2019 Seibu Lions Series Digest: Matsumoto wins third straight decision

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Pacific League play resumed after the Saitama Seibu Lions successfully went 10-8 against the Central League. In this first series against the Orix Buffaloes, the Lions took two out of three and jumped into A-class with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters losing six in a row.

Here is how it all went down:

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The first game against Orix had Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Tatsuya Imai. An early timely hit from Koji Oshiro gave Orix a 1-0 lead in the first. The Lions squandered a bases-loaded, no out opportunity when Sosuke Genda struck out and Shuta Tonosaki's sacrifice fly attempt ending up being a double play as "Aito" Takeda was tagged out at the plate.

Imai's great effort was wasted as he only allowed that one run through eight innings. This one was all about Yamamoto, who successfully pitched a shutout on 124 pitches. Deunte Heath was lit up in the top of the 9th to put the icing on the cake.

Buffaloes 4, Lions 0 

Roster note:

-Masato Saito was promoted from ikusei and assigned jersey number 78. The Lions now have 67 players on their 70-man roster with three spots remaining open.

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Game two had Tsubasa Sakakibara against Keisuke Honda. The Lions jumped out to an early lead of 3-0 with timely hits from Genda, Tonosaki and Tomoya Mori through the first three innings.

Honda ended up cruising through six shutout innings while the bats stayed alive through Genda's four hit outing. Yuji Kaneko also hit his first HR of the season.

Lions 7, Buffaloes 0

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The rubber match had Wataru Matsumoto against Kohei Suzuki. This one had a slow start when Orix lead 2-0 in the beginning, but the Lions tied it in the third with the help of a timely hit from Shuta Tonosaki and a double steal.

After the Lions nabbed two more runs in the fourth inning, the Buffaloes pulled within one from a timely hit by Masataka Yoshida. When the were threatening on Matsumoto, a lineout and tagup ended any chance for more runs as the Lions rookie was pulled from the game.

Orix continued to blow chances for the rest of the day with 16 hits, but only three runs to show for it. Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura made the Buffaloes pay when he cleared the bases on a double in the 7th inning. Home runs from Tomoya Mori and Tonosaki put icing on the cake in this laugher.

Lions 11, Buffaloes 3

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This was a solid series even though the hitting came up short against Yamamoto. The Orix Buffaloes came into this series red hot after interleague play, so taking two our of three works fine.

Now comes the road trip of death, with nine away games against the Fighters, Marines and Hawks with one game being a Softbank corporate party from Tokyo Dome. This should be a good test ahead for a team that won't be home until after the All-Star break.

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