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The Saitama Seibu Lions went a combined 4-1 against the Chiba Lotte Marines and Rakuten Eagles in a five game homestand.
With this winning week, they made it to A-class as they sit in third place through Sunday's games.
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Game 1: Burch Smith vs. Kazuya Ojima
"Aito" Takeda hit a three-run home run and the Lions had no trouble after that.
Making his ichi-gun debut, Smith threw seven no-hit innings in 96 pitches with five strikeouts and only one walk in the fourth. He even picked off Shuhei Fukuda, the only base runner he allowed.
The Lions pulled Smith and put in Kaima Taira for the eighth inning. Tsuyoshi Sugano broke up the no-hitter in the 8th with one out, but the Lions held on for a shutout win.
Lions 4 Marines 0
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Game 2: Wataru Matsumoto vs. Minabu Mima
Both pitchers didn't allow a hit through six innings. Sugano broke up the bid from Matsumoto with the latter leaving the game in the middle of the 7th. Yoshinobu Mizukami came in with inherited runners and forced a comebacker to get out of the jam.
Hotaka Yamakawa broke up the bid from Mima in the bottom of the 7th and after a bunt moved pinch runner Shohei Suzuki into scoring position, Nien Ting Wu delivered with a gapper to send him home and break the deadlock.
Suzuki was forced to bat in the 8th and nearly scored from home plate on an error, but had a two-RBI hit to put the game away. Taira and Tatsushi Masuda had little trouble in the bullpen as Mizukami earned his first career win.
Lions 3 Marines 0
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Game 3: Kona Takahashi vs. Takahisa Hayakawa
Kona Takahashi threw eight shutout innings with three walks and three strikeouts resulting in a gem.
Hotaka Yamakawa hit a solo HR in the fourth inning and was hit by a pitch later with the bases loaded.
With this shutout win, it was the first time the Lions have thrown three consecutive shutouts since 1993.
Lions 3 Eagles 0
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Game 4: Chihiro Sumida vs. Hideaki Wakui
Timely hits from Haruka Yamada and Yuji Kaneko gave the Lions a 2-0 lead they couldn't hold.
Sumida was struggling in the fourth inning and the Lions took him out when Ryosuke Tatsumi tied the game at 2-2 with a double. With the bases loaded and Tetsu Miyagawa pitching, Hiroto Kobukata had a timely hit and the Lions never recovered.
Ken Togame gave up multiple home runs in mop up duty to ice the game. It was the third consecutive loss for Sumida.
Eagles 7 Lions 3
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Game 5: Dietrich Enns vs. Ryota Takinaka
The Lions cashed in with a four-run 2nd inning which included a two-run HR from Sena Tsuge and timely hit by Yamada.
Enns was pulled in the fifth inning as the bullpen was forced to carry the team, but they escaped most jams. Yoshinobu Mizukami was able to strike out two batters with runners on base as he earned his hold the hard way.
Nien Ting Wu had a three-hit game with three RBIs and two of them coming late to seal this game and series.
Lions 6 Eagles 3
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This was a week where the pitching was promising for the most part. It's good to see Yamakawa, but the offense is still flawed.
Power threats aren't exactly there. That being said, it's a productive week. Have to also hope Brian O'Grady can rebound after a slow week.
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