September 1st Standridge v Imai - I shudder to think

Kanemoto's RISP must be truely abysmal - so abysmal I don't even want knowledge of it. This game with three out of four trips at the plate having a runner in a scoring position illustrated the point perfectly. Kanemoto failed in all three opportunities. What is the point of having him batting at No. 5 if he is going to fail miserably every opportunity? Kakefu was once again commenting on Tigers and suggested that if he were Kanemoto he would retire. Sharp but true - Kanemoto is practically useless and one notices an increase of hits to left as other teams target him knowing they have more chance of getting runners on or scoring. Other interesting thoughts include the musing that Ryota Arai is not suitable for clean up and Wada needs to stop trying to give everyone a chance. It's clear that Wada needs to be dumped and replaced by a different manager. Tigers were disgusting in this game - against a pitcher who can only be described as pathetic (his only other win came against...the Tigers) they totally froze and allowed him to win a complete game shutout. The thing was Standridge only gave up one run - Tigers should have done better against such poor material. Scores

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

Carp
1. Maru (Right)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Soyogi (Short)
4. Matsuyama (Left)
5. Eldred (First)
6. Amaya (Centre)
7. Dobayashi (Third)
8. Kura (Catcher)
9. Imai (Pitcher)

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

Standridge didn't settle immediately and walked Maru on a full count. Kikuchi's ground out to third took the runner to second and then Soyogi flew out to short. It looked like the innings would be scoreless but Standridge still managed to walk Matsuyama. Next was Eldred who singled left to bring in a run 1-0 Carp, runners on first and second. Amaya got it wrong and hit to right to fly out and end the innings. We had just witnessed the scoring for the entire game. Tigers then wasted an opportunity to get back into the action. Uemoto hit to Soyogi who fluffed it allowing the Tigers second to reach first. Yamato grounded out to first taking the runner to second and then Toritani hit a grounder to second and moved Uemoto round to third. It needed something from Ryota Arai but he skied the ball to short - a very poor choice of shot. Carp's second was quiet - once he settled down after the first Standridge pitched a superb game - it was a pity that he got no support from his batting lineup. Tigers second was also quiet with Tigers fans being momentarily excited with Brazell's flyer to left which was, however, taken by Matsuyama. Maru led off Carp's third with a single to left. Kikuchi bunted him to second and he made third on Soyogi's ground out but Matsuyama was not equal to the task of driving him in and the innings was scoreless. Tigers three batters in the third fell in order - a poor show.

Carp's fourth was quiet - Eldred went first pitch. Tigers put runners on again in the fourth. With one out Toritani singled to centre, then Ryota Arai singled left - runners on first and second. Next came Kanemoto's first failure - he struck out swinging. So did Brazell and Tigers had wasted a very good chance. Carp couldn't get anyone on in their fifth and this time Standridge was able to stop Maru getting on base striking him out to end the innings. The bottom of Tigers order did nothing in the fifth with no one getting on base. Carp's sixth and with one out Soyogi walked. He tried to steal second but was thrown out by Komiyama. Matsuyama hit a grounder to second to end the innings. With Uemoto flying out to right Yamato singled in Tigers sixth. Toritani grounded out to first and then Ryota Arai walked. Kanemoto's second failure - this time he skied one up to Kura in foul ground. It is not that he gets out so many times - though this is is bad enough - but the ways he gets out showing his inability to hit. Kanemoto's out ended the innings.

Carp's seventh and Dobayashi recorded their final hit - a two out single. This didn't go anywhwere and Kura grounded out to short to end the innings. Tigers seventh was quiet with Hirano and Imanari striking out. Now if you are going to employ a pinch hitter for your catcher you should ensure that he hits most of the time. This is not the case with Imanari who can pinch hit but often doesn't. There was no point in bringing on Imanari as catcher, Komiyama was doing perfectly well but Wada is well: fond of doing pointless things. Carp's eighth was quiet with Standridge pitching well and keeping the runners off base. Tigers eighth was more disgracefully quiet - they needed to be batting with more intelligence. For Carp's ninth, Fukuhara took the mound and dead balled his first batter - Soyogi. He was bunted to second by Akamatsu (replacement centre) and then Imanari decided to deliberately walk Eldred. This was a typical Fukuhara situation with runners on first and second and one out. Obviously, Wada didn't have confidence in Fukuhara's ability to get out of it because he switched pitchers bringing on Enokida. He got Amaya to hit to short forcing out Akamatsu but not being able to turn the double play. Carp had runners on first and third and then Enokida walked Kimura (replacement third) to load the bases. Finally, Kura struck out to end the innings. All a bit unnecessary one felt and if Wada had left Komiyama it would never have happened. Imai was now going for his first complete game shutout. Nomura had judged the state of the game well. Normally a tired pitcher would be easy meat for an on form team but not for Tigers. Toritani struck out - his batting this season has been poor. Ryota Arai doubled nicely to right centre. Tigers were in with a chance. However, Wada, like the stupid chump he is left Kanemoto in. Kanemoto skied another one into foul ground this one to right. It did move Shunsuke round to third but Brazell struck out swinging to end the innings. Carp victory

One feels sorry for the 46,000 Tigers fans who had to watch this sorry display. They wasted their hard earned money on a dismal effort by Tigers who, faced with a mediocre pitcher, disgraced themselves. Imai wasn't even dominant - at 134 pitches he had not been in control. There is no disgrace in losing 1-0 to a pitcher of Sugiuchi or Kenta Maeda's quality but to lose like this to a pitcher of Imai's ability sums up Wada's pathetic regime.