August 11th Nohmi v Bullington - Demoralization and despair

After the game the field at Kyocera Dome was strewn with thunder bats thrown by disgusted Tigers fans. One can't say one is surprised. Tigers slide continues and it seems that the coaching team has no idea what to do. Against Bullington Tigers put up no fight whatsoever. Eldred notched his fifth home run - four of which have come off Tigers. There is something wrong with the pitching to him and it would seem to be indicative of the Tigers current approach. This was supposed to be a 'home series'. Kyocera Dome is in Osaka and easily accessible by Tigers fans but it doesn't seem to make any difference. A rapid change in kantoku and coaching team is needed if the Tigers are going to grab a fourth place finish because at the moment even this is looking out of reach. Scores

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

Starting lineups

Carp
1. Akamatsu (Centre)
2. Kikuchi (Second)
3. Soyogi (Short)
4. Eldred (First)
5. Dobayashi (Third)
6. Amaya (Left)
7. Mukae (Right)
8. Ishihara (Catcher)
9. Bullington (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Uemoto (Second)
2. Shunsuke (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Ryota Arai (Third)
5. Kanemoto (Left)
6. Takahiro Arai (First)
7. Itoh (Right)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

Some very good pitching would get wasted but the decision to switch pitchers in the eighth was actually the correct one though a little delayed. Things started with Akamatsu walking. He was bunted to second - a mistake but welcome all the same. Soyogi flew out to centre which took Akamatsu to third but then Eldred also flew out to centre and Carp had wasted the chance. Uemoto, who is probably the only Tiger playing with spirit at the moment singled to start the Tigers campaign. Shunsuke bunted him to second, another mistake and Uemoto took third on Toritani's ground out. Ryota Arai then struck out swinging to end the innings. Honours were even. Carp's second saw their first hit of the game. With two out Mukae hit a double to left. This put a lot of responsibility on Ishihara, the last recognised Carp batter but he could only ground out to second to end the innings. Kanemoto led off Tigers second by grounding out to second. He is now in his dotage and despite all his hard work is frequently an embarrassment on the field and at the plate. Takahiro Arai worked a walk but then stayed on first as neither Itoh nor Fujii made anything of it. In Carp's third no one made base. In Tigers third things were the same and the teams were at exactly the same level - one hit apiece, one walk and one sacrifice bunt each.

The Carp fourth saw Dobayashi single left. At this time Tigers were dealing effectively with Eldred and Nohmi was purring along pitching smoothly and confidently. Amaya was the final out - a grounder to first. Tigers fourth was a bit more exciting. True Toritani and Ryota Arai did nothing but then Kanemoto and Takahiro Arai produced back to back singles to set up runners on first and second. Itoh wasn't having a good game though and hit his first pitch to first for the final out of the innings. Nohmi then returned the compliment in Carp's fifth. Mukae and Ishihara flew out but Bullington singled. This so unsettled Nohmi that he let go a wild pitch which Fujii failed to take (incidently Fujii is as mediocre as ever) and Bullington made second. Akamatsu walked but harmony was restored with Kikuchi striking out to end the innings. Then came the big shock. Fujii had flown out and Nohmi struck out when Bullington threw a loose pitch to Uemoto. He latched onto it and hit it over the wall for the first home run of his professional career 1-0 Tigers. Shunsuke was the next batter and he flew out to centre. Carp did try to respond in the sixth but couldn't. The start was good a lead off double to left for Soyogi. But Nohmi struck out Eldred. Then Dobayashi popped one up to short and Amaya struck out. Good work and it looked as if Tigers were onto something. The Tigers sixth also started well with Toritani walking and Bullington beginning to tire. However, Toritani was forced out when Kanemoto hit to second. Hirano pinch ran for Kanemoto and stole second. It needed something from Takahiro Arai but he struck out swinging as Bullington summoned up last effort. Takahiro Arai is really demotivated which can only be attributed to the coaching team.

Once again Nohmi was called upon to protect a one run lead and once again he responded. Carp's seventh was just what Tigers needed with the batters falling in order. A superb innings by the Tigers starter. Yokoyama took over for Tigers seventh - a sound move by the Carp. He managed to give up a single to right to Fujii who was still around surprisingly. In the tie against the Giants Wada had replaced Fujii with Komiyama and one wonders why he didn't do the same this time. Nohmi tried to bunt - a sign that he would pitch the eighth and was out with three failures. Not so good. Uemoto then hit a grounder to second to end the innings. Nohmi returned for Carp's eighth which was a poor decision. Seven innings was enough and one wonders what Wada was thinking. It probably involved something like trying to get the maximum out of his starter rather than the victory. Nohmi gave up a lead off single to centre to Akamatsu. Then Kikuchi bunted the runner to second. Here Wada decided to make his pitching change and brought on Fukuhara. He started well striking out Soyogi looking for the second out. Only one out to go and this was Eldred. All Eldred's home runs off Tigers have come with Fujii as the catcher. Possibly Fujii is unlucky but probably there is a deficiency in his calling to this batter. It wouldn't be surprising. Fukuhara let fly a wild pitch which took Akamatsu to third and then was too high with his pitch. Eldred got hold of this and hit it high into the stands for a two run home run 2-1 Carp. Dobayashi struck out swinging for the final out but the damage had been done. Tigers still had two innings to repair the damage but one felt that they were beaten. The option taking in their eighth only seemed to confirm that. Imamura was the pitcher. Imarani (pinch hitter) singled and was pinch run for by Yamato. Yamato stole second and then in an act of supreme folly was bunted to third by Toritani. No wonder Tigers can't score runs if they are using their clean up to bunt. Ryota Arai hit straight back to Imamura who locked the runner on third and threw to first for the out. Then Hirano batting five - certainly out of position hit a liner to third to finish the innings. It had been a close call for Carp but they had held onto the lead. Katoh started Carp's ninth and struck out Amaya looking. He was then replaced on the mound by Tsuru who got both Mukae and Ishihara to ground out. Tigers ninth and Mickolio to close. Tigers batters have yet to figure this guy out and things didn't start encouragingly with Takahiro Arai striking out swinging. Hiyama (pinch hitter) hit his second pitch to second - giving one the impression that he just wanted to get the whole thing over with. Finally Murton (pinch hitter) also grounded out to second to end the game. Carp victory.

Once again Tigers had contrived to lose a game they should have won. Of course the malaise will disappear and the Tigers will win a game but when? One hopes they will take this evening's game but even that is not certain. The fans have a right to be angry as no one is performing and even the good performances (Nohmi for example) are submerged in the disinterest and apathy of the rest of the team. One hopes that when Wada and his team finally go that Sakai owner and the rest of the front office who appointed him also go as it is as much their stupidity that has put the Tigers in this situation.