June 8th Standridge v Nishi - Kanemoto's big hit

At the moment Kanemoto is playing like a No. 4 should and fully justifying his place. He drove in three big run on a very rainy and wet night. Okada though was annoyed and whined about Tigers wasting time - all rather pathetic. Wada even in victory continues to demonstrate his ineptness. He has quite rightly warned Imanari that the latter will be converted to an outfielder (Tigers love his bat) if his defense doesn't improve. One can't quibble with this but honestly what is he doing in the top team if he is that poor? You would think the second team would be the place for him. OK then he does hit well but you don't want a catcher for his hitting. Komiyama made a welcome return to the top team but didn't get to call the entire game as Wada panicked in the sixth and went with a series of pinch hitters. No runs were scored and the replacement was Okazaki - still it's better than Imanari at the moment. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Buffaloes
1. Gotoh (Second)
2. Nonaka (Centre)
3. Scales (Left)
4. Lee (First)
5. Baldris (Third)
6. Kawabata (Right)
7. Ohbiki (Short)
8. Suzuki (Catcher)
9. Nishi (Pitcher)

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

In rainy conditions it was guaranteed that the pitchers would struggle and so it proved. With two out Standridge walked Scales and then gave up a single to Lee - runners on first and second. However, Baldris struck out. Tigers suffered from their swing too soon disease and at first the batters very rapidly fell with all three going down quickly. The question once again has to be posed why is Shibata preferred to Yamato? His batting average is higher than the latter but Yamato drives in runs and this surely is more important. The RBI count stands at 14 to Yamato and 2 to Shibata. It's fairly clear who should be starting, the batter who produces the runs. The Buffaloes second was quiet and the batters fell in order - a nice innings by Standridge. Tigers second saw Arai pick up a two out walk. Brazell hit to set up runners on first and second but Komiyama swung at his first pitch and flew out to end the innings. In Buffaloes third Gotoh singled to left with one out and was bunted to second. Okada is also a bit brainless when it comes to bunts. However, a wild pitch took him to third but Scales struck out and that was that. Nishi managed to dead ball Hirano in Tigers third and a wild pitch took Hirano to second - it was that kind of night. Shibata grounded out to second and then Toritani walked. Kanemoto could only fly out to second and things looked like they hadn't changed.

Lee led off Buffaloes fourth with a walk and then Baldris took a dead ball. Runners on first and second. Kawabata hit to second where Hirano fielded and threw to Toritani for the first stage of the double play. Toritani's throw was poor and Brazell couldn't take it allowing Lee to reach home 1-0 Buffaloes, runner on second. Okada looked rather smug about that. Ohbiki hit left to set up runners on first and third and then stole second. However, Standridge struck out first Suzuki and then Nishi to end the danger. Tigers response came in the bottom with Arai hitting a two base. However, neither Brazell nor Komiyama could convert and Buffaloes maintained their slim lead. The fifth saw the first break for rain but Buffaloes fifth was quiet. Imanari (pinch hitter) led off the Tigers fifth with a single to left. Brain dead Wada signalled the bunt but this turned into a double play. Wada argued the point but to no avail. Shibata hit to centre but then Toritani struck out. Standridge had thrown 93 pitches and this was felt to be enough in the conditions. Fukuhara took over for Buffaloes sixth and he started poorly giving up a two base hit to Lee. He recovered to retire the next three batters and keep Lee ensconsed on second throughout the innings. Tigers sixth saw one of Wada's inept panic innings. Kanemoto struck out but Murton hit - he isn't a No. 5 batter and like Kanemoto at No. 4 is batting out of position. Wada's inability to know how to construct a lineup is demotivating Tigers. Arai flew out but Brazell walked. This brought a new pitcher, Yoshino. Then Wada messed up bringing in Hiyama who walked to load the bases. Another new pitcher followed, Katsuki. Next was Sekimoto who flew out in foul ground. Quite apart from the fact that replacing a performing catcher is not a good idea the sheer stupidity of using first Hiyama and then Sekimoto takes the breath away. Hiyama is more likely to hit in the clutch situations not Sekimoto.

For Buffaloes seventh we had Tsutsui pitching to Okazaki but luckily things went OK and the batters all fell in order. A fortunate escape. Katsuki walked Hirano to start Tigers seventh and then a wild pitch took the Tigers second to second base. Here things were a bit strange. Shibata hit high which was missed by the fielder in the rain. Hirano hesitated and was only able to reach third with Shibata on second. Poor runnning indeed. Toritani grounded out to the pitcher which locked the runners on second and third. Okada then changed his pitcher to Hirano who faced Kanemoto who has not been good with runners on. He took two balls then hit hard for a three run home run 3-1 Tigers. This was especially noteable as it was the difficult right stand that Kanemoto put the ball into. It certainly wiped the smile of Okada's face. Murton and Arai both flew out but Tigers had turned the game around. The fears about Okazaki began to be realised in Buffaloes eighth. Enokida was the pitcher. Lee walked and then Baldris singled to set up runners on first and third. Luckily with two outs Kawabata grounded out to third. Tigers eighth was pitched by Komatsu. With Okazaki out, Yamato (pinch hitter) singled. Then Sekimoto singled and Tigers had runners on first and second. Neither Hirano nor Shibata did anything and the innings resulted in no score. Fujikawa pitched Buffaloes ninth and with two out gave up a single to Yamasaki (replacement short). The final out was Gotoh who hit to Hirano to end the game. Tigers victory.

Kanemoto's home run had come at psychologically the perfect moment and the win went to Tsutsui. Fujikawa picked up his eleventh save and Tigers could be happy that they had won in difficult conditions. It seems that Sakai-owner wants to meet Wada to discuss how the Tigers can overtake the Giants. Well with the current manger forget it but if Tigers change managers there might still be an outside chance.