August 8th Kubo v Koyama - Normality is restored

After the heady heights of the tie the previous game, Tigers lapsed into their normal away state and lost a tight game. To be fair Kubo pitched very well for five innings before succumbing in the sixth. The game was also notable for some strange option taking and the use of the video recording to check a possible home run. Matsumoto of the Giants blubbed during his hero interview and rather like the correct use of the Giabbit doll he was holding this really should have taken place in private. Scores

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

Startling lineups

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

Giants
1. Chono (Right)
2. Matsumoto (Centre)
3. Sakamoto (Short)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Murata (Third)
6. Takahashi (Left)
7. Ishii (First)
8. Furuki (Second)
9. Koyama (Pitcher)

Hirano struck out and the Tigers were off to a poor start. Shunsuke singled left - rather a lucky shot but it counted. Toritani struck out looking - he would have trouble coping with the pitching all game. Finally Takahiro Arai could only ground out. Giants also opened with a strike out but then Matsumoto stroked the ball nicely along the third baseline past a poorly positioned Ryota Arai for a double. Sakamoto worked the count full to set up runners on first and second and then Kubo went to work. He struck out Abe looking surprising both the Giants catcher and his own. Then Murata struck out swinging to end the innings. Tigers second saw Koyama pitch rather gingerly to Kanemoto resulting in a lead off walk. This didn't last too long as Murton hit into a double play. Then Ryota Arai grounded out to short to end that innings. Kubo continued to strike out batters in Giants second. First Takahashi and then Ishii succumbed before the final batter Furuki grounded out to second. Tigers third saw Koyama deal effectively with the bottom of the order and Hirano mowing them down smoothly. In Giants third Chono singled with one out but Matsumoto tried to bunt, messed it up and put the ball back to Kubo. He reacted quickly and threw to second to initiate the innings ending double play. So far things were about even with no team being able to get an advantage.

The stalemate continued in Tigers fourth. With one out Toritani hit into centre where Matsumoto was waiting to take the catch. He did this and then fell over but unfortunately for Tigers retained the ball. Two outs and it was Takahiro Arai's turn to strike out looking and end the innings. Giants were also finding base runners difficult to come by and they were skittled out in short order in what seemed to becoming a bravura pitching display by Kubo. Kanemoto singled to centre to lead off Tigers fifth - only their second hit of the game. Murton flew out and Ryota Arai grounded out to third but a wild pitch took Kanemoto to second. Fujii was walked to get at Kubo who popped one up to second to end the innings. Giants fifth was also over in a flash with the batters presenting no problem for Kubo. Here we saw the first strange decision of the night. Hara pulled Koyama after only 64 pitches and five innings. One wonders why - Koyama had been pitching well and seemed untroubled. Furthermore at 64 pitches he shouldn't have been tired. He was replaced by Takagi who got Yamato (pinch hitter and replacement second) to ground out. Shunsuke singled left again and with Toritani at the plate and theh count 2-2 tried to steal second. This was telegraphed in a big way - and Takagi threw a ball wide to left which was taken and fired to second by Abe. Shunsuke was tagged out with ease by Sakamoto. Then Takagi sent a superb pitch sailing through the zone to strike out Toritani looking and end the innings. Giants sixth started with Yano (pinch hitter) striking out looking. Chono hit to short where Toritani got his glove on it and let the ball escape. It rolled away into left with Toritani chasing after it and resulted in a single. This was ruled a hit but was actually an error by Toritani. Next was Matsumoto who battled for a while then clinically hit the ball into right centre. Chono raced round the bases to reach home 1-0 Giants, runner on second. Sakamoto followed with a single to right 2-0 Giants, runner on first. Abe then hit into a double play to end the innings but it seemed that Giants now had a game winning lead.

This impression continued in Tigers seventh. The Giants catcher was now Sanematsu after Abe had also had to pull out. The combination worked effectively and Tigers three batters looked ineffective. Kubo was good for a seventh innings and Giants batters went after him. Murata was the first to try and he swung and lofted one along the baseline. This produced a discussion among the umpires and they decided to use the video replay to judge. Replays showed the ball had been just foul by matter of centimetres. Murata then tried to go deep again and flew out to Kanemoto near the wall. Takahashi hit into centre but Shunsuke was under it and took the catch. Finally, Ishii hit a low fly to short. Toritani turned and diving just snagged the ball in the tip of his glove - a superb piece of fielding ending the innings. Sakamoto was replaced by Terauchi at short as a result of a foul on his foot in the sixth. The pitcher for Tigers eighth was Nishimura. Ryota Arai led off Tigers eighth hitting deep to centre. Matsumoto chased and jumped perfectly to take the ball in the air near the wall. He cannoned into the wall and fell over but once again held onto it though winded. Imanari (pinch hitter and replacement catcher) struck out and then Itoh (pinch hitter) also flew out to centre to end the innings. For Giants eighth the pitcher was Tsuru. He started by giving up a hit to short - though once again Toritani's fielding was strange. He seemed to stumble and dive on the ball and when he rolled up couldn't make the throw. Sanematsu bunted the runner to second in the usual waste of an out. Chono was deliberately walked to set up a double play and this was really off the wall. Why take the high risk option? One thinks that Imanari wasn't thinking clearly at all and Tsuru obviously agreed because he induced a deep fly out from Matsumoto. Then he struck out Terauchi to end the innings. For Tigers ninth we saw Yamaguchi. Against a Tigers without spirit or fire his was a straightforward innings. First Yamato, then Shunsuke and finally Toritani surrendered tamely to end the game. Giants victory.

This was a really quick game - finished at just after 8:30 pm. Tigers had never really been in the game and had played without fire or spirit or even any purpose. Kubo had with his pitching kept the Tigers in what could have been a romp for the Giants. The batting exhibited by Tigers was dispiriting in the extreme to watch. A lack of application and in one or two cases it rather looked as if they couldn't be bothered. The end of Wada and his coaching team cannot come too soon.