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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 1-4 this week against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters as they sit three games under .500. They currently sit two games out of A-class and are only 1.5 games ahead of the Orix Buffaloes for last place.
Here is how it went down:
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The first game took place in Gunma featuring Kona Takahashi pitching in his home prefecture against Hideaki Wakui. Brandon Laird hit a solo HR for first blood, but a bases-loaded walk from Takumi Kuriyama tied it up.
From the third inning, it was a one-sided affair with Takahashi being lit up. Timely hits from Seiya "Aja" Inoue and Yudai Fujioka made it 3-1. As the 4th inning continued, Daichi Suzuki padded it with a two-run gapper to seal the deal.
Laird hit a grand slam off Yasuo Sano in the 8th inning to pad the stats along with Katsuya Kakunaka hitting a two-run HR off Takahashi in this laugher.
Marines 12, Lions 1
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Game two from Omiya had Daiki Enokida against Daiki Iwashita. Both pitchers failed to go beyond five innings and gave up three runs. While the Lions had a 3-2 lead thanks to a timely hit from Hotaka Yamakawa, a solo HR by Aja tied it up in the top of the 6th inning.
Deunte Heath conceded a run in the 8th, but an improbable rally by the Lions in the 9th tied it again. Ryo Miki had an error by not being able to field a ground ball and Masatoshi Okada came in to tie it with a timely. It was in the 11th inning where Kyle Martin struggled and gave up the game-losing hit to Takuya Takahama as the Lions losing streak continued.
Marines 5, Lions 4 (11 innings)
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The week shifted to Sapporo where Shinsaburo Tawata took on Naoyuki Uwasaawa. Yamakawa's timely hit gave the Lions first blood, but Tawata was rocked early on in this game. Sho Nakata hit a solo HR and Taishi Ota cleared the bases with a gapper to make it 4-1.
Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hit a grand slam to give the Lions a lead, but Tawata gave it right back with a two-run HR from Ryo Watanabe. The Fighters bullpen shut down the Lions for the rest of the night as they only managed six hits on five runs.
Fighters 7, Lions 5
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Game 2 had Toshihiro Sugiura against Tatsuya Imai. This was a combination of Imai being lit up with the bats showing no life as Sugiura had five shutout innings. Imai was left in for five innings while recording seven earned runs, including a two-run HR by Taishi Ota.
Offensively, the Lions only combined for four hits off Sugiura and the Fighters bullpen.
Fighters 8, Lions 0
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The final game of the weekend and series had Ken Togame returning to the rotation against Johnny Barbato. Yamakawa had two home runs, including one that nearly cleared the bleachers for his 100th and 101st career HRs in NPB which was enough for the win. Togame went 6.1 innings and allowed three runs for his first win of the year and second quality start in as many starts.
The losing streak ended at five as a result of this win.
Lions 6, Fighters 3
Game note:
-Tadasuke Minamikawa was called up while Daichi Mizuguchi was sent down.
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This was not an ideal week with pitching being poor and the hitting finding a drought. Shuta Tonosaki being cold doesn't help and the Lions are taking a bunt approach with Fumikazu Kimura even batting second at times.
If anything, at least the Lions losing streak is over and just hope for a regroup ahead.
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