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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 4-2 on the homestand against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Orix Buffaloes. They're currently on the bubble with A-class as the Rakuten Eagles could hold a slight lead in front of them by the end of the week.
Here is how it all went down:
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The first game coming of the All-Star break had Tatsuya Imai against Daiki Iwashita. From the first inning, the Lions jumped out to a 4-1 lead thanks to a timely hit from Takumi Kuriyama. The top of the 2nd had things go south when Imai gave up three runs and tied things up.
Yuji Kaneko had a timely hit in the 6th to give the Lions a lead, but the top of the 7th proved to be the backbreaker, as Kyle Martin allowed a two-run HR to Brandon Laird. Even with all of this, the Lions had a last-gasp chance in the bottom of the 9th against Naoya Masuda with two runners on, but Tomoya Mori struck out and Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura had a weak flyout to end the game.
Marines 6, Lions 5
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Game two had Ken Togame against Hideaki Wakui. Sosuke Genda had a timely hit in the third inning while Tomoya Mori added one in the 6th, but this outing was all about Togame going seven shutout innings for his 50th career win. The Lions pulled away in the 7th inning with three more runs in a comfortable victory.
Lions 5, Marines 1
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The final game of the series had Keisuke Honda facing Kazuya Ojima. Takashi Ogino hit a solo HR in the third inning, but this game had Honda escaping several jams with double plays. In the second, he had a bases-loaded and no out situation, but a key 1-2-3 double play ended any chance.
It wasn't until the 5th where the Lions would score four runs from a bases loaded, no out situation. Shogo Akiyama and Shuta Tonosaki had timely hits to make it 4-1.
Katsunori Hirai struggled in the 8th giving up two runs, but Tatsushi Masuda closed this out without any fanfare as the Lions took the series.
Lions 4, Marines 3
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The first game against Orix had Kona Takahashi against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Takahashi gave up several hits, but didn't allow many runs until the top of the 6th inning. With the bases loaded and Shota Takekuma coming in, all three runners scored from a timely hit and a home plate throwing error to make it 4-0.
Orix gave a run back on an error in the 7th, but Yamamoto was lights out for the night. However, this game wasn't over when Yuji Kaneko hit a game-tying three-run HR off Brandon Dickson in the bottom of the 9th. Kaneko had to throw someone out in the 11th inning when a base hit was given up too.
With the game tied and Hirotoshi Masui pitching, Okawari-kun had an opportunity. With no doubt, he hit his 400th career HR into the Lions Oendan for a sayonara in what was a storybook finish.
Lions 5, Buffaloes 4 (11 innings)
Game note:
-Kaima Taira made his ichi-gun debut in the 9th inning while the team was trailing 4-1. He induced a double play.
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The second game had Daichi Takeyasu facing Shinsaburo Tawata, where the latter made his first ichi-gun start since May. Tawata gave up a solo HR to Shuhei Kojima while Fumikazu Kimura tied the game on a timely single.
Masataka Yoshida broke the tie in the 6th inning with a solo HR and another timely hit made it 3-1. Tawata wasn't awful, but he was outpitched by Takeyasu, who went seven strong innings and a few baserunning blunders led to double plays by the Lions as the three-game win streak was snapped.
Buffaloes 3, Lions 1
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The rubber match had Zach Neal against Yudai Aranishi. Steven Moya started the scoring for Orix with a two-run HR in the first inning, but the Lions responded with an RBI groundout as a triple from Sosuke Genda put them on the board.
Both sides squandered chances, but the Lions ended up taking another unconventional run in the 4th with a fielder's choice. Yoshida hit a solo HR in the top of the 6th to give Orix the lead again.
However, the bottom of the 6th had Hotaka Yamakawa come back with a three-run HR off a relief pitcher as Buffaloes lead disappeared quickly. Neal kept the Lions in the game with six decent innings and was rewarded with a win. A timely hit from Shogo Akiyama and a flurry of extra runs in the 8th put the icing on the cake as the Lions took their second straight series.
Lions 10, Buffaloes 3
Game note:
-Okawari-kun left the game in the 8th after fouling a pitch off his foot.
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This was a good week, but it could've been close to a sweep if it weren't for a few hiccups. Given how the first game against Chiba was, it's easy to think this should have been better, but it wasn't worse. The real series test in Sendai will be huge and telling one way or another. We'll see what happens.
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