May 24th Kubo v Watanabe - Strange days

Once again Mayumi almost contrived to blow a match. Kubo had pitched very well for six innings but the sixth had been a hard struggle for him and he was visibly tiring. Mayumi sent him in for the seventh and then failed to remove him in time (he should have gone after the Ohmatsu home run which was a big one). Being aware of when your pitcher is tired should be a part of the managers tools but it seems that Mayumi doesn't have this. On the plus side he did use Kyuji Fujikawa in a tied game situation and this helped get the victory. Mayumi shuffled the lineup and the changes seem to have worked for the moment. Hirano was moved to No.1 and Shunsuke Fujikawa to No. 2. Toritani dropped down to seventh and Murton went to three. Finally, Johjima and Brazell swapped places. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R  H E
Marines  1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  4  9 0
Tigers   1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1x 5 11 0

Starting lineups

Marines
1. Nishioka (Short)
2. Hayasaka (Centre)
3. Iguchi (Second)
4. Kim (First)
5. Ohmatsu (Left)
6. Saburo (Right)
7. Satozaki (Catcher)
8. Imae (Third)
9. Watanabe (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Hirano (Second)
2. S. Fujikawa (Centre)
3. Murton (Left)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Johjima (Catcher)
7. Toritani (Short)
8. Sakurai (Right)
9. Kubo (PItcher)

With a restructured batting lineup one wondered how Tigers would fare and how Kubo would do against his old side. He started nervously giving up a lead off hit to Nishioka. Hayasaka bunted him to second and then Iguchi hit a looping shot which landed just beyond Hirano in right. Sakurai's throw was good but Nishioka used his speed nicely to make home. 1-0 Marines, runner on first. So far it had been a slick professional opening from the visitors. Kubo though didn't get unsettled and struck out Kim and got Ohmatsu to fly out to end the innings. Watanabe was not at his best and started Tigers first by walking Hirano. Hirano tried to steal second but was thrown out and then Fujikawa hit to left. Murton followed it by a right hit and the runners were able to advance to second and third. Arai grounded out to short and Fujikawa went for home. Nishioka was quick and Satozaki had all the time in the world to tag out Fujikawa as he slid in for home - two outs with runers on first and second and so far the Marines had contained the Tigers very nicely. Brazell was next and he looped one into left which gave Murton the chance to make home. This time the runner was successful and the scores were tied 1-1, runners on first and second. Saburo led off Marines second with a hit but then Satozaki hit into a double play. Imae hit nicely to centre but Watanabe struck out to end the innings. Toritani started Tigers second with a nice left two base hit and then was stranded as the batters failed to move him round. This was a big wasted opportunity. Marines third was quiet as Kubo had found his rhythm and was throwing some nice stuff. Watanabe, though was struggling and ran into big trouble in the Tigers third. Fujikawa led off the innings with a hit. He then stole second and here Satozaki wasn't very good - the steal was telegraphed but when it came the Marines catcher dropped the ball ensuring that Fujikawa wasn't challenged. Murton lined out to short which brought up Arai. He stroked his first pitch nicely into the left stand for a two run home run 3-1 Tigers. Watanabe seemed to hold no terrors for the Tigers batters. Brazell grounded out to first but Johjima hit to centre. With Toritani at the plate - Johjima stole second. A move which succeeded only because it was so unexpected. Toritani then banged one into left field and Johjima was home 4-1 Tigers, runner on first. Watanabe walked Sakurai which brought up Kubo who then proceeded to battle his former colleague for over 12 pitches before finally succumbing - a nice piece of batting from the Tigers pitcher.

Kubo now had to hold the lead and did so in style throwing some very nice pitches and striking out two of the three batters he faced. Watanabe likewise retired the batters in order but had thrown rather a lot in getting to the fourth innings and would be retired after the end of the innings. In Marines fifth Nemoto (pinch hitter for Watanabe) hit with two out but then Kubo struck out Nishioka with an outside pitch which left him late - a very fine piece of work. Furuya took the mound for Tigers fifth and was reliable and secure retiring the batters in six pitches. Kubo faced Marines 2-3-4 in the sixth and even though he retired the batters in order and struck out two he was having to work hard to maintain the level of pitches. He was clearly tiring and should have been pulled at the end of the sixth with a comfortable lead. Tigers sixth saw Sakurai hit to right but he didn't get any further as Furuya kept things under control.

Marines seventh saw the unravelling of all the good work so far. Kubo returned and even though he worked hard he didn't have the control anymore and was punished for it. Mayumi shouldn't have asked him to pitch the seventh but should have gone for the reilef. Ohmatsu led off and worked the count full before hitting a monster home run to right - the ball landing several tiers back from the fence 4-2 Tigers. Really, this should have served as the sign to replace Kubo but Mayumi kept the tired pitcher in. Saburo struck out but then Satozaki hit to right. Imae followed this with a left hit and Marines had runners on first and second. Fukuura (pinch hitter) was next and he stroked the ball into left centre bringing both runners home 4-4 scores tied, runner on second. Leaving a tired pitcher in is not good but still Mayumi didn't replace Kubo. Nishioka got a dead ball - a totally tired pitch to set up runners on first and second - this was all with one out. Tigers desperately needed a double play and luckly Hayasaka supplied it. Hirano was standing close to the base path and took Hayasaka's grounder, tagging Nishioka as he went past and throwing to Sekimoto (replacement first) for the final out. Nishioka tried to argue that he hadn't been tagged but the umpires weren't having any of it and the innings was over. Nishioka's antics didn't do him any credit. Itoh was the Marines pitcher for the Tigers seventh and he faced Fujikawa who hit the ball straight back at the pitcher. Itoh dropped the ball but recovered in time to throw to first for the out. However, the trainer came out and Itoh left the field for treatment. He returned about five minutes later but after trying a few pitches under the eye of the Marines pitching coach retired for good. The new pitcher was Yamada. He then struck out Murton and Arai who both checked swings but were judged to have swung too far. Possibly rather harsh but Tigers innings was over. Watanabe took Marines eighth and got Iguchi to ground out. Then he walked Kim and Ohmatsu in succession. Things looked dangerous. Saburo managed to hit straight to Hirano for a conventional double play and the innings was over. Yamada returned for Tigers eighth and gave up a two base hit to Sekimoto. Johjima tried to hit over short but only flew out weakly. Toritani worked a walk and then Kanemoto (pinch hitter) flew out to right. Once again it looked like Tigers were going to waste an opportunity. Yamada though dead balled Hiyama to load the bases and we really needed a cool head from the next batter Hirano - maybe an oshidashi. This wasn't to be Hirano tried to hit and eventually struck out to end the innings. Here Mayumi got things right bringing on Kyuji Fujikawa for the ninth innings. He was in fine form blasting through the Marines batters he faced and striking out two. For Tigers ninth Yabuta took the mound. Shunsuke Fujikawa grounded out but Murton hit. Then Murton tried to steal second head sliding with arms outstretched between Iguchi's legs. Iguchi tagged but he was safe. Iguchi protested, Nishimura protested saying that he was out. This time we had two angles and several replays to look at (still not up to American standards) which were inconclusive. However, what was clear was the umpire was perfectly positioned and so he likely got it right. Yabuta then seemed to let this get to him and walked Arai on a full count. The volume at Koshien increased and Yabuta lost it walking Katsuragi (replacement first) in four. Bases loaded with one out and the sayonara sacrifice fly was definitely on. Johjima was next and he fouled his first pitch to right. The second pitch was just where he wanted it and it was banged deep to centre. Murton tagged up and was home safely 5-4 Tigers sayonara victory. Here we had a very strange incident. Arai was on second and as the catch was taken by centre he also tagged up and went for third. Why? It was unnecessary, the hit was deep enough and Satozaki was standing off the plate - the throw to third would have and did get Arai tagged out. If Arai had been tagged out before Murton made home the run wouldn't have scored and the game would have gone to extra innings. It was an elementary mistake - only one run was needed - Arai should have stayed on second. As the latter went to join the congratulations of Johjima, Johjima pushed him away and shouted at him. Arai was not his favourite person.

Tigers had won a nice victory but made things hard for themselves. The handling of Kubo had shown a lack of perception from Mayumi that shouldn't be seen from a second year manager. Arai's strange behaviour had almost blown the victory and one wonders what he was thinking. Marines had fought hard but after the match Nishimura looked furious and no doubt he had words for his team. The Marines themselves seem to have expected victory and forgotten that they had to work for it. Tigers worked and despite the mistakes had not assumed that they would automatically win.

I was there last night and indeed a strange night. Looked like an easy victory, but as you wrote, Mayumi almost found a way to blow it. The bullpen was fresh after a rained out game, so don't know why he stayed with Kubo so long.
I thought another mistake was taking out Brazell so early. I know they often take him out towards the end of the game for more speed and defense. In a tie game, however, Brazell can give us the lead again with one swing of the bat. Instead, we had Sekimoto to bat for us.
Was hoping you had a better view of Murton's steal on TV at home, as he certainly looked out at the stadium and the Marine players thought he was out. (Of course they did a lot of whining throughout the game.)
I was in a rush to get out of the stadium and didn't even notice the Johjima--Arai incident. But it just goes to show that Arai isn't a very smart player. Despite his big home run last night, I don't think he should bat 4th. And he's not my favorite person either!

I agree, I rather thought that Brazell having driven in a run he would be retained - Sekimoto has never been a number five batter. Sekimoto himself was pinch run for by Yamato in the eighth and had to be replaced by Katsuragi.
I know what you mean about getting out of the stadium in a rush - I try to do that myself. As for the incident it defies explanation. Arai is not actually a bad person - a bit sensitive but actually very modest and retiring. He sounds very pleasant on his Kodensha DVD.

Yeah, I have no idea of course what Arai is like as a person. I was just referring to your comment about Johjima's feelings towards him. I just don't think he's a very heads up ballplayer, as witnessed last night.
It's a good thing they do the hero interview. It's a great chance to rush out of the stadium and beat the huge crowds trying to get to the station! That's why it's even worse when the Tigers lose--tens of thousands of unhappy people leaving at the same time. I'm 5-0 at Koshien this year, so haven't had to worry yet!

A very nice record - I am 1-0 at Koshien this year but my next game will be Jingu. There are quite a few people who don't stick around for the hero interview I've noticed but it's still easy to get out. However, if you mention it to people, they stare at you and say 'You didn't stay for the hero interview?!' as if you're a bit strange.

There are many things about the baseball experience in Japan that I love and actually prefer to MLB games. However, the hero interview is not one of them! Although it is a nice fan service, I see no reason to stick around. After years of watching, I can guess both the questions and the answers that will accompany the average interview. Since I'm usually at Koshien on a work night, a quick exit is my strategy.
Skymark is the only blemish on my record this year, as I saw the Tigers lose there on Saturday. It's a shame that they lost at the stadium which I actually prefer going to!

Arai was definitely in the wrong. But he seems like a nice, and modest guy. Contrast that to Johjima, who seems like an arrogant idiot to me- despite the fact (or maybe due to the fact) that he's a good player.