May 3rd Andoh v Yudai - Who cares about sacrifice flies?

Once again we saw some poor management and poor batting. Yudai's pitching was competent but Tigers should have managed at least one run. We saw the best and worst of Andoh in the space of two innings but the only reason I can figure for the bizarre replacement of Andoh and Komiyama in the fifth is that Wada wanted to rest both of them. Honestly, the rationale behind the move escapes me entirely. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5 0
Dragons  0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 X 3 10 0

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Hirata (Right)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Wada (Left)
6. Ibata (Short)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Naomichi Donue (Third)
9. Yudai (Pitcher)

No Kanemoto today - he was rested but why put Murton at five? He hasn't exactly been driving in runs. Once again a lineup change that was unnecessary and later gratuitous lineup changes which added nothing to the offense of the teams performance. Wada is rapidly wearing out his welcome. Tigers started quietly and in fact would find Yudai difficult to deal with for the most part. However, with two out Toritani singled to centre. Takahiro Arai though managed to ground out to short. Dragons first was nothing short of spectacular though with hindsight too spectacular. Andoh blasted the first three Dragons out in brutal fashion, Ohshima struck out looking, Araki went swinging, Hirata looking - it was an exemplarary display of pitching and one had hopes of a very nice game for Tigers with such a start. Tigers second was quiet though - not spectacular by Yudai but it did the job. Andoh faced Blanco for Dragons first. His first pitch got the Dragons first to swing but the umpire who was blind ruled a ball. Then Andoh's inside pitch fell apart. Blanco got a lucky impact and drove the ball over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 Dragons. The day before Brazell had hit better but failed to clear the wall - such is fate. Wada hit to centre and then Ibata had a very lucky hit. He skied the ball but it landed equidistant between short and centre for a hit - runners on first and second with no outs. Tanishige bunted the runners to second and third for the first out but the issue was the inside pitch. Once again this proved vulnerable and Andoh failed to locate it properly. Naomichi Donue hit to right bringing in both runners 3-0 Dragons runner on second. Yudai grounded out to short but then Ohshima walked. However, Araki tried to hit to third and grounded out. A shocking innings but time for Tigers to recover. They didn't do so in the third with the batters falling in order. Dragons third was much quieter and all credit to Andoh and Komiyama for restoring order after the shock of the second. They worked round the inside pitch though one did escape with two out and Wada slammed a two base. Next batter was Ibata who grounded out to first.

Tigers chance came in the fourth and they blew it. Yamato hit to short and once again exposed Ibata's lack of speed by beating him to first. It was nice to see Yamato stay on his feet instead of try to head slide though he did fall down after he had reached first. Toritani singled again setting up runners on first and third. Here things went wrong. Someone needs to sit down with Arai and remind him that a ball well ouside the zone should be left alone. He swung wildly and struck out. I am sorry but there was a sacrifice fly on there which would have been very useful. Murton did take the right approach and hit to right. Amazingly Yamato was held on third. Yamato is a speedster - the hit was deep enough and Tanishige was well off home with a clear path to the plate. What was stopping Tigers? This kind of wastefulness is why the Tigers are struggling. The difference between them and the Dragons is that the Dragons do take the chances when they get them. So runners on first and third with two outs and Brazell struck out. A real waste and incompetently handled innings. The Dragons fourth was quiet with no one getting on base. With the Tigers fifth we went to the pinch hitters - again why? The sheer pointlessness of the change is beyond me. Why did Wada switch Komiyama for Asai. Asai swung wildly and managed to land the ball in the outfield but this was lucky. Then bringing on Johjima who is spectacularly poor at pinch hitting - what on earth for? Johjima hit into a double play to end the innings. He has yet to have an extra base hit as a pinch hitter. I would have to say that Wada is clueless. It all looks as if it was a panic move to disguise the screw up of the previous innings. Dragons fifth of course saw a new pitcher, Tsuru and a new catcher Okazaki. The latter would be poor but manage to escape without runs. Ohshima led off the innings with a single. Araki flew out and then Ohshima tried to steal second. Okazaki's throw was good and he was tagged out. What is scary is when Tigers bring back Fujii (and they will) he will have a weak throw and the opposition won't need to bunt. Hirata struck out swinging to end the innings. The top of the Tigers order grounded out in the sixth. Not impressive at all. Dragons meanwhile continued to get runners on base. Wada singled to right with one out in the sixth. Then with another out Tanishige walked. Next was Naomichi Donue who had had his stroke of luck and hit weakly back to the pitcher for the final out.

Takahiro Arai led off Tigers seventh by flying out and then Murton singled left. Yeah - right, where were you with runners on. A single is all very well but Tigers need to convert. In the past few games they have hit sporadically and unconnectedly. Both Brazell and Shunsuke (why bring him on?) then flew out and the innings was over. After two innings of Tsuru Tigers switched to Fukuhara who struggled with Okazaki. Takehiro Donue led off the innings with a single. Then Ohshima singled again - hitting right. Runners on first and second with no outs. Araki flew out and Hirata managed to ground out forcing out Ohshima but moving Takehiro Donue round to third. All down to Blanco who flew out to right. After Yudai Dragons went to Tajima. He had the batters tied in knots very quickly with Asai striking out and then Okazaki flying out to centre. Finally Hirano put us all out of our misery and flew out to short. Watanabe pitched the eighth and gave up a lead off hit to Wada. What happened was that Wada drove back towards Watanabe who deflected the ball. Toritani came in from short and dropped the ball - this was ruled a hit. Ibata hit to second where Hirano fielded but couldn't get the throw away and Dragons once again had runners on first and second. Okazaki wasn't exactly doing well with his calling. Tanishige though came to the rescue hitting into a double play. Then Naomichi Donue with a runner on third grounded out to third to end the innigs. Tigers ninth and guess who? Iwase and the only Tigers batter who solved Iwase was Yano. He's retired and so we were treated to the usual 1-2-3 procession to end the game. Dragons victory.

Dragons look to be able to outplay Tigers anytime they choose. They were better and Tigers poor batting and option choosing were vital factors in the defeat. The unnecessary changes by Wada, I am sure, disrupted the team and the poor management was a huge contributory factor. There was no need to remove Andoh or Komiyama after the fourth - it was just Wada's posturing. Once again Tigers passed over genuine managers of talent for a buffoon.