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The Saitama Seibu Lions came up short of a Climax Series spot in the final week of the season, going 3-3-1 in the last seven games played. They finished with a .500 record and a third place standing in the Pacific League as a result.
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Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters
Daiki Enokida helped take Game 1 with six no-hit innings. It wasn't until the seventh with one out where he gave up a double to Haruki Nishikawa. Takumi Kuriyama's timely hit was all the offense the Lions needed to take this game.
Kona Takahashi was pulled in the 5th after giving up three runs and Tetsu Miyagawa walked in another. however, the Lions came back from a 2-0 and 4-3 deficit when Kuriyama hit a two-run HR while Cory Spangenberg had two RBIs, including a solo HR.
The deciding run in Game 2 was a timely hit by Shuta Tonosaki in the 7th inning. The bullpen did its job keeping zeroes on the board for the opposition as Tatsushi Masuda broke the franchise record with his 136th career save, passing Kiyoshi Toyoda.
The final home game of the 2020 season had the Lions taking advantage of a raw pitcher in Kosei Yoshida. Cory Spangenberg had four RBIs including a three-run HR and Shuta Tonosaki had two key hits as well. Zach Neal ended his season with a five inning win, allowing only three runs in the process.
With this being the last home game, the Lions had the usual closing ceremony, but it also included a retirement recognition of Tomomi Takahashi.
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Rakuten Eagles
The Lions had issues against former players in the opening makeup game. The retiring Naoto Watanabe played his final game and dazzled with two hits, a run and a key double play to hurt his previous team. Takayuki Kishi allowed only one run for a complete game as the Lions bats went back to poor situational hitting. Shota Hamaya allowed four runs, all with two outs. This game tied thee standings up with the Marines with three remaining.
For the last makeup game in Sendai, the Lions overcame a 6-1 deficit where Tatsuya Imai allowed all those runs in the first inning. They chipped away at the leads with sacrifice flies and an RBI fielder's choice. It wasn't until Shuta Tonosaki hit a solo HR and Cory Spangenberg added a timely to tie it at 6-6.
The Eagles threatened in the 7th and 8th, but Kaima Taira got the key strikeouts when necessary to prevent any further damage. Lions bats remained dead and it was a 6-6 stalemate.
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Chiba Lotte Marines
A 2-0 lead was vanquished quickly after Cory Spangenberg couldn't field a liner and the ball was stuck at his feet. Yudai Fujioka hit a solo HR off Wataru Matsumoto which was enough for the Marines to hang on. The Lions loaded the bases with one out, but Aito Takeda and Nien Ting Wu struck out with both of them batting in the bottom of the order.
The wheels came off in the bottom of the 6th, when two errors on one play resulted in two more runs and Chiba pulled away for good, mathematically eliminating the Lions.
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Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
In what was a meaningless makeup game, Kona Takahashi threw two scoreless innings before he was yanked as he qualified for the league ERA leaders with that work. Hiromasa Saito gave up two HRs and that was all the Hawks needed in this easy finale. It put the Lions at .500 for the year, it's their first time finishing at this win percentage since 2015.
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Coach dismissed, others not returning
The Lions announced they terminated the contract of ni-gun hitting coach Hiroshi Hirao after he was caught stealing possessions of two players. It became effective on October 31 after the initial reports on October 16.
Ni-gun pitching coach Ming-Chieh Hsu will also not return for 2021 while defense/base running coach Hiroyuki Takagi will remain with the organization under a different title.
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Suspended Aiuchi to be a Fighter
Makoto Aiuchi plans to retire and become a fighter, as reported by the Japanese media. He has been in trouble with the law multiple times, most recently breaking a team violation of golfing with Ryusei Sato while under COVID-19 rules.
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Matsuzaka will return in 2021
The Lions reached an agreement to keep veteran pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka under team control this week. The 40-year old veteran has yet to pitch an ichi-gun game in his second stint with the Lions after being remembered as a high school / Lions legend. Like Utsumi, he will be a spot start option for next year.
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Early roster cuts announced
The Lions informed three players who will not be under contract in 2021. Besides Aiuchi, Koki Fujita and Shinsaburo Tawata were announced as senryokugai. Fujita was a 9th round draft pick in 2015 while Tawata was taken in the first round.
Tawata, 27, will likely return under an ikusei contract. Due to health reasons, he wasn't under contract in 2020 until the middle of the season and he failed to play an ichi-gun game. He was the opening day starter in 2019, but continued to fall out of favor.
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Tsuji will return in 2021
The Lions announced Hatsuhiko Tsuji will be back for his fifth season as manager in 2021. This will be his first season without any postseason games, but the team finished in A-class for the fourth consecutive year and never had a losing record.
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Unfortunately the Lions dug themselves a huge hole in the middle and had too much to overcome. A longer piece analyzing this season will come later, but it's clear the offense didn't have it in 2020 besides a ugly season from Zach Neal.
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