As for Kida, he’s had a long and distinguished career – he’s been a contributor, a good man to have around, and even stellar in his time – it’s just that that time is apparently passing.

As with many of Tokyo’s problems, though, my frustration with Kida is more Takada’s fault than Kida’s – Kida should be winding down his active years in middle relief; he should never have started this year. It’s also hard to see why he’s still getting the chances he’s getting. To what end? Takada in general seems to opt for the up-and-comers when other things are equal (even when they’re not.) Don’t we have a youngster who can load the bases, give up a few runs, and cause me to irritate David with my impotent raging, all while benefitting from the innings?

I probably don’t need to point this out, but it should be said that Garrett is THE pessimist here at Tsubamegun.

He just has his moments that test my faith in him. And they’ve been more frequent this season, mainly when he was used as a starter.

That said, I liked last night’s lineup a lot. Good to see Fukuchi and Noguchi get in. Nice to see them score a few more runs, even though it wasn’t enough.

But as Kida gave away the tying and go-ahead runs in the 6th, that plan was abandoned and they put Kida back out there for the 7th to try and redeem himself, which he failed to do.

Yes, Aikawa is indeed on fire, and D’Antona is pretty hot too.

Aikawa is on fire! Unfortunately, Fujita was hotter -_-