May 2nd Standridge v Nakata - A lot of work wasted

It has to be acknowledged Wada is developing into a moron along the lines of Mayumi. His management of this series has been poor and even though he has been let down by his players he has made a series of stupid decisions showing inexperience and lack of understanding. The ninth in this game should have been pitched by Fujikawa who might have gotten out of it - he was pitching so lazily. The tenth should have been to Tsutsui - the committed pitcher not an overpaid lazy waste of space. After all of Standridge, Arai and others hard work Kyuji blew a victory with poor work. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Hirano (Second)
2. Shibata (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Murton (Right)
7. Brazell (First)
8. Komiyama (Catcher)
9. Standridge (Pitcher)

I wrote earlier how a tie against the Swallows was really a Tigers victory because Tigers fought back to tie and here the reverse was this game was really a Dragons victory. Tigers once again couldn't hit when needed but some stupid decisions by Wada made sure that they didn't score. Tigers first was a quiet innings with the batters not handling Nakata well. Standridge had trouble with the outside of the zone thoughout the game and Dragons first was no exception. Still careful work by Komiyama and Standridge ensured that Dragons would not score. Tigers second also saw no batters on base. In fact the innings took all of four balls - far too quick. Blanco led off Dragons second with a single to centre. As Wada struck out Blanco attempted the steal - the throw from Komiyama was good but high and Blanco head slid to safety. A very lucky steal. Ibata walked but then Tanishige's ground out forced him out. Blanco was on third but all Naomichi Donue could do was ground out to end the innings. Still it took a nice throw by Standridge. The third was quiet for both sides and so far Tigers hadn't had a runner on base.

Tigers fourth was similar - no one getting on base. This looked like the Nakata of old - dominating a procession of hopeless and helpless Tigers. Standridge was still having to work hard but was using what accurate pitches he had effectively. In Dragons fourth he gave up a one out single to Blanco. Blanco stayed on first as Standridge beat down Wada and Ibata. Tigers fifth and things kind of unravelled for Nakata. Arai led off with a ground out but then Kanemoto singled right. Murton hit to centre past the dive of Araki - this caused Kanemoto to hesitate as Araki might have pulled off a diving catch and he could only reach second. Next was Brazell and one of his swings just drifted foul but he did hit nicely into right bringing in Kanemoto 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and third. Brazell would limp through the game from this point on. Next was Komiyama and here we had a bit of Wada idiocy - he had his catcher bunt to try the squeeze. I like squeezes but this situation was crying out for a sacrifice fly. Instead Komiyama bunted into the glove of Nakata for the second out - a wasted chance and all because of the manager's pig headedness. The final batter was Standridge who struck out swinging - a slender lead but not enough you felt. Standridge did well in Dragons fifth - too many pitches you felt but he kept the runners off base. Tigers sixth was a wasted chance - with Hirano out Shibata hit to second and exposed Ibata's slowness by beating the throw. Then Toritani drove into centre and Tigers had runners on first and third. Once again it looked as if a sacrfice fly was on but Arai was abysmal and flew out to second. He just needs to try for a home run and fail. Snatching at high pitches is not the way to go. Next was Kanemoto who flew out to right, one out too late. The top of the Dragons order did nothing in their sixth - batters down 1-2-3 and Standridge was doing well.

Tigers seventh and with Murton out Brazell took a big swing but the ball landed just below the home run line. Still a two base. The next two batters Komiyama and Standridge. Komiyama does everything right but just doesn't get the luck and he flew out to right - Brazell did not attempt to get to third and here a pinch runner would have been a good idea. His legs were giving him trouble. Standridge struck out. Dragons seventh started well with two outs going down to short ground outs. Then Ibata singled to centre. Tanishige hit left and Dragons had runners on first and second. But Standridge kept his cool and got Donue to ground out to second. Great work by the Tigers pitcher who hadn't been dominant but hadn't stopped working. For Tigers eighth we saw Kobayashi, a pitcher that Tigers haven't figured out yet. He started the innings nervously, dead balling Hirano. Hirano was forced out by a stupid shot from Yamato who was safe. Yamato stole second successfully and then made third on Toritani's second ground out. This brought a change of pitcher and Sosa took over. He got Arai to strike out in a very embarassing way. Enokida pitched Dragons eighth and was abysmal - there was nothing that Komiyama could do with him. I really do think that Tigers shouldn't be using someone who is as flakey as Kubota in these sort of situations. He started with a single to left for Diaz (pinch hitter). He was pinch run for by Hidenori who was bunted to second by Ohshima. One out and you could relax - the stupid bunt had gone in and the next two outs would come. Well not quite - Enokida manaded to dead ball Araki - very poor work - runners on first and second and the Dragons chances had just increased. Hirata followed and with the count at 2-2 swung at a low pitch and lifted it successfully into right for a single. Hidenori was home 1-1 scores tied and runners on first and second. Blanco struck out swinging as Enokida finally woke up and then Wada grounded out to third. Dragons were back in the game. Tajima pitched Tigers ninth and with two outs he gave up a single to left to Brazell. Nothing came of this though and the innings was scoreless. Here Wada made his second mistake but then he probably isn't even aware of the fact that if you use your star closer in the ninth of a tied away game you are increasing your chances of victory. Instead he used Tsutsui who did well retiring the batters in order.

The game went into extra innings but was very near the 3.5 hour time limit. The pitcher for Tigers tenth was Asao and he was surprisingly off his game. Sekimoto (replacement third) started for Tigers and hit to short - beating the throw to first. Asao tried to pick him off and Blanco missed the take allowing Sekimoto to take second. He was bunted to third by Hirano - Wada's third mistake of the night - it wasted an out. Hiyama (pinch hitter) didn't do well and grounded out to second - no run. Then Asao walked Toritani and things were up to Arai. He hadn't done well all evening but drove nicely into left bringing in the runner 2-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Shunsuke (replacement left) walked to load the bases. Here the extra out would have been very useful - a lead yes but not enough. Murton who hasn't been driving in runs continued in this vein and hit his first pitch to short - very poor batting. Dragons tenth was pitched by Kyuji who was dismal. He really did make one question his commitment and ability with this display. Takehiro Donue (pinch hitter) led off with a single to centre. He was bunted to first by Ohshima. Next was Araki who for his first pitch received a pathetic fork - far too high and in the centre of the zone. He hit into left to bring the runner home 2-2 scores tied. Kyuji had blown another game. Hirata hit into a double play which failed when the throw to first didn't come off and Dragons still had an runner on first. Finally Takahashi (pinch hitter) flew out to left.

Tigers twice blew a slender lead and their relief cannot have been said to have performed well. Kyuji in particular did not justify his salary - there is some excuse for Enokida who is nervy but not for Fujikawa who is supposed to perform in situations like this. One isn't impressed by Wada's management performance either and he is moving from tolerate him as he is still learning to get rid of this chump before he screws up some more. Actually we do need to be patient but Tigers are losing too many series to challenge and do need to turn things round.

What made the failed squeeze bunt even worse is that it came with two strikes. I wonder if Wada even knows that a foul bunt with two strikes is an out? With two strikes, the logical decision would be to give Komiyama a chance to hit or--as you stated--at least try to get the ball into the outfield for a sacrifice fly. But it seems Wada has so little confidence in Komiyama's hitting ability that he stubbornly stuck with the two-strike squeeze strategy. I'm really starting to think Mayumi just left behind a manager's manual, as I've seen no creative thinking from Wada. I really thought Chunichi would fade this year without one of their best pitchers and Ochiai, but they're still proving to be a smarter and better-managed team than the Tigers. It's still early, but Wada needs to shake things up. It's a shame seeing all this great starting pitching going to waste.

This is also affecting Komiyama's confidence. He swings well and often leaves well. He's never going to be a great batter but with support and help he could be a useful one. However, he's not getting any support from Wada or Kataoka which is very wasteful.

Sometimes you just gotta let people take their whacks. If they constantly make Komiyama bunt, he's never going to have the opportunities to develop into a better hitter. I just hope they don't give up on him because of his hitting skills. He's doing great as a catcher, so they hopefully realize what they have.

Anyway, another big Giants series coming up, so hopefully we can get back on track. We were awful in koryu-sen last year, so we need to gain some momentum and confidence going in this year. As bad as we've played this week, we're still in third place and I still don't think the Dragons and Swallows will keep up this pace.