September 10th Kubo v Ishikawa - The mystery of the changing pitchers

JJ poses the question which is the most important - the Central League pennant of the Japan Series? I find myself in agreement with JJ that the pennant is the more important win. After all the Japan Series only proves you can win four out of seven games. However, even if winning the pennant is the ultimate reward then Mayumi has a strange way of going about it. The end of the sixth - Kubo has thrown 81 pitches and has given up one run with a one run lead. He faces Swallow's five, six, seven and is not yet tired. Mayumi later confirmed that he wasn't injured. So why didn't he pitch Swallows seventh? He was pitching well at that point and was replaced by Fukuhara who promptly blew the game and the lead. The selection of Fukuhara was questionable enough but still doesn't explain why Kubo was replaced. Mayumi, after the game, mumbled something about wanting to preserve Kubo for future games but this is absurd. Kubo could have finished the seventh comfortably and probably in under 100 pitches. He would not have been over-strained. The decision by Mayumi handed the game to the Swallows and is all the more incredible as there was no need for it. It also handed the lead of the Central League to the Dragons and undid all the good work Tigers had done in holding the lead. Whilst Mayumi has made many terrible decisions this has to rank as the worst. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R  H E
Swallows  0 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 1 7 14 0
Tigers    1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 11 0 

Starting lineups

Swallows
1. Aoki (Centre)
2. Tanaka (Second)
3. Iihara (Right)
4. Whitesell (First)
5. Hatakeyama (Left)
6. Aikawa (Catcher)
7. Miyamoto (Third)
8. Kawabata (Short)
9. Ishikawa (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Murton (Right)
2. Hirano (Second)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Arai (Third)
5. Brazell (First)
6. Kanemoto (Left)
7. Johjima (Catcher)
8. Shunsuke Fujikawa (Centre)
9. Kubo (Pitcher)

The game started nicely for the Tigers. Kubo had a good first innings and even though he walked Iihara he got Whitesell to ground out. Tigers first saw Hirano hit to centre. Toritani's ground out took him to second and then Arai hit a nice two base to left centre bringing home a run 1-0 Tigers, runner on second. Brazell grounded out but Tigers had started nicely. Swallows major challenge came in their second. Hatakeyama walked and then Aikawa hit - runners on first and second with no outs. Miyamoto bunted them to second and third and then Kawabata hit a grounder to first. The throw of course went straight to the home plate for the out and Swallows now had runners on first and third with two outs and the next batter being Ishikawa. He grounded out and the innings was over - Kubo had done well. Tigers second started nicely, Kanemoto hit followed by Johjima. Shunsuke Fujikawa hit a grounder to short which extinguished Johjima but didn't turn into a double play. Kanemoto was on third and Shunsuke Fujikawa on first. This became second with a delayed steal. Kubo grounded out but the runners stayed on base and then Murton hit to right bringing home a run 2-0 Tigers runners on first and third. Hirano grounded out - he hit his first pitch and might have done better to have waited but Tigers had started very nicely. Kubo started well in Swallows third getting both Aoki and Tanaka to ground out and was maybe a bit relaxed in regard to Iihara. His first pitch was loose and was hammered into the centre stand for a solo home run 2-1 Tigers. Next up was Whitesell who flew out to centre to end the innings. Toritani led off with a walk in Tigers third but Arai hit into a double play. However, Brazell also walked but all Kanemoto could do was ground out and end the innings. This innings was a bit of a waste but Tigers were still comfortable.

Hatakeyama led off Swallows fourth but was immediately out to an Aikawa double play. Miyamoto grounded out and a very short innings was over. Tigers fourth was also short as the bottom of the order did nothing. Kubo dealt with the bottom of the Swallows order in quick style in the fifth and Ishikawa polished of Tigers top in the fifth. Iihara hit in Swallows sixth but then Whitesell hit into a double play to end the innings. The Swallows had been able to hit but all threats had been dealt with efficiently and competently by Kubo. Tigers sixth saw Arai, Brazell and Kanemoto fall easily.

So to Swallows seventh with Fukuhara pitching. Part of Mayumi's approach to management involves playing favourites in a very big way. Shunsuke Fujikawa is a favourite of his which is why he's in the side ahead of Asai, Sakurai and Lin. The same can be said for Fukuhara who really is a good trade prospect. Fukuhara was abysmal - there is no other word for it. Starting with Hatakeyama he left one for the Swallows left to hit nicely to left for a solo home run 2-2 scores tied. Then Aikawa hit a two base followed up with a Miyamoto hit - runners on first and third with no outs. This was the end of Fukuhara who was hurriedly pulled and replaced by Kubota. Kubota had no intention of pulling Fukuhara or for that matter Mayumi's chestnuts out of the fire. He gave up a left hit to the ineffective Kawabata 3-2 Swallows, runners on first and second. Ishikawa grounded out to Kubota and then Aoki walked. Tanaka grounded out to second but this brought home a run 4-2 Swallows, runners on second and third. Iihara also grounded out to end the innings. The runs all went to Fukuhara which is where they belonged but Mayumi's stupidity had been exposed most clearly. Tigers seventh was almost as bad as the Swallows panicked. Johjima led off the innings with a hit but Ishikawa then got the next two outs. However, Ogawa decided to switch to Oshimoto who promptly gave up a hit to Murton - runners on first and third. This brought another hurried pitching change with Lee taking the mound. He managed to strike out Hirano to end the innings but it would have been better if Ishikawa had just been left to get the final out. For Swallows eighth Mayumi chose Watanabe. He didn't do well. With one out he gave up back to back hits to Hatakeyama and Aikawa. A wild pitch took them to second and third and then Miyamoto connected for a two base hit to left centre. Both runners were home and the score was 6-2 Swallows, runner on second. Kawabata reverted to natural type and grounded out but did move Miyamoto round to third. However, Yuichi (pinch hitter) flew out to right to end the innings. Swallows were more comfortable now. Matsuoka pitched Tigers eighth and was immediately in trouble. Toritani hit and made second on a wild pitch. Arai was next and he hit to centre bringing home the runner 6-3 Swallows, runner on first with no outs. This was a great chance but the next three batters blew it - all flying out. This was poor batting. Sajikihara pitched the Swallows ninth and failed to field an Aoki hit. Tanaka bunted him to second and then Iihara managed a hit to short. Sajikihara played the wild pitch game and took the runners to second and third. In this situation another run was almost inevitable. Takeuchi (replacement first) hit to left bringing home a run 7-3 Swallows. Fukuuchi (replacement left) then grounded out to Sajikihara who threw to home to get the runner coming in - runners on first and second. Finally, Aikawa flew out. For Tigers ninth Lim took the mound - they were desperate to win this game. Lim was not so invincible - Saka (replacement second) led off with a solo home run 7-4 Swallows. This is encouraging for the future, Tigers haven't been able to beat Lim yet but this is a start. Lin (pinch hitter) flew out but Murton hit. However, the next two batters fell easily and the game was over. Swallows victory.

A somewhat unlikely victory for the Swallows who had been handed a chance and grabbed it. Mayumi's inept management had cost Tigers a victory. Tigers still have seven games over the Dragons but with more incompetence like this could even lose the pennant race. I would hope that Sakai-owner is looking again at the possibility of changing managers but I doubt it. On a positive note the Murton counter is now at 19 hits to go. The Arai counter is at 2 RBIs to go. Tigers can beat the Swallows who are not of the same level but they do need their manager to think clearly.