The Saitama Seibu Lions had a successful two-game series against the Orix Buffaloes to end the home stand. They're now three games ahead of the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles with only six games remaining in the regular season. Here's how we got there:
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The first game had Ryoma Nogami against Taisuke Yamaoka. Shogo Akiyama led off the the game with a single and the Lions moved him 180 feet with a bunt and fly ball. Hotaka Yamakawa brought him home with an RBI single.
Akiyama would come through in the bottom of the 5th with another timely hit to double the lead at 2-0. Nogami escaped one jam in the 2nd, but had minimal threats.
Run support and insurance came in the bottom of the 8th, where Hideto Asamura came through with a timely double, plating two more runners. Yamakawa hit another one off the CF wall for a 5th run.
Nogami would end up going the distance with only four hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts for his first career shutout. It was also his first 10 win season since 2013.
Lions 5, Buffaloes 0
Game notes:
-Ryohei Fujiwara was taken off the roster for Shota Takekuma.
-Ken Togame was also taken off earlier in the week while Shunta Nakatsuka was eligible.
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The last game of this series would have Kona Takahashi return to the ichi-gun for the first time since May 17 to face Takahiro Matsuba. An error from Sosuke Genda put the leadoff runner on base and he advanced to third on a sacrifice fly. Masataka Yoshida would ground out and the Lions were forced to concede the opening run in the 1st inning.
The bottom of the 3rd inning had better form for the offense, where the Lions loaded the bases and Akiyama tied the game with a double play, forcing Orix to concede the runner on third. Genda gave the Lions the lead with a double as the runner on third base would score.
After a shutdown inning from Takahashi, the Lions erupted for four runs in the bottom of the 4th. Yamakawa would hit his 20th HR of the season and timely hits from Shuta Tonosaki, Okawari-kun and Nien Ting Wu made it 6-1.
Both teams traded runs in the 5th inning where Orix scored on an RBI groundout and Asamura hit a HR for his 19th of the year. Takhashi went six innings with only one earned run given up and five strikeouts.
After another series of trading runs, the Lions were able to sweep the short series and end their season against Orix on a high note.
Lions 8, Buffaloes 5
Game notes:
-Kona Takahashi has won his last three starts dating back to two games in May.
-The Lions finished with an 11-14 head to head record against Orix for 2017.
-Shota Takekuma pitched the 7th inning for the first time since September 3 and struck out two batters.
-Shunta Nakatsuka made his ichi-gun debut in the 9th inning and retired the first two batters on two pitches. However, he couldn't throw a strike to the next three batters which loaded the bases. Tatsushi Masuda was forced to come in and retire the final out.
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Solid series and more importantly, the Lions gained ground on Rakuten through the weekend. The most important thing for the Lions is to get healthy. We're hoping Tatsuya Oishi returns soon and can complete the bullpen depth. The magic number to clinch second place is currently 5 at the time of this writing.
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