June 8th Kubo v Houlton - Normal service is resumed

Just when hopes began to be raised there comes along this result. Inept is the only way to describe the Tigers performance in this game. Houlton was good but Tigers should have done better against him and a general lack of application by the batters resulted in only one run. Kubo wasn't good either but to some extent one must sympathise with him. He has often pitched well for Tigers and received absolutely no run support at all. It must be frustrating and demoralising for a pitcher - to pitch well and end up with no result or even a loss because your batters are lazy (even in this game his first three innings were excellent). Tigers coaches really do need to do something about the batting performance and start giving the pitchers the support they need. The obvious answers suggest themselves, move Arai to three and Toritani back to five. The latter is a waste of space as leadoff and is not doing the side any good. Why a batter who produces 87 RBIs is put in the leadoff spot escapes me and indicates a general cluelessness. Box scores

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

Starting lineups

Hawks
1. Honda (Second)
2. Kawasaki (Short)
3. Ortiz (Left)
4. Kokubo (First)
5. Tamura (Right)
6. Hasegawa (Centre)
7. Matsuda (Third)
8. Tanoue (Catcher)
9. Houlton (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Toritani (Short)
2. Akahoshi (Centre)
3. Sekimoto (Second)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Brazell (First)
7. Katsuragi (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

Kubo needed a good performance after his last poor outing but didn't really get it. He started well - he did give up a one out hit to Kawasaki in the Hawks first. This disappeared with an Ortiz double play to end the innings. Tigers first was inept with all three batters falling in order. The lack of application against Houlton was incredible and at the very least Tigers should have generated more hits. Hawks second was also quiet as Kubo retired the batters in order. Likewise the Tigers second - no one troubling the basemen. The third was quiet and one began to expect a tight close game like the last time the Tigers faced Houlton.

It all changed in the fourth. With one out Kubo walked Kawasaki. Next batter was Ortiz who hit to left along the line. Kawasaki had the speed to round three bases and the Hawks were ahead 1-0 runner on second. Kokubo struck out but then Kubo relaxed a bit and threw a soft pitch to Tamura who slammed it into the right stand for a home run 3-0 Hawks. The final batter flew out but Hawks were comfortably in the lead. Tigers fourth would have been the opportunity to bounce back (they were able to do so in the sixth) but the batters surrendered lamely - Mayumi's top three just isn't working. Hawks fifth was quiet and so was Tigers fifth. Up until the end of the fifth Tigers hadn't generated a single hit or walk. Nothing, fine pitching by Houlton undoubtedly but abject batting by the Tigers as well. Kubo would not survive the Hawks sixth. With two out he lost his control. Firstly, Ortiz hit, followed by Kokubo. This brought up Tamura who hit to left driving in a run 4-0 Hawks. Mayumi decided that Kubo was finished and brought in Egusa. A wise and timely move, there was nothing wrong with this decision. Egusa faced runners on first and second and walked his first batter to load the bases. Here Mayumi messed up. Rather than trust Egusa (who is good with runners on) he switched pitchers bringing Watanabe on. This can only be described as panic and is not the way to handle your pitching. Watanabe didn't start well. He walked Matsuda - oshidashi, 5-0 Hawks, bases loaded. One would have thought that Mayumi would have learned from last time but seemingly not. Tanoue then hit along the left baseline, a two base, bases clearing hit 8-0 Hawks and they were out of sight. Finally Houlton grounded out but Mayumi had blown the game with his ill-considered pitching change. Tigers sixth started with a Katsuragi two base hit. Finally, Tigers batters had done something. Katsuragi made third on a Kandoh flyout and Hirano (pinch hitter) walked. Toritani grounded out and Katsuragi was home 8-1 Hawks runner on first but really a sacrifice groundout was not enough. Akahoshi hit to set up runners on first and second but that was it, Sekimoto grounded out and the innings was over. Tigers batters had shown what was possible with application which had been sadly lacking earlier in the match when they still had a chance.

Tsutsui took Hawks seventh and retired the batters in order. In Tigers seventh the batters once again tumbled in order. Hasegawa hit in the Hawks eighth but nothing came of this. In Tigers eighth Kanoh hit but no one else did anything but this was more evidence that it was possible to hit Houlton. Hawks ninth was pitched by Nishimura, Tigers 2009 No.4 draft pick in his first top team game. He did well enough, retiring the batters in order. Houlton returned for Tigers ninth - he would pitch a complete game but it was unnecessary as there wasn't a shutout up for grabs. However, he continued his excellent pitching. With two out Kanemoto finally woke up and hit a two base. The final batter was Arai who struck out swinging symbolizing an ineffective day for him and the Tigers. Hawks victory.

Tigers had been crushed by the Hawks and by some fine pitching by Houlton. They should have shown more application but hadn't and had paid the price. The top of the order isn't really working and needs to be changed. The worrying thing is that this arrangement was tried by Okada last season and found to be wanting. Why do the current management insist on having to re-learn old lessons the hard way? Mayumi's switch of Egusa to Watanabe was ill-considered and one had thought he had got over this problem. It certainly put the game well beyond Tigers reach even though their chances of victory were by then small.