August 9th Standridge v Ohno - The bakagons at home

Having discovered that Imanari is quite an effective lead off batter, Wada replaced him with Shunsuke for this game. It didn't work. When will Wada learn? If a player his hot - ride the streak don't go for discredited theories or reward baseball (if you hit the winning run you get a start). Travelling to Nagado you do want your hottest team and this was not the case with Tigers. Scores

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

Starting Lineups

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

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Morino (Second)
3. Clark (First)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Hirata (Right)
6. Takahashi (Third)
7. Tanishige (Catcher)
8. Ibata (Short)
9. Ohno (Pitcher)

Tigers start wasn't exactly auspicious but did seem to pick up. Alas it was all a flash in the pan. With two out Toritani walked, Then Murton singled to centre. He really is a waste of space at No. 4 not generating the extra base hits in nearly enough quantity. However, this is also the Wada influence - his home run count was really low. Arai did try but flew out to right. Standridge didn't start well - he and Fujii just couldn't generate the magic against the Giants a few days ago. Ohshima did ground out to second but things rapidly went wrong after that. Morino batting in the unaccustomed position of No. 2 doubled. Clark singled left to bring in Morino 1-0 Dragons and then was able to take second. Wada also hit left putting runners on first and third. Then Hirata drove into centre to bring home Clark 2-0 Dragons, runners on first and second. Takahashi walked to load the bases but Tanishige hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the innings. Still the damage was bad enough. Saka struck out to start Tigers second but Ryota swung at his first pitch and slammed the ball over the wall for a solo home run 2-1 Dragons. Fujii and Standridge were out but Tigers had clawed some of the deficit back. Dragons second was quiet with the batters falling 1-2-3. With one out in Tigers second Yamato worked a walk. Ohno tried to pick him off but a poor throw took him to third . Then Toritani hit over the field and Yamato was home 2-2 scores tied, runner on first. Murton hit straight to third for the out and Takahashi was able to throw to first to catch Toritani off base for the double play. Tigers had drawn level but couldn't hold the position and gave it away the very next innings. It was frustrating as well as Standridge had done all the hard work getting rid of Morino and Clark and only had Wada to deal with. It was poor pitching and calling as well. The fourth pitch was in the middel of the zone and Wada left it. The fifth pitch was almost the same place and Wada didn't leave hit hitting it into the stand for a solo home run 3-2 Dragons. Why on earth anyone thought that Wada would ignore two pitches in the middle of the zone escapes me. They weren't even different - both were similar speed straights. Hirata singled to centre but then Takahashi grounded out to short to end the innings.

The Tigers fourth was quiet with the batters falling in order. The same with the Dragons fourth - they had the lead and weren't in attacking mode. One of Ochiai's disturbing legacies is that if the Dragons get behind they immediately lift their game and mount a counter attack. Their current manager Takagi is a complete moron but Dragons still retain enough of the old Ochiai style to be dangerous. The fifth saw no one of either side get on base. The thing was Standridge was having to work for his outs something he didn't have to do at the Giants. Tigers sixth was also quiet but Standridge who had been working hard began to weaken. Fujii is poor with weakening catchers and so with one out in Dragons sixth Hirata doubled and he didn't have any answer. Takahashi flew out but then Tanishige hit to centre which brought home Hirata 4-2 Dragons, runner on first. Ibata then flew out to right ending the innings.

Tigers sevenths saw Arai and Kurose (pinch hitter and replacement second) both fly out to right. Ryota walked and Fujii singled to centre - runners on first and second. Sekimoto (pinch hitter) struck out swinging. I do like Sekimoto but think he is a bit too full of himself at times. A focus on actually perfroming instead of his stupid song might well turn him into a good player. Katoh took over for Dragons seventh - at least Wada didn't try and extract another innings from Standridge. With one out Ohshima hit but the rest seems to have done Katoh well as Morino and Clark were both rapidly out. Asao took over for Tigers eighth and retired Imanari (pinch hitter and replacement right) grounded out but Yamato hit. Nothing came of this though as neither Toritani nor Murton did anything with the runner. Kubota - a blast from the past pitched Dragons eighth. He struck out Wada looking and then got Hirata to fly out to left. Takahashi walked but then Tanishige flew out to right. He didn't top 150 kph but did get close but his control wasn't quite the Kubota of old. Still he did his job. Tigers ninth was of course Iwase. The old warhorse got Arai to ground out to third but then Kurose hit left. Ryota also hit left to set up runners on first and second. These hits though were like minor complaints and Iwase struck out Fujii and then Asai (pinch hitter) to end the game. Dragons victory.

Tigers had come and been overwhelmed by the miasma generated by Nagodo. It is always a problem for teams playing there, the stultifying boredom and mundaneness that drains away attacking ability. Wada didn't help by his team choice and he really does need to learn how to chose his teams - well actually he needs to learn how to manage and not follow a set of worn out principles and what some bloke in an izakaya told him.