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Tigers return all-star fire at Koshien

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Koji Chikamoto had a night for the record books on Saturday. The Hanshin Tigers rookie became the second player to hit for an all-star cycle and was named the MVP of All-Star Game series Game 2, an 11-3 blowout by the Central League that ended the Pacific League’s five-game winning streak.

Chikamoto became the first rookie to lead off the first inning of an all-star game when he went deep off Orix Buffaloes pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka in the CL’s two-run first.

After Yomiuri Giants ace Tomoyuki Sugano’s two scoreless innings, the CL hitters got to face Seibu Lions right-hander Kona Takahashi. To say they schooled him or took him to the woodshed would be an understatement. They went to the lumber yard and gave him a beating with some serious clubs.

Two Tigers catchers went deep back to back to open the inning. Fumihito Haraguchi, who homered in the ninth inning of Friday’s game as a pinch hitter led off. His catching partner Ryutaro Umeno, an early favorite for the CL’s Best Nine Award, followed. Chikamoto doubled and scored on the first of two doubles by the Chunichi Dragons’ Shuhei Takahashi.

After a Tetsuto Yamada singled, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo crushed a line drive out to left center, which takes a tremendous poke at Koshien, which boasts Japan’s deepest power alleys thanks to its original design as a multipurpose stadium.

“I felt my pitches just weren’t good enough to face the best CL hitters.” said Takahashi, who was added to his first PL all-star roster by his skipper, Hatsuhiko Tsuji of the Lions.

“I think I’ll be happy to avoid the all-star game from now on.”

After one win and one loss, Tsuji said.

Chikamoto became the first player with four extra-base hits in an all-star game and the second to have five hits, the other being Yakult’s Roberto Petagine in 2001.

The series, at Japan’s two biggest parks, set a two-tame attendance record of 90,008 spectators.

The two home run derby finalists, each homered in the game. Seiya Suzuki of the Hiroshima Carp won this year’s derby, beating Friday’s finalist Masataka Yoshida of Orix 4-3.

Suzuki beat Tomoya Mori of the Lions 4-3 in his first round and then knocked off Tsutsugo 5-4 in their semifinal. Tsutsugo advanced past Japan home run leader Hotaka Yamakawa on a tie-breaker.

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Life in NPB’s results lane

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On Friday, the Sankei Sports did their duty in reporting for the Hanshin Tigers by declaring that Jefry Marte is the team’s scapegoat.

The paper “reported” that the Hanshin Tigers need to get Yangervis Solarte signed and in uniform as soon as possible because Marte “has come to a complete stop.”

“What can we do, we put runners on base,” mused Tigers manager Akihiro Yano after Marte went 0-for-4 with runners on, three times with a man in scoring position in the Tigers’ 7-2 loss on Thursday to the DeNA BayStars.

“I’m sure he goes up to the plate with that focus. He has the desire. We just need a little more production.”

With two outs in the first and a runner on second, Marte took a borderline third strike on a 3-2 pitch. In the third, with the game tied 2-2, Marte miss-hit a high 0-1 fastball and lined out to strand a runner at second.

With two on and two outs in the fifth and the Tigers trailing 3-2, Marte swung and missed at two nasty splitters from rookie Shinichi Onuki.

Marte basically swung at strikes and didn’t swing out of the zone, but because he failed three times in a row. But here’s the kicker, had he hit bullets to shortstop three straight times, he also would be considered a failure.

That’s because once a player gets beyond the three true outcomes of a strikeout, a walk or a home run, the only measure of success is what happens after the ball is in play and out of the batter’s hands. Players who do everything they can to get themselves out but still reach base on fluke hits are heroes. Guys who line out are failures.

The scapegoat machine

Going 0-for-4 is evidence of a lack of ability or effort when your team or its beat writers are looking for a scapegoat, and finding scapegoats is a big part of a Hanshin Tigers beat writer’s job.

Marte’s never had 400 plate appearances in one season at any level above Double-A. Japanese pitching is different. If it were easy, so many hitters wouldn’t fail here right off the bat.

Matt Murton, who was beloved in his first season with the Tigers in 2010, later became fodder for the Tigers’ scapegoat machine, as he talked about in March 2019.