October 23rd Kiyohara v Ohtake - A lot of new pitchers

Tigers will now finish the season below .500 and can only draw the series with the Carp. Tigers used this game to blood some of their younger pitchers but unfortunately Fujii was the catcher. Actually he wasn't too abysmal but managed to blow the game and was replaced by Shimizu. Tigers batters were pretty much in sleep mode and despite some nice hits no one got onto the scoreboard. Kurihara was hitless again and it is almost certain that Arai will head the Central League in RBIs.
Concerning new players it is rumoured that several of the foreign players with the Dragons may not return as Ochiai's team leave. If this proves to be the case then they may well try and pick up Soto. Doubling his salary would be one way and Tigers certainly have the wherewithall to do so. Another target may be Murata though where he would fit in is questionable and it may lead to Brazell not rejoining. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Shibata (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Murton (Right)
6. Morita (First)
7. Tagami (Left)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Kiyohara (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Maru (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Matsuyama (Left)
6. Barden (Third)
7. Shirahama (Catcher)
8. Abe (Short)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

It was surprising to see Kiyohara start and no doubt the management wanted to take a look with him. He was handicapped by Fujii but did quite well. Ohtake also pitched well and Tigers first saw the batters fall in order. In Carp's first Higashide flew out to right but then Akamatsu hit to third where Arai messed up. This missed throw which was as much to do with Morita as Arai put a runner on second. However, the next two batters were unable to exploit the situation and the innings was scoreless. Tigers first hit came in their second with Murton hitting a two base to left with one out. Morita grounded out to short taking Murton to third which put Tagami in with a chance of his first RBI. He hit his first pitch to centre where it was gratefully taken by Akamatsu to end the innings. Not this time. Barden singled left in Carp's second but he didn't get beyond first and the innings was scoreless. Fujii led off Tigers third with a single left - for some reason he was able to hit. Kiyohara bunted him to second and he made third on Shibata's ground out but Hirano didn't convert and grounded out to second ending the innings. Tigers were getting the runners round but wasting chances. Ohtake hit to centre to lead off Carp's third - this was poor pitching and calling. Things got better though and the next three batters failed with Higashide forcing out Ohtake for the first out.

Toritani led off Tigers fourth with a single. Mayumi then signalled a suicidal steal and he was out as was Arai swinging. Murton ended the Tigers fourth also striking out swinging. With two out in Carp's fourth Barden hit to Kiyohara who couldn't stop it and there was a runner on first. Shirahama flew out to end the chance. Tigers fifth saw another half chance go down. Fujii amazingly hit a two base - Tigers weren't bad at putting runners in scoring positions. However, the next batter was Kiyohara who struck out swinging to end the innings. The only run of the game came in Carp's fifth. Abe singled to right - Fujii messing up the calls and being a bit too conventional. Ohtake bunted him to second and then Higashide singled right to bring the runner home 1-0 Carp, runner on first. Akamatsu bunted Higashide to second but Maru grounded out to end the innings. Tigers sixth looked to be heading towards oblivion but then a grounder by Toritani was dropped by Abe and Tigers had a runner on first. Next was Arai who also hit to short and this time Abe didn't make any mistake and the innings was over. Here we had a pitching chance Fujihara taking over and pitching to Shimizu. This combination worked well for the first two outs and then Barden had his third hit of the game - he seems to do well against Tigers. Shirahama was next and he struck out swinging.

Murton led off Tigers seventh with a single. Nothing happened from Yamato (replacement third) but Tagami's ground out took Murton to second. Next was Shimizu who swung wildly at his second pitch and flew out to Shirahama to end the innings. Fujihara was replaced by Shiranita, another making his debut in NPB. Mayumi had given up even trying for .500. Abe was the first batter and he hit to third where Yamato messed up (what's the difference?) and put a runner on first. Amaya's (pinch hitter) ground out took the runner to second but then Higashide struck out looking and Akamatsu grounded out to short - the innings was over. Ohshima pitched Tigers eighth and struck out Sekimoto (pinch hitter) looking. Shunsuke (pinch hitter) singled but unlike the Carp batters didn't even get to second staying on first as Hirano lined out and Toritani grounded out. Cheng pitched Carp's eighth. With two out Matsuyama singled. Matsuyama tried to steal second and Shimzu finally got it right delivering a nicely placed throw which allowed Toritani to make the tag out. Imamura was the pitcher for Tigers ninth and had a comfortable ride striking out all three batters to end the game. Carp victory.

Neither side had been particularly active but it must be said Tigers wasted more chances than Carp. Kiyohara hadn't done badly on his first outing and paired with a better catcher might even have earned a victory. Tigers need to take the final game of the rubber to ensure a tied series against the Carp. If they loose or tie then the Carp will take the season series. Mayumi has one more game as manager.