April 15th Iwata v Yamamoto - Veterans day

Yamamoto won this game at the age of 46 which must make him the one of the oldest if not the oldest NPB starters to win a game. Quite frankly though Tigers batting was poor and a total inability to make a fading pitcher work was very disappointing. The other veteran who shone was Yamasaki - the fact that he is batting No. 4 shows the paucity of Dragons resources. Still Tigers pitchers couldn't handle him and he picked up walk after walk with a single thrown in for good measure. Iwata was much improved but after seven innings was finished. What on earth possessed Wada to put him in for the eighth? It generated extra pressure for his replacement Watanabe who messed up as he often does with runners on. The extra run gave Dragons the breathing space they needed. Once again Wada's use of pinch hitters was unimaginative and more in hope than in reality. Still its early days but Tigers will need to play better against Dragons. Scores

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

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

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

Dragons first started with Ohshima and Araki falling rapidly. Morino then took a swing and bounced the ball just infield. Komiyama went to pick up and fumbled allowing Morino to reach first. Next was Yamasaki whom Iwata seemed to have difficulties dealing with and he drew a walk. Runners on first and second. However, Wada swung wildly and flew out to Komiyama to end the innings. Hirano started the Tigers first well and in fact you thought this would be an easy victory against a hasbeen pitcher who was only in the Dragons lineup because they had no one else. Next was Yamato who in the two games he has started against the Dragons has fallen over himself to prove that he's an idiot. He first shaped to bunt but then changed his mind and tried to hit. His bat speed isn't that great so all he managed to do was hit into a double play. Then Toritani singled to centre and made second on a pitch so wild you thought Yamamoto was not going to last long. Arai though hit poorly to short stretching at one he should have left and the innings was over. Iwata then had a blistering Dragons second striking out all three batters with a nice variety of pitches. Tigers in the meantime couldn't wait - the second saw batters swinging too soon and by now Yamamoto was ominously picking up some sort of rythym. Dragons third saw Iwata in control and throwing some nice stuff getting the batters to ground out and Yamamoto to strike out. He's a pitcher of the old school - you don't bat, just swing. Komiyama led off Tigers third trying to go deep but flew out to centre and neither Iwata nor Hirano could get on base.

Morino flew out to left to start Dragons fourth and along came Yamasaki to pick up his second walk. However, Wada drove the ball straight back to Iwata for the double play. Tigers fourth saw Yamato attempt a bunt which went foul but what was he thinking? He's not going to surprise a veteran of Yamamoto's experience. Eventually he flew out and Toritani and Arai also failed to get on base. Tigers cleanup was a joke this game. So we came to Iwata's danger innings, the fifth. It started with a single to Ibata and next was Hirata. With the count 2-1 Komiyama called for an inside pitch but Iwata went outside instead. Hirata got a good impact and the ball flew straight and true just clearing the fence - 2 run home run 2-0 Dragons. Oda flew out, Yamamoto struck out and then Ohshima lined out to end the innings. One ordinarily wouldn't have been bothered by this but Tigers weren't batting well. They confirmed this in their fifth though Johjima was unlucky to have been called out to a pitch well outside the zone. Iwata retired the first two Dragons in the sixth but then Yamasaki came up again and he walked yet again. Wada singled to left to set up runners on first and third - Yamasaki chancing Kanemoto's weak throw but Ibata grounded out to Iwata to end the innings. Tigers sixth was quiet and the batters failed to make an impact at all.

For Dragons seventh Oda singled with one out. Yamamoto tried to bunt and was out with three failures. Nice work by Iwata and Komiyama. Then Ohshima grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers seventh was over quickly but Yamato distinguished himself again swinging at a wild pitch and striking out. Arai did hit nicely into right but Hirata was well positioned and he was the final out. Iwata by now had thrown 107 pitches - time to bring in the relief but Wada thought another innnings was appropriate. This was not the brightest of decisions and also unnecessary. Iwata walked Araki - a sign he was tiring but got Morino to fly out. Then with Yamasaki next it was decided to change pitchers - why not at the beginning of the innings? This just gives the opposition encouragement and makes you look inept. Watanabe took over and as he often does with runners on panicked, this time giving up a single to Yamasaki and putting runners on first and third. Wada hit deep into centre for the sacrifice fly 3-0 Dragons and then Ibata grounded out. However, it just showed the general cluelessness of the Tigers. This would be even more manifest in the eighth. Yamamoto returned of course - having thrown only 77 pitches. He got the first two outs but then walked Kanemoto. Here Wada went with his pinch hitters and brought on Ryota Arai who singled to centre and set up runners on first and second. Yamamoto was eating up the pitches by now and the planned complete game was now a pipe dream. If Tigers had made him work earlier they could have been attacking him around the fifth or sixth not the eighth. Sekimoto tried to lift a low pitch over the left fence - more in hope than anything else and Wada showed how you should take a ball near the fence. The innings was over. Okazaki took over the catching duties for Dragons ninth and you wonder how long before he screws up - he's getting close. He was paired with Fukuhara and with two out Nomoto (pinch hitter) singled right. Then Ohshima singled left to set up runners on first and second. This time Araki flew out to centre. Tigers ninth was pitched by Iwase. His first pitch was driven right by Hirano for single and Wada sent Brazell in to pinch hit for Yamato. Brazell was inept and hit into a pitcher double play. There was a kind of symmetry with this repeating the incident at the beginning of the game. Finally, Toritani grounded out to end the game. Dragons victory.

Wada had lost his first series and Tigers had not played well. It seems that they are going to struggle against the Dragons which is going to be embarrassing. This game certainly was and the failure to make the pitcher work and poor shot selection messed up Tigers chances. Yamato needs to play much better to justify his place in the team - he really has been rubbish over the past two games. Dragons of course will be happy with the result and so they should but one can't count on Yamamoto winning too many either.