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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 2-3 against the Rakuten Eagles and Orix Buffaloes. Currently, they have a .500 record and are right on the fringe of A-class, only half a game behind the Fighters for third place.
Here is how things went down:
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The first game from Omiya had Wataru Karashima against Zach Neal. Hideto Asamura's first game against his former team saw some boos, but Neal struck him out in the first at bat.
Scoring wouldn't come until the 4th inning, where an error by Hotaka Yamakawa led to a rally of four runs given up. The Lions responded in the bottom of the frame with a three-run HR by Yamakawa.
The fifth inning gave the Eagles a lead they wouldn't give up, as Asamura hurt his former team through a two-run HR. Offensively, the Lions just traded runs with the Eagles and the best chances came in the 6th and 7th innings. With the bases loaded, Daichi Mizuguchi grounded out as he came in while as a pinch runner.
This loss ended the two-game win streak.
Eagles 7, Lions 6
Game notes:
-Masato Kumashiro started at 3B and had one double.
-Jen-Lei Liao was taken off the ichi-gun roster for Yasuo Sano.
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Game two had Yuya Fukui facing Shota Takekuma. Zelous Wheeler scored first on an RBI single in the third, but the Lions responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame thanks to a timely infield single from Sosuke Genda and Shogo Akiyama grounding into a fielder's choice.
Takekuma looked like he was cruising until the 5th inning, where disaster struck. Hiroaki Shimauchi plated two runs with a double and a continuous run of timely hits made it a six-run inning. Ichiro Tamura couldn't clean up the mess as he took the last part of the frame.
The Lions had some consolation runs in the 8th and 9th which included a HR by Ernesto Mejia, but it was all too late.
Eagles 7, Lions 5
Game note:
-Mejia's HR was the 9,000th in Lions history.
-Daichi Mizuguchi started at 3B and couldn't catch a liner that went over his head.
-Kyohei Nagae was called up in place of Daisuke Togawa.
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The homestand continued against Orix with Shinsaburo Tawata and Taisuke Yamaoka. Both pitchers went at least 7 innings and didn't allow a run, despite the Lions bats knocking on the door.
Tawata flirted with a no hitter into the 7th inning before Masataka Yoshida broke it up with a base hit. The Lions kept him in for the 9th inning with two runners on and he picked up a key strikeout to keep the Buffaloes scoreless.
In the bottom of the 9th with Shuta Tonosaki on second and Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura on first, Aito Takeda had a chance to end it after coming in as a defensive replacement. He grounded into a fielder's choice, but the throw to first went off his body instead of a glove, allowing Tonosaki to score for the first sayonara of 2019.
Lions 1, Buffaloes 0
Game note:
-Shota Takekuma was deactivated while Kyohei Nagae was called up.
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The second game had Tatsuya Imai facing Daiki Tomei. Both teams traded runs in the first three innings where it was tied 3-3. However, Orix went to their long reliever Sachiya Yamasaki, who kept the Lions off balance and off the board, while Imai struggled in the 4th and 6th innings.
Orix added another three runs off the Lions bullpen to put icing on the cake as it was an easy blowout.
Buffaloes 10, Lions 3
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The final game of the series had Takahiro Matsuba and Kona Takahashi. Orix drew first blood off a HR from Yoshida, but this game was all Lions after that. Hotaka Yamakawa hit a three-run HR in the 5th while timely hits scattered in the later innings off the bullpen. Shogo Akiyama had an RBI triple while Yuji Kaneko and Shuta Tonosaki also had two RBIs.
It was a game of well-rounded offense, capping off a series won in a losing week.
Lions 11, Buffaloes 3
Game note:
-Ichiro Tamura was deactivated for Hayato Takagi.
-Sosuke Genda was hit by a pitch, ending his consecutive game streak of 300 in a row. Kyohei Nagae started at SS in his place.
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Not the most ideal week, but pitching is still injured. Daiki Enokida, Tetsuya Utsumi and Wataru Matsumoto: Get well soon.
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