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This week in Saitama Seibu Lions baseball, the team only went 3-3 against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks and Orix Buffaloes. The Lions are currently behind the Rakuten Eagles for A-class based on percentage points as a result.
For this recap, it won't be game-by-game due to computer difficulties and technical errors, but there will be some thoughts on each series.
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Softbank Hawks
Tatsuya Imai and Kona Takahashi performed well enough to win, but only the former ended up getting a victory with run support coming too late for the latter. A clutch hit by Hotaka Yamakawa in the bottom of the 8th secured a series win.
However, the third game featured a struggling Wataru Matsumoto where both sides scored at least 10 runs. Hirotaka Koishi couldn't keep the Hawks off the board after having a 9-5 lead and it evaporated with a HR by Seiji Uebayashi and another by Alfredo Despaigne off Ryosuke Moriwaki. It was the first time the Lions scored at least 10 runs and didn't win since 2005.
Yuji Kaneko was hit by a pitch on the leg which took him out. Sosuke Genda also got hurt during this series and didn't start every game in Osaka against Orix as a result.
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Orix Buffaloes
Kazuyoshi Ono opted to have a spot starter in Yasuo Sano and it backfired. Both sides scored a lot of runs in the first game and Tomoya Mori had two HRs, including a grand slam, but a raw Kaima Taira couldn't hold the lead as Orix took the opener.
Shinsaburo Tawata had another poor outing which resulted in Koishi eating up some innings, but Zach Neal battled through another long outing to force a no-decision. A game-winning hit by Shogo Akiyama in the 7th inning decided the third game as Kyle Martin took two innings in relief.
With Genda being limited, Haruka Yamada started at SS while Shohei Suzuki also saw ichi-gun time. The Lions also deactivated Hitoto Komazuki and Kaneko for Aito Takeda besides make room for Yamada.
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At 3-3, this week could have been worse, but having the wins sandwich a three-game losing streak doesn't always help. It will be interesting to see how the team handles no Genda and Kaneko for a length of time. What is a concern is how Keisuke Honda did not pitch this week while Ken Togame might have been a better option than a split start of Sano/Taira.
Of course Katsunori Hirai pitching is always the biggest concern given how many innings he's reached, but that's another topic for another day.
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