September 2nd Iwata v Yoshimi - The fifth loss in a row

Yes - this is the fifth loss in a row to the BayStars, the worst team in Japan. This must make BayStars fans very happy but not Tigers fans. The pitching was terrible and the batting not sufficient. Okada went as far as to say that certain people were not pulling their weight and that an attitude of we've got to three runs we can stop trying up is not acceptable. He was thinking in particular of Kanemoto who he feels is not doing enough. The encouraging thing is that the Giants also lost and the Magic is now 24 (CM at 17). This is good but Tigers need to stop losing to the BayStars who they outclass in every department (except base running). Line scores

         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers   1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 10 0
BayStars 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 X 5 15 0

Starting lineups

1. Akahoshi (Centre)
2. Sekimoto (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Kanemoto (Left)
5. Lin (Right)
6. Takahashi (First)
7. Baldris (Third)
8. Noguchi (Catcher)
9. Iwata (Pitcher)

BayStars
1. Ishikawa (Short)
2. Nishi (Second)
3. Uchikawa (First)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Yoshimura (Right)
6. Ohnishi (Left)
7. Kinjoh (Centre)
8. Aikawa (Catcher)
9. Yoshimi (Pitcher)

Sekimoto was moved to second again - why not put someone else there like the ineffective Takahashi. Sekimoto is hitting with runners on base and is better placed at sixth. He is knocking in RBIs and has more chance in the lower position. Takahashi is doing very little. Anyway Yoshimi's first was a poor effort. He gave up a hit to Akahoshi and then stole second. Sekimoto grounded out and Akahoshi was round to third. The next batter Toritani hit 1-0 Tigers but Kanemoto grounded out to end the innings. Iwata started well. He gave up a lead off hit to Ishikawa who was bunted to second by Nishi but that was as far as he got and the innings was over without score. If Yoshimi had been poor first innings the transformation in the second was miraculous. He struck out all three Tigers batters he faced - a true display of inept batting. Iwata, meanwhile, went the other way - he was dreadful and pitched the most awful rubbish you could imagine. One cannot imagine what he and the cloth headed Noguchi were thinking. Yoshimura led off with a hit. Then Ohnishi hit - runners on first and second with no outs. Kinjoh hit a two base to left and both runners were home 2-1 BayStars and another demonstration of the excellent BayStars base running. Aikawa hit to set up runners on first and third - still with no outs. Yoshimi grounded out to short and the runners going for home and second were out (a neat piece of fielding). Ishikawa was next and he hit - runners on first and second with two outs but Nishi grounded out and the innings was over. One rather felt that the BayStars had wasted the opportunity but there would be others. Yoshimi continued in excellent form striking out two and getting the final batter to ground out and the Tigers third was over.

The BayStars next opportunity came in their third. Once again Iwata was unimpressive. Murata hit with one out. He advanced to second on a Yoshimura ground out and then raced for home on a Ohnishi hit to left - safe! 3-1 BayStars and once again an example of enterprise the Tigers runners should follow. Ohnishi had then made second whilst attention was distracted but Kinjoh grounded out and the innings was over. Yoshimi's good form disappeared as suddenly as it had come. Sekimoto had a lead off two base and advanced to third on Toritani's ground out. Kanemoto grounded out to second but this was enough for Sekimoto who was home 3-2 BayStars. Then Yoshimi proceeded to give up a series of centre hits to batters he had struck out in the second innings. Lin was first, then Takahahsi and Tigers had runners on first and third. Baldris hit to centre and Lin was home 3-3 scores level. Noguchi though grounded out with runners on first and second and the innings was over. Iwata returned for the BayStars fourth innings which was surprising in itself. He hadn't improved. Aikawa hit and was bunted to second by Yoshimi. Ishikawa hit and BayStars had runners on first and third with no outs. Okada had had enough and both Iwata and Noguchi headed for the showers. They were replaced by Watanabe and Yano but this didn't improve the situation. Nishi got a nice fat pitch right down the middle for a two base hit and to score both runners 5-3 BayStars. Uchikawa walked (a quiet game for him - he was the only BayStar not including Yoshimi not to get a hit off Iwata). Murata struck out and Yoshimura flew out to end the innings and keep the BayStars within striking distance.

Tigers started well in Yoshimi's fifth - Yano hit. One out later Sekimoto hit but here it started to unravel. Sekimoto's hit was deep enough for the runner to make third but Yano just ambled to second. One cannot imagine a BayStar's runner missing the opportuity to reach third. Toritani grounded out moving the runners round to second and third. Kanemoto walked to load the bases - but should have made more of the opportunity (Okada was not pleased). Next batter was Lin who is not effective with bases loaded and flew out to end the innings - an ineffective hit to short. BayStars fifth was quiet with Watanabe retiring the batters in order. Tigers sixth started with a walk, Yoshimi having departed and Ushida having taken his place. Yoshimi had had two superb innings but hadn't been convincing otherwise. However, he handed over a lead which was good enough. Ushida really only had forkballs to offer but these dispatched Hirano (pinch hitter) and Katsuragi (pinch hitter) both who were keen to swing at pitches which weren't there to hit. Yano had a good hit but this was nicely caught by Kinjoh at centre. Nohmi took the bottom and got two outs before giving up two hits to Nishi and then Ushikawa. This turned into runners on third and second with a Nohmi wild pitch. Not what was needed and it brought Kubo to the mound to talk with him. The next batter was Murata and amazingly Nohmi took him on and struck him out with a straight fastball.

The BayStars pitcher for the seventh was Ishii who gave up a hit to Akahoshi. Sekimoto hit along the third baseline to Murata who showed that the BayStars are still the BayStars by messing up a double play and only getting Akahoshi. Sekimoto, not the fastest thing on two legs was safe on first. Toritani grounded out moving Sekimoto to second but Kanemoto also failed - end of innings. Kubota took the bottom and struck out the first two batters he faced. Kinjoh hit and you thought that Kubota's attention had wandered a bit but he pulled himself together to get Aikawa to fly out. Tigers eighth saw nothing happen as the batters fell in order - the past three innings had demonstrated considerable laziness and lack of effort by Tigers batters whilst the pitchers had worked hard. So to BayStars final innings which was pitched by Atchison. He started with a lead off hit to Suzuki (pinch hitter). He hit and was pinch run for by Nonaka. Nonaka tried to steal second in a move that was so telegraphed that Yano had time to step clear of the plate and direct his throw perfectly to throw the runner out. Both Ishikawa and Nishi grounded out and the innings was over. In the past Tigers have been able to overwhelm Terahara, the BayStars closer but they haven't done so recently. More slack batting followed - with two outs Akahoshi hit and then Okada sent Hiyama (pinch hitter) to the mound. This was a move of desperation Tigers needed a home run and the batter most likely to do so would have been Sekimoto who had just been replaced. Hiyama duly struck out and the game was over - BayStars victory.

A poor batting performance mixed with dreadful pitching had seen the Tigers lose. Yoshimi hadn't really been that good but lack of effort particularly in base running when compared to the BayStars showed up Tigers. One would not think that the BayStars are the team at the bottom of the league and the Tigers the team at the top. Iwata had struggled to keep his pitches down and had failed to take account of the fact that BayStars would go after him in a display of complacency which is difficult to understand. Tigers need to understand that there are no soft games as they close in on the pennant and need to play accordingly.