May 25th Standridge v Ono - Marines crushed

Sometimes a team will dominate so much that the game becomes a practice effort. Normally, this is against the B class teams and so the Tigers victory last night was something special coming against a very strong and effective Marines outfit. Standridge finally showed why Tigers picked him with a very strong and effective performance. Mayumi heeded the warning signs and didn't overpitch him and the batting fired nicely with Arai driving in three runs. Marines were able to generate only four hits such was the effectiveness of the pitching and though they did pick up a number of walks they were not able to turn these into runs. Scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Marines  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  4 1
Tigers   4 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 X 8 16 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. Ono (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. Standridge (Pitcher)

Standridge had a lot to prove and to his credit he worked hard with Kubo pitching coach during the break. He was in fact on his final chance for the first team and if he had failed he would have been sent down to ni-gun. He started well - in Marines first he kept the innings tight and retired the batters in order. Ono was to have a nightmare innings. He was back after a break but he started OK rapidly getting the first two outs. Things then fell apart in a big way. Murton hit a two base along the left baseline. Then Arai hit to centre and Murton was home 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. Brazell hit straight towards Ono who took the ball in his shoulder and fell to the mound. Brazell made first with Arai on second but Ono's game was over and he needed a visit to hospital to check that everything was OK (no visible damage). The replacement pitcher was Kawagoe who struggled. His second pitch dead balled Johjima to load the bases and then Toritani hit to third. Imae was able to get the ball but not to make the throw and another run scored 2-0 Tigers bases loaded. Sakurai hit to left and another two runners made home 4-0 Tigers runners on first and second and Tigers were clearly in the driving seat. Standridge struck out to end the innings and now needed to hold the lead. Kim led off Marines second and it has been part of Tigers plan to make sure he couldn't score. How successful they were can be judged by the fact that he only reached base once (a walk on the 24th). He grounded out to third but Ohmatsu walked. Saburo though hit into a double play and the innings was over. If Kawagoe thought that Tigers would let up in the second he was very much mistaken. Hirano once again grounded out but Fujikawa hit a two base to left. Murton hit to right but Fujikawa was held up on third with Murton on first. The latter stole second and then Arai put another hit to centre. Both runners were home 6-0 Tigers, runner on first. Brazell flew out and Johjima grounded out to end the innings but the Marines were clearly in trouble. Standridge gave up his first hit in the Marines third - a leadoff single to Satozaki. Imae hit to Arai who threw to second but not in time to make the double play and Imae was safe on first. Kawagoe tried to bunt him to second but Standridge's pitching was too good and Kawagoe was out with three failed bunts. Tigers were gradually imposing a stranglehold on the game. Nishioka was next to try and became Standridge's first strike out of the game - end of innings. Tigers then failed to exploit a scoring chance. With one out Sakurai hit. Standridge grounded out which of course mean't that Sakurai was out going for second. Hirano then grounded out but Kawagoe didn't make the throw successfully and made an error allowing runners on first and second. Fujikawa tried to hit deep but flew out to centre and the Marines had escaped.

Standridge gave up another leadoff hit in the Marines fourth, this time to Hayasaka. Iguchi promptly hit into a double play and then Kim struck out and the innings was over barely before it had begun. Kawagoe had managed to stagger on to the Tigers fourth but this innings finally finished him off. Murton led off with a hit but there was no double play to help the Marines. Arai grounded out putting Murton and second and then Brazell hit a two base to right bringing Murton home 7-0 Tigers, runner on second. Johjima went left with his two base and the score was 8-0 Tigers, runner on second. Nishimura hurriedly summoned Furuya to the mound and he was able to stop the flow of runs striking out Takahashi (pinch hitter) and getting Sakurai to fly out. Toritani had taken a knock on his fingers the previous innings and as a precaution was taken out for a rest - his replacement at short was Yamato. Marines fifth was nice and quiet with no runners reaching base. Tigers fifth saw Furuya run into problems and here Tigers might have also made more of the situation though they didn't really need it. Standridge struck out but then Hirano hit a three base. This was a good situation for another score and Mayumi put Kanemoto (pinch hitter) in to try and exploit it. He however snatched at a ptich and managed to fly out to third which of course prevented a run. Furuya then walked Murton and Arai to load the bases which brought up Brazell. He struck out swinging and the Marines had escaped the innings without damage. Standridge returned for the Marines sixth. Up until that point he hadn't allowed a runner beyond first but this innings would be different. The first batter, Imae lined out to short. Nemoto (pinch hitter) walked and then Nishoka hit to right - runners on first and second. This became bases loaded when Hayasaka got hit by a pitch and Standridge was in a spot of bother. Here he showed superb determination battling Iguchi to a full count before getting the Marines second to hit into a double play and end the innings. It had been a lucky escape though. Matsumoto pitched Tigers sixth and gave up a lead off hit to Johjima. Yamato grounded out to short but Marines weren't able to make the double play and the Tigers short advanced to second on Sakurai's ground out. Finally Hiyama (pinch hitter) struck out to end the innings.

Standridge had only just got out of the sixth without damage and Mayumi had the sense to take note of this. He changed pitchers and sent Nishimura to the mound. Standridge had pitched superbly and one hopes that this is the start of a long run of good victories. Nishimura was efficient and effective retiring the batters in order. Hirano led off Tigers seventh with a hit but a Kanoh (replacement left, Murton having moved round to centre) double play extinguished the chance. However, at least Kanoh didn't swing at his first pitch like he has been doing. He still has a tendency to try and put his hits past the pitcher though and this is often his undoing. Murton grounded out to end the innings. Egusa pitched Marines eighth and was a bit of a curate's egg. Kanazawa (replacement catcher) led off the innings with a hit and one out later Kiyota (replacement centre) walked to set up runners on first and second. This was as far as the runners got as the next two batters were out. The final pitcher for Marines was Yamada who took the Tigers eighth. He was more successful than his compatriots and struck out his first two batters Arai and Brazell before giving up a hit to Johjima. Yamato was next but he flew out in foul ground to end the innings. For Marines ninth we had Sugiyama who at least doesn't look like he will be asked to start for now. His innings was straightforward and he retired a demoralized and dispirited Marines clean up without any problems. Tigers victory.

Standridge picked up his second victory but this one was genuinely his and even though he had had the run support he had pitched really well. Tigers had gotten to the Marines pitchers earlier and had destroyed them in short order. The Marines batting could make no headway against the pitching and as a result the game was comfortable with only the sixth innings representing a threat. This Tigers victory was dominating and we can genuinely talk about the Marines being totally outclassed. A great victory and a great performance by the whole side.

Good to see the new batting order performing so well so far. With some questions regarding our rotation, it will be important to put up a lot of runs, which we definitely have the potential to do.

By the way, what's the deal with Kanemoto? His full inning game streak has ended, but is he trying to extend his consecutive games streak as well now? He pinch hits every game, but it's not always necessary. Why send him up there last night in the heavy rain with an 8-0 lead? I'd rather just see him put on the DL so he can completely rest and recover. Is it some fan service or something that they still feel he needs to make an appearance every game?

Yes Kanemoto's consecutive game streak is still going and this is the reason for his use as a pinch hitter. As a pinch hitter he doesn't have anything to offer but it keeps the streak alive.

Meanwhile, promising left-handed batters like Lin go to waste on the 2-gun. It's a shame. Kanemoto is my favorite Japanese baseball player, but I'm starting to lose respect for him. What else does he have to prove? Take a rest!

Lotte has a good line up. Their team average is 294. Currently the best in Japan. Therefore even more depressing to see this score.

In any case, I think this line up looks better for Hanshin than the previous line up. Moving Murton to third is a good decision. With a slightly improved Arai, this clean up (3,4,5) could be one of the most feared in Central League. When/if Kanemoto comes back he should be hitting behind Brazell and Joima.

Mayumi will keep sending Kanemoto as a pinch hitter for each game to keep the streak alive and I think most Hanshin fans support this decision.

Didn't Kanemoto say he took himself out because he was harming the team? He's not helping the team any by making pinch hitting appearances to keep the streak alive.
Despite how amazing Cal Ripken's streak was, there were also criticisms that by the end it had a negative effect on the team.

I can live with Kanemoto making a single pinch hitting appearence each game. As long as it iis in place of the pitcher it doesn't really represent any problem and he might even hit.