July 6th Tsuru v Nelson - Blowing a lead

Mayumi duly gave Tsuru another run out and things were fine up until the sixth when Tsuru's nerve failed him. This wasn't a case of Mayumi over-pitching him or even giving him a too difficult assignment just poor pitching in a non-crisis situation with a mediocre catcher. Mayumi though thinks that Tsuru has reached his limits and can't pitch any better. Kubo thinks that the problems were more mental and whatever I may think of Kubo I would rather go with him then a manager who has no clue about pitching. Nagoya Dome is a difficult place for Tigers pitchers. One doesn't disagree with the removal of Tsuru after the walk in but why was it Fukuhara chosen. I certainly don't think he was the pitcher for the situation and his pitching was also poor handing a lead to the Dragons. One of Mayumi's elite pitchers might have been better in that situation but the way he treats his relief Mayumi doesn't really have an elite he can rely on. Enokida would have been shaky and Kubota wouldn't have responded which leaves possibly Watanabe as the only option Mayumi had. Maybe leaving Tsuru in would have actually been a better option but probably not. Even with the loss of the lead Tigers then blew a fine chance to restore it. These chances need to be taken if Tigers are to compete for the pennant rather than be an also ran. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. HIrano (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Sekimoto (Second)
7. Kanemoto (Left)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Tsuru (Pitcher)

Dragons
1. Ohshima (Centre)
2. Iwasaki (Short)
3. Morino (Third)
4. Wada (Left)
5. Hirata (Right)
6. Koike (First)
7. Mizuta (Second)
8. Oda (Catcher)
9. Nelson (Pitcher)

Both pitchers would start well and the game for a long time looked like a repeat of the night before. In Tigers first Toritani drew a two out walk but Arai's strike out ended the innings. Arai would mirror his friend Kanemoto's performance this game - both were pathetic. Tsuru retired the three batters in Dragons first in order. Tigers second was quiet as well. Nelson was in control but with him one waits as he deteriorates rather rapidly around the fifth or sixth innings. Tsuru managed to dead ball Koike in Dragons second with two outs but then got Mizuta to fly out to second and end the innings - the Dragons second swinging too early. Tigers third was also quiet with the batters down 1-2-3. Tsuru's first challenge came in Dragons third. He struck out Oda and Nelson but then Ohshima hit to centre. Iwasaki also hit to centre and Dragons had runners on first and third. Poor calling by Fujii here. Tsuru though did well and was able to get to swing away and fly out to Murton in foul ground to end the innings.

Nelson started Tigers fourth by dead balling Hirano but Toritani then wasted the opportunity by hitting into a double play. Arai swung too early and flew out to second to end the innings. Dragons fourth was just quiet with Wada collecting another strike out looking to add to his ones of the previous game. He is really having trouble judging pitches at the moment. Nelson then started to fall apart in Tigers fifth, right on cue. Brazell led off with Tigers first hit of the game. Sekimoto hit to left and Tigers had runners on first and second. Kanemoto flew out (as per usual) and Fujii hit a grounder to short but was able to beat the double play, forcing out Sekimoto. Fujii then stole second and Nelson loaded the bases by walking Tsuru. Murton hit to centre for a timely hit and Brazell was home. Fujii also tried to make home but the throw from centre was good and Oda was able to tag him out. Fujii is only a little guy and doesn't have the bulk to buldoze the fat Oda. Anyway 1-0 Tigers. Tsuru then pitched really well and retired the Dragons batters in the fifth preserving the lead. Nelson's decline continued in the Tigers sixth. Hirano led off with a hit. Toritani then essayed a bunt to Nelson who messed things up and Tigers had runners on first and second. Arai grounded out to third but once again the double play didn't come off and Tigers had runners on first and third with Toritani being the force out victim. Brazell hit into centre for the sacrifice fly 2-0 Tigers, runner on second, Arai having tagged up. Sekimoto hit a grounder to Nelson who then threw wildly. Arai seized the chance and charged home 3-0 Tigers with Sekimoto making second. Things were poised for a nice high scoring innings with the Dragons in disarray but here things foundered on the rock of Kanemoto. Ochiai acted and replaced Nelson with Kobayashi. He got Kanemoto to fly out in foul ground to end the innings. Still Tigers had built a very useful lead. Tsuru now had to hold this and given that he had successfully done so before no one had any worries. Even his pitch count - 68 was no concern. Tsuru though was terrible. Admittedly he had the assistance of Fujii who called a lot of rubbish and took no account of his pitchers nerves but he should have done better with a three run lead. Ohshima led off the Dragons sixth with a hit to left. Then Iwasaki followed with another hit to left - runners on first and second with no outs. Still no reason for worry however, Tsuru went to pieces. He couldn't locate the edge of the zone pitches which Fujii wanted and walked Morino to load the bases. Then he walked Wada in four - oshidashi 3-1 Tigers, bases loaded. Mayumi decided to switch pitchers at this point and brought on Fukuhara. Not a pitcher who normally springs to mind for this sort of situation but then Mayumi is well...strange and not that good with pitching. Fukuhara started well and struck out Hirata but his first pitch to Koike was a straight ball in the middle of the zone. It was a terrible pitch and Koike hammered it into the left centre stand for a grand slam 5-3 Dragons. A big mistake by Mayumi in choosing Fukuhara. Mizuta was next and he flew out to centre as did Oda and the innings was over. From a comfortable position Tigers together (and this was exemplary teamwork between the manager, pitchers and catcher) had blown the game.

Kawahara pitched Tigers seventh and started with a hit to Fujii. He can't catch but at least he's hitting. Lin (pinch hitter) flew out but then Murton also hit. Hirano's ground out took the runners to second and third and then Kawahara walked Toritani to load the bases. All it needed was Arai to do something. He failed miserably and grounded out to third ending the innings. A real waste of a very good chance. Kawasaki pitched Dragons seventh and struck out Guzman (pinch hitter). Ohshima hit to right but Iwasaki flew out to Kawasaki. Morino though also hit putting runners on first and third. Mayumi panicked and pulled Kawasaki replacing him with Watanabe who got Wada to ground out to short to end the innings. Tigers eighth was an anticlimax. They faced Asao who they had just missed scoring off the night before but this time they went quietly to the slaughter falling in order. Watanabe retired the first two batters in Dragons eighth but then gave up a hit to Ibata (replacement second). This didn't come to anything as Oda chose to fly out in foul ground. Tigers ninth was Iwase at his best striking out all three batters to end the game. Dragons victory.

It is difficult to get good performances from pitchers with the kind of regime that Mayumi operates. He is far to quick to condemn and punish his pitchers for their mistakes. In addition he saddles them with an inadequate catcher and expects them to take the flack. Of course pitchers do sometimes pitch badly but certain favourites are forgiven whilst others are not. Tsuru's fear of failure became a self fulfilling prophecy and he failed though he needn't have. Given that the batting also failed (and here Mayumi is meant to be an expert) this is not a very encouraging situation. Tigers lost the series against the Dragons and Mayumi is clearly not the manager to win at Nagoya Dome. One expects a bounce back with tonights game and one hopes for better performances all round.