2018 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Staying course

The Saitama Seibu Lions went 3-2 for the week against the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines. The Softbank Hawks are still on their tail as they maintained a four-game lead in the Pacific League pennant race.

Here is how it all went down:

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The first game from Asahikawa had Shinsaburo Tawata facing Mizuki Hori. Sho Nakata started the scoring with a two-run HR in the first inning. Hideto Asamura beat out a double play to plate one run in the third. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hit his 24th HR of the year with two-run blast to give the Lions a lead.

It wasn't until the 5th when the Lions started to pull away as Hori couldn't record an out. Tomoya Mori and Okawari-kun added two more timely hits to make it 5-2. Kensuke Kondo got a run back of Tawata as the Lions pitcher was only able to go five innings, but that was it. Takumi Kuriyama had a timely hit in the 7th and Shogo Saito walked with the bases loaded.

Kyle Martin allowed some deep contact against Brandon Laird, but Shogo Akiyama robbed him of a home run. Deunte Heath had no trouble in the 9th and the Lions ended a short losing streak.

Lions 7, Fighters 3

Game notes:

-Fumikazu Kimura was called up with Shuta Tonosaki taken off due to an oblique injury.

-Okawari-kun earned the hero interview with a modeasho.

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The second game from Asahikawa had Daiki Enokida up against Takayuki Kato. Enokida gave up some early runs through allowing base runners and the Lions were held to two hits against Kato, where Shogo Akiyama was the first base runner in the 4th inning. The Fighters bullpen made the rest of this game boring as they were shutout.

Fighters 4, Lions 0

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The Lionis went home to take on the Marines as Yusei Kikuchi faced Kota Futaki. Kikuchi started this one slow giving up a manufactured run, but Takumi Kuriyama tied it. He gave up three more runs including a two-run HR from Taiga Hirasawa to make it 4-1.

This lead didn't last long, as the Lions came back with a three run sixth inning. With the bases loaded, it all came down to Ernesto Mejia, who came through with a short single up the middle and with the outfield playing back, the game was tied.

Yuji Kaneko was instrumental in this one with two leadoff hits and having a double to start the 7th. With two outs, Hideto Asamura delivered a timely to give the team their first lead of the night. A five run 9th inning off the Marines bullpen padded the numbers, giving modashos to Sosuke Genda and Asamura.

Lions 10, Marines 5

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Game two was a mess from teh beginning, featuring Ken Togame and Mike Bolsinger. Togame gave up eight runs in the first two innings, including a bases-clearing triple to Tatsuhiro Tamura and a HR to Seiya "Aja" Inoue. The Lions came back in the second, with eight runs of their own, which featured a tying grand slam from Hotaka Yamakawa. The Lions even had the lead in the 4th when Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura had a timely hit to make it 9-8.

This lead didn't last long as Sho Ito gave up runners and Taiga Hirasawa tied it in the 5th. Disaster came in the 6th when Kyle Martin allowed multiple runners on base through walks and gave up a sacrifice fly, which ended up being the game winner for Chiba. Shogo Noda put the game out of reach when giving up three more runs in the 9th and the Lions couldn't get a win streak going for the week.

Marines 13, Lions 9

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The final matchup was Tatsuya Imai against Atsuki Taneichi. An RBI groundout by Tomoya Mori started the scoring. Katsuya Kakunaka tied the game off a fielder's choice. With Kaneko stealing second base, Asamura delievered a timely hit to make it 2-1 in the third.

Kazuya Fukuura hit a solo HR and both sides kept trading runs. Mori hit an RBI double and the Lions finally pulled away in the 5th, where Kuriyama hit a two-RBI double with the bases loaded. Okawari-kun added a timely of his own to make it 6-2.

Imai walked the tight rope in several innings, but got Fukuura to strikeout in the 5th and strand a pair of runners. He later drew a double play from Shogo Nakamura in the 6th for a key shutdown frame.

The Lions bullpen made the rest of the game dull, taking care of business with a team effort. As a result, they secured a winning week and Imai's 4th career win.

Lions 6, Marines 2

Game note:

-Nien Ting Wu and Makoto Aiuchi were called up in place of Ken Togame and Sho Ito.

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It's been a productive week in perspective. Best yet, the team is not HR dependent like before. Speed is back with Kaneko and even though Tonosaki is out, there is plenty of threat in the Lions offense.

Lots of work to still be done, but we're happy to be in first at teh moment. The next digest will not come until Tuesday due to the Softbank Hawks series overlapping into Monday.

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