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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 2-4 against the SoftBank Hawks and Rakuten Eagles. Their lead is down to 1/2 a game in front of the Fighters in the Pacific League.
Here is all that happened:
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The first game in Fukuoka had Shiinsaburo Tawata against Kodai Senga. Hotaka Yamakawa hit a two-run HR in the top of the first, but that was all the glory the Lions would get. Tawata allowed six runs in the bottom of the first alone, including three HRs. He gave up a total of 4 HRs and 11 runs in 3.1 innings to put this game away early. This was a no-contest from the first inning.
Hawks 16, Lions 4
Game note:
-Ichiro Tamura was taken off while Shota Takekuma was called up.
-This was Shogo Akiyama's 1,000th career ichi-gun game.
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Game 2 had Ken Togame up against Shuta Ishikawa. Togame was hit for three runs, all with two outs as Seiichi Uchikawa hit a gapper and Taisei Makihara dropped a bloop with the bases loaded in the first inning. The Lions struggled to plate runs all night as it was a left on base party.
Togame kept the game close, but finally succumbed in the 6th inning where Nobuhiro Matsuda hit a HR and Kenta Imamiya added another hit. Ishikawa couldn't be stopped, as he went seven innings and only allowed an RBI single from Hideto Asamura.
Hawks 6, Lions 1
-Takuya Toyoda was called up for the first time since 2016 as he replaced Tatsuya Oishi.
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The final game of the series took place in Kitakyushu as Brian Wolfe faced Shota Takeda. First blood went to the Lions as Hotaka Yamakawa and Shuta Tonosaki delivered timely two out hits for an early 3-0 lead. The game was truly broken open in the top of the second when Hideto Asamura had a two-run double off the wall with the bases loaded. Yamakawa padded it on with a two-run single making it 7-0.
Brian Wolfe gave up a solo HR to Alfredo Despaigne in the bottom of the frame, but didn't crumble. An unearned run came in the 5th off an error by Okawari-kun, but Wolfe successfully went five innings with six strikeouts.
Both teams traded runs for the rest of the night off each other's bullpens, where Shogo Akiyama, Asamura and Okawari-kun all hit home runs to salvage one game.
Lions 12, Hawks 5
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The series came to MetLife Dome where Yusei Kikuchi faced Takahiro Shiomi. Seibu's bats failed to score until the 9th inning, while Kikuchi looked dominant through four frames. In the fifth, he gave up a HR to Toshiaki Imae and a timely double from Carlos Peguero to make it 2-0. Imae had another timely hit in the 6th and our old friend Naoto Watanabe hit a bases-clearing triple to end any hopes of a comeback.
Shiomi ended up going the distance, but was denied a shutout in the 9th inning.
Eagles 7, Lions 2
Game notes:
-Fabio Castillo, Naoaki Matsumoto and Yasuo Sano were taken off the ichi-gun to make room for Kikuchi's start, Neil Wagner and first round draft pick Hiromasa Saito. Saito ended pitching a scoreless 7th inning with a strikeout and a hit.
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The second game had Takayuki Kishi facing Tatsuya Imai in the battle of players wearing No. 11. It was a home run derby for the Osaka Toin players as Hideto Asamura and Okawari-kun had two each and Masatoshi Okada even got in on the action with one.
Tatsuya Imai went six innings and only allowed three runs, giving him a position to win. However, Shogo Noda blew it with two errors, when one of them was a pickoff attempt and the other was a poorly fielded ball by Yamakawa to tie the game in the 7th. Okawari-kun's second HR gave the Lions a lead in the bottom of the 7th, but the top of the 8th was the ultimate bullpen disaster.
Katsunori Hirai allowed a leadoff hitter on base and Shota Takekuma walked two batters. With one out, Kazuki Tanaka hit a grand slam which put the Eagles up for good and created another bullpen meltdown.
Eagles 9, Lions 7
Game notes:
-Yuji Kaneko was taken off the roster to make room for Imai.
-Akiyama set a new Pacific League record for most consecutive games played when including every inning at 536.
-Okawari-kun set a franchise record with career multiple HR games with 38, passing Kazuhiro Kiyohara's initial 37.
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The final matchup had Wataru Karashima facing Daiki Enokida. Japhet Amador hit a HR in the second for first blood. It was a game of solo HRs where Tanaka hit one, then Amador hit a second before the Lions got one back via Yamakawa in the fourth.
Yamakawa hit a second HR in the 6th to make it a one score game. Enokida was in line for a loss with 3 solo HRs allowed through 7 innigs, but the Lions scored in the 8th. A gapper by Shogo Akiyama plated one, while Sosuke Genda had another timely to give the Lions their first lead of the night off Yuki Matsui. The comeback was complete after 2 more runs scored.
Neil Wagner closed it out and the Lions salvaged one game.
Lions 6, Eagles 3
Game notes:
-Keisuke Honda and Makoto Aiuchi were called up, while Imai was taken off with Toyoda.
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