Bumbling BayStars Yokohama Stadium 25th - 27th April

Tigers had this series wrapped up by the second game and rather took their foot off the accelerator for the third. BayStars werre massacred in the first game as Tigers got to Mishima in the first and took him apart in the third. He didn't get out of that innins. Nohmi by contrast was superb in the first half of the game but when Fujii batted a ball off his leg in the fifth and had to go to hospital went prima donnaish. He didn't want to pitch to Tsuruoka and started throwing some junk. BayStars were able to add home runs though Kajitani's blast in the sixth was just luck. However, despite this it was an impossible game for Tigers to lose especially as BayStars fielding was a joke. The Tigers seventh saw a horrendous error by Aranami with the bases loaded allowing three runs to score. Final score 14-4.
The next victim was Inoh who wasn't so bad but just bled runs and Tigers steadily accumulated an unstoppable lead. Iwata was pitching and despite putting the first batter on in several innings actually worked well with Tsuruoka. By the time BayStars could get a run in the seventh the game was over as a contest but there was absolutely no point in having Iwata pitch the eighth and ninth innings - just an unnecessary waste of his arm. No shutout on offer either it was just a pointless display of idiocy by Wada and Nakanishi. There are issues with the relief and this would have been a great chance to give one or two of them some practice. Ryota knocked over two home runs which were very popular and Tigers won this game 7-1.
For the third game Saiuchi started and wasn't that good. Of course, BayStars tried harder as they had a point to prove after their abysmal displays of the past two days. They did well and seized a three run lead in the first. with Baldris in particular shinning. By the third they were 4-0 up but Tigers fought back to 4-3 with Ryota leading the charge with another home run - this one a two run affair. The problem for Tigers was Tsutsui who is not pitching well and he gave up another four runs in the fifth. It would have been nice if he had had a work out the day before instead of Wada's stupidity with Iwata - it might have kept the run count down. This innings sealed the BayStars victory and the final score was 8-4 to the home team.
Tigers next series is against the hot Carp. So far the season is going well so why is this blog not more enthusiastic? Long time Tigers fans will know that Tigers usually start strong and then fade badly mid to late season as their pitchers arms tire. This is a natural consequence of choosing old boys without management talent to run the side. It is still too soon to be confident about Tigers despite the fact that the batting is really hot (Tigers have the best ERA in Japan).