September 19th Uezono v Kenta Maeda - This time it's the batting

Once again Tigers were poor and under-performed. Poor batting against a pitcher they had mastered earlier in the season condemned them to their second defeat in a row at the hands of the Carp. It was nice to see Uezono back but he didn't have a good game - giving up a home run to that non-entity Ishihara was really poor pitching. Tigers batting should have and could have done better - solo home runs are all very well but the batters need to hit with runners on. As it was the Carp just crept in with a sacrifice fly but they all count and it's the victory that's important not how you get it. Tigers might want to remember this and ponder that in two games they have batted unintelligently and carelessly. We have to say that all batters are about 10-20 RBIs under their potential and the blame for this rests with Wada the batting coach who is proving just as ineffective in this role as he was in the role of third base coach. I would expect Brown to pitch Lewis tomorrow and this will make it really difficult for Tigers to keep their slim hold on third (currently 0.5 games). Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp    2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4 14 0
Tigers  0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  7 0

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Ishii (Short)
3. Amaya (Centre)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. McClain (Third)
6. Shima (Left)
7. Hirose (Right)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Kenta Maeda (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Asai (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Arai (Third)
6. Sekimoto (First)
7. Sakurai (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Uezono (Pitcher)

Uezono had the kind of start everyone dreams about - in their worst nightmares. Higashide led off with a hit. He was followed by Ishii and then Amaya bunted and made first to load the bases. Kurihara hit to right centre drving in two runs 2-0 Carp, runners on second and third. Here Uezono woke up and showed just why he was Rookie of the Year in 2007. McClain grounded out to third and then the next two batters flew out in foul ground. He had stopped Carp in their tracks. Maeda's start was a lot easier, he retired the batters in order, faced with some poor batting. Then Maeda had a hit in the Carp's second. Uezono needs to tighten up his pitching considerably and has clearly been neglected. Higashide hit into a double play to end that threat. Tigers now made a mess of their chances to put the game out of Carp's sight as Maeda pitched abysmally in the next two innings. Kanemoto led off with a home run, his second solo in as many games 2-1 Carp. Then Arai hit to left for a two base with no outs. Here it unravelled. Sekimoto grounded out to the pitcher - poor batting. Sakurai grounded out to short and Maeda walked Kanoh to get at Uezono who struck out to end the innings. A golden opportunity had gone begging through poor batting (not good pitching as the next innings would show). Ishii led of Carp's third with a hit (he would have a dream game). He made second on Amaya's ground out and an out later McClain walked. The final out was Shima who flew out to short. Maeda's troubles returned in the Tigers third. Asai led off with a nice home run to left 2-2 scores tied. Hirano flew out but then Toritani hit a home run 3-2 Tigers. Kanemoto walked, Maeda didn't want to face him again but Arai and Sekimoto both struck out to end the innings. Once again Tigers batters had failed to hit with runners on and knock Maeda out of the game.

Uezono then protected the lead very nicely by striking out two and retiring all three batters in Carp's fourth. In Tiger's fourth Kanoh hit but Uezono hit into a double play to end the innings. Carp's fifth saw, the lead off batter Higashide walk. He was bunted to second by Ishii but Amaya flew out. Uezono then walked Kurihara because he wanted to get at McClain who flew out to left to end the innings. Once again the lead was nicely protected. Asai led off Tigers fifth with a hit and was bunted to second by Hirano. This was a nice position for either Toritani or Kanemoto to drive in the decisive run. They did nothing and the innings was scoreless. Uezono returned to pitch the Carp's sixth and seemed to be cruising. With two outs he faced Ishihara - who has had a terrible season with the bat and can be said to be a minor force. Ishihara latched onto his fifth pitch a 133 kph straightball and it flew off to right for a lucky home run 3-3 scores tied. This took the wind right out of Uezono's sails and he gave up another hit to Maeda. Mayumi acted with commendable speed and yanked Uezono for Egusa. Egusa then retired Higashide to end the innings. Uezono had made a dreadful mistake allowing Ishihara to hit a home run but had shown some great pitching as well. One hopes he stays in the top team. Tigers then had the chance to hit back but all three batters in the sixth flew out both Sekimoto and Sakurai flying out to first in a dreadful display of batting.

Egusa returned for the Carp's seventh and immediately ran into trouble. Ishii led off with a hit, this time a three base. This was trouble. Amaya then showed the Tigers batters just how to do it, hitting a sacrifice fly to centre 4-3 Carp. Tigers batters should reflect on their failure in the second when they could have adopted the same approach. Carp have difficulty scoring and so don't spurn the sacrifice fly. Tigers batters often do. This was the end of Egusa who was replaced by Sajikihara. He gave up a hit to Kurihara but then induced a double play to end the innings. Tigers seventh saw even more poor batting as all three batters struck out. There was no real attempt to try and work a walk or get on base and it was a nice present for Maeda, ending his pitching session with three strike outs. Tsutsui then pitched Carp's eighth and he also had difficulties but the fight had gone out of the Tigers and no-one was really trying. Still the Carp struggled to score. With one out Hirose hit. He tried to steal second but was thrown out. Then Ishii hit again and Tsutsui dead balled Phillips (pinch hitter) to set up runners on first and second. Finally, HIgashide grounded out to second to end the innings but it hadn't been impressive. Tigers eighth was another wasted opportunity, Schultz was the pitcher and with one out (the slumping Hirano) Toritani hit. Schultz walked Kanemoto but then the slumping Arai hit into a double play and another chance was wasted. For Carp's ninth Mayumi pitched Fujikawa in an attempt to inspire his team. Fujikawa though was infected by the same malaise as the rest of the Tigers and gave up consecutive hits to Ishii (his fourth) and Amaya. Luckily for him Kurihara hit into a double play and then McClain struck out looking with a runner on third. Nagakawa started Tigers ninth by dead balling Sekimoto. Given that his control was not the best this was a good chance for the Tigers but they blew it. Sakurai snatched at his first pitch and flew out to Ishihara when he should have waited. Then Hiyama (pinch hitter) and Katsuragi (pinch hitter) both struck out to end the innings. Carp victory.

Quite an incredible victory for the Carp who actually hadn't been very effective. They only scored 4 runs on their fourteen hits and once again had shown their second class nature. Still they won and now are 0.5 games behind Tigers. Quite frankly, Tigers remind me of Okada's Tigers of last year. They had a lead like Mayumi Tigers but seemed incapable of defending it. They rather let their competition creep up and overtake them and nothing the coaches seem to do has any effect. Of course, this hasn't happened yet but it is beginning to look remarkably similar. Lazy and poor performances with a lot of thoughtless baseball were the order of the day. Tigers should have taken Maeda apart in the second and third when he was clearly vulnerable but a neglect of the basics prevented them from doing this. All of Carp's pitchers had been vulnerable but all had been given an easy ride. Tigers need to work harder to retain third. They are the better team but that does not mean that the opposition has to roll over and die in front of them. Tigers have to play like the better team and they clearly didn't.