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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 5-1 this week against the Orix Buffaloes, Rakuten Eagles and Softbank Hawks combined and are in the midst of a stretch with nine consecutive games. They extended their lead on the Hawks to 6.5 games and mathematically clinched A-class with a combination of these wins and losses by the Marines.
With this week, the Lions magic number to clinch the pennant is now 11. Here is what happened:
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The first game from Kobe had Shinsaburo Tawata against Takahiro Matsuba. Shogo Akiyama hit a two-run HR in the third inning and was all the Lions needed as Tawata recorded a shutout. Some timely hits in the later innings from Akiyama, Nien Ting Wu and Sosuke Genda put icing on the cake for an easy win.
Lions 7, Buffaloes 0
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Game two had Daiki Enokida against Daiki Tomei. Both sides had runners on base through the beginning, but only Orix capitalized on a two-out double from Kenya Wakatsuki in the 4th.
Enokida was lucky to allow only one run through four innings, but was destroyed in the 5th when Stefen Romero and Hiroyuki Nakajima hit back-to-back solo HRs to end it early. Hiromasa Saito continued to allow runs in a later frame and the Lions bats were all but dead as they stranded runners off Tomei.
Buffaloes 7, Lions 0
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The week shifted back home as the Eagles came in for a stand alone game with Yuri Fukukawa against Yusei Kikuchi. This game was over early when the Lions scored three runs in the first inning, including a two-run HR from Hotaka Yamakawa. Tomoya Mori hit a solo HR in the second and Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hit a three-run HR in the third to put it away.
Kikuchi went eight innings with only one run given up in the 7th inning while only having six strikeouts and two hits allowed.
Lions 10, Eagles 5
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The defending champion Softbank Hawks came in for a three game series with Kodai Senga while the Lions used Chun-Lin Kuo for the second time against the same team. A wild pitch with the bases loaded and a timely hit from Takumi Kuriyama gave the Lions an early 3-0 lead in the first. Kuo gave up a solo HR to Yurisbel Gracial, but was able to get the the fifth inning with minimal damage.
A timely base hit in the 5th appeared to have tied the game, but Yuji Kaneko gunned down a runner at home plate and the Lions kept their lead. Hideto Asamura responded in the 5th with a three-run HR off Senga to truly break it open. Both sides ended up trading runs for the rest of the day with Yamakawa belting two more home runs, making him have 40 on the season. It was also Kuo's first win in three years.
Lions 11, Hawks 5
Game note:
-Kazuo Matsui was taken off the ichi-gun to make room for Kuo.
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Game two had Kotaro Otake facing Tatsuya Imai. The Lions jumped out to an early lead thanks to some timely hits from the first four batters, including a home run from Yamakawa where it was 4-1 after the first. The Lions made it 8-0 after two innings via timely hits from Genda, Yamakawa and Okawari-kun after Seiji Uebayashi failed to cut off the ball in centerfield.
Imai was able to get 5.2 innings with three runs allowed and had a jam in the 6th. With runners on base, Hatsuhiko Tsuji went with Ryuya Ogawa against pinch hitter Shuhei Fukuda. Kimiyasu Kudo countered with another pinch hitter in Keizo Kawashima, who struck out.
Kyle Martin gave up several hits for one run in the 8th, while Deunte Heath had a scare in the 9th. With the bases loaded and no outs, he struck out two batters and had to fend off a timely hit, which brought the tying run on base. Heath forced a groundout to end the game as the Lions took the series and Imai earned his fifth win.
Lions 8, Hawks 5
Game note:
-Haruka Yamada was called off as Kuo was taken off the ichi-gun.
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The final matchup in the series on Monday had Brian Wolfe against Angel Miranda. This time, there wasn't a no-hitter alert as Akiyama had the first hit for the Lions. Kuriyama scored first with a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning. Uebayashi responded in the secnod with a solo HR of his own.
Wolfe was injured after a ball hit him on the hamstring and left the game in the third inning. With Shota Takekuma taking over, he escaped with a double play. He created another jam in the 4th, where Tatsushi Masuda had to come in and get a double play of his own as the bullpen was forced to take over the rest of the day.
Ogawa pitched two perfect frames in the 6th and 7th. Okawari-kun rewarded the bullpen with a three-run HR off Roberto Suarez, giving the Lions a 7-1 lead. The Lions bullpen combined for seven shutout innings after Wolfe left the game and there was no doubt to this one after the second HR.
Game note:
-Shogo Saito was the corresponding move to make room for Wolfe.
-The last two games did not have Yuki Yanagita after he was hurt in batting practice. Kenta Imamiya also got injured in this game when a bad throw towards second base left his leg out of position when stepping on second for a force out.
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Safe to say this was a fine week even though it's unfortunate the Hawks had some key injuries for the series. Regardless, winning games with Kuo and Imai starting felt impossible, but it happened. A bullpen win after Wolfe goes down early? No problem.
This team has shown character through it all, whether it's the bats or the pitching and this is a remarkable group. Now that the Magic Number is being made public, let's hope they can catch the flag and finish the rest of this season strong.
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