The Saitama Seibu Lions went 2-4 against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, where their lead has been cut to 5 games ahead of the latter. Here's what happened:
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Game one came from Tokyo Dome featuring Yuki Ariyoshi and Shinsaburo Tawata. The Lions had first blood on a timely hit by Hideto Asamura after Sosuke Genda stole second base. Shuta Tonosaki added another through a timely hit in the fourth.
Tawata looked like he was cruising through four innings, but trouble came in the 5th. He successfully recovered from a wild pitch and tagged out Katsuya Kakunaka at the plate, but walked two more batters as the bases were loaded. After a long at-bat, former Fighters OF Hiromi Oka tied the game with a bases-loaded hit up the middle. Yudai Fujoka added another timely to give the Marines the lead while Shogo Nakamura hit a three-run HR, all with two outs.
Tonosaki hit a two-run HR in the 6th to cut the lead in half, but it was too late. The Lions best chance came with two runners on in the 8th, but Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura grounded into a fielder's choice and Takumi Kuriyama struck out as the Lions lost the opener.
Marines 6, Lions 4
Game notes:
-Makoto Aiuchi, Brian Wolfe and Shota Takekuma were taken off the roster to make room for Tatsushi Masuda, Ryuya Ogawa and Masato Kumashiro. Ogawa made his Lions debut in the 6th inning and gave up one hit, but no runs. Masuda allowed a hit and walk, but no damage.
-The Lions finished the 2018 regular season going 1-6 in Tokyo Dome against the Marines, Giants and Fighters combnied.
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Game two was in Chiba as Tomohito Sakai faced Tatsuya Imai. The Lions struck first off a sacrifice fly from Hotaka Yamakawa and timely hit from Tomoya Mori for a 2-0 lead in the first. The Marines tied it in the third when Tatsuhiro Tamura hit a solo HR and a throwing error by Asamura allowed another.
A timely hit from Shunichi Nemoto gave the Marines a lead in the fourth inning at 3-2. Offense turned it around in the 7th, when Sakai was left in and the Lions went on a tear. After a bunt by Masatoshi Okada to move two runners over, Shogo Akiyama hit a gapper and both of them scored. Two more tmiely hits from Genda and Asamura padded the lead and it was all capped off by a HR from Hotaka Yamakawa.
Chiba never recovered from this six-run inning and the Lions were able to use Ogawa and Sho Ito for the ninth as Imai earned his third win.
Lions 8, Marines 3
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The final game had Tanner Scheppers facing Daiki Enokida. It was a slow start after a timely hit from Seiya Inoue in the first for a 1-0 lead. Scheppers looked like he was cruising, but a two-run HR from Akiyama came in the 6th. Enokida went 6.1 innings with seven strikeouts while earning a shutdown inning in the bottom of the frame.
Yuji Kaneko added two more runs with a bases loaded single off the Marines bullpen in the 7th, where Daichi Suzuki misfielded a ball that went his way. Katsunori Hirai allowed an inherited runner to score through an RBI groundout, but limited the damage in the bottom of the 7th.
Kyle Martin had two runners on base in the 8th, but got Katsuya Kakunaka to flyout and escape unscathed. Deunte Heath closed it out in the 9th to secure the victory and series win.
Lions 4, Marines 2
Game note:
-Imai was the corresponding move to make room for Enokida on the ichi-gun.
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The Lions traveled west to Fukuoka with Yusei Kikuchi taking on Softbank Hawks ace Kodai Senga. Kenta Imamiya hit a Rickey Henderson HR to begin the bottom of the 1st for a 1-0 Hawks lead. Asamura tied it with a timely single, but Kikuchi coughed up the lead again with a two-run HR to Yuki Yanagita.
Okawari-kun brought the Lions within one run with a solo HR, but that was all the scoring. Kikuchi went all eight innings and lost his 13th game against the Hawks in 18 attempts as he's now 0-13. Several times the Lions stranded a a runner on second base, including in the 9th when Yuito Mori was pitching. Takumi Kuriyama ended up striking out to end it and lose the first game.
Hawks 3, Lions 2
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Game two had Ken Togame against import signing Ariel Miranda. Nobuhiro Matsuda just continued his mastery of Togame with a timely hit in the first and a solo HR in the 4th to make it 2-0 and a sacrifice fly added a third run. Tatsushi Masuda gave up a couple solo HRs to put this game away. Offensively, the Lions were only able to muster up some walks and Miranda had a no-hitter going into the 9th inning.
Shogo Akiyama broke it up in the 9th inning with a hit off the right field wall. Asamura ended a shutout by plating him with a double, but it was already too late as the Lions lost their second straight.
Hawks 5, Lions 1
Game note:
-Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura played his 1,500th career NPB game and was honored in the 5th inning.
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The final game had Kotaro Otake facing Chun-Lin Kuo, where the latter made his first ichi-gun start in more than two years. A two-run HR by Yuki Yanagita and grand slam from Kenta Imamiya should have ended this one early, but the Lions scored eight runs through the next seven innings while Kuo was able to eat six of them.
Despite all of this, Katsunori Hirai gave up a two-run HR to Yanagita to tie it. Both teams had chances in extra innings, but the Lions stranded the bases loaded in the 11th as their best opporunity. With Hiromasa Saito taking the 12th, he let one runner on base and gave him a free pass to second with a bad pickoff attempt. He allowed one more hit, which prompted Tatsushi Masuda to come in with inherited runners. Imamiya walked and Yurisbel Gracial hit a sayonara grand slam to end it, sweeping the Lions in the process.
Hawks 12, Lions 8 (12 innings)
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It's officially time to panic. The Lions have a lead, but the pitching is not there when it's needed. Even worse, Masuda is still awful and hasn't shown any progress since he was taken off the ichi-gun roster. Maybe it's overreaction, but pitching can win or lose the day and the Lions don't have an ace. Is this the same Lions who collapsed in 2015 or the one who rebounds like 2017? Time will tell, but being swept in Fukuoka is the norm at this point, like it has been since 2008.
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