September 7th Standridge v Ohno - What can Standridge do?

What does Standridge have to do to get a win? Once again a superb controlled pitching performance with only one run given up and that a lucky connection. A lazy batting performance by the Tigers who seem to think that Nagoya Dome is a holiday ground in which they don't have to try too hard handed a win to Dragons. Nakamura GM is thinking of using Messenger as a set up man next season and having a complete clear out of all the coaches - everyone. It would be nice if it happens. However, Wada is apparently inviolate - the chief idiot is not going to be replaced. His thoughts on Kanemoto indicate a role for him off the bench not as a regular starter. All very well but are they going to pay a huge salary for what will be a glorified pinch hitter? So far Nakamura's start is not auspicious. Scores

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

Starting lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Araki (Second)
3. Wada (Left)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Ibata (Short)
6. Morino (Third)
7. Nomoto (Right)
8. Maeda (Catcher)
9. Ohno (Pitcher)

The game would be marred by Wada's stupid mismanagement and lazy work from a lot of Tigers batters. The first innings was quiet for Tigers - batters falling in order and one has to really look at Uemoto as a lead off batter - he's not that good. Standridge started by walking Ohshima. He felt the steal was on and went for second but Komiyama saw to it that going for second was all Ohshima could do. A fine throw saw the runner tagged out. The next two batters also did nothing with Wada striking out looking - a fine piece of pitching by Standridge. Tigers second and a wasted chance of epic proportions. Ryota Arai picked up a dead ball. Then Murton hit left - runners on first and second. Sekimoto was next and what did Wada have him do. The silly moron had him bunt the runners to second and third. What was the point of giving a pitcher who was struggling an out? Kanoh flew out to first in foul ground and the next move was obvious Dragons walked Komiyama to get at Standridge. He struck out swinging and Tigers had failed to score. Tactically inept because of the obsession with the bunt. Dragons second was just quiet - Standridge dealt with the batters very efficiently though Morino did take a full count. After the excitment of the second Tigers third saw the top of the order who were once again useless and fell in order like skittles. Dragons third was quiet and so far they had failed to get a hit - they had managed a base runner but he had been a walk.

Tigers fourth and with two batters out Sekimoto hit left - what if he had done it in the second instead of the stupid bunt? A wild pitch took him to second and here was the tragedy - Ohno wasn't that good and Tigers were letting him take control. Whatever happened to Hoshino's, 'never, never, never surrender'? Kanoh managed to fly out to centre to end the innings. Dragons fourth? Batters down 1-2-3 and Standridge in control. What does he have to do to get a win? Tigers fifth saw Komiyama and Standridge go pretty quickly but then Uemoto managed a hit. Uemoto stole second and then a wild pitch took him to third - what more help do Tigers need? Yamato though hit a grounder to third to end the innings. With all this wastefulness it was inevitable that Tigers would pay and the delivery of the bill came in Dragons fifth. With two out Morino swung and got a lucky contact carrying the ball over the wall for a solo home run 1-0 Dragons. Nomoto was next and he grounded out to short to end the innings. A slender lead for the home side. Tigers sixth and Toritani led the innings off with a walk. Surely Tigers could do something? Well no, Ryota Arai, Murton and Sekimoto all failed miserably to do anything. Dragons sixth after the luck of the home run was quiet - no one got on base and no one even threatened to get on base.

Tigers seventh was a great opportunity - Ohno had shown weakness in the earlier stages and so with a tiring pitcher Tigers could have done something. They failed abjectly. It was the bottom of the order but someone does need to work with Komiyama and for that matter Fujii (though to a lesser degree) about his batting. Dragons seventh saw the first two runners go down and then Blanco hit over Murton for a single surprisingly enough. Well Blanco isn't that fast. Ibata was next and he hit a grounder to second. Sosa took over for Tigers eighth. Uemoto went down and then Imanari (pinch hitter) grounded out to short. Toritani hit to second where Araki messed up - he does that occasionally - runner on first. Ryota Arai needed to do more than fly out to right, he is a disappointment most of the time. Standridge pitched Dragons eighth as well and retired the first two batters he faced before Ohshima singled right. Nothing to worry about and so it proved with Tanishige (pinch hitter) fllying out to right. Tigers ninth was a disaster. The chance was on - the pitcher Yamai. Murton hit to third and Morino dropped the ball. Runner on first but then Murton was pinch run for by HIrano. I am sorry but how is Hirano (committed though he is) a pinch runner? His speed round the bases is not that impressive. However, Wada in his wisdom had replaced Yamato with a pinch hitter earlier and then brought on Shunsuke as centre. Still there must be someone among the reserves who could run faster than Hirano. Was this inept or was this inept? Sekimoto bunted Hirano to second - what a waste again. Then Kanemoto (pinch hitter) hit to centre. Tigers really needed the runner to go for home - they couldn't guarantee another hit. Instead Hirano was stopped on third - runners on first and third. This is where Tigers lost the game; a failure to take the chance when it was presented doomed them and wasted all Standridge's hard work. Wada should step down over this mess alone. Hiyama (pinch hitter) was next and he struck out swinging. As he did so Kanemoto stole second becoming the oldest person in Japanese baseball to steal a base but so what? It didn't bring a run to Tigers. Brazell (pinch hitter) was next in a last desperate throw of the dice by Wada. Brazell is not really a successful pinch hitter - why Wada uses him in the role rather than a regular starter is beyond comprehension. He grounded out to first to end the game. Dragons victory.

Not an edifying display. Tigers should have made more of the situation in the second and the ninth. The fact that they didn't shows an inability to believe you can win. This demonstrates a failure of management on all levels against a team which though formidable is fading. Standridge had been superb but hadn't had the run support that he should have had. Wada had contributed to this with his stupid bunts and his misuse of what is - admittedly - a limited pinch hitting outfit. Tigers would win the next game but like so many games this season inadequacies at the top blew the chance.