June 24th Andoh v Miura - Miura has an off day

No doubt Nakahata was expecting a series win. After all Takasaki had won and with Miura the Tigers killer pitching the last game Tigers would be beaten. It didn't work that way though once again Wada failed to pay attention to his pitcher's limits. Stupidity of this level is getting tiring though Wada's approach is typical Japanese management. Learn nothing from the past and pursue stupid and pointless goals. But more of this later

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

Starting lineups

BayStars
1. Aranami (Centre)
2. Ishikawa (Second)
3. Nakamura (First)
4. Ramirez (Left)
5. Tsutsugoh (Third)
6. Kinjoh (Right)
7. Kajitani (Short)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

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

If Kanemoto is going to continue to drive in runs at the rate he is doing he will be fully justified in being fifth. Shibata though is proving to be a dead loss who keeps more active and productive players out of the order. Fujii worked well with Andoh today and one thinks that the rest Andoh had benefited him. Still BayStars first was a bit nervy. Aranami grounded out but Ishikawa singled. Ramirez singled to centre and BayStars had runners on first and third with two outs. Tsutsugoh was the culprit who managed to bounce the ball to first and ground out. Once again Murton led off Tigers innings and his performance over the past two games makes one wonder why he was moved from first in the first place. More of Wada not knowing what to do? He took a ball and a strike and then hit left putting the ball over the fence for a solo home run 1-0 Tigers. Hirano singled right but Toritani flew out to centre. Arai singled to centre which set up runners on first and second and with Miura reeling Kanemoto worked the count full and punched the ball into the right field for a timely single 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Brazell singled nicely to centre bringing in another run 3-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Shibata grounded out to second forcing out Brazell, runners on first and third and then Fujii lined out to Miura to end the innings. Tigers could be happy with their start. It got better with Kinjoh out Kajitani singled right in BayStars second. Tsuruoka flew out to left and Miura flew out to right - the lead was intact. Then things really went pear shaped for Miura. The first two outs of Tigers second, Andoh strking out and Murton flying out went down easily enough but then up came Hirano. He got hold of his second pitch and drove it to right where it crossed the fence for a solo home run 4-0 Tigers. Yes Hirano had hit a home run. Miura was by now totally befuddled and walked Toritani. A wild pitch took the Tigers short to second and then Arai hit right bringing home the runner 5-0 Tigers, runner on first. Kanemoto slammed the ball to right and Arai went for home but was tagged out at the plate. Good work by the Tigers. No one in BayStars third managed to get on base at all. Andoh responded confidently to this big lead he had been given. Miura was able to catch his breath and in Tigers third was much more assured and more like himself retiring the batters in order. But he had a five run deficit.

Ramirez, Tsutsugoh and Kinjoh all tried and failed to get on base in BayStars fourth. Andoh was protecting his lead nicely. With two out in Tigers fourth Miura faced Hirano again and this time he flunked it and walked the Tigers second. Toritani drove to first but only succeeded in lining out to end the innings. BayStars fifth started well for Andoh with Kajitani striking out looking in three, Andoh utilising his favourite inside line to good effect. Tsuruoka and Miura didn't represent any threat either and Andoh was enjoying his pitching. Tigers fifth saw Arai swing too soon at his first pitch and fly out to short. Kanemoto struck out looking and then Brazell flew out to centre. But at this point Tigers could afford these little indulgences, BayStars couldn't. BayStars top of the order failed again in the sixth. No one got on base but it was taking Andoh longer - he was beginning to tire. Shibata led off Tigers sixth with a rare hit. He stoled second and then made third on Fujii's ground out to second. Andoh grounded out to third which prevented the sacrifice and Murton flew out to centre. Still not an important failure with a five run lead.

Ramirez rapidly succumbed in BayStars seventh, grounding out to third. Tsustugoh finally went on a full count but Kinjoh singled to centre. It didn't help as Kajitani grounded out to first to end the innings. Miura was replaced by Hayashi for Tigers seventh, a wise move by Nakahata who didn't want to risk a tired pitcher. This had immediate effects, Hirano struck out swinging and Toritani struck out looking. Arai worked a walk but then Kanemoto struck out swinging to end the innings. Andoh pitched BayStars eighth with Wada thinking about the complete game shutout. This was actually folly given Andoh's pitch count. His arm goes rapidly but also takes a long time to recover and managers need to keep this in mind. Wada is too stupid to be aware of this. Still Andoh was able to handle the eighth successfully and this should have been his last innings. Ushida pitched Tigers eighth and struck out Brazell. Shibata walked but then tried to steal second again and this time was thrown out. Fujii walked but (and here it should have been a pinch hitter) Andoh struck out looking. And no to Wada's folly, thinking he could get another innings out of Andoh and a complete game. The pitcher's count was already too high and the notion was complete idiocy. Enokida should have started the innings and Wada needs to understand about things like pitch counts and pitchers limitations. BayStars ninth started well enough with Ishikawa grounding out but that was it. Andoh no longer had any pop and Nakamura singled to centre. Ramirez also singled to centre and as Nakamura had runners on first and third. Tsutsugoh hit to first where Brazell could field but not get the out and BayStars had a runner home 5-1 Tigers, runners on first and second. This brought what should have happened earlier, the entrance of Enokida with Andoh leaving the mound. One hopes that his arm is OK and we don't get the same situation as with Okada and the Swallows. Wada you are a moron. Enokida struck out Kinjoh - two outs and one to go. This is Enokida's danger spot and makes one wonder why Wada feels he would make a good closer. Here Fujii interviened with an inept call and Koike (pinch hitter) singled to centre bringing in another run 5-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. Still it wasn't anything to worry about and Morimoto (pinch hitter) struck out swinging to end the game. Tigers victory.

Andoh got the victory and one hopes that Wada's blindness has not damaged his arm for the rest of the season. Enokida picked up the save which was his first for the season. Tigers had done well this series taking big leads in the second two games and holding them. Murton had performed well as had Kanemoto and Hirano with Arai and Brazell also hitting. However, let's be honest the BayStars are not much of a challenge and Tigers will need to play much better when the face sterner opposition such as the Giants and the Dragons.