July 28th Enokida v Mishima - The ultimate humiliation

It never rains but it pours. Just when Wada thought it couldn't get much worse it did. His team was destroyed by a tyro who with a very creditable performance exposed the paucity of Tigers preparation and batting coaching. This was the first time since 2000 that Tigers had been swept by the BayStars at Koshien and what a way to be swept. BayStars figured out the pitching and calling and just took runs off the incompetent catchers. In another move of unsurpassed asininity Wada had sent his best catcher and the only one who could have stemmed the run flow back down to ni-gun so he could bring up an infielder. Then Fujii pulled a hamstring in the game and had to leave it which meant that Shimizu took over. He wasn't really up to the challenge and more runs were added. Why Shimizu wasn't sent down if someone really needed to be sent down is one of those things we will never know. Logical management, it aint. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
BayStars  0 1 2 1 2 0 2 2 0 10 13 0
Tigers    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0  5 1

Starting Lineups

BayStars
1. Kinjoh (Right)
2. Yamazaki (Short)
3. Morgan (Centre)
4. Blanco (First)
5. Nakamura (Third)
6. Tamura (Left)
7. Miyazaki (Second)
8. Tsuruoka (Catcher)
9. Mishima (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Saka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Imanari (Right)
7. Ryota Arai (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Enokida (Pitcher)

Nishioka sat out this game with a continuance of his sore left knee. It is interesting to see that Hidaka has not yet returned to the first team either but his injury can't have been that bad and so one suspects other reasons for his extended sojourn in the nether regions. Enokida started well - well that is if you ignore the one out double Yamazaki hit to left. He managed to strike out Morgan and Blanco to keep the BayStars off the score sheet for the moment. Mishima didn't start too well - the first out yes but then Yamato singled and then Toritani hit to centre - runners on first and second and that was the most danger BayStars had to suffer. Murton who certainly is raising question marks with his current slump flew out to centre and then Arai struck out swinging to end the innings. Things then started to go wrong in the BayStars second. With Nakamura who has a slump of his own out, first Tamura and then Miyazaki walked - runners on first and second. Tsuruoka singled left bringing in the first run 1-0 BayStars runner on first and second. Mishima tried to bunt and failed miserably with the runner going for third being picked off by Fujii's throw. Tsuruoka went for third on a wild pitch but didn't have the legs to make it and was chased down and tagged out to end the innings. Mishima responded well in Tigers second retiring the batters in order. Imanari is another batter who has suddenly gone off the boil and one suspects that there is something wrong with team morale. Having acquired a taste for runs and knowing exactly what would be thrown BayStars went on to score some more in their third. Two outs and then Enokida managed to dead ball Morgan. This wasn't exactly good pitching and it was even worse when Blanco blasted the ball over the fence for a two run home run 3-0 BayStars and the gap was beginning to widen. Blanco now has 95 RBIs and the Dragons must be feeling extremely stupid (which isn't difficult) at letting him go. Nakamura finished the BayStars third by striking out. Tigers once again failed to get on base in the third. Actually Mishima was throwing some nice stuff so there was justification for their struggles which hadn't been the case in the games against Fujii and Corcoran.

The fourth and another run - Tamura led the innings off with a solo effort to left 4-0 BayStars and they were now practically assured of the victory. Tigers had no spirit left and were just playing out time. Tigers fourth and Arai walked with two out. There has been some criticism of his slump but at least he gets on base regularly which is more than one can say for most of the others at the moment. Imanari being a case in point - grounding out uselessly to first. Kinjoh led the BayStars fifth off with a single to left. Just to show the art of stupidity isn't dead even with a dominant winning team Yamazaki bunted him to second. The ball ran off to third and once there presented an opportunity for Ryota to make his now customary mistake. Why Wada doesn't switch him with his brother who was much better in the positon is another question mark over the Tigers manager. The fluffed throw put runners on first and third and then Morgan doubled right to bring in the runner 5-0 BayStars, runners on second and third. There were still no outs and so Blanco just blasted the ball deep where it was taken by Murton but there was ample time for Kinjoh to tag up and dash home 6-0 BayStars, runner on third. Nakamura tried the same trick and messed up - popping out to third. Then Tamura flew out to end the innings. Of course Tigers have come back from such deficits but not with a pitcher performing as well as Mishima was.. With one out Fujii singled right in Tigers fifth but as he ran to first felt a twinge in his hamstring and was replaced by Shimizu (see above for the stupidity that took Tigers best catcher down to the second team). Nishida (pinch hitter and replacement second) struck out and then Saka (moving over to third) flew out to end the innings. Tsutsui took over the pitching duties. He gave up a one out single to Tsuruoka in BayStars sixth. Mishima bunted Tsuruoka to second - a waste of an out as usual and Kinjoh flew out to Shimizu to end the innings. Tigers sixth was another quiet night home and no one ventured out onto base.

The BayStars seventh started with one of those frustrating singles which tells you things are going to continue the same. Yamazaki freed from the need to bunt hit to centre. Morgan singled right and then Blanco hit left to bring in one run 7-0 BayStars, runners on first and second. Amazingly and indicative of the calling Nakamura snapped out of his slump and and doulbed left to bring in another run 8-0 BayStars, runners on second and third. This seemed to motivate Tigers and despite the fact of no outs Tsutsui pitched well enough to avoid anymore runs and the next three batters went down without anymore base runners. Arai led Tigers seventh off with a single. Imanari flew out and then Shunsuke (pinch hitter) hit into a double play - it was that kind of night. Kiyohara took over for BayStars eighth and didn't do well either. Two outs but then Yamazaki singled again. Kiyohara couldn't get the out he needed. Morgan walked and then Blanco choosing his spot hit right along the line to bring in both runners 10-0 BayStars, runner on second. Aranami (replacement right) then grounded out to end the innings. Tigers eighth was quiet of course and the batters stayed off base. To stem the run tide Wada brought on Fukuhara and he did make a difference. For the first time in the match BayStars faced the situation of no runners on base. This wasn't a problem with the lead they had but it is indicative of what might have happened if Wada had used his pitchers better in earlier games. Tigers ninth and Yamato led off striking out. Then Toritani singled - a slight wobble for Mishima who was facing his first complete game shutout. However, Murton was there to provide the salve and obligingly hit to short for a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. BayStars victory.

Over 46000 people were at the ground for this historic game but very few of them actually enjoyed it. Tigers and their management team had let the fans down in a big way over this series. Asinine decisions and totaly inability to manage pitching and motivate a faltering batting lineout had been factors in the sweep. Tigers are now 5.5 games behind the Giants on a four game losing streak. The decision to drop Komiyama down to the second team was not only costly but short sighted and one hopes to see it reversed soon. Tigers are still second but can't allow this sort of performance to continue through August if they want to retain their second place.