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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Pacific League to limit travel as much as possible, having bunched six-game series in the front half of the 2020 season. For the first six-game series of the year, the Lions took four out of six against the Softbank Hawks and have a 5-4 record through two weeks. They currently sit in third place behind the Chiba Lotte Marines and Rakuten Eagles.
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Game 1: Kona Takahashi vs Matt Moore
Cory Spangenberg had four hits, including a grand slam which was good enough to defeat the Hawks in a laugher. Takahashi went 5.1 innings and the Lions combined for 11 hits. Moore struggled with location and allowed six runs, with four of them earned over four innings. The bullpen didn't allow a run while the Lions made this one an easy 11-3 win.
Game notes:
-Seiji Kawagoe made his ichi-gun debut as a pinch runner.
-Shota Takekuma was deactivated in place of Ryuya Ogawa
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Game 2: Tatsuya Imai vs. Shunta Ishikawa
Imai allowed two crucial three-run home runs to Seiji Uebayashi and Kenta Imamiya in the first and sixth innings. Hotaka Yamakawa hit a three-run home run adn the Lions even had a 6-4 lead at one point, but Imai's hard contact early on proved to be fatal when Imamiya's home run put the Hawks ahead for good.
Tomoya Mori and Spangenberg had multi-hit games, but it wasn't enough. In the end, the Hawks also added insurance runs off the Lions bullpen for a 9-6 defeat.
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Game 3: Keisuke Honda vs. Rick van den Hurk
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Honda gave up two solo HRs to Wladimir Balentien, but the real story was Rick van den Hurk's performance. He threw seven no-hit innings and it wasn't until Hotaka Yamakawa had an infield single in the 8th to break it up.
The Lions made the score respectful with two runs, but it wasn't enough when Shota Hamaya also gave up a solo HR and Tetsu Miyagawa allowed another run in the 9th for a 4-2 loss.
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Game 4: Zach Neal vs. Nao Higashihama
Hotaka Yamakawa hits two HRs and it looked like Neal would cruise to an easy win. However, with a 3-1 lead,. an error from Yamakawa helped load the bases in the 7th inning. With Ryuya Ogawa in, he allowed all three inherited runners to score on base hits by Ryoya Kurihara and Yuki Yanagita as the Hawks went ahead 4-3.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Lions found a way to load the bases off Sho Iwasaki with two outs. Fumikazu Kimura was the hero, hitting a grand slam, giving the team a 7-4 win in the process.
Game note:
-By striking out the side in the 8th inning, Reed Garrett recorded his first career win.
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Game 5: Wataru Matsumoto vs. Tsuyoshi Wada
Matsumoto didn't have a chance from the beginning, as he gave up two-run HRs to Yanagita and and Kurihara in the first two inings. In total, he allowed seven runs through three innings as his day was done early.
Takeya "Okawari-kun" Nakamura hit a two-run HR to start a comeback and Shuta Tonosaki added a two-run triple. The Lions bullpen didn't allow a run when they came in, whether it was Miyagawa or Ogawa pitching.
Against Iwasaki, the Lions had a rally going in the bottom of the 7th. Yamakawa hit a three-run HR into the batter's eye to give them the lead for the first time all day. Garrett had a clean 8th inning while Tatsushi Masuda had some drama. Seiji Uebayashi hit a triple with two outs and Kenta Imamiya was up with the tying run on base. A short flyout to Sosuke Genda ended the game, giving the Lions their second win in a row by a score of 8-7.
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Game 6: Kaito Yoza vs. Akira Niho
Yanagita did damage again with a solo HR to start and a timely from Kurihara made it 3-0 Hawks. The Lions battled back with a timely single from Takumi Kuriyama. Sosuke Genda was able to steal second base in the third inning and advance another 90 feet thanks to a wild pitch. An RBI groundout brought the Lions within one.
Yoza went six innings with the last four frames being scoreless. The Lions made sure he had a no decision whenYamakawa hit a solo HR off Niho. In a game where the Lions continued to strand runners, Seiji Kawagoe made his first plate appearance as a pinch hitter for Yuji Kaneko while Fumikazu Kimura came in off the bench for Shohei Suzuki.
Reed Garrett and Tatsushi Masuda had scoreless 8th and 9th innings and the bottom of the latter frame had the drama. The Lions loaded the bases and didn't have an out against Keisuke Izumi. Tomoya Mori came through with a base hit to end the game on a sayonara as the Lions took the series with a 4-3 win.
Game note:
-The Lions and Hawks combined for 10 consecutive strikeouts in the 7th and 8th innings with Hirai, Shinya Kayama, Garrett and Livan Moinelo contributing.
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While the middle was ugly, the Lions ended on a strong note against a Hawks team missing some of their players. They needed to win this series in order to have any edge going forward.
Imai and Matsumoto had some dud outings, but at least the offense woke up late. What's most encouraging is how Reed Garrett looked, missing bats and striking out opponents. He's not just a fastball pitcher and it's clear he'll take the 7th or 8th inning with Katsunori Hirai for now.
It would have been nice to take five out of six, but the comeback on Saturday could go a long way towards a successful season.
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