July 3rd Standridge v Ohtake - Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Given how dire the Carp were it is surprising that Tigers managed to lose to them. Against a mediocre pitcher and with a comfortable lead Tigers went to sleep failed to score enough. Enokida as closer does not look a good proposition. He has problems with the third out and often gets himself into trouble trying to get it. As a closer he is more of a Kubota than a Fujikawa. However, with both Fujikawa and Fukuhara sidelined Tigers don't have many choices. Tsutsui would have been the only other choice but he had been used in the seventh. Kubota was available and he has closing experience but he is always a risky proposition. One thinks of the occasion against Rakuten where he blew a three run lead and lost the game for Tigers. No, maybe not Kubota. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Amaya (Centre)
2. Abe (Second)
3. Soyogi (Short)
4. Imamoto (First)
5. Dobayashi (Third)
6. Maru (Left)
7. Hirose (Right)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Ohtake (Pitcher)

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

The return of Shibata was a retrograde step but he did manage to hit. Standridge and Komiyama worked very nicely together and in fact the game was nicely called throughout. Carp's first was a quiet innings - batters down in order and no openings. Tigers first was much better. Murton struck out swinging and one feels he maybe missed out this innings. Hirano singled right and then Toritani also singled right to set up runners on first and second. This was conservative running - one would have expected Hirano to go for third. Takahiro Arai singled to centre and Hirano made home 1-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Once again conservative running. Kanemoto flew out to centre and then Ryota Arai flew out to right. Tigers were off to a good start. Carp's first hit came in their second. With one out Dobayashi singled to centre. He made second on Maru's ground out to first - Carp do round the bases very effectively; maybe because they know they're not going to drive in many runs. Hirose also grounded out and the innings was over. Tigers second which saw the bottom of the order was quiet. Ishihara led off Carp's third with a walk. He was bunted to second by Ohtake and then took third on Amaya's ground out. But Carp had run out of batters and Abe also grounded out to end the innings. In Tigers third both Murton and Hirano went down before Toritani walked. Ohtake's control would suddenly go throughout his pitching spell. Takahiro Arai hit to left to set up runners on first and second. This time Kanemoto supplied the timely hit bringing in another run 2-0 Tigers, runners on first and second. Ryota Arai grounded out again and whilst the move from fifth to sixth is welcome he still has trouble driving in runs.

Standridge retired the Carp batters in order in the fourth which gave the Tigers a bit more momentum. Shibata singled and then Komiyama tried to hit into centre but flew out. Standridge bunted Shibata to second and Murton then hit right 3-0 Tigers, runner on first. At last a bunt that worked!.Hirano struck out looking to end the innings but it was also the end of Ohtake who was removed before he could do more damage; something Wada needs to note for his pitchers. Standridge ran into a bit of bother in the Carp's fifth. Maru grounded out but first Hirose and then Ishihara singled to set up runners on first and second. Ishii (pinch hitter) bunted them to second and third and Amaya grounded out to end the innings. Kikuchihara took over the pitching for Tigers fifth. Toritani hit to third where Dobayashi messed it up and allowed the runner to reach first. Arai tried to hit deep and flew out to right but Toritani was able to make second on Kanemoto's ground out. This was as far as he got as Ryota Arai flew out to right. Standridge then retired the Carp batters in order - he and Komiyama were working well together. Umetsu pitched Tigers sixth and walked Shibata. Komiyama singled right and Tigers had runners on first and second. Now why this wasn't first and third escapes me because Shibata is supposedly fast and he would have had enough time to get to third. Standrdidge messed up his three attempts at a bunt and was out. Then Murton flew out to centre. Finally, Hirano grounded out to first Tigers had wasted a chance here and having Standridge try to hit would have been much wiser. Still Tigers were comfortably in the lead.

Standridge returned for Carp's seventh and why not - he was pitching well and hadn't reached his limit. But he did prove to be tired and walked Dobayashi. Maru's swing connected for a two base hit and Carp suddenly had runners on second and third with no outs. Hirose hit his first pitch to centre 3-1 Tigers, runners on first and third. Next was Ishihara who struck out swinging. As he did so Akamatsu (pinch running for Hirose then taking over centre) stole second. Here Wada pulled Standridge and brought on Tsutsui who was more than a bit nervy. He struck out the next two batters but this was more to do with them swinging wildly at pitches which bounced. Still Tigers were out of the innings with a two run lead. Sarfate pitched Tigers seventh and retired Toritani and Takahiro Arai before Kanemoto drove a two base hit to right - the right field had been a happy hunting ground for Tigers batters. However, Ryota Arai was one who didn't find it so and he flew out to right to end the innings. Tigers do need him to perform and he isn't doing so; so far. Watanabe took over for Carp's eighth and gave up a single to Abe. Soyogi struck out and then Iwamoto grounded out which did move Abe to second. Watanabe then managed to walk Dobayashi but it wasn't of great import as Maru grounded out to end the innings. Nakata took over for Tigers eighth. Shibata led off with a two base hit to left centre and Wada, the idiot had Komiyama bunt him to third. This didn't come off and the Carp fielder who fielded the ball threw to third for the tag out. Komiyama was safe on first but Tigers should not be attempting this sort of thing. Hiyama (pinch hitter) managed to snatch at the ball and fly out to second - poor work by the Tigers star pinch hitter. Then Murton grounded out to second to end the innings. Inept is the only way to describe this innings. Enokida took over for Carp's ninth and with his first pitch got Akamatsu to ground out to third as Carp threw everything into trying to get on base. A calm approach would have won the day for Tigers but instead we had panic. Ishihara took a full count but grounded out to first. Two down and nothing to worry about. Next was Mukae, an Orix reject. He singled left and Enokda started to go to pieces. Then Amaya hit his first pitch to right to set up runners on first and second. Out came Yabu to have a chat with him and steady his nerves. Only one out needed but as so often happens in these situations these chats only increase the pressure. I can imagine how they go "The team is all relying on you - don't let them down - ganbarre". Hardly the most encouraging thing. Kikuchi (pinch hitter) was next and he should have been an easy out. This was really a desperate move by Carp. It worked - Kikuchi singled left to bring in a run 3-2 Tigers, runners on second and third. Still only one out to get and here luck took a role. Carp engineered a double steal with Soyogi at the plate. With the count at two and two Enokida threw a terrible low pitch which bounded in the dirt and flew up and bounced off Komiyama's glove or arm to roll off to the first base dugout. A wild pitch and a costly one. Komiyama was up after the ball but couldn't get the throw away in time to first and Soyogi who had swung was safe on base. In the meantime the runners on second and third had both made home 4-3 Carp, runner on first. Yoshida - Tigers battery coach - later said that Komiyama should have taken the ball. Yoshida also grumbled about the double steal but this is just second guessing and worthless.. Yoshida has not been an impressive part of Tigers coaching team (which about sums them all up). The issue in the ninth was Enokida who would have been shaky with whoever he had as catcher. Mickolio pitched Tigers ninth and got Hirano to ground out. Toritani hit to third where Dobayashi messed up again and Toritani was safe. Takahiro Arai then hit his first pitch to third for the second out. Tigers weren't exactly batting well. Imanari (pinch hitter) walked but Ryota Arai completed a forgettable night by grounding out to end the game. Carp victory.

After the game the Tigers management were united in their condemnation of Komiyama. He should have caught the ball, he should have stopped the double steal. Fujii would have been better forgetting that Fujii made an elementary error in giving up the first run against Swallows the game before. One begins to understand why young players struggle at Tigers and why it takes so long for them to develop. The negative regime focused on bullying the youngsters make them risk averse and so afraid of making a mistake that they make mistakes. The situation Tigers found themselves in was as more Enokida's fault and that final pitch was poor. There is no guarantee that Fujii would have taken it but if he had missed it the talk would have been of how unlucky he was. In fact when Yano committed a similar mistake years before the talk was exactly that. However, it is all indicative of how inept the Wada team really is.

If nothing else, it's been interesting to see the novel ways the Tigers can come up with to lose games this year! In over 30 years of watching baseball, I've never seen a winning run score that way. The look on poor Standridge's face really sums up our season.

Also a shame about the instant condemnation of Komiyama. The announcers were basically saying he needs to be sent down to the farm based on that one mishap. Always an easy option to make the young guys the scapegoat and ignore the incompetence of the old boys.

Your description of Enokida closing sounds like what I've been saying about Yamaguchi (YOK) for the past few years. If he can't get three outs with three batters, he's not going to get out of the inning unscathed. (I admit, he does get through occasionally.) Welcome to the We Don't Have a Closer Who Can Close Club.

Well Enokida hasn't quite reached that level but his nervousness with the third out is well known. With Fujikawa possibly bolting to MLB next season Tigers are going to have to do some serious thinking about the closer role.

It's kind of a strange blessing in disguise to have some time this season without being able to use Fujikawa as our closer. As mentioned, he's probably going to bolt for MLB the first chance he gets, so we really need to think about the future. It takes a certain type of character to be able to fill this role, so it's good to have a chance to give some others a go. The problem is the outlook is pretty bleak. With our current situation, Enokida wasn't a terrible choice. Fukuhara is pretty old, so he wouldn't be a long-term solution. Kubota's back, but he's...Kubota. I do like Enokida as a relief pitcher, but he tends to get into too many jams, so I don't think he's the ideal closer. But thinking long-term we should keep giving him the ball in the meantime.

Kubota no matter how highly I think of him isn't really suited for the closer role anymore. The only other candidate I can think of at the moment might be Tsutsui. What I am hoping is that Enokida does get over his attack of nerves with the third out. If he can conquer this he will be a fine closer. Of course, Tigers could go overseas again.

I remember maybe mention of Zarate somewhere as a potential closer. Strange, considering he hasn't spent any time on the top team. With all the pressure on Kubota just to try to make a comeback, it would be a huge mistake to put him into the closer's role. In any case, I don't believe Fujikawa will be out much longer, but was just thinking about the future. What is the word on Fujikawa's return?

It was planned for him to rejoin the team today but I am not sure that they will use him in the Giants series. Maybe the Dragons series. I do not know what is going on with Zarate but I would expect him to have top team experience first before they started to use him.