May 20th Kubo v Kaneta - Tiger hunting

The Eagles went Tiger hunting at Koshien today. Imanari started as catcher and struggled. So much so he was replaced by Fujii who was dismal as usual. The end result was an embarrassing massacre. So far Tigers haven't won an inter league game and the way they are playing should mange to beat the Buffaloes but no one else. Once again Wada was demonstrating his incompetence this time starting Tagami at centre. If Asai was playing successfully why replace him? If Kanemoto isn't driving in runs why not move him down the order where he belongs? The answers to the questions are surprisingly simple but seem to escape the Tigers management. Scores

               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Golden Eagles  1 0 2 1 1 1 4 0 0 10 16 1
Tigers         3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  6 11 0

Starting lineups

Golden Eagles
1. Hijirisawa (Centre)
2. Akaminai (Second)
3. Takasu (Third)
4. Fernandez (First)
5. Makida (Right)
6. Terrero (Left)
7. Masuda (Short)
8. Koyama (Catcher)
9. Kaneta (Pitcher)

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

Once again Wada screwed up with his lineup. The useless Kanemoto is still at fourth and we see the useful Asai benched for no reason except that Wada wants to try someone else. It was nice to see Imanari get his first start but he didn't prosper and now Wada is the time to bring back Komiyama. Hijirisawa started by grounding out but Akaminai hit a two base. Takasu flew out and then Fernandez singled to centre to bring home the runner 1-0 Golden Eagles. Masuda flew out but the visitors were off to a good start. Still Tigers responded well. Toritani singled to short and beat the throw. Hirano grounded out to short which move Toritani to second. Then Murton hit to short who fumbled and messed up allowing Murton to reach first safely. Kanemoto singled to load the bases - unadventurous in the extreme and with Arai at the plate Kaneta let fly a wild pitch. The runners moved round and Tigers were level 1-1 runners on second and third. Brazell was next and hit left bringing in both runners 3-1 Tigers, runner on first. Imanari hit right and set up runners on first and third and Tagami walked to load the bases. This left everything up to Kubo who struck out swinging. Still an excellent response by Tigers and a nice lead. It continued that way in the second with Kubo holding the lead well and retiring the Golden Eagle batters in order. However, the same happened in Tigers second as they went to sleep. Golden Eagles didn't and Hijirisawa singled right with one out. Akaminai walked and Takasu singled to load the bases. Tigers were in trouble and even more so when Fernandez hit to centre to bring in two runs 3-3 scores tied. Makida then hit into a double play to end the innings. Kanemoto walked to lead off Tigers third and Arai flew out to the catcher. Brazell hit a two base to set up runners on second and third. Imanari flew out in foul ground and then Tagami grounded out to first. Tigers had wasted a chance to take the lead. They really do need to work on the sacrifice fly.

Then things disintergrated as Golden Eagles showed how things should be done. One out in the fourth and Masuda hit left for a three base with Kanemoto struggling to keep up. Koyama hit to third and Arai successfully blocked the run but couldn't get the out - runners on first and third. Kosai (pinch hitter) whacked one deep for a sacrifice fly 4-3 Golden Eagles, runner on first. The final batter of the innings was Hijirisawa who struck out swinging. Hoshino had replaced his pitcher with a pinch hitter and so for Tigers fourth we saw Kawai. With two out he gave up a single to Hirano but Murton grounded out to short. The Golden Eagles fifth was pitched by Watanabe who didn't do well. Akaminai led off Golden Eagles with a single. Fernandez walked in four to set up runners on first and second with one out. Then Makida hit to right to bring in a runner 5-3 Golden Eagles, runners on first and third. Terrero also walked to load the bases but then Kubo struck out Masuda. Finally, Koyama grounded out to end the innings. Tigers had escaped without too much damage but were bleeding runs dangerously. Kanemoto led off Tigers fifth by hitting to their ineffective short and beating the throw. He was forced out by Arai and Brazell flew out. Ryota Arai (pinch hitter) singled to set up runners on first and third. This brought a pitching change, the new pitcher being Mima. He faced Sekimoto (pinch hitter) who hit right to bring home a run 5-4 Golden Eagles runners on first and third. Asai walked to load the bases but Toritani could only ground out and end the innings. Fujii took over for the Golden Eagles sixth and called to Tsutsui. His calling was dismal and totally clueless. Tsuchiya (replacement left) led off with a single. He was bunted to second by Hijirisawa. Akaminai hit his second pitch to right and the runner was home 6-4 Golden Eagles. Akaminai tried to go too far and was run down and tagged out. Takasu hit a two base to right centre but then Fernandez struck out looking. Tigers sixth was totally quiet with no one getting on base. Tigers were slipping behind.

Golden Eagles seventh finished Tigers chances. Fujii was totally out of his depth and Wada stupidly continued with Tsutsui as pitcher. Makida walked to lead off the innings. He was bunted to second in what would normally be a relaxing stupid bunt but as I said Tigers pitching team was out of its depth. Garcia (pinch hitter) took a dead ball. This should have been a cue to Wada but it wasn't. Garcia was pinch run for by Nishimura. Koyama singled left to load the bases and then Tsuchiya struck out swinging. This brought up Hijirisawa who singled to Toritani. He could only field but not prevent the run 7-4 Golden Eagles, bases loaded. Then Akaminai who was having a good day hit hard to right over Murton for a bases clearing triple 10-4 Golden Eagles. Finally, Wada got the message and Tsuru took over for the final out which was Takasu who struck out. Tigers seventh was quiet - the stuffing had been knocked out of them and the batters fell in order. Fernandez led off Golden Eagles eighth with a single but Tsuru by dint of ignoring Fujii then retired the next three batters and kept Fernandez anchored on first. Heuser pitched Tigers eighth and managed to walk Shunsuke (pinch hitter). Toritani grounded out to second which took Shunsuke to second but Hirano struck out swinging and the innings was scoreless. Wada decided to use Fujikawa for Golden Eagles ninth. The only rationale I can find for this move is that he wanted Fujikawa to turn his arm over but it is more likely he just had no idea. Fujikawa was successful in the extreme and retired the batters in order. Another Koyama (Golden Eagles have several) this one being Shinichiro pitched Tigers ninth. He struck out Murton and got Kanemoto to fly out to second. Arai was next and he singled. Then came Brazell who got hold of his second pitch and hit over the right fence for a two run home run 10-6 Golden Eagles. The final batter was Lin (pinch hitter) who flew out to left to end the game. Golden Eagles victory.

Tigers had been crushed and the final innings two runs couldn't take this away. Imanari as catcher had struggled but Fujii had been his usual useless self. Tigers need to think about restoring some useful catchers and not rely on the useless hasbeen Fujii. Talking of useless hasbeens Kanemoto is very, very embarrassing at four. He still has to drive in a run in this position. Brazell missed out on a cycle this game by a three base hit but had driven in four of Tigers runs. Wada though needs to learn just who a valuable player is and just who is a waste of space.