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The Saitama Seibu Lions took a 4-2 homestand against the Softbank Hawks and Chiba Lotte Marines. With these wins, they made it to first place in the Pacific League for the first time all-season with the Magic number currently sitting at nine (through games on September 15). The Lions also clinched A-class for the third consecutive year.
Here is how it all went down:
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Zach Neal pitched seven innings in the first game against the Hawks and only allowed a solo HR to Alredo Despaigne. A bases-clearing double in the 4th inning by Tomoya Mori is all the offense the Lions needed. Tatsushi Masuda also picked up his 100th career save to end the game. As a result, the Lions were in first place by half a game.
Lions 4, Hawks 1
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Ken Togame and Kodai Senga were in a pitcher's duel with both players not allowing a run through seven innings. It wasn't until the 8th inning when Yurisbel Gracial hit a HR off Katsunori Hirai in the 8th while Senga only gave up one run. Both sides traded a run in the 9th with Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hitting a solo HR for his 29th of the season in a losing effort.
Hawks 3, Lions 2
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Wataru Matsumoto had seven scoreless innings for the Lions in the first matchup against Chiba. Timely hits from Tomoya Mori, Okawari-kun and Shuta Tonosaki got to Mike Bolsinger early on. Shogo Akiyama hit a two-run HR to ice the game, making him the 5th player to hit 20 HRs for hte Lions this year, joining Okawari-kun, Hotaka Yamakawa, Tonosaki and Mori. This quintet is the only group of all-Japanese players to reach this benchmark.
Lions 6, Marines 1
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Tatsuya Imai put in a strong performance with six innings and one run allowed, but this game wasn't over so quickly. Home runs from Tomoya Mori and Hotaka Yamakawa amounted to only three runs. Masuda blew the save in the 9th with a flurry of two out hits from Brandon Laird and pinch hitter Hiromi Oka.
Tsubasa Kokuba had a scoreless 10th inning, which was important for the bottom of the frame. With Okawari-kun on first, Ernesto Mejia hit a bloop to shallow centerfield and Hiromi Oka misplayed it, bouncing into no-man's land. This led to Okawari-kun scoring from first on a sayonara win while Kokuba earned his first victory.
Lions 4, Marines 3 (10 innings)
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Daiki Enokida allowed only one run through six innings, but ran into trouble in the 7th, where a bases-clearing gapper from Daichi Suzuki gave the Marines a 4-1 lead. The Lions chipped away at this with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th.
A three-run rally in the 8th capped off by timely hits from Sosuke Genda and Tomoya Mori gave the Lions their first lead of the day at 5-4. Hirai was brought in for the 9th and he blew it on a timely hit from Takashi Ogino.
The Lions blew a sayonara opportunity with runners on base in the bottom of the 9th forcing extra innings again. Yasuo Sano and Kaima Taira had scoreless 10th and 11th innings, setting up what looked to be a casual bottom of the 11th. Tomohisa Ohtani appeared to have finished the inning with a routine fly ball from Fumikazu Kimura with two outs. Defensive replacement Shohei Kato miscommunicated with Ogino in the outfield as both players collided and the ball fell to the ground. Kimura was able to run a lap around the bases for the second straight sayonara win in extra innings.
As a result, the Lions were in first place and clinched A-class and second place at minimum due to other games around the Pacific League.
Lions 6. Marines 5 (11 innings)
Game note:
-Tomoya Mori became the third Lions player to have a least 100 RBIs, joining Okawari-kun and Yamakawa.
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Keisuke Honda couldn't hold a 2-0 lead as everything unraveled for the Lions in the top of the 6th. A barrage of hits and walks led to a six-run frame where Shogo Noda couldn't limit the damage and the Marines salvaged one out of the four games.
Marines 9, Lions 3
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This was a fine week for the pitchers, but not so much the hitting. The final regular season homestand is here and if the Lions were to win a pennant, they have to clinch while on the road.
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