May 8th Kubo v Bullington - One day in bumpkinland

The attempts to make Fujii acceptable to the Tigers fans continue apace in the Daily Sports. Article after article extolling his virtues is printed all to convince Tigers fans that he is worth it. Unfortunately, his performance is the opposite. I mentioned his propensity to bleed runs and he did so this game (though the run with Watanabe was probably the pitchers fault). It was only the fact that Carp had similar issues with their catcher and pitcher that Tigers ran out with a win. Kenemoto once again demonstrated that he is not a No. 4 batter but Wada is thinking of keeping him in the slot at least until the end of Interleague. It does lead to the incredible situation of Shunsuke batting clean up. Give me a break! Kanemoto still has to drive in a run as restored No. 4 and the plain absurdity of him being No. 4 is clearer every day. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers  0 0 3 0 0 3 0 2 0 8 11 1
Carp    0 2 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 6  9 0

Starting lineup

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Murton (Third)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Asai (Right)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Soyogi (Short)
2. Higashide (Second)
3. Maru (Centre)
4. Stavinoha (Left)
5. Hirose (Right)
6. Matsuyama (First)
7. Dobayashi (Third)
8. Shirahama (Catcher)
9. Bullington (Pitcher)

The game started quietly enough - Tigers first three batters fell in order as did Carp's though Soyogi did take some shifting. A precursor of the struggles Kubo would have with Fujii. Kanemoto then led off Tigers second with a two base line drive - the first indication that he was a No. 4 since he was restored. He equalled Nagashima's hit record with this hit. He stayed on second and Bullington retired the next three batters to end the innings. Kubo then stopped getting on with Fujii. His second pitch to Stavinoha was hit deep over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 Carp. Hirose and Matsuyama fell but then Dobayashi who is doing well in his rookie season hit to left as well for another solo home run 2-0 Carp. Finally Shirahama struck out. Fujii then managed a short hit and was judged to have beaten the throw - maybe a trifle lucky. He was bunted to second and made third on Toritani's ground out. It looked as if the Tigers third was going to peter out but instead Hirano singled bringing in the Tigers catcher 2-1 Carp. Next Murton hit to centre to set up runners on first and third. This was a chance for Kanemoto but once again he took the walk to load the bases. One rather thinks he is ducking his responsibilities. Arai was next and he hit to centre bringing in two runs 3-2 Tigers - runners on first and third. What kind of mental absurdity ever caused Wada to move Kanemoto back to fourth? Brazell flew out to end the innings. Carp's third saw Soyogi walk with one out but neither Higashide nor Maru could shift him off first and Tigers had preserved a slender lead.

Tigers fourth was the bottom of the order and Bullington dealt rather effectively with them. For Carp's fourth things happened again. Stavinoha led off again with another solo homer 3-3 scores tied. Then Hirose hit to right and Matsuyama hit a two base to right. Carp had runners on second and third with no outs. They blew the chance - this time Dobayashi lined out to short and then Shirahama and Bullington fell. A very lucky escape but Fujii and Kubo between them had surrendered the lead. Tigers fifth was also quiet - no one got on base. Kubo did not get on with Fujii who's calling was his usual abysmal mediocrity. Soyogi up again singled but was thrown out by Fujii trying to steal second. With two outs Maru walked. and Wada decided to change pitchers afraid that Stavinoha would hit another home run. He did but off Watanabe who also doesn't get on with Fujii - but here it is difficult to assign responsibility though given the constant bleeding of runs we have to look to the catcher. Anyway another home run, this one a two run 5-3 Carp. Hirose walked but Matsuyama proved to be the final out flying out to right. Wada is now in stubborn mode and will put Kanemoto at No. 4 and Fujii as starting catcher no matter what evidence that neither is suitable. Bullington by now was tiring and was vulnerable. Tigers sixth and with two Brazell hit a two base to left centre. Asai hit a two base to left centre bringing in the run 5-4 Carp. Now even Fujii could hit but his right single was extremely lucky but they all count 5-5 scores tied, runner on first. Ryota Arai (pinch hitter) walked and enough was enough Bullington left the mound to be replaced by Egusa. Carp also have an idiot for a manager and he has the idee fixe that Egusa will be effective against his old side. It hasn't worked yet and here he was again. He walked Toritani to load the bases and then walked Hirano oshidashi 6-5 Tigers, bases loaded. This brought Nomura to his senses and he replaced Egusa with Kishimoto who promptly got Murton to ground out to end the innings. Fukuhara took the mound and he really does work well with Fujii - batters tumbled quickly and the innings was scoreless.

For Tigers seventh Carp's pitcher was Imamura who was paired with Kura as catcher. They faced Kanemoto who singled to centre passing Nagashima. Kanemoto tried to steal second and was thrown out and then Arai and Brazell struck out to end the innings. For Carp's seventh the pitcher was Tsutsui and once again Fujii's calling was the culprit. Unimaginative and stilted, Carp rapidly figured out what to do. With one out Higashide singled to centre. Then Stavinoha singled to short and was also able to beat the throw. Also dubious. Hirose walked to load the bases and then a pick off attempt went wrong and Carp had a runner home 6-6 scores tied with runners on first and second. Finally Matsuyama struck out to end the innings. Carp were still in the match but not for long. Mickolio took over for Tigers eighth and got Asai to strike out. Fujii had his third hit of the night - a single to centre but then Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out. Next was Toritani who lofted one to the right where it crossed the fence for a two run home run 8-6 Tigers. Hirano walked but was then thrown out for trying to steal second ending the innings. Incident filled this game certainly was. For Carp's eighth we had Enokida who having discovered he could ignore Fujii took all of six pitches to dispatch the three batters in the eighth. Of course Carp were demoralised and swung wildly but it was a nice pitching display. Imai took Tigers ninth and retired the batters in order comfortably. Then it was Fujikawa's turn and this time he was much better retiring the batters in order to end the game. Tigers victory.

But for Fujii this would have been a simple victory. With so many pitchers struggling one has to question the calling. Tigers bats kept on producing though and this is what kept them paying for their catcher's mess ups. Don't expect any change soon - anyone who can even consider Kanemoto as a No. 4 batter is not liable to understand management that much. Kanemoto was a great No. 4 but those times are over and past glories are not a good ground for decision making in sport.