July 25th Messenger v Yoshimi - What has changed?

Tigers go to Nagoya Dome. They face Yoshimi. They play without spirit or fire and get beaten. The lineup is different but the more things change the more they remain the same. This was an awesomely uninspiring game in which Tigers had chances to take the lead but spurned them. It does turn out that Wada met with Sakai-owner who told him that he didn't need to rely on youth if he thought it would help Tigers win. Expect more Kanemoto even though his days as a match winner are but a remote memory. Score

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Takehiro Donoue (Right)
3. Wada (Left)
4. Yamasaki (First)
5. Ibata (Short)
6. Morino (Third)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Naomichi Donoue (Second)
9. Yoshimi (Pitcher)

The lineup change for Tigers was interesting with Toritani taking over the No. 1 slot. Given the number of walks he has been drawing this is not such a bad idea. Murton dropped down to sixth and Ryota Arai took over third which seemed a bit strange. He celebrated by drawing a walk in Tigers first whilst Toritani flew out to left. Takahiro Arai, his big brother flew out and that was the end of the innings. Messsenger started just as well and but for some poor fielding would have gone through the innings without a runner. Dragons No. 3, Wada, grounded out to Ryota Arai who threw poorly to his brother at first. In fact the throw to first was so poor that Wada was able to take second. However, it didn't matter as Yamasaki struck out swinging. Tigers second saw Murton single with one out. Wada then signalled the steal which didn't come off and Murton was out. Hirano managed to fly out to second and the innings was over. Morino singled to right in Dragons second, again with one out. Tanishige worked a walk but then a Donoue (the Naomich version) was induced to hit into a double play to end the innings. Tigers third was quiet with nothing happening. Ohshima singled to left in Dragons third but then tried to steal second and was thrown out by Komiyama. So far things were even but this would change.

Tigers fourth was quiet - we're still getting used to the Arai brothers at three and four. Messenger though began to go in Dragons fourth. Wada led off the innings with a two base hit. Yamasaki grounded out and Ibata's fly out took Wada to third. This shouldn't have been a problem but Messenger could no longer hold and Morino singled right bringing in the run 1-0 Dragons, runner on first. Tanishige and then Naomichi Donoue walked to load the bases. The last batter was Yoshimi who grounded out to second. Dragons had their noses in front. Tigers had a chance to bounce back in their fifth with Murton hitting a two base to left after Kanemoto had flown out to left. Hirano walked when it really needed someone to try and drive the run in. Komiyama tried but could only hit to third for the force out of Hirano - runners on first and third. Next was Messenger and here Yoshimi handed the Tigers a gift walking the pitcher to load the bases. This was a big chance but Toritani blew it striking out swinging on a full count. Poor batting here. Dragons then went to town in their fifth. Ohshima led off with a single. Takehiro Donoue hit a grounder to Toritani who fumbled and bumbled and allowed runners on first and third. Wada hit to right centre bringing in both runners and putting himself on third 3-0 Dragons. Then Yamasaki hit high to left for the sacrifice fly 4-0 Dragons. Practically anything hit high to left guarantees a sacrifice with Kanemoto at left. Ibata hit a two base to right and finally Wada acted and replaced Messenger. Katoh took over the pitching and got the second out Morino flying out to centre. Tanishige walked and this brought a panicked change by Wada with Tsuru taking over and getting Naomichi Donoue to strike out swinging. Tigers sixth saw Takahiro Arai single but Kanemoto was having an anonymous night and flew out to end the innings. Tigers batting was inept. With two out in Dragons sixth, Tsuru walked Nomoto (replacement right). Then Wada hit to left and Dragons had runners on first and second. This time they didn't exploit it and the innings ended with Yamasaki grounding out to short.

Tigers seventh produced a Hirano single with one out. In one of his pointless changes, Wada brought on Imarani (replacement catcher) who promptly hit into an innings ending double play. Tigers weren't even getting off the ground. Kojima pitched Dragons seventh and started with a fly out. He then dead balled Morino and gave up a single to Tanishige. Runners on first and second again. Then we saw some of his potential which has been hidden with both Naomichi Donoue and Yoshimi striking out looking. Shibata pinch hit for Kojima and then took over centre - another pointless change. Toritani flew out to centre and Brazell (pinch hitter) flew out to centre as well. Watanabe took over for Dragons eighth and was hopeless. He started by walking Ohshima. Then Nomoto singled to centre to set up runners on first and second. Wada's fly out to centre took Ohshima to third and the next batter Yamasaki singled to right 5-0 Dragons, runners on first and second. Ibata singled to right as well 6-0 Dragons, runners on first and second. Morino walked to load the bases and it looked as if Tigers were in for even more of a battering. Luck intervened with Tanishige flying out to first in foul ground preventing the run. Finally, Takahashi (pinch hitter) grounded out to first to end the innings. Yoshimi pitched Tigers ninth for a complete game shut out on four hits and three walks in 115 pitches. This turned out to be a formality with the batters falling in order. Dragons victory.

This was a sorry display which had Wada mumbling after the game about spirit and such things. But this is a demotivated side with a manager of no ability playing at Nagoya Dome - the Tigers graveyard. Tigers can bounce back but a realistic expectation for the next game is another defeat. Tigers do need to overcome the Nagado hoodoo but Wada is not the manager to do so.