July 1st Andoh v Muranaka - Komiyama's turn to fail

This time, Komiyama was the awful catcher. He took over from Fujii who picked up a knock from Balentien. He struggled to impose his authority on the pitchers and Tigers suffered. One example from the Swallows eighth, Komiyama called for a high pitch but had to drop down suddenly as Tsuru ignored the call and went low. The result was that Hatakeyama whacked the ball into right field. Komiyama couldn't do anything about Andoh though who was afraid to attack the zone for the third strike. This was a feature of his pitching throughout the game but Tigers could be confident of victory after the fifth. Here Wada made the error leaving Andoh in for the sixth. Andoh was obviously not doing well and to try and squeeze another innings out of him was folly in the extreme. We had to my mind almost the ideal Tigers team with Asai and Yamato both on the field but the concept of Ryota Arai at fifth was strange. Brazell would have been a much better bet there. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 5 12 0
Swallows  1 0 0 1 1 4 2 0 X 9 15 1

Starting lineups

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

Swallows
1. Milledge (Left)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Short)
4. Hatakeayama (First)
5. Balentien (Right)
6. Miyamoto (Third)
7. Matsui (Right)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Muranaka (Pitcher)

Swallows were fired up and keen to win and Tigers though they once again batted well showed naivity and a childish tactical appreciation (step forward Wada). They faced in Muranaka a pitcher who was pretty dismal and it is a wonder it took until the fifth to break him down. Murton and Hirano went to soon taking but three pitches. Toritani hit right but Takahiro Arai grounded out to third to end the innings. Andoh did not start well. As mentioned his fear of the zone was a big handicap. Milledge slammed the ball right into the corner for a two base hit. Tanaka bunted him to third which brought up Kawabata. He grounded out to Toritani who checked and locked Milledge on base before throwing to first for the out. Then Milledge went for home. Brazell threw to Fujii who was out of position standing in front of the plate with the result that he missed the tag and Milledge was home 1-0 Swallows. Swallows are a speedy side and Tigers tend to be very naive against them. Certainly Fujii hadn't done well. Hatakeyama flew out to second to end the innings. Ryota Arai led off Tigers second by grounding out - one wonders what he was doing batting five. Brazell was next and took a dead ball on his elbow which obviously hurt. He had to leave the field and was replaced by Asai with Ryota Arai taking over first. Yamato singled right off some very indifferent pitching and setting up runners on first and second. Fujii struck out and Andoh hit straight to Miyamoto who dropped what was a straightforward take. The bases were loaded but Murton swung at his first pitch and grounded out to second. A lucky escape for Swallows. Balentien led off Swallows second with a big two base to right. It was a bit of a wild swing but just missed being a home run by a matter of centimetres. Miyamoto shaped to bunt but after two failures grounded out taking Balentien to third. Once again a sacrifice play was on. Matsui hit to Hirano for the out and Balentien set off. He is a bit slower than Milledge but even so was in with a good chance. The throw from Hirano was good and this time Fujii was perfectly positioned blocking the plate to tag out Balentien. Balentien charged Fujii knocking him over but Fujii held onto the ball and applied the tag for the out. The thing was the impact was pretty damaging as Fujii is only a little guy and he needed some recovery time. Eventually he was ready and the game restarted. Matsui had made first safely and went to steal. Fujii threw to second - a wild throw but actually perfectly placed to the right of the sack for Toritani to tag Matsui out with ease to end the innings. Tigers third was quiet with the batters falling in order. A very unmemorable innings. Aikawa started Swallows third by flying out in foul ground. Then Muranaka singled - poor pitching by Andoh. Milledge swung too soon and flew out to third. Then Tanaka hit to centre to set up runners on first and second. Kawabata was next and he hit deep to centre where Yamato took the catch.

With two out in Tigers fourth Yamato singled left. Fujii did not bat but was pinch hit for by Komiyama who hit deep to left - a nice swing but not strong enough to evade the glove of Milledge. It was obvious that Komiyama was going to take over the catching duties and that Fujii could not continue. Andoh got Hatakeyama to fly out to start Swallows fourth but then walked Balentien. This was a poor decision by the umpire as Balentien actually failed to check his swing in time and should have been a strike out. Andoh then walked Miyamoto which brought Yabu to the mound for a talk. Matsui hit a grounder to Ryota Arai to force out Miyamoto but the double play didn't come off and Balentien made third with Matsui safe on first. Next was Aikawa, hardly a danger one would have thought but to Andoh everyone was a danger and Aikawa drove his first pitch into left field for a two base hit. 2-0 Swallows, runners on second and third. Muranaka hit into right but lined out to Hirano to end the innings. Finally, though Tigers were able to get to Muranaka. Andoh led off with a nice single to left. Murton hit into right centre to set up runners on second and third with no outs. Hirano walked to load the bases. Toritani swung at his first pitch and bounced the ball just over the upraised glove of Hatakeyama for a timely single 2-2 scores tied, runners on first and third. Takahiro Arai found the gap between third and short bringing in another run 3-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. This was the end of Muranaka who was replaced on the mound by Yamamoto. He didn't do much better and gave up a single into centre to Ryota Arai, bases loaded again. Asai whacked his first pitch deep into centre for the sacrifice fly 4-2 Tigers, runners on first and second. Yamato singled left and the bases were loaded again. This time Komiyama drove to short forcing out Ryota Arai but bringing in the fifth run 5-2 Tigers, runners on first and third. Finally Andoh struck out swinging. Now the big issue for Tigers was would Andoh be able to hold the lead. The rain was falling heavily and Andoh was pitching like a pussy. Risking him in the fifth would give him the victory and so he took the mound. He got into all sorts of mess with Milledge singling to lead off the innings. Tanaka flew out to left but then Kawabata hit right to set up runners on first and second. Andoh seemed to go to pieces and gave up a centre hit to Hatakeyama. Milledge had the speed to reach home 5-3 Tigers, Balentien flew out to short which meant Miyamoto to get. A ball followed by a too high straight saw Miyamoto hit the ball deep to right centre. Here Yamato came to the rescue with a stunning diving catch snagging the ball just before it touched the ground and holding it to end the innings. But warning had been served. Tigers sixth was pitched by Fernandes. It started well with Murton driving into centre. Then that idiot Wada had Hirano bunt Murton to second. What for? The extra out would have come in useful. Toritani singled left to set up runners on first and second and then Takahiro Arai walked to load the bases. Tigers had a great chance here but squandered it. Ryota Arai struck out swinging at one he should have left and then Asai hit to right where Balentien took the catch to end the innings. If Hirano hadn't bunted that would have been a sacrifice. It looks like Wada has sawdust between his ears. He then compounded the idiocy by bringing back Andoh for a sixth innings. The batters were all over Andoh and Tigers had a two run advantage which by going to the relief they could have protected like they did the day before. Wada just looked at the pitch count not what his pitcher was throwing. The brilliant catch by Yamato should have been a clear sign to him - Andoh was there to be hit. Andoh fully justified the doubts about his suitability for another innings. He was afraid to attack Matsui and walked the Swallows right to start the bottom of the sixth. Aikawa flew out but Morioka (pinch hitter) drove into centre - runners on first and second. Ogawa's pinch hitters would do well this game. Milledge swung wildly to left connected and put the ball into the left corner for a two base hit. One runner scored 5-4 Tigers, runners on second and third. This was the end of Andoh who was replaced by Katoh - hardly my first choice for this situation. Katoh's first two pitches to Tanaka were balls convincing Komiyama that maybe the strike out wasn't going to be likely. So Komiyama called for a low straight to get Tanaka to pop out. Katoh was too high and the pitch was in the middle of the zone. Tanaka swung perfectly and lifted the ball high and over the left fence for a three run home run 7-5 Swallows. Katoh hadn't done well but calling for another straight wasn't very wise of Komiyama. Kawabata swung right and flew out and finally, Hatakeyama flew out to centre - another nice take by Yamato.

Oshimoto pitched Tigers seventh and got the job done - Yamato struck out looking and Komiyama popped the ball up to short. Shibata (pinch hitter) singled to centre but Murton flew out to centre. This was actually a very deep hit which just died before it reached the wall. Kubota took over for Swallows seventh and showed his best and his worst. He does struggle at Jingu and this was one of those occasions. First the best - a superb strike down the edge of the zone to Balentien. However, he ended up walking the Swallows right. Miyamoto bunted Balentien to second and then Matsui hit to right centre for a two base timely hit 8-5 Swallows. The Swallows had their tails up and were pretty much unstoppable. Tigers were reeling by now. Aikawa flew out to short but then Fujimoto (pinch hitter and former Tiger) drove the ball over Hirano into right centre for another timely hit. Murton fumbled the ball by the wall and Fujimoto was able to take third 9-5 Swallows. This was the end of Kubota and Tsuru took over. He was able to get Milledge to fly out to centre but Tigers were beaten. Hidaka pitched Tigers eighth and Tigers rather played into his hands. They just wanted to be off the field one felt. Both Hirano and Toritani just swung at their first pitches but Arai was unlucky. Once again the plate umpire was terrible and the strike out wasn't actually such a thing. The zone had expanded greatly for this out. Tsuru returned for Tigers eighth and got Tanaka to fly out to right. Kawabata hit a two base to right and then we had Hatakeyama's single which set up runners on first and third. Tsuru then dead balled Balentien hitting him in his ample flank. This for some reason really annoyed Balentien who approached the mound bat in hand. Komiyama was up to stop him and the benches cleared. Once the non event had been sorted out and Balentien ejected Swallows had the bases loaded. Komiyama had words with Tsuru who then followed the call. The result was Miyamoto hit into a double play to end the innings. Barnette took over for Tigers ninth Ryota Arai grounded out to short and then Asai struck out. Finally Yamato tried to turn the ball to left but grounded out to third instead. Swallows victory.

Swallows had thoroughly deserved their victory. They had played aggressively and Tigers had crumbled before them. Of course it could have been different - if Wada had not put Andoh in for the sixth and it was clearly obvious that he was not pitching that well Tigers might have held on. Komiyama didn't call well but Fujii wouldn't have been any better either. Komiyama needs to lift his game and work like he can. So do the Tigers pitchers who didn't pitch well at all. Tigers lost 5 out of 6 of this particular road trip. It's not nice to contemplate the fact that shi no rodo still lies ahead. What chance a fourth place finish after this performance?