September 7th Standridge v Fukui - Arai shows the way

It took Tigers quite a bit of time to break down Fukui which is surprising as he hadn't improved over his previous outings. Tigers in fact looked like they were going to waste their chances this game and end up being beaten. It didn't happen and once the lineup clicked they were clearly a higher level team than the Carp. Mayumi handled the pitching well and once the Tigers broke open the game in the seventh the result was never in doubt. Having Arai at four was also a major factor in the victory as he came through in the clutch. Scores

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  6 0
Tigers  1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 X 5 12 0

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Hirose (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Barden (Third)
6. Kenta Maeda (Left)
7. Ishihara (Catcher)
8. Kimura (Short)
9. Fukui (Pitcher)

Kenta Maeda was replaced by Shima before the Tigers first innings started

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

Because Tigers took some time to get going Standridge wouldn't walk away with the victory which went to Fukuhara. Standridge started nicely and retired the batters in order. Fukui gave up a lead off hit to HIrano. Shibata bunted him to second and then Toritani struck out looking to a rather nice low pitch. Next was Arai who swung to left and neatly bisected third and short for a timely single 1-0 Tigers, runner on first. Murton hit to left to set up runners on first and second but then Sekimoto grounded out weakly to Fukui to end the innings. Standridge had a lead to work with but almost blew it in the Carp second. A similar problem happened in the previous game with Messenger and Fujii so one can't lay the blame entirely on Standridge's shoulders. Fujii was also responsible for the mess as well. Kurihara grounded out and Barden struck out swinging. Then Shima walked. Nothing to get worried about but Ishihara also walked and with the tension rising Kimura took a dead ball to load the bases. The next batter was Fukui but you didn't want Standridge to walk him as well. Fortunately, Standridge didn't but struck him out swinging to end the innings. A lucky escape for the Tigers. Kanemoto led off Tigers second with a hit to right. He was bunted to second by Fujii and then Standridge struck out swinging. Hirano tried to hit left and it was a nice hit but Shima was standing in and took a comfortable catch to end the innings. Higashide led off Carp's third with their first hit - a rather lucky affair which ballooned up and landed just in front of the sliding Shibata coming in from second. Nomura signaled the bunt and Akamatsu shaped to carry out his instructions. The first pitch was a ball which Akamatsu missed but Fujii took well and then let fly a thunderbolt throw to first. Akamatsu was well out of his ground and was easily tagged out. Great work by Tigers catcher and rather pathetic play by Higashide. Of course, this meant that the bunt was no longer needed and Akamatsu flew out to Sekimoto. Finally Hirose grounded out to Toritani to end the innings. With one out in Tigers third Toritani hit nicely to right. Arai hit straight but the ball glanced off Fukui's glove into the path of Higashide who completed an easy double play.

Kurihara flew out to Kanemoto to start Carp's fourth and then Barden hit to centre. Shima popped one up in foul ground and Sekimoto took a fine catch over the ground level stands. Finally, Ishihara was lured into swinging and struck out to end the innings. Save the second, Carp were struggling with Standridge's pitching and didn't look like they could score. Tigers fourth saw Sekimoto hit to centre with one out. Then Kanemoto hit to centre as well and Tigers had runners on first and second. Fujii messed up flying out to short and even though he tried Standridge was not equal to the task and struck out. Tigers were wasting their chances and Fukui would not complete an innings without runners on. Carp's fifth was a quiet innings with the bottom of the order failing to do anything. Tigers fifth and Hirano led off with a well worked hit to right. He was bunted to second by Shibata and then Toritani blasted one to right which had timely hit written all over it. It didn't make it, Higashide pulled off a superbly timed jumping catch to snatch the ball out of the air - a run saving piece of fielding. Arai hit to centre but managed to fly out. Standridge gave up a lead off hit to Akamatsu in Carp's sixth. This was another lucky affair but put the centre on first. Hirose tried to bunt and once again Fujii let fly his thunderbolt to first. This time Akamatsu was just safe but had to be careful. After failing miserably with the bunts Hirose flew out to Fujii. Kurihara hit to centre and Akamatsu took third. This was a more threatening situation and Standridge let it get to him walking Barden in four to load the bases. Shima followed and after a battle hit to second where Hirano took the ball with a superb dive. He threw to second and then Toritani's throw to first was good but just too late. Shima had shown a turn of speed that no one would have believed and out run the double play. Akamatsu was home 1-1 scores tied with runners on first and third. Carp fans (of whom there were a lot by Koshien standards) began to get excited but then Ishihara grounded out to second to end the innings as well. Tigers sixth was an ideal chance to respond but we saw some stupid batting by Murton and Sekimoto. Both struck out swinging wildly at pitches that were clearly ones to leave. A very poor effort. Kanemoto in contrast was much more controlled and worked a walk. Fujii followed and Mayumi had Morita warming up as a pinch hitter for Standridge if Fujii had hit. Fujii didn't hit and grounded out to second off his first pitch to end the innings.

As Morita didn't reach the plate Standridge pitched the seventh. He was tiring and gave up a hit to Kimura. Fukui tried to bunt but was out thought by Standridge and Fujii and was out with three failed bunts. This brought about a pitching change, intelligent and perceptive management by Mayumi (yes I know this is unusual). Kojima replaced Standridge and faced Higashide who bunted Kimura to second. A truely desperate move especially as Mayumi switched pitchers again bringing on Fukuhara. He struck out Akamatsu swinging to end the innings. Morita duly made his appearance to lead off Tigers seventh. He struck out swinging and then Hirano flew out to left. Things didn't look good for Tigers but Shibata managed to walk as Fukui's tiredness and nerves began to tell. Toritani also walked and Tigers had runners on first and second with Arai next. After a short battle in which Fukui struggled Arai picked his shot and blasted over the glove of Akamatsu to hit the left centre wall. Both runners charged home 3-1 Tigers, runner on second. This was the killer blow and you felt that Carp had no way back after this. It was also the end of Fukui who to be honest had been lucky to last as long as he did. He was replaced by Toyoda. He wasn't any better and gave up a hit into left field to Murton. Arai raced round the bases to reach home safely 4-1 Tigers, runner on second, Murton having used the throw to Ishihara to make second. Sekimoto drove past Toyoda to bring home Murton who slid in as the ball arrived at home bundling Ishihara out of the way - safe! 5-1 Tigers, runner on second as Sekimoto also took second. Shunsuke (replacement left) was next but he grounded out to end the innings. Watanabe pitched Carp's eighth and started by striking out Hirose. Kurihara hit to centre and then Barden grounded out to third. Yamato (replacement third - Arai having moved to first to replace Sekimoto) picked up a difficult ball but even though Tigers worked the force out Barden was safe on first. One out to get and this proved to be Shima who fell looking to a brilliant pitch which whizzed through the zone. As soon as he took it Fujii was up and running - it was that good. Kikuchihara took over for Tigers eighth. He was not good and with one out dead balled Kanoh (pinch hitter and replacement left, Shunsuke moving over to centre to replace Shibata). This was not intelligent pitching especially as Uemoto (pinch hitter) hit to left to set up runners on first and third. Toritani managed to fly out to third to end the innings. The game wasn't a save situation but was still important and as Mayumi had handled it Enokida was still available. He had no problems retiring the batters he faced in order to end the game. Tigers victory.

A very nice victory for the Tigers - they had outplayed the Carp pretty comprehensively. Arai and Fukuhara got the hero interview - one wonders about Fukuhara who only threw one out. It was apparently because he got the victory and it was his first victory in 823 days. Arai drove in three runs and had come through when needed. Mayumi's management of the game had been good and his handling of the pitchers very perceptive. Let's hope he keeps it up.