April 10th Standridge v Sugiuchi - No runs please we're Tigers

Well this is the second series in a row Tigers won't lose but won't win. Tigers defense was quite spectacular at times (as, unfortunately, was Giants) but their batting was flaccid. It had been hoped that a new coaching team would shake things up but it doesn't seem to be happening. We also saw a catching display of such stunning mediocrity from Fujii that one wonders what can be done. His relations with Fukuhara are non-existent and his throwing to counter steals is of the same order. It was a good thing that the Giants aren't really a stealing side. More on this later. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E
Giants  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  0  0 0 6 0
Tigers  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  0  0 0 6 0

Starting Lineups

Giants
1. Chono (Centre)
2. Wakiya (Second)
3. Sakamoto (Short)
4. Abe (Catcher)
5. Murata (Third)
6. Bowker (Left)
7. Lopez (First)
8. Yano (Right)
9. Sugiuchi (Pitcher)

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

The start was not what Standridge would have wished - Chono led off with a single off the first pitch of the game. Wakiya flew out and then Sakamoto doubled to right centre setting up runners on second and third. Standridge has a good record against Abe though and struck the Giants No. 4 out. Finally, Murata hit deep and flew out. Giants desire to hit would doom them this game. Sugiuchi's start was just as uninspired as Standridge's and hs recovery just as good. Nishioka singled and then Yamato flew out. Toritani also doubled to set up runners on second and third. Murton hit a liner straight to third preventing the run from being scored and then Fukudome struck out to end the innings. Giants second was quiet with the batters falling in order as Standridge managed to negate Fujii's general cluelessness. Conrad doulbed with one out - another good chance to score. Fujii grounded out which took Conrad to third but then Standridge struck out to end the innings. Giants third saw Standridge dismiss Sugiuchi and then walk Chono and Wakiya to set up runners on first and second. Murata and Abe did nothing and the innings ended without result. Tigers third saw Yamato walk with one out. He tried to steal second but was beaten by Abe's throw. Toritani flew out to end the innings.

Giants fourth was quiet with Bowker striking out looking. Unfortunately Tigers fourth was also quiet. The pitchers were dominating what was a cold night at Koshien. The Giants fifth was quiet as well and the dramatics of the first three innings were forgotten as we settled down to a pitching duel. Tigers were unable to get any batters on base during their fifth either. Some nice pitching saw a quiet Giants sixth. Things changed slightly in Tigers sixth with Nishioka drawing a lead off walk. Yamato bunted him to second in the usual waste of an out that passes for a management decision here. Toritani struck out and then Murton hit a grounder to second to end that chance.

Giants seventh started well with Murata striking out looking again. Then Bowker hit a nice single deep to right. He obviously felt that the double was on as he didn't hesitate to round first. Fukudome fielded turned and threw to second - a cannonball of a throw which landed perfectly for Toritani as Bowker slid in. The Giant's left was tagged out in what had been a stunning piece of fielding. However Standridge was tiring and Fujii of course was inadequate in dealing with the situation. Lopez singled into centre. Standridge was struggling by now and his fifth pitch bounced in front of Yano. Fujii missed the take expecting Lopez to try and steal which is just what Lopez did. The ball bounced comfortably in front of Fujii but he was slow to respond and Lopez was safe on second. This wasn't exactly what one would expect of the starting catcher and brought back memories of Yano in his dotage. However, the very next ball Yano hit to Toritani to end the innings and spare Fujii's blushes. Tigers seventh saw two outs fall but then Conrad worked a walk. Fujii singled left beating the dive of Murata - runners on first and second. Here Wada made a strange decision and brought Sekimoto on to pinch hit. Why not his best pinch hitter - Hiyama? This was certainly a situation that warranted it. Sekimoto was 0-4 in games so far and added to his no hit total by flying out. Standridge had done well over seven innings and was replaced by Fukuhara. Here we saw the difficulty that Fujii and Fukuhara seem to have in full. Fujii would call and Fukuhara would totally ignore him. The first out was a lucky strike out and Fukuhara knew this. The second out he went high when Fujii wanted it low - it was an exhibition of complete contempt for his catcher. Strangely it earned the approval of Tigers fans; in the Daily Sports pole after Fukuhara was placed second in performance levels. Wakiya was next and Fukuhara set up a grounder to second. Nishioka though was a bit slow and casual and even though he took the ball cleanly his throw was slow and Wakiya made first safely. This brought the coach to the mound and Fukuhara was told to stop messing around. His first pitch to Sakamoto followed Fujii's direction and was hit into right by Sakamoto. Wakiya rounded the bases to third and Sakamoto took first. Abe was next and during this at bat Sakamoto stole second with no reaction from Fujii - another embarrassment. Fujii then decided to walk Abe and moved outside. Fukuhara's first pitch was so casual that Fujii could barely grab it. OK then maybe this was a mistake but then Fujii crouched down and exactly the same thing happened. Fukuhara was exhibiting more contempt for the catcher. Fujii came to the mound to complain but Fukuhara just ignored him and with bases loaded persuaded Murata to fly out and end the innings scoreless.Yamaguchi pitched Tigers eighth and gave up a lead off single to Nishioka. It was stupid bunt time and so Yamato bunted. Yamaguchi fielded and threw to second for the force out with Yamato on first. Toritani hit a grounder to Sakamoto but the double play didn't come off and Toritani was safe on first with Yamato out. Murton walked to set up runners on first and second but then Fukudome grounded out to second to end the innings. Kubo pitched Giants ninth and after the excitement of the eighth had a quiet 1-2-3 innings finishing with a strike out. Yamaguchi had a much easier time of it in Tigers ninth and dismissed the batters in order as well.

Andoh took over for Giants tenth and got the first two outs but then ran into problems with Fujii and walked Wakiya though this time it could also have been Andoh being Andoh. Sakamoto though grounded out to end the innings. Nishimura took over for Tigers tenth and retired the batters in order without much trouble. Giants eleventh was quiet with Andoh finishing off the remainder of the Giants cleanup and Bowker. Nishimura ran into trouble in Tigers eleventh - Toritani drove nicely to right to lead off the innings. Murton grounded into a double play which was not welcome but then Fukudome worked a walk. However, Arai who is a shadow of his former self struck out swinging to end that chance. Giants twelfth was pitched by Katoh who got the first two outs but then ran into problems and walked Ohta. Chono was next and grounded out to end the innings. Giants couldn't win the game but they could still lose it. Mathieson pitched Tigers twelfth and struck out Saka (replacement first). Hidaka (pinch hitter) grounded out and then Hiyama struck out swinging to end the game. Tied game.

Tigers had failed to caplitalise on their chances. Their batting has not taken off and the addition of a new batting coach has not really made an impact. Fortunately the Giants are also suffering a batting slump and so they didn't take advantage of the chances they generated and Fujii's incompetence gifted them. Tigers really do need to bring back Komiyama soon. Tigers pitchers had pitched well and had been helped by the Giants tactics of trying to hit their way out of trouble. This is the second series in a row that Tigers are not going to lose and they do have a good chance to win their first series now. Giants are in a mini-slump and Tigers are at home. They just need to hit and dump the catcher.