August 5th Iwata v Maeda - Kubota is sent down

This was another blown game by Kubota. He has now been sent to the farm team to work on his pitching. This is indefinite - no return is scheduled yet. Even though Kubota didn't pitch well Tigers did not play well. Carp didn't rise above average and their starting pitcher Maeda was ordinary at best (he certainly isn't a Miura). Bad batting and pitching by the Tigers saw the Carp win easily but until Kubota's innings Carp hadn't really been able to take advantage of this. The games between Tigers and Giants dropped to 9 as Giants didn't play. Kanoh made his first start as catcher this season and looked quite good. Line scores.

       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Carp   1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 6 16 0
Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  5 0

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Sekimoto (Third)
6. Katsuragi (First)
7. Shoda (Right)
8. Kanoh (Catcher)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

Carp
1. Higashide (Second)
2. Akamatsu (Centre)
3. Alex (Right)
4. Kurihara (First)
5. Left (Shima)
6. Seabol (Third)
7. Ishihara (Catcher)
8. Kokubo (Short)
9. Maeda (Pitcher)

Carp's first innings started with a piece of fielding stupidity that was difficult to believe. Higashide hit and then was bunted to second. Alex hit moving him to third. As Kurihara hit a ground ball Sekimoto threw to Kanoh at home to stop the run. There then followed the usual run down where the ball was thrown between two fielders. Iwata got involved and missed the tag of Higashide who dodged round him and slide home. The throw was slow and Higashide was safe 1-0 Carp and a run which shouldn't have happened. In the meantime the other runners (Alex and Kurihara) had advanced to second and third. Shima grounded out but then Iwata dead balled Seabol to load the bases. Ishihara struck out and the innings ended. Akahoshi immediatley hit and then stole second. He advanced to third on a Toritani fly out and Maeda walked Kanemoto - Sekimoto though grounded out and a chance was wasted. Carp second and Iwata had no trouble with the bottom of the order. Tigers second saw Kanoh hit with two out. Then Iwata hit and Tigers had runners on first and second. However Akahoshi did nothing and the innings ended. Carp's third saw the side retired in order and you felt that Iwata had settled down. In the bottom Hirano hit but then saw the next three batters fly out with rather poor shots.

Iwata's seeming control of the game deserted him in the Carp's fourth. Shima and then Seabol hit putting runners on first and second with no outs. The next two batters grounded out which moved the runners to second and third but then Maeda (pitcher) walked to load the bases. This was really poor pitching as Iwata threw too many low balls and did not keep his pitches up. However, Higashide grounded out and the innings was over. In Tigers fourth Katsuragi walked but once again a Tigers runner was stranded as the next three batters did nothing. In the Carp fifth Alex walked and then tried to steal second - he was thrown out and then Kurihara grounded out. Iwata returned for the Carp sixth and gave up a leadoff hit to Shima. He then, incredibly, tried to steal second and was thrown out. After this piece of Carp misjudgement Iwata added one of his own and walked Seabol. The next batter, Ishihara hit and then Kokubo hit - Iwata wasn't pitching well. Seabol wasn't fast but had enough to round the bases and score 2-0 Carp. Iwata then gave up a two base hit to Maeda! He really didn't pitch well. With runners on second and third it looked like a good chance for Carp but once again they were unable to convert it and the innings ended with centre fly. Kanemoto led off the Tigers sixth and he slammed his 17th home run of the season - a solo effort to left 2-1 Carp. The next three batters failed to exploit this and the innings petered out.

Kubota took the mound and really was poor. He gave up a leadoff hit (something he has been doing too often) to Akamatsu. Then he walked Alex and dead balled Kurihara - what was he thinking? Bases loaded with no outs and Carp would not waste this chance. Shima (who is a bit of a lightweight with runners on) hit a two base driving in two runners 4-1 Carp (he was pinch run for by Amaya). Seabol struck out but then Ishihara got a ptch that was high and swung at it. This went over the field for a two base hit - both runners home 6-1 Carp. This was the end of Kubota - he had completely ruined Tigers chances of victory and he was replaced by Egusa who got the final two outs to end the innings. Maeda was replaced by Brower who had no problems retiring the batters in order. For Carp's eighth Abe was the pitcher. He got the first two outs but then gave up a hit to Alex, Another one followed to Kurihara and then one to Amaya (replacement left). Bases loaded with two outs but Abe was made of sterner stuff than Kubota and the next batter grounded out to end the innings. Yokoyama pitched the Tigers eighth and facing a demoralized Tigers batting lineup encountered no resistance. Carp's ninth was more interesting. Hashimoto started by walking Ishihara and then the next two batters hit to load the bases with no outs. Higashide, though, lined out to Hashimoto who following Kanoh's direction fired the ball to third catching Ishihara off base for a double play. One out needed but then Hashimoto let fly a wild pitch and the runners moved round to second and third. Then Hashimoto struck Akamatsu out looking for the final out. Tigers ninth was quiet - all three batters fell in order Carp victory.

Carp had wasted an enormous number of chances and really hadn't looked convincing. They had the advantage that Tigers (especially Kubota and Iwata) had been worse. Tigers pitching was not impressive (apart from Abe) five walks and two dead balls on top of 16 hits suggests some pretty abysmal pitching. The Tigers batting also had been poor and lazy - no one had applied themselves and too many outs had been wasted on dramatic flys which went nowhere except into the gloves of the Carp outfield.