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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 4-0 this week against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines. They currently have a 6.5 game lead on the Softbank Hawks and reduced their magic number to seven.
Here is how it all went down:
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The first game against the Fighters had Shinsaburo Tawata facing Takayuki Kato. This one was settled early when Shogo Akiyama hit a Rickey Henderson HR and Hideto Asamura added a two-run HR in the second which led to a 4-0 lead.
It wasn't easy for Tawata, as he allowed a base runner in every inning he pitched, but only allowed one run through 6.1 innings of work. The modasho from Akiyama and late hits also made this one a laugher even though Shogo Noda gave up a two-run HR later in the game.
Lions 7, Fighters 4
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Game two had Daiki Enokida against Mizuki Hori. Enokida's beginning was slow, where he walked in a run without allowing a base hit. Three walks and a HBP led to the first blood in the first inning.
The Lions responded in the third inning, when Sosuke Genda hit a three-run HR with two outs and Asamura followed with a solo HR of his own. Enokida settled in nicely and even flirted with a no-hitter through five innings. Making his first career ichi-gun start, Haruka Yamada hit a two-run HR in the 4th to put it all away for his first NPB hit and HR.
Enokida had seven strong innings and successfully earned his 10th win of the season. He was the first to get 10 wins after having zero the previous year since Shinichi Yamauchi in 1973.
Lions 12, Fighters 4
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The week shifted across Kanto where Tanner Scheppers was scheduled to face Yusei Kikuchi in Chiba. However, this game was rained out, snapping the initially booked stretch of nine consecutive games.
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The Marines chose to pitch Ayumu Ishikawa for Friday while Kikuchi stayed on the mound for the Lions. Both teams scored three runs in the first inning with some rainy weather. Yamakawa had a timely while Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hit a timely double.
It wasn't until the second when Genda hit a timely double off the wall and added two more runs, which one came off a throwing error by Shogo Nakamura to make it 5-3. Asamura added a timely hit in the fourth while Shogo Akiyama hit his 21st HR of the year.
Yusei Kikuchi's rough start was aided by the rain, but he settled in after a weather delay in the second inning. He went seven frames with four runs allowed and reached the milestone of 1,000 career innings pitched, which was recognized after the fifth inning. Katsunori Hirai and Deunte Heath had scoreless innings to end this one.
Lions 7, Marines 4
Game note:
-Brian Wolfe was deactivated for Sho Ito.
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The last game had Tatsuya Imai facing Kota Futaki. This game had an early 1-1 draw with an RBI groundout by Chiba and a timely from Fumikazu Kimura, but the Lions took the lead in the 6th off a timely hit from Okawari-kun. Unfortunately, they stranded the bases and it came back to haunt them later. Imai conceded a run with two outs as Shohei Kato came up with a timely hit to tie it 2-2.
After using three pitchers in the 7th inning to go unscathed, Ryuya Ogawa struggled in the 8th, giving up the 2,000th career hit by Kazuya Fukuura for a leadoff double. A throwing error from Ogawa gave the Marines the lead at 3-2. The Lions had a chance in the 9th with two runners on, but Genda struck out and Tatsuya Uchi retired Hideto Asamura and Yamakawa was the last hope. On a 2-1 pitch, Yamakawa didn't pull the foul ball from earlier and roped a HR into the Lions Oendan for a 5-3 lead.
Deunte Heath closed it out with minimal trouble and ended up earning the save as the Lions win streak reached eight games.
Lions 5, Marines 3
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The finish in Chiba was incredible and a hostile atmosphere given it was all about Fukuura. Every win was important too since the Hawks did not lose this week. Either way, the pennant is so close that we can smell it. Just gotta finish strong.
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