May 31st Standridge v Fujioka - I'll take it any way I can

'A tie is like kissing your sister'

This Brazell aphorism will enter the Tigers list of legendary hero interviews like the Katsuragi roar and Fukuhara's 'oshi beeru nomitai'. The translator did a good job with the translation conveying the meaning as well (using Imoto - younger sister). Tigers though were well bottled up by Fujioka who limited them to three hits over seven innings. Standridge was more prolific giving up 8 hits over seven innings and with only one run for those hits Marines cannot be pleased. Whilst Standridge worked well with Fujii other pitchers didn't, Tsutsui started by following the calls then drifted away to do his own thing. Fujikawa just threw what he wanted. There was also further proof that he is not liked by Tigers fans in the Daily Sports poll with only 7% voting for him (Brazell and Standridge were way ahead) even though his home run was a vital component of Tigers victory. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Marines
1. Okada (Centre)
2. Nemoto (Short)
3. Iguchi (Second)
4. Saburo (Left)
5. Kakunaka (Right)
6. Imae (Third)
7. Ohmatsu (First)
8. Satozaki (Catcher)
9. Fujioka (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Hirano (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Murton (Right)
6. Sekimoto (Third)
7. Brazell (First)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

The surprise was that Arai was left out of the lineup for the first time since 2008. The punishment wasn't seen to be working and so must be increased. One has to love Wada's man management skills. This latest change made not a blind bit of difference to the outcome of the game. Sekimoto was anonymous. Once again Kanemoto was a waste of space and one wonders how long the team must continue to carry this freeloader at No. 4. His RISP is a disgrace. He is not even an effective left field anymore being too slow and having too weak a throw. The game started well enough for Marines with Okada leading off with a single. Nemoto grounded out to short taking Okada to second and then the next two batters grounded out to short as well. No run there. Hirano worked the count full and then drove the ball off Fujioka's right leg for a single. He was stupid bunted to second by Yamato and you sensed Tigers were not likely to score this innings. Toritani misread a pitch and struck out looking and Kanemoto as he does took the walk. This left it all up to Murton who flew out to right to end the first. Kakunaka led off Marines second with a walk - Fujii's calling was at the idiotic level for this at bat. Imae though kindly hit into a double play and then Ohmatsu grounded out to first. Tigers second started with Sekimoto grounding out and then Brazell striking out. Next was Fujii who took a swing at his first pitch and hit it along the third baseline where it just landed over the fence and fair for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. A really lucky shot but at least he tried. Standridge struck out. Satozaki singled to start Marines third and was bunted to second by Fujioka. Okada grounded out to Brazell which moved Satozaki to third but then Nemoto also grounded out to third. Tigers third and with two out Toritani drew a walk. Kanemoto flew out to left to end the innings.

Marines fifth saw a very nice start with two strike outs by Standridge. Then Kakunaka flew out to centre - the pitching had been nice. Tigers fifth saw the batters fall in order. Fujioka was enjoying his pitching. Fujii and Standridge had worked well together but this rather fell apart in the Marines fifth. Imae singled right and then Ohmatsu did the same - runners on first and second. With no outs Marines had all sorts of options but then Satozaki flew out to centre. Fujioka tried to bunt but missed three opportunities and was out. Standridge relaxed a little and Okada hit over the infield into left. Kanemoto lumbered round but didn't attempt the throw and a runner was home 1-1 scores tied, runners on first and second. Standridge was furious with himself for the lapse. Nemoto grounded out to end the innings. Tigers fifth was quiet and no one got on base. Iguchi led off Marines sixth with a walk - very much down to some poor calling. Then Saburo singled right. Two fly outs followed the second of which took Iguchi to third but then Standridge induced a ground out to end the threat. Tigers sixth was quiet and ended with Kanemoto striking out rather wildly.

Marines seventh started badly for Standridge. He was having difficulty in the latter innings of the session with the lead off batters getting on base. This time it was Satozaki. Fujioka went to bunt and took a dead ball on his foot instead. Runners on first and second with no outs. Here Marines blundered. Okada had already driven in one run and so logic would dictate that he try to hit but instead he bunted the runners to second and third - one out. Nemoto struck out swinging to a high outcourse pitch and here Fujii was annoyed because Standridge hadn't followed the call - so what he got the out. Fukuura drew a walk to load the bases but Saburo hit to first where Brazell fielded and threw to Standridge who stepped on the first base for the final out. A very good pitching session. Fujioka also returned to pitch Tigers seventh and gave up a lead off single to Murton. He was stupid bunted to second by Sekimoto. However, here the technical proficiency was interesting to observe. The ball came off the bat and died very close to the baseline. It didn't travel far at all. Sekimoto made sure he cleared the catcher unlike Fujii against the Lions and there was no question of interference. Brazell had a torrid time with a couple of pitches whizzing round his head but struck out swinging. Finally, Fujii hit the ball weakly back to Fujioka for the final out. Tsutsui took the Marines eighth and started by following the calls. The first out went down but then Imae singled right. After that Tsutsui ignored the calls and showed a bit more of his fireball spirit finishing by striking out Tanaka (replacement catcher). Uchi pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a lead off single to Shibata (pinch hitter). Hirano was instructed to bunt and payed lip service to this by taking two failed bunts but then shaping to bunt and switching to a swing. As he swung for the second time he lost his bat and fell over but Shibata stole second. Then Hiyama (pinch hitter) and Toritani both struck out swinging to end the innings. Kyuji pitched the Marines ninth and paid no attention to the calls. Kanazawa (pinch hitter) grounded out to first but then Okada singled. Okada tried to steal second and as he did so Fujii threw to Hirano. The throw was abysmal and well past Hirano's glove rolling into centre field and allowing Okada to take third. Still there was only Heiuchi to down and he grounded out to third to end the innings. For the first time in a long time Kanemoto did something useful. Facing a shaky Yabuta he drew a walk in four as Yabuta was all over the place. He was pinch run for by Tagami with Murton next. Murton doesn't bunt and made no attempt to instead hitting to right to set up runners on first and third with no outs. Sekimoto hit along the third baseline straight to third and Tagami had to step back onto the sack pretty sharply. Imae threw to first for the out but Murton had made second. An inauspicious game for Sekimoto. Brazell was next and he battled hard then managed to dig one out which rolled between first and second for a single. Tagami was home 2-1 Tigoers - sayonara victory.

A curiosity was that after the hit Brazell did not look happy at all and barely smiled. In fact he looked very unhappy - maybe he was tired or doesn't smile much. His hero interview was interesting with the now famous aphorism. This had been a nice win for the Tigers with the win going to Fujikawa. Arai was brought off the bench as a possible pinch hitter twice but on both occasions wasn't needed. One hopes that Wada has stopped being childish though and that we will see Arai back in the lineup tonight.