The Saitama Seibu Lions went 4-2 on the homestand after a road series with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. With series wins over the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and Rakuten Eagles, the Lions stay in second place and built a small cushion over the rest of the Pacific League in their place while also being only 3.5 games behind the Hawks for the Pennant.
Here is what happened:
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Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Zach Neal put in another quality start to earn his 7th win of the year while the Lions outslugged the Fighters in the second game of sloppy pitching. Daiki Enokida limped to a 5-inning outing to win, but looked shaky as a result. Hotaka Yamakawa had two-HR game while Tomoya Mori also dominated.
The Lions failed to sweep the Fighters when giving up solo HRs and Keisuke Honda had no runs support. Multiple chances were blown in what what was a winnable third game.
Game 1: Lions 4, Fighters 2
Game 2: Lions 11, Fighters 6
Game 3: Fighters 5, Lions 3
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Rakuten Eagles
Tatsuya Imai struggled and couldn't go five innings in a high scoring affair. The Lions saw two different three-run leads disappear, but Shogo Noda took two frames and kept the Eagles off the board. Fumikazu Kimura hit a HR and prevented any momentum with an outfield assist to throw out Hideto Asamura.
Takeya "Okawari-kun had a sayonara hit with two outs in the 10th inning in a game where Kona Takahashi pitched well. Unfortunately, Katsunori Hirai prevented Takahashi from winning when he gave up a three-run HR in the 8th inning, but the game stayed tied.
No sweep happened once again as the Eagles bats took their anger out on Ken Togame.
Game 1: Lions 8, Eagles 6
Game 2: Lions 6, Eagles 5 (10 innings)
Game 3: Eagles 14, Lions 2
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Overall, this was a solid week, but every time that Hirai is pitching is now a scare. Kazuyoshi Ono has depended on him to get innings left and right. The 6th and 7th innings in relief feels like a roulette wheel, where Ryuya Ogawa, Kaima Taira and others are part of a committee and the staff prefers matchups.
Offensively, the complaints are minimal, but it is odd how Yamakawa remains cold while Okawari-kun is on fire. What hurts is also Fumikazu Kimura buying time as the starting RF. In my opinion, he should be a part time player while someone younger needs playing time, but the Lions are also in a serious race.
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