2020 Seibu Lions Weekly Digest: Neal wins Opening Day, series lost

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Game 1: Zach Neal vs. Kohei Arihara 

Neal threw six shutout innings while the Lions offense caught several breaks to score. From a bases-loaded infield single by Hotaka Yamakawa, Shuta Tonosaki being hit by a pitch and a fielder's choice, the three runs were enough for the night.

Katsunori Hirai, Reed Garrett and Tatsushi Masuda completed the shutout for a 3-0 victory.

Extra notes: 

-Neal was the first foreign born pitcher to start on Opening Day for the Lions since Tai-Yuan Kuo (Taigen Kaku) in 1995.

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Game 2: Wataru Matsumoto vs. Takayuki Kato

Shuta Tonosaki's second-inning HR was the only offense for the Lions, in a game where the Fighters bullpen shut them down. They scattered a combined seven hits through nine innings.

Sho Nakata's two-run double in the fourth inning was enough for the Fighters to win this one. Matsumoto went 6.1 innings, but was unable to have run support in a 2-1 loss.

Notes: 

-Haruki Nishikawa's 4th inning hit was his 1,000th in his career. He scored on Nakata's double.

-Tetsu Miyagawa made his debut in the 8th inning. He gave up two walks and a hit, but no runs.

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Game 3: Kaito Yoza vs. Toshiya Sugiura

Yoza went six innings in his NPB debut, giving up three runs with two of them being solo HRs to Sho Nakata and Taishi Ota. It was the third straight day the Lions offense had a poor showing, not scoring until the 8th inning. Two bases-loaded opportunities were wasted as the Fighters bullpen succceded again.

Shota Hamaya made his debut in the 7th inning and also gave up a solo HR HR to Yushi Shimizu, but the real damage happened in the 8th when Shota Takekuma took the mound. The Fighters pulled away to take the series in a 12-2 Lions loss.

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While this wasn't the result any Lions fans want, remember the team started 0-3 in 2019. Offense didn't look good, though they still got on base. Unfortunately, they were unclutch for most of the weekend and the bullpen had their moments. However, take the last game padding the ERA with a grain of salt as Ichiro Tamura and Takekuma won't be getting meaningful innings anytime soon.

What is encouraging is how the starting pitching didn't allow more than three runs and all had outings of at least six innings. It's not a time to panic, though it wasn't the greatest weekend for new leadoff hitter Cory Spangenberg. Let's hope for a better week ahead.

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