June 12th Standridge v Yoshikawa - A spiffing game

Ryota Arai has been sent down to the second team to work on his game. But just think of who has been batting ahead of him. Is it any surprise that he is demotivated? We also have the changed ball scandal - yawn. Tigers still retain the lead of the Central League but still by only 0.5 games and the Inter league is almost over so things are going well. Tigers still have shi no rodo to come though so it is too soon to count the chickens. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Arai (First)
6. Asai (Right)
7. Takayama (DH)
8. Nohara (Third)
9. Fujii (Catcher)

Starting pitcher was Standridge

Fighters
1. Yoh (Centre)
2. Ohbiki (Short)
3. Abreu (DH)
4. Nakata (Left)
5. Inaba (First)
6. Koyano (Third)
7. Imanami (Second)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Murata (Right)

Starting pitcher was Yoshikawa

Standridge was due a win and after his last implosion needed a good performance. He got one with an improved performance against a strangely subdued Fighters team. Nishioka started things by sending one screeching into centre for a lead off single. Yamato bunted Nishioka to second and then an aggressive Toritani hit over the field into centre for a timely single 1-0 Tigers, runner on second - Toritani being able to take second as well. Murton grounded out to short and then Arai struck out. Tigers were ahead but by a small margin. It didn't start well for Standridge with Yoh walking to lead off Fighters reply. He was bunted to second by Ohbiki - why are Japanese baseball managers so predictable? Abreu struck out which left Nakata who grounded out to short. Fighters had wasted the chance. Tigers second saw Asai fly out but then Takayama doubled. He would have a better game this time and not look so out of his depth. Nohara flew out and Takayama touched up and took third but Fujii grounded out weakly to Yoshikawa. Standridge retired the first two batters in Fighters second without much trouble but then for some reason walked Imanami. Tsuruoka seized on the chance and singled to set up runners on first and second but once again Fighters lacked the batters to drive in the runs and Murata hit a line drive straight at Toritani for the third out. Yoshikawa struck out Nishioka but then Yamato singled. Toritani worked a walk to set up runners on first and second. Then Murton who seems to be getting a taste for big hits hit the ball high and far over the wall for a three run home run 4-0 Tigers. The game was running away from the Fighters. Arai grounded out to the pitcher and Asai flew out again. Tigers were in control with Standridge pitching well enough to keep them there. He gave up a one out single to Ohbiki in Fighters third but then induced Abreu to hit to Toritani for the innings ending double play.

Takayama struck out to lead off Tigers fourth and Yoshikawa tried to repeat the feat with Nohara. This worked but the pitch was wild so after his swing Nohara raced for first reaching base safely. Poor work by Fighters catcher. Fujii flew out to centre and then Nishioka grounded out to second so Tigers weren't able to exploit this piece of good fortune. Fighters weren't even able to get a runner on in their fourth with their lead off Nakata striking out looking and then the next two batters grounding out. With two out in Tigers fifth Murton hit a drive past third for a lead off single. Next was Arai who hit the ball deep and far into centre left for a timely double, Murton making it home round the bases 5-0 Tigers, runner on second. It was not Yoshikawa's best night. The final batter of the innings proved to be Asai who grounded out to short. Finally, in their fifth Fighters were able to do something. Imanami led off with a single to left. Tsuruoka swung wildly but only ended up grounding out to Standridge for the first out which did take Imanami to second. Then Murata grounded out to Toritani and Imanami took third. Satoh (replacement right, Murata having moved over to centre as Yoh had left the field with an injury) swung at an outside pitch and bounced it high over Standridge. By the time it came down to Nishioka, Satoh was safe on first and Imanami home 5-1 Tigers. Then Ohbiki singled to set up runners on first and second. Standridge stayed cool this time and struck out Abreu to end the innings. It was a better performance than his last outing. Yoshikawa was replaced here - another innings of him would have led to more runs and Molleken took over. Tigers batters didn't know quite how to handle him and as a result the sixth was quiet. Standridge meanwhile continued and he had a rather successful Fighters sixth retiring the batters in order.

Tigers batters continued to struggle against Molleken in the seventh with no one getting on base. But this wasn't such a concern for Tigers who had a four run lead and were running down the innings. Standridge struck out Imanami looking to start Fighters seventh but walked Tsuruoka. Then he walked Hoffpauir (pinch hitter and replacement right) - runners on first and second and a bit more worrying. Satoh grounded out to second for the second out but not the double play - runners on second and third. Ohbiki then struck out swinging to Standridge's curve balls and the innings was over. Fighters has wasted another big chance. Kagiya took over pitching for Tigers eighth and walked Arai with one out. Asai who had had a quiet game hit into a double play and that innings was quickly over. Wada didn't attempt to pitch Standridge in Fighters eighth - the two walks must have been sufficient warning. Instead he went to the relief and Fukuhara took over. Abreu led off Fighters eighth and struck out looking. He couldn't believe it. Nakata grounded out but Inaba singled to centre. Fukuhara always seems to want to have a runner on. Normally though he doesn't let it get out of hand and this innings was no exception with Koyano flying out to right to end the innings. Tigers ninth was pitched by Nemoto who faced Takayama. His third pitch was a 134 kmh straight down the middle which Takayama managed to get enough bat on to lift it over the wall. He was just as surprised as everyone else but 6-1 Tigers. Nohara was encouraged to try his hand but flew out. Fujii worked a walk and he doesn't get many of those. Tigers didn't exploit it though as Nishioka hit into a double play. Fighters ninth was pitched by Katoh. Kaneko (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. Then so did Tsuruoka - Fighters were being dismantled here. Hoffpauir saved their blushes singling into left field. Iiyama (pinch hitter) was Fighters final desperate cast of the dice but he struck out looking misjudging an inside straight to end the game. Tigers victory.

Standridge stopped his losing streak and had picked up a very nice victory built on some good pitching. Tigers had scored the runs whilst Fighters had struggled to take advantage of their chances. The home run was Murton's second in as many games and really had given the Tigers the momentum they needed. Tigers have now taken three of the games in the series against the Fighters and next game will see if they can sweep the subdued Hokkaido outfit.