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| Photo credit: @n_524_photo |
The Saitama Seibu Lions went 2-1 in a series against the Chiba Lotte Marines. With the All-Star break here, they're now 2.5 games up on the Fighters with a game at hand.
Here is how it all went down:
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The first game had a battle of young pitchers with Tatsuya Imai and Keita Watanabe, who were drafted in 2016 and 2017 by the Lions and Marines, respectively. This one started with a disaster from the beginning, as Imai allowed a three-run HR to Seiya "Aja" Inoue in the top of the first. The bats for Seibu showed threat in the bottom of the frame despite not scoring, which set the tone for later.
Imai's control struggled in the second which included some batters hit, which even led to a conflict. With the bases loaded, Katsuya Kakunaka plated two more runs with a single to send Imai to the showers. Yasuo Sano came in to clean up the damage and prevent more runs on the board.
Life came around for the Lions in the bottom of the third, where the bases were loaded. Shuta Tonosaki walked to send one run in, then Takumi Kuriyama cleared the bases on a gapper. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura tied the game off a timely single to make it 5-5.
Sano pitched a combined 3.1 innings and got the Lions through five tied, while the bats stranded the bases in the bottom of the 5th. Katsunori Hirai struck out the side in the 6th where one of them went off Takashi Ogino's hand while swinging.
The bottom of the 6th fared better for the Lions as Hideto Asamura dropped a perfect bloop single with Shogo Akiyama on third base to give the team their first lead of the game. After a walk to Hotaka Yamakawa, Chiba made a pitching change to our old friend Yasuhiro Tanaka and it backfired big time. Tomoya Mori hit a three-run HR to cement the Lions lead to 9-5.
In the 7th inning, the Lions added two more after Sosuke Genda got a ball to bounce in fair territory for a double. The Lions bullpen combined for 7.1 innings of relief after Imai's disaster to preserve the win, which was their fifth straight.
Lions 11, Marines 5
Game note:
-Daichi Mizuguchi was called up with the extended break ahead as Yusei Kikuchi was taken off. He appeared in the 8th inning as a defensive replacement for Asamura after Ernesto Mejia was pinch hitting.
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Game 2 had Ayumu Ishikawa facing Ken Togame. Togame coughed up four runs early, which two of them came from fielder's choices, but he allowed several base runners. Katsuya Kakunaka plated two runs in the third to make it 4-0.
The Lions chipped away at the lead with only home runs. This included solo HRs from Okawari-kun and Genda. Yamakawa tied the game in the 6th with a two-run blast.
Fresh off his first ichi-gun game in two weeks, Brian Wolfe came in and pitched two scoreless 6th and 7th innings. However, he loaded the bases in the 8th with two walks and a hit, finding an inability to draw a whiff. Shogo Noda came in an got a comebacker, but Ginjiro Sumitani threw the ball to right field and failed to get a 1-2-3 double play, scoring a runner. The other two runners scored on singles to secure the Lions loss.
Hideto Asamura hit a solo HR in the 8th, but it already too late.
Marines 7, Lions 5
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The final game before the break had Daiki Enokida against Yuki Ariyoshi. First blood came as Daichi Suzuki couldn't catch a throw on a fielder's choice, where Tonosaki scored from third. The Lions batted around in the 4th inning, scoring six runs, which included a two-run HR from Asamura and bases-clearing double from Yuji Kaneko.
Enokida was vulnerable the whole night, but only gave up a two-run HR to Inoue in the 5th despite allowing several base runners. Genda added insurance with two RBI hits to make it 8-2, where he had a five-hit game.
Naoaki Matsumoto and Katsunori Hirai allowed two base runners, but no runs. Deunte Heath had no trouble in the 8th, while Fabio Castillo closed it out in the 9th for the Lions' 6th win of the month. Unfortunately, Castillo struggled again where he walked in a run and loaded the bases.
Lions 8, Marines 4
Game note:
-Sosuke Genda not only had five hits, but also broke a record for most consecutive games played (while playing every inning) from the start of career at 221. He beat Shigeo Nagashima's, which took place from 1958-1959.
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The All-Star break is here and with good reason, it's nice to be on top of the Pacific League and NPB as a whole. However, the bullpen still has its flaws and the lead isn't that large. Too many pitching issues need to be fixed if this team wants to be taken seriously as a contender. Time will tell, but the relievers are still ticking time bombs.
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