September 21st Andoh v Miura - Tight again

Mayumi wasn't impressed by Tigers performance and thought that they should have done better against a poor Miura. Certainly, one run return on ten hits and three walks is not adequate and with the Carp beating the lamentable Swallows the gap between third and forth is just half a game. It is certainly looking like Tigers had a lucky escape when they failed to sign Miura as his last few performances have not been particularly distinguished. Andoh though was even worse and he was the difference between the sides. The pairing with Yano continues to be a failure though I doubt even Kanoh could do much with him. Once again Yano had a poor game and was replaced by Okazaki in the fifth innings. Brazell is now back but still needs to get his eye in. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Tigers    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 2
BayStars  1 0 4 2 0 0 0 1 X 8 11 0

Starting lineups

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

BayStars
1. Kinjoh (Centre)
2. Fujita (Second)
3. Uchikawa (Left)
4. Murata (Third)
5. Saeki (First)
6. Yoshimura (Right)
7. Ishikawa (Short)
8. Takeyama (Catcher)
9. Miura (Pitcher)

Tigers started the first with a one out two base hit to Hirano. Four of their hits would be two base hits indicating that Miura was not at his best. Two would come in this innings and would result in a run. With Hirano on second Miura walked Toritani. This brought up Kanemoto who flew out but then Arai hit, another two base 1-0 Tigers, runners on second and third. Brazell struck out to end the innings. Andoh blew the lead with the first batter he faced, Kinjoh. One certainly doesn't expect this kind of pitching from your supposed ace though Andoh has been an ace in name only for most of the season. Kinjoh hit a solo home run to right 1-1 scores tied. The next two batters struck out but then Murata made first on a Hirano error. Saeki also struck out - interestingly all three strike outs were looking which shows what Andoh should have done to Kinjoh. Yano hit in Tigers second and was joined on base by Asai who also hit. However, Hirano grounded out to end the chance. In BayStars second Andoh was in control and retired the three batters he faced. Tigers third was also a disappointment, Toritani led off with a two base hit and then stayed rooted on second as the next three batters failed dismally to score him. Andoh went to pieces in BayStars third. With two out he gave up a hit to Fujita. He then balked and Fujita took second. This unsettled him and Uchikawa had a nice easy centre hit driving in a run 2-1 BayStars, runner on first. Murata hit and Uchikawa made third which brought up Saeki. His second pitch was a nice juicy slider which he put smoothly into the left stand for a three run home run 5-1 BayStars. Andoh got Yoshimura to ground out but that was a devastating innings.

Here it would have been a good idea to replace Andoh but Mayumi decided to leave him in for the next innings. Tigers batting was supine in the fourth - the batters fell in order. Andoh continued in BayStars fourth, as he had in the earlier innings. He had no interest and gave up a bunt hit to Ishikawa. Takeyama hit to right and then stole second - clearly Yano wasn't exactly putting in much effort either. With runners on second and third and no outs Miura hit a sacrifice fly which really shouldn't have happened 6-1 BayStars, runner on third. This was enough for Mayumi and Andoh was replaced by Sajikihara. He got the first out but then gave up a hit to Fujita - another run scored 7-1 BayStars, runner on first. Fujita stole second but Yano's error allowed him to reach third. Uchikawa walked and finally, Murata struck out to end the innings. The BayStars could afford to relax with a huge margin. Miura though wasn't about to let them relax too much. He gave up a hit to Hirano with one out in Tigers fifth. Toritani followed with another hit, runners on first and second. Kanemoto flew out but then Arai walked to load the bases. Brazell needed to do something but he flew out to end the innings and Miura had escaped. Brazell was furious that he hadn't done better and hit his bat on the ground in disgust. Sajikihara continued with the BayStars fifth and this time had Okazaki as his catcher. The innings was far more assured and only Ishikawa managed a hit but nothing came of this. Tigers sixth was quiet with the batters falling in order. The same happened with BayStars sixth - Kanemura was the pitcher and he had no trouble remaining in control.

Tigers seventh was also quiet and here a kind of lasitude had settled on the Tigers batters who were making Miura's job nice and easy. Uchikawa led off BayStars seventh with a hit but Murata struck out and then Saeki hit into a double play to end the innings. Tigers batters finally showed a bit more life in the eighth. Kanemoto led off the innings with a walk. One out later Sekimoto (replacement first) hit to left and Tigers had runners on first and second. Once again you have to contrast the BayStars base running with Tigers base running. For BayStars a hit would lead to runners on first and third whilst with Tigers it was always runners on first and second. More speed round the bases would help Tigers considerably. Tigers then blew the chance as the next two batters failed to take advantage of the situation. In BayStars eighth Egusa took the mound and was not particularly good. With one out Ishikawa had a three base hit. Takeyama walked but then Miura grounded out to third. This should have been an easy out but Ishikawa was able to make home, nice running 8-1 BayStars, runner on second. Kinjoh struck out looking to end the innings. Miura returned for the Tigers ninth - a totally pointless gesture, he would have been better off having a rest. Once again he got into trouble giving up a hit to Takahashi (pinch hitter). Toritani had another two base hit to set up runners on second and third which brought up Kanemoto. What could he do? Nothing this time - he tamely grounded out to second to end the innings. BayStars victory.

A nice comfortable win for the BayStars who haven't had too many of those this season. Tigers do need to take a look at their batting, Miura wasn't so good and they had been a bit lazy in their approach. Developing consistency so that they do not hammer anything one game and then go to sleep the next would be a good move. Like the BayStars they needed to drive the runners home but unliket he BayStars hadn't done so. Very serious consideration needs to be given about what to do with Andoh. It has been clear for a long time that the Andoh Yano pairing is not functioning and cutting back Yano's catching duties to just Shimoyanagi would be the right move. Yano himself did not call well and his throwing was poor. Tigers need to bounce back from this result and win the next two games in the series.