August 28th Kubo v Miura - Trouble to the left

As Nakatani is appointed GM Tigers new strategy becomes clear - the same old, same old sums it up nicely. On the subject of Kanemoto thoughts are leaning towards keeping him on for next year. Reasoning given is that he is a veteran and that he will serve as an example to the younger players. Anyone watching his pathetic performance yesterday would have wondered what kind of example? He couldn't run and couldn't throw and was totally inadequate in left field (normally the easiest outfield position). He is in no way suitable for No. 5 in the lineup which is too high for his ability. This leads us back to the situation of the pre-Hoshino Tigers, useless has beens kept on long past their sell by date because they are veterans. There is a lot of talk from the Tigers management on bringing in new and younger players but very little progress. The same standards apply as before - Nakatani was brought up and had one or two games then went back down again. A player does need to play at the highest level to improve and ni-gun is not high enough. One cannot see Tigers developing young talent any quicker. A further point to consider is the front office and management blaming the players rather than the coaching team and kantoku (though the coaching team is rumoured to be going to be changed). Certainly the players do share some of the responsibility but it is difficult to remain motivated when you have a set of coaches as bad as Tigers have and a kantoku the calibre of Wada. This also is typical Japanese business practice, a refusal of the management to take difficult or what are perceived as difficult decisions and then blaming others lower down for their ineptness and dilatoriness. It should be the management's responsibility to manage and learn not to strike poses which is all Wada's coaches do. Fielding, batting and pitching are all deficient and development of talent has languished for too long. Tigers do need change but not the change that is proposed by Nakatani. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

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

An impressive performance by Miura who looked much better than he has been in previous games kept BayStars pretty much in control. Wada paired Kubo with Komiyama - a combination that worked well particularly in the fourth where Komiyama limited what could have been a very costly innings to just one run. Miura started the game by giving up a single to Hirano though. Hirano stole second on Toritani's strike out but then Ryota Arai also struck out. Kubo also started well and BayStars would find it impossible to get runners on in the first. Tigers second saw Saka walk with one out. Takahiro Arai then hit into a double play and the innings was ended. The BayStars second produced Kanemoto's first fielding disaster. With Ramirez out, Tsutsugoh hit high to left. The ball started to come down near the fence and a competent left would have been in position and facing the ball. Kanemoto was left behind and tried to take the ball jumping, missing the take. A two base hit. This affected Kubo who was a bit loose with Gotoh giving up another two base - this one to right centre 1-0 BayStars, runner on second. Kajitani grounded out taking Gotoh to third but then Takajoh also grounded out BayStars had the lead. Komiyama showing a new found confidence singled to centre. Kubo bunted him to second and then he stayed there as Uemoto and Hirano fell to Miura's whiles. BayStars batters couldn't get on base for their third and the margin remained thin.

With one out in Tigers fourth Ryota Arai hit the ball straight back at Miura who missed it and took the ball on his shoulder. Ryota Arai was able to take first but Miura was OK after some pain. Kanemoto then messed up swinging far too soon and flying out to second. Finally, Saka struck out swinging being lured too far. Kubo started BayStars fourth with a single to right for Kinjoh. Then we saw Kanemoto's second piece of poor fielding. Ramirez hit high to left and once again Kanemoto was poorly positioned and this time made no attempt to take the catch at all. This was also a catchable out and should have been taken. I much prefer Murton's errors, at least he tries. Kubo let this get to him and walked Tsutsugoh to load the bases with no outs. Tigers were in a whole lot of trouble. A mound chat followed and then Gotoh hit deep to centre - deep enough for the runner to tag up and reach home 2-0 BayStars, runners on first and third. However, it was the first out and working well together Komiyama and Kubo were able to get the next two batters to strike out. BayStars had wasted the chance and even though they had a two run lead they should have had more. Tigers fifth saw the bottom of the order fall without reaching base. Once again Kinjoh singled in the BayStars fifth but this time nothing came of the hit. Tigers sixth was again quiet - Miura was pitching very smoothly. Gotoh picked up a walk in BayStars sixth but nothing came of this either.

Tigers seventh and finally there was a chink in Miura's armour. Ryota Arai hit left for a double. Kanemoto grounded out to second which moved Ryota Arai round to third. Then Saka also grounded out to second bringing in a run 2-1 BayStars. Takahiro Arai flew out but Tigers were back in the game. Kubo pitched BayStars seventh and was excellent this time. He did walk Uchimura with two out but then struck out Kinjoh to end the innings. Miura had been pinch hit for by Watanabe and so was replaced by Fujie. The latter was terrible, all over the place and pitching without confidence. He walked Imarani (pinch hitter) as Wada had decided to go with his pinch hitters. This might have been the right option as there was no guarantee that Komiyama would have gotten on base. It meant that Komiyama's skills behind the plate would be missed. Imanari worked a walk and was pinch run for by Yamato. Shunsuke (pinch hitter) went to bunt and after two failures switched his focus and hit elegantly to short - runners on first and second. Uemoto bunted them to second and third - a wasted out and one which shows that Wada never learns. Hirano singled to centre the ball landing just in front of Aranami who was able to pick up and throw to third to catch a rather slow Shunsuke sliding in. Still 2-2 scores tied. Toritani swung poorly and flew out to first to end the innings. Having replaced Komiyama Wada, who's lack of foresight is legendary had to go with Fujii as catcher in a tight end game. This least of all is Fujii's strength and he was paired with Enokida. To say that they didn't work well together is an understatement. Enokida started by dead balling Kinjoh. This brought up Ramirez. Fujii called for an inside pitch with the count at 1 and 0. Enokida delivered and Ramirez hammered it into the left stand for a two run home run 4-2 BayStars. Fujii had blown the game. Still not working well with Fujii, Enokida walked Tsutsugoh and this finally brought Yabu to the mound for a chat. This had the desired effect. Gotoh and Kajitani struck out to end the innings but BayStars had won the game. Tigers ninth was pitched by Yamaguchi. The shell shocked Tigers batters fell easily and quickly with only Saka putting up slight resistance. BayStars victory.

Tigers had done well to fight back but in doing so they had doomed themselves. Poor Miura who had pitched well didn't get the victory which went to the useless Fujie - sometimes life is cruel. Kubo had pitched well and economically and furthermore worked nicely with Komiyama. Tigers can still take this series but need to work harder and avoid using Kanemoto.