August 2nd Standridge v Roman - The streak ends

As expected the Swallows managed a consolation victory denying Tigers a sweep. The nature of the loss was a bit disappointing - a shut out victory to the Tokyo outfit with runs being gifted through a throwing error. Still Yamato had been very good earlier in the game. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 5 10 0
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4 1

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Milledge (Left)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Kawabata (Third)
4. Hatakeyama (First)
5. Matsui (Right)
6. Morioka (Short)
7. Fukuuchi (Centre)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Roman (Pitcher)

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

Wada made one change, restoring Hirano to lead off batter. Standridge did not start well being paired with Fujii again. Milledge led off the innings singling to centre. He was bunted to second in another waste of an out by Tanaka. Kawabata hit to Toritani who couldn't make a throw in time setting up runners on first and third. Then with Standridge all over the place, Hatakeyama hit a two base to right 1-0 Swallows, runners on second and third. Matsui hit to second and Hirano threw to home to take out the runner going for the plate. This was the second out and Matsui was able to reach second. Swallows still had runners on second and third. Morioka singled bringing in the runner on third 2-0 Swallows but then Matsui also tried to make home and was tagged out to end the innings. Swallows were off to a good start and needed their pitcher to deliver. Roman proceeded to do just that. Tigers first was quiet The restored Hirano couldn't do anything and the innings ended with Toritani striking out looking. Standridge was much better in the Swallows second. Of course he faced the bottom of the order but the outs were still useful. Tigers second was like the first - no runner getting on base as Tigers once again struggled to cope with an unfamiliar pitcher. Milledge once again led off a Swallows innings with a single - this time the third. He stole second and then with a bunt even more stupid than the one in the first Tanaka bunted him to third. Kawabata struck out swinging and Hatakeyama hit a grounder to short to end the innings. The extra out would have been very useful in this situation and it could be said the bunt cost Swallows a run. Tigers managed their first hit of the game and first base runner in the third. Ryota Arai led off with a single to centre and took second on Fujii's ground out. Standridge struck out swinging and then Hirano struck out looking. Some good pitching by the Swallows starter.

Standridge then ran into problems again in the Swallows fourth. Matsui led off with a single to second. With one out Fukuuchi hit left putting runners on first and second. Aikawa also singled left and this brought in another run 3-0 Swallows, runners on first and second. Roman grounded out to second but did move the runners round to second and third but then Milledge also grounded out to end the innings. A clear gap had opened between Tigers and Swallows but it was closeable. Tigers couldn't do it. After the hit of the third, they reverted back to the 1-2-3 format of the first and second with no one getting on base. So did Swallows for their fifth and no one reached base. Kanemoto led Tigers fifth off with a single but then immediately fell to a Murton double play. Ryota Arai could only strike out swinging this time. Swallows sixth would prove Standridge's last innings. With one out he walked first Morioka and then Fukuuchi. The next batter was Aikawa, who, no doubt with the thoughts of his previous single in mind, tried to drive past Hirano. This resulted in an innings ending double play and Swallows failed to add to the score. Imanari (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) led off the sixth popping out to third in foul ground. Itoh (pinch hitter) struck out but Hirano managed a single. The next batter, Yamato could only ground out to end the innings. Only one Tigers batter had reached second.

Wada nd switched pitchers to Tsuru. He retired the batters in order dealing very neatly with the three Swallows he faced. Toritani led off Tigers seventh with a single. He stayed on first as the next three batters failed to achieve anything. Katoh pitched Swallows eighth and managed to get the three batters he faced to fly out to left, right and centre. Roman issued his first walk of the game in Tigers eighth, that of Brazell (pinch hitter) with two outs. Hirano flew out in foul ground to end the innings and Roman was one innings away from a complete game shutout. First though there was the Swallows ninth to get through. Watanabe was the pitcher in what turned out to be a bit of a disaster. The first batter he pitched to was Morioka who hit a double to left. Given the situation you would have thought that the next batter would hit but no Ogawa had him bunt the runner to third. Swallows bunting this game was farcical. Aikawa walked and then Roman flew out to centre. Yamato took the catch and couldn't prevent the sacrifice but even so his throw in was a joke and the runner on first was able to move round the bases 4-0 Swallows, runner on third. Milledge singled left to bring the runner in 5-0 Swallows, runner on first. Tanaka walked and it looked like a big innings could be in the offing but Kawabata hit a grounder to first ending the danger. Tigers surrendered tamely to Roman in their ninth. The batting was flaccid and uninspired and the game finished with Takahiro Arai grounding out to short. Swallows victory.

Nothing really for Tigers fans to take from this game. The offense had been stymied by Roman's pitching and had generated only four hits and a walk. That was a good performance by the Swallows pitcher who got the complete game. Standridge had been OK, neither good nor bad. Yamato's throwing error cost Tigers two runs in the ninth but he had done some good work earlier. However, one has to note that almost all the Tigers players are committing errors in the field. Obviously, this is another area where the coaching is deficient; to go with batting, pitching and battery. Tigers next series is against the Carp at Mazda Stadium. We should expect them to struggle as the Carp are hot and Tigers aren't playing well away from home.They're not playing well at home but they're worse on the road.