The Saitama Seibu Lions swept the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in three irregular locations up in Hokkaido. As a result, they sit two games behind the Softbank Hawks while being in second place of the Pacific League. The Lions also have a 4.5 game cushion over the Chiba Lotte Marines and Rakuten Eagles, who are tied for third place.
Here is what happened:
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Game 1: Zach Neal vs. Brian Rodriguez in Kushiro
Neal successfully went six innings while Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura, Takumi Kuriyama nad Tomoya Mori did the damage on offense. With the game being close at 3-2, the Lions broke it open in the 7th when a timely hit from Kuriyama plated two more runs. This was Neal's seventh straight win when it comes to decisions and the Lions have won all nine games he has started since June 20.
Lions 8, Fighters 2
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Game 2: Daiki Enokida vs. Toru Murata in Kushiro
Both sides scored plenty of runs, but nothing stood out more when Okawari-kun hit two home runs, including a three-run HR in the 4th. Enokida couldn't last four innings and Sho Ito had trouble cleaning up his mess while in relief. Shogo Noda minimized the damage in the 6th inning and the Lions benefited from an error in the 6th to pull away.
Tomoya Mori hit a solo HR in the top of the 8th while the game was raining. With Kushiro's stadium not having lights, the game was called by the umpires immediately after the home run due to the darkness in the sky as the Lions took the series.
Lions 10, Fighters 8 (8 innings)
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Game 3: Keisuke Honda vs. Toshiro Sugiura in Obihiro
Honda went 6+ innings with teh offense being minimal. Okawari-kun had a timely hit with the bases loaded in the 3rd while Mori hit a solo HR in the 5th for all the offense they needed. A slight jam forced Ryuya Ogawa to retire two batter in the 7th before Katsunori Hirai made quick work to get four outs including the 8th inning.
Hotaka Yamakawa also provided insurance with as solo HR in the 9th. This was Honda's first win in a month while also recording six strikeouts.
Lions 5, Fighters 2
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This was a great series given the Lions struggling in Sapporo Dome. Unless the Fighters go on a big run in September, it was their last games of 2019 in Hokkaido and the success in irregular locations has worked on the road while not so good at home.
With a holiday coming up, the Weekly Digest will not have time to cover the Softbank Hawks series as I will be on vacation, but it's good to see the team is not lying down and took care of business against an ice cold Fighters team. There is a lot of work to be done if they want a pennant, but no one saw this team competing for one this late in the year. That alone is an accomplishment given what the Lions lost.
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