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The Saitama Seibu Lions went 3-3 against the Softbank Hawks and Orix Buffaloes in a top heavy homestand against two A-class teams.
They now cling to a 0.5 game lead on the Hawks as they retained first place, but the room for error is slim.
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Utsumi announces retirement
Veteran Tetsuya Utsumi announced he would retire at the end of this season. He initially came to the Lions as part of a free agent compensation return in 2019, but only saw a handful of spot starts since.
The Lions have let him mostly coach the young pitchers on the roster. He made an ichi-gun appearance for the first time since the announcement and got a round of applause in his scoreless relief inning.
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Softbank Hawks
Kona Takahashi earned his first win since June as the Lions shutout the Hawks in one game. Tomoya Mori's home run was just enough.
They were out-pitched in game two by Colin Rea while Katsunori Hirai struggled.
The Lions took the series in the rubber match scoring several runs off Nao Higashihama, including a three-run HR from Brian O'Grady.
Lions 2 Hawks 0
Hawks 5 Lions 3
Lions 8 Hawks 5
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Orix Buffaloes
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was vulnerable, but the Lions couldn't cash in and break the game open with only three runs. Pitching couldn't stop Kenya Wakatsuki in the first game as he hit multiple HRs.
Hiroya Miyagi shut the Lions down in Game 2, but the team responding in the final match of the week.
Dietrich Enns prevented a sweep with six strong innings and only one run allowed. They also scored early with walks and hits off Ren Mukunoki.
Buffaloes 4 Lions 3
Buffaloes 6 Lions 0
Lions 3 Buffaloes 0
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This wasn't the best week, but it also wasn't the worst. Offense has its problems, though the rest of the Pacific League doesn't hit either, which works to their advantage.
At least the bullpen was rested on this homestand.
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