September 4th Kubo v Miura - Called game

This game was delayed by rain and then suffered interruptions in the fourth and eighth innings. After rain started in the eighth it was decided to call the game which ended in a BayStars victory. Mayumi continued with his new line up which it must be said is totally unjustified by any supporting evidence of efficacy and in fact is so out of the box that you wonder how it was dreamed up. Sekimoto has shown no evidence at all in the season that he is capable of performing at No. 4 and Arai being placed behind the non-performing Kenemoto is a joke. This is not a the lineup of a manager who knows what he is doing. You put your most productive batters at four or five. Arai is by far the Tigers most productive batter - no one else comes near him. Mayumi needs to wake up and restore Arai to four or put him at five. On the matter of waking up Kanoh reminded the management that he is ready to catch and there was some slight movement with him starting catching practice in the bullpen. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  R H E
BayStars  1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2 8 0
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0x 0 4 0

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Shimozono (Left)
2. Ishikawa (Short)
3. Fujita (Second)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Tsutsugo (First)
6. Kinjoh (Centre)
7. Kita (Right)
8. Kurobane (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

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

Against a fading pitcher Tigers should have done better but batted pretty poorly. The reason for this is likely the lineup which defied logic - once again we saw the useless Shibata included in a starting lineup. How long before Mayumi realises that he isn't first team material yet. Either Yamato or Uemoto would have been better in that position or even Sekimoto. The game was late starting and BayStars got off to a good start with Shimozono leading off with a hit. He was bunted to second by Ishikawa but then Fujita grounded out to Kubo. Next was Murata who surprised everyone by driving in an RBI, hitting to left 1-0 BayStars, runner on first. Tsutsugo struck out to end the innings. Tigers response looked good at first. Shibata hit to left and Toritani walked to set up runners on first and second. Here Sekimoto hit into a double play to end the innings - what's the difference? Arai would have had more chance of driving in a run. Kinjoh led off BayStars second with a hit but then the momentary competence they had shown in the first innings disappeared and Kita hit into a double play. Kurobane struck out swinging to end the innings. Murton led off Tigers second with a hit. Kanemoto popped it up to third in one of his usual swings but Arai hit to left and set up another scoring chance. This time the next batter, Fujii didn't hit into a double play but struck out swinging. This left Kubo who also popped the ball up to third to end the innings. Two innings, two good chances and two wasted chances. BayStars third was quiet and Kubo seemed to be in control. Tigers third was also quiet with no one doing anything.

BayStars did nothing in their fourth which was enlivened by a break for rain. If the game had been abandoned there it would have been a no game with no result. However, the rain abated and the game continued. It is looking possible that Tigers will not even be able to play all their games because too many games have been postpones and the time remaining at the end of the season is maybe not enough Double headers would be possible but the NPB frowns on double-headers. A bit of excitement in the BayStars fifth with Kinjoh leading off with a double into the right field. Kita bunted him to third but then Kurobane hit a grounder straight to short. Toritani made sure that Kinjoh didn't go for home before throwing to first for the out. The last batter was Miura and he struck out swinging to end the innings. Arai led off Tigers fifth with his second hit of the night. He was bunted to second by Fujii and in a quest for runs Mayumi sent Morita to pinch hit for Kubo. Morita flew out to left rather wasting the chance. Next was Hirano who drew a walk. Runners on first and second but the following batter was Shibata. He struck out looking to end the innings. Another chance gone begging. Kojima took over for BayStars sixth and lived dangerously. With two out Fujita hit to right and then Murata walked to set up runners on first and second. Tsutsugo then flew out to centre to end the innings. Tigers sixth was depressingly quiet thought Sekimoto was looking more and more out of his depth at four.

BayStars seventh saw Kurobane hit a two base with two out - this was embarrassing and a sign that Fujii was losing it. However the final batter was Miura who struck out swinging. Tigers seventh was quiet with Kanemoto getting his last at bat and doing nothing. BayStars eighth saw Watanabe take over the pitching and was almost a carbon copy of the first. Shimozono led off with a hit to left. He was bunted to second by Ishikawa but Fujita flew out. Then once again Murata hit to left bringing the runner home 2-0 BayStars runner on first. Tsutsugo struck out swinging to end the innings. Mayumi had just nominated Kanoh as pinch hitter for Watanabe when the heavens opened again. This time it was decided to abandon the game which had already exceeded the 3.30 hour limit and it was called. BayStars victory.

A disappointing performance against a second rate team but what could Tigers expect. The lineup is a mess and players who shouldn't be batting in certain positions are causing blockages. With a real chance of winning the pennant this is not the time to be conducting silly experiments and messing around with pointless punishments. The manager needs to be focused on motivating his players and exhorting the best performances out of them. This is not the way to go about it.