tigers hit back immediately, Murton hit to left. Then Hirano instead of bunting hit to second. Nomoto was torn but threw to second to get Murton. This didn't work and Murton was safe with Hirano on first. Next was Toritani who hit nicely into left and Murton raced round the bases sliding home safely just before the tag was applied 1-1 scores tied. Ohyama claimed the tag but the umpire said no and the replays bore him out. Koshien umpires have tightened up considerably and can now be said to be the most aware and accurate. Arai struck out for the first outand then Sekimoto grounded into a double play to end the innings. Dragons second was quiet as Standridge threw some very nice stuff. In Tigers second Chen was also in control and looked very comfortable. The third followed the same pattern. Neither the Tigers nor the Dragons could get on base and both innings were interesting only from the pitching point of view.

Dragons fourth saw some of Standridge's best pitching with both Hirata and Morino striking out swinging and then Wada flying out to left. Tigers fourth saw some of Dragons worst fielding and Tigers took full advantage. Toritani led off and drove his second pitch straight to Guzman at first. Guzman failed to take and deflected the ball into the outfield. Toritani used this to take second very neatly. Next was Arai who drilled the ball between Chen and Iwasaki for a timely hit 2-1 Tigers, runner on first. Sekimoto battled Chen before driving over Morino into left for a single hit. Runners on second and third. Asai hit deep into left for the sacrifice fly 3-1 Tigers, runner on first. This brought up Uemoto who hit high and hard into right centre for a two base hit. Tigers had runners on second and third with one out. Tigers needed a sacrifice fly and Dragons a double play. They almost got the latter - Fujii hit straight to Iwasaki who fumbled a simple take and dropped the ball. Sekimoto was home 4-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Next was Standridge who attempted the squeeze play but wasn't very good. Standridge isn't a good bunter and a squeeze is a difficult move to get right. He should have gone for a deep fly. He struck out after two failed attempts which brought up Murton. Here I was thinking a wild pitch would be really nice and this is exactly what Chen delivered bringing home Uemoto 5-1 Tigers, runner on second. Murton swung but flew out to Chen. A comedy of errors had gifted Tigers a very useful and welcome lead indeed especially with the way Standridge was pitching. Dragons fifth was quiet with the batters falling easily in order. Tigers fifth saw Chen return, perhaps surprisingly but he was just as bad as the fourth. Hirano hit to short and beat the throw - Iwasaki was having a nightmare night. Toritani struck out but then Arai hit to Morino. He threw to second but Iwasaki took his foot off the sack as he stretched for the poor throw and Hirano was safe. Sekimoto tried to hit over Morino again but didn't get the height and was out. Once again Morino threw to second to catch Hirano off base but Iwasaki couldn't hold and spilled the ball. Hirano was up and made third safely with Arai on first. Chen was beaten and walked Asai to load the bases. Still one out to get and Uemoto next. His first pitch was an inside straight which Uemoto belted along the third baseline. It just stayed in - a grand slam, Uemoto's first and only the second home run of his career 9-1 Tigers. To be honest it was a fluke but nothing ventured nothing gained. Tigers were now comfortably coasting to victory. Fujii struck out to end the innings. Standridge then allowed himself to get a bit carried away and walked Nakata (pinch hitter) to start off the Dragons sixth. This calmed him down and he struck out Araki. Nomoto grounded out to second moving Nakata to second (no fielders choices here) and then Hirata flew out to end the innings. Of course Chen was not going to return for Tigers sixth and Hisamoto took the mound. He retired the batters in order Standridge not even trying to hit.

Morino led off Dragons seventh with a single to left. He had a good game with the bat if not with the glove. However, Wada hit into a double play and the promising start was over. Guzman hit a grounder which Arai fielded nicely and the innings was over. Hisamoto returned for Tigers seventh and got his first two batters to ground out but then things started to go wrong. He walked Sekimoto, then he walked Asai. Next he walked Uemoto to load the bases. It seemed all Fujii would have to do was wait and Tigers would add another run. Instead Fujii tried to hit but grounded out to Hisamoto to get him out of his trouble. Dragons eighth and here were signs that Standridge was tiring. He got the first two outs but then Saeki (pinch hitter) singled to left. Araki hit nicely and smoothly to left and Dragons had runners on first and second. However, Nomoto grounded out to third to end the innings. Tigers eighth was pitched by Mutoh. He gave up a two out hit to Hirano. Toritani hit to right and Tigers had runners on first and third. Arai grounded out to short - Araki having replaced the hapless Iwasaki in that position - to end the innings. Standridge returned unnecessarily for the Dragons ninth. Hirata flew out to Ryota Arai (replacement first) in foul ground. Then Morino had his third hit of the night. Wada hit deep to left and everyone's hearts were in their mouths but Asai was nicely positioned under the ball and he was out. Guzman hit right to set up runners on first and second. The next batter was Koike (pinch hitter) He also went deep and left but once again Asai was under it and the game was over. Tigers victory.

A comprehensive and comfortable victory. Standridge picked up his sixth win in a row and now stands at 8-2. The hero interview went to Uemoto and Standridge with the big Standridge hugging the little Uemoto. Tigers had taken advantage of Dragons errors in a ruthless and comprehensive way. They had fielded and played well and could be very pleased with their series victory.