By Steve Novosel
 Moon rises over Makuhari On an unseasonably cool summer night the relief from the recent Lotte troubles showed up at Makuhari (the moon really was that beautiful tonight – that’s an actual picture from the game). Over the last three weeks Lotte has dropped 14 or 16, including 9 in a row to Nippon Ham, but tonight good ol’ Rakuten rolled into town – welcome respite from July’s difficulties. Watanabe Shunsuke was tasked with the duty of getting the Marines back in the win column and he was superb. The veteran submariner went the distance, yielding only 1 run and 4 hits in a 3-1 victory.
 Victory Fireworks have some significance tonight After plunking Rakuten’s leadoff batter Linden to start the game Shunsuke was dominant – he didn’t allow another baserunner until the 6th inning, sending the side down in order repeatedly by inducing batter after batter into weak grounders, shallow pops, and the occasional K. The no-hit bid ended with 2-out in the 6th as Linden gagued a high floater correctly and hit it to deep center. The no-hitter and the shutout were both gone as Rakuten scored their first run of the game.
Rakuten’s young ace Tanaka Masahiro pitched almost as strongly early on, allowing only a single by Tsuyoshi to leadoff the bottom of the first and a single by Satozaki in the 5th – and no runs.
 Sato singles in the 5th Lotte had their first real scoring chance in the 7th as both Hashimoto (starting at the DH slot) and Saburo reached, but Tanaka kept both of them from plating – so the scored stayed 1-0.
In the bottom of the 8th Lotte, buoyed by the continuing great start by Watanabe, got the offense in motion. Starting first baseman Gary Burnham Jr pummeled a 0-1 pitch deep, deep down the right field line, inside the foul pole, and far into the screaming fans to tie the game at 1-1.
 Fair or foul, fair or foul - oh yeah, it's fair!  Burnham Jr fires up the team and the fans after his 8th inning blast Heiuchi (getting the start at 3rd) struck out next, and Tsuyoshi crushed a 1-1 fastball far -very far – but just off the top of the center field fence for a 1-out double. It was up to Iguchi to break the tie. He grounds a 2-0 pitch over second base and into center! Tsuyoshi’s a fast runner, Nishimura gives him the go sign – he’s coming home. Teppei snags the grounder, fires it home, skipping it in front of backup catcher Nakatani. Tsuyoshi speeds into home, but Nakatani’s in the way, so Tsuyoshi plows into him – ensuring the tag can’t be made – and giving Lotte the go ahead run! 2-1 Lotte.
 Iguchi singles in the go ahead run!  Tsuyoshi gives Nakatani the old shoulder  The ball is loose; the run is in! Saburo singled to send Iguchi to second, and Ohmatsu drew a walk to load the bases. Rakuten reliever Fukumori gives up a fat pitch to Takehara, who smashes it to deep center – just short of the fence, but deep enough to score Iguchi easily and make it a 3-1 lead.
On to the 9th – Shunksuke stays out with a chance to close out a complete game victory. He walks Nakamura to lead off the 9th, and Teppei singles to give Rakuten runners on first and second, nobody out. Can he do it?
 Bobby, Frank, and Nishimura watch Watanabe in anticipation On an 0-1 pitch Watanabe induces Yamasaki into a grounder to Tsuyoshi, who flips it to Iguchi, and on to Burnham Jr! 6-4-3 DP, Nakamura to third but two outs!
 Tonight's heroes get ready for out three after Yamasaki's GIDP Miyade swings at Watanabe’s first pitch and skies it foul – but in play. It’s diving on the first base side in between first and home – Burnham Jr races full speed to make a play, and he’s got it! He runs right into the camera well fencing and the Marines run back into the win column! A lovely 3-1 victory and a complete game masterpiece by Watanabe.
 A good victory deserves more fireworks This was a very enjoyable game to watch as I always love a nice pitching duel, especially when my team wins. It’s also great to see Shunsuke get back in the win column – he was 1-8 on the season coming in and hadn’t looked really good in almost 2 months. Tonight he was great, though, and that gutsy performance was the impetus to propel Lotte on to the win.
After the game I ran into a friend I met in Koshien back in May who was visiting Chiba for the weekend series (she’s in the picture in the link). It’s a small world of fandom sometimes!
Ono and Rakuten’s Nagai go at it on Saturday as Lotte looks to win their second in a row. Ono’s been consistently good so I expect another winning performance!
Also, some Rakuten fans were performing Onigiri cosplay – I have no idea why.
 Onigiri man, doing what he can
By Steve Novosel
 There wasn't anything to celebrate tonight, but it was the first balloon sighting since May I took a bit of a break when the team did for the All-Star break, so everyone involved needs a bit of time to get back into the swing of things. The first game after the break started a lot like the last few games as visiting Nippon Ham jumped on Lotte starter Kobayshi in the top of the first with three runs and cruised to the finish, handing Lotte a 5-1 loss. The bad run continues for Lotte, who are now tied for last in the Pa-league and have lost 12 of their last 14. 7 of those losses are to the Fighters, as are the last 4. Not good, as they say.
 Kobayshi takes the loss tonight Two pitches did it for Nippon Ham tonight, as in the top of the first DH Terrmel Sledge drilled a Kobayshi pitch with two on in the first for a three-run dinger, and added to the score with a solo shot to deep right in the 8th. Other than that, Kobayshi let several runners on base in 7+ innings of work but allowed no other runs and struck out 8.
 Kobayashi and Hori try to pick Tanaka off base in the 5th The Lotte offense couldn’t get things in gear at all tonight. The hit parade featured 4 hits in total – a pair of singles by Saburo, another by Tanaka Masahiko (getting the start at DH), and a 2-out, 9th inning HR by Takehara. This was all wrapped around 13 K’s by Nippon Ham starter Yagi and the Fighters pen, including 3 K’s in the 9th broken up by Takehara’s shot.
 Saburo singles in the 7th It was 360° Beer Stadium night, so at least there was cheep booze to be had. Strangely enough the last Beer Stadium night didn’t go so well for Lotte either, as Darvish threw a two-hitter in a 5-0 Fighters victory back on June 26. Fortunately it’s the last Beer Stadium night of the year.
Tomorrow Lotte regains their winning form and gets back in the Pa-league race! Shimizu Naoyuki takes the mound tomorrow to make it all happen.
By Steve Novosel
And on the third day of the series the skies shone golden, and the men of Lotte fought doggedly for every run, contested every out, and ultimately – rightfully – triumphed over the Hawks 3-1.
Actually, the weather at the start and the end of the game wasn’t so hot. The first inning opened gray and dingy, super muggy. The wind blew in from dead center – not exactly unusual at Chiba Marine – but the ferocity was something else. All day long balls swirled in the gale, pop-ups to short drifted into the stands, and plastic bags meandered across the outfield. In the middle, though – eh, I get ahead of myself.
Ono Shingo took on the challenge of avenging yesterday’s heart-breaker vs Daiei’s Houlton. In the first Ono took care of business, inducing a leadoff ground-out by Honda. Kawasaki drew a walk and was gunned down by Satozaki trying to steal second. Ortiz grounded out to end the inning as Lotte came to the plate.
The flags on the scoreboard stood straight pointing in as Tsuyoshi came to the plate in the bottom of the inning. He’s used to these sorts of conditions though, and when he saw a fat first pitch from Houlton he demolished it, sending it clear over the left center fence! Just like that, 1-0 Lotte.
Ono coaxed another 1-2-3 inning out of the Hawks bats in the 2nd, and Lotte came to bat in the bottom of the second looking to add to their lead. Takehara drew a one-out walk, and after a Satozaki strikeout Fukuura belted a 2-2 pitch deep into the right field stands! Only his second homer of the season, and it gives the Marines an early 3-0 lead!
 Oh, I think he likes it - as he should  Everybody else likes it, too Ono kept making his pitches in the third and fourth – he didn’t allow a hit in the first four innings. Houlton, on the other hand, exacted the petty revenge of the classless and beaten by beaning Tsuyoshi in the back in the top of the third. It was obvious retaliation for Tsuyoshi’s HR and Houlton didn’t try to hide it. He didn’t even tip his cap. Tsuyoshi was furious, throwing his bat and staring down Houlton as he walked to first.
 Tsuyoshi takes a cheap one Perhaps Houlton would be better served by spending more time not giving up first pitch homers so he wouldn’t need to resort to cheap tactics? Anyway, Tsuyoshi tried to steal on the first pitch but was beat to the bag by Kawasaki’s tag.
 Tsuyoshi is nipped by Kawasaki's tag In the 5th Daiei got their first hit off Ono, a single by Kokubo. Ono struck out Tamura, but the next batter Hasegawa ripped a double off the center field fence. Saburo hustled to field the ball and fired it into Tsuyoshi. Kokubo made the turn at third and kept on to home as Tsuyoshi whirled and made a perfect relay. Meat. Sato applied the tag, and Lotte kept their 3-0 lead.
 Satozaki tags out an opponent at home for the second day in a row Tanoue singled next and Hasegawa came home; shutout over, 3-1 Lotte.
In the top of the 6th the winds abated somewhat, the clouds parted, and the sun said it’s goodbyes for the evening. It was a lovely golden night in Chiba. Fans and players were all treated to a gorgeous view – honeyed skies over first base; a smiling rainbow over third. Players warming up, umps, everyone admired the moment.
 There's a victory waiting in the pot of gold After two quick ground-outs Ono got a bit rattled, giving up three consecutive singles to juice the bases. Bobby took no chances and called for the pen, bringing in Matsumoto Kodai. Matsumoto? Hashimoto yesterday, Matsumoto today – I had no idea either were back at Ichi-gun. I need to pay more attention to the transactions list. Matsumoto stepped right into the pressure cooker and did what he needed to do – inducing Hasegawa into a ground out and stopping the Hawks scoring chance cold.
 Matsumoto delivers the inning-saving pitch The Lotte offense got nothing going the rest of the way but hey, that’s fine. They took care of business early on and asked the pitching staff to hold on to that lead, please. The pitching staff was totally in control as well after Matsumoto’s 6th. Uchi came in for the 7th, retired Tanoue and gave up a walk to Muramatsu. Kawasaki took over for Uchi and shut the door on the 7th and the 8th.
 Kawasaki's so good he can't be captured by modern photo technology Sikorski came in to close out the 9th, and after a meaningless leadoff walk to Kokubo he took care of the rest of the side in order. A lovely 3-1 Lotte win, and a nice series win against the first place Hawks.
Lotte gets no Monday break – for the 20 July Marine Day holiday the team travels back to Sapporo for a three game set with Nippon Ham. Let’s hope they sweep them back as revenge for last weekend’s series!
By Steve Novosel
A very intriguing game this evening. It was at times one of the worst games I’ve ever watched, at times one of the most exciting games I’ve watched, but it is in the end an 8-6 loss to the visiting Hawks.
Karakawa was on the hill tonight for Lotte, and he pitched three perfect innings. Unfortunately, he pitched those three perfect innings after three horrible innings. In the first Kawasaki tripled past a diving Fukuura and Jose Ortiz brought him home with a double. 1-0 Hawks.
 Karakawa wonders why this foreign dude is shooting off a tripod in the stands Daiei would score another run in the 2nd and two more in the 3rd to make it 4-0 after 3 innings. In those three innings Karakawa yielded 8 hits, 2 HBP and a walk for those 4 runs. To be fair, one of the runs in the third came off a Tsuyoshi error, but Karakawa was giving up plenty without any defensive miscues. That makes shaky starts 3 out of his last 4 outings, though after the first three innings he was back to his old self, shutting down the side in order in the 4th, 5th and 6th.
Meanwhile the Lotte offense couldn’t do anything. The Marines actually loaded the bases in the first without a hit thanks to 3 walks by Daiei starter Ohba, but due to a lack of hits (and no more walks) they were unable to score. The only early hit for Lotte came off a 3rd inning double by Tsuyoshi, though nothing would come of it. The next hit came way in the 7th off a single by Benny.
The fans were truly listless after the early innings. I actually saw a few people leave in the 7th as it was really that bad to watch. Perhaps fittingly, NTT Flets had some sort of promotion going on and had their promotional character come out to push the ceremonial plunger to start the post-5th inning fireworks, but the suit was so ungainly the character couldn’t waddle to the field quickly enough, so Mar-kun had to bring the plunger closer. It was that sort of evening.
 Hashire, character-kun! Karakawa left after the 6th for little-seen reliever Hashimoto Kentaro. It was only the second appearance of the year for Hashimoto, and he was quite entertaining to watch. He jittered around the mound full of energy, speeding through his pitches. With two outs he barely missed on a few closeout pitches to Kokubo, and you could see he was quite frustrated. He finally put one out over the plate and Kokubo smashed it just inside the left field foul pole to make it 5-0.
 Uchi winds up in the 8th Uchi took over for the 8th inning, and it was in the 8th where the game went from awful to awesome. Uchi gave up a leadoff walk to Morimoto, who later swiped second. Uchi mowed down Tanoue and Honda with strikeouts but with two outs Kawasaki singled in front of Ohmatsu; Morimoto got the signal to round third and head for home. Ohmatsu charged the ball aggressively, picked it, and fired it to the waiting Satozaki. Morimoto raced around Satozaki and got his hand on home, but Sato had already applied the tag. Out at the plate, and another run saved to keep it at 5-0!
 Morimoto gets his hand on the plate, but it's too late - Sato tagged him  The ump gets the call right NOW we’re all fired up! Here comes the bottom of the 8th, can Lotte do something with their second life?
It doesn’t start well. Ohba strikes out Imae to start the 8th, but Iguchi draws a walk next. Ohmatsu is up next – he pounces on a 1-1 offering from Ohba and beats it into the right field stands! Only the third hit of the game, but what a huge hit! 5-2 Hawks.
Ohba is pulled for Falkenborg; he gets Saburo to chase strike three. Two outs now; Satozaki at the plate. On a 1-1 pitch he’s swinging – connecting – it’s going – gone! Into center left it goes, and the hopeless, awful game is now a very intriguing 5-3.
 Go on and throw that bat, Sato - it's long, long gone It’s bedlam in the stands. It’s Saturday night and we fans wanted some action, some fight, some drama and now we were getting all we could handle. The air was electric. Fukuura is up next – and he singles to keep the rally alive! Hayasaka comes in to pinch run, and Benny is back at the plate. He singles again! Hayasaka races to third, Hayakawa pinch runs for Benny, we fans are so hyped up we’re about ready to charge the field. Up comes Burnham Jr – he got the start tonight after his hero performance on Friday, but so far he hasn’t done anything. How will he do with the game on the line?
He destroys a 2-2 pitch! It’s heading out on a line, but just misses going out off the top of the center left fence! Hayasaka comes in, Hayakawa streaks in from first, Burnham Jr races like a madman all the way to third! From the awful pits of a 5-0 deficit Lotte has stunningly climbed all the way back to tie! 5-5 in the bottom of the 8th. Oh, my!! Hashimoto pops out to end the inning but man! Who would have believed it?
I make a quick dash to the concourse between innings as Itoh comes in to hold down the fort and give the surging Lotte offense a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th. He quickly induces a ground out by Ortiz but just as I am running back to my seat Matsunaka takes him deep, deep. Oh no. 6-5 Hawks… Some fans I was recently high-fiving stop me and say “Oh my God!!!” I say “Shinjirarenai!” “So so so!” Kokubo doubles next and Itoh is gone, in comes Kawasaki to stop the bleeding. His second pitch to Muramatsu is taken into right for a triple, Kokubo comes home to score. 7-5 Hawks. What is happening? The next batter, Hasegawa, lays down a perfect squeeze and Muramatsu streaks home, 8-5 Hawks.
Like the air coming out of a balloon, I tell you.
To the bottom of the 9th we go. We still have a chance – after the 8th everybody knows there’s always a chance, but in strolls Mahara. He comes in with 16 saves on the year and he’s always tough. Imae takes his first pitch into center, though! Another rally begins?
 Imae runs out his 9th inning single Iguchi steps to the plate against his old team with the chance to do some real damage – and he does! A double to center, Imae comes home, the gap is closed to 8-6!
Mahara takes stock of his life on the mound, thinks deeply, and remembers he’s one of the best closers in the game. He gets Ohmatsu, Saburo, and Satozaki swinging to close it out and hand Lotte the loss.
It’s truly disappointing the bullpen couldn’t hold it together after the thrilling comeback but at least the ending was so exciting. It’s a tough matchup on Sunday for the rubber game as Houlton takes the hill for Daiei against Ono for Lotte. Ono got beat up a bit last Sunday vs Nippon Ham but was stellar prior – I’m sure he’ll give Lotte a great chance to win on Sunday!
By Steve Novosel
Just as there’s nothing quite like home cooking, there’s nothing like coming home after a 7-game losing streak on the road to get your team back in the win column. Hot on the heels of road sweeps at the hands of Nippon Ham and Orix, Lotte returned to the welcoming arms of Chiba Marine Stadium on Friday to face the Pa-league leading Softbank Hawks, and with a balanced attack of timely hits and solid pitching, the Marines beat the Hawks 7-3.
Softbank hopped out to the early lead tonight vs Lotte starter Kobayashi. In the first inning, Kawasaki and former Lotte 2B Ortiz singled with one out, and cleanup hitter Matsunaka also singled to bring home the first run of the game – 1-0, Hawks. Kobayashi induced Kokubo to ground into a DP to end the inning and limit the damage.
 Kobayashi brings it on Friday In the third Softbank would add to their lead. Tanoue walked and Honda singled, and after a Kawasaki sac bunt to put runners on 2nd and 3rd Kobayashi hit Ortiz to load the bases. Matsunaka hit a grounder to first that looked to be a double play ball – out at second, oops, safe at first! The play was close and Bobby came out to argue but the third out wasn’t given. In the confusion two runs scored – 3-0 Hawks.
This wasn’t going to be one of Those Nights, though. Lotte was not about about to let the 7-game losing streak balloon into an 8-game streak – not anywhere, and especially not at home. The real fight began in the bottom of the third. With one out, Tsuyoshi and Imae (batting second) singled and Iguchi walked to load the bases for Ohmatsu. He hit a grounder to first, Tsuyoshi scored, 3-1 Lotte! Saburo followed with a single of his own to score Imae – now it’s 3-2 – and to cap the rally Hashimoto stroked the 4th single of the inning, scoring Iguchi and tying the game at 3!
 Hashimoto ties the game in the bottom of the third Kobayshi really knuckled down after the third, ultimately throwing 7 innings on the evening with 6 K’s and never allowing Softbank to get another real scoring chance.
Lotte had a prime scoring chance in the 5th as Ohmatsu absolutely belted a ball from Hawks starter Germano. Only because it was such a flatly hit ball did it stay in the park, but it rattled off the chain link part of the fence for a nice double. There were already two outs in the inning, though, and unfortunately Saburo couldn’t break the tie and bring him home.
Germano wouldn’t dodge another bullet in the 6th inning, though. Hashimoto led off the inning with a single, and after a Takehara sacrifice Burnham Jr (getting a rare start at first) pasted a 2-1 Germano offering to deep right! A 2-run HR to break the tie, 5-3 Lotte!
 Gary Burnham Jr eyes his 6th inning jack  Hashimoto and Burnham Jr celebrate at the plate The Marines weren’t done. In the 7th Satozaki pinch-hit for Hashimoto with two on. He hit a huge fly ball – a ball flying deep and far through the Chiba night – but it was caught up in the wind at the fence. It was plenty deep enough to score Iguchi from third, though – 6-3 Lotte.
In the 8th Burnham Jr led off with a walk and was pinch-run for by Hayakawa. Pinch hitter Hayasaka popped out a bunt to make it one out, but Hayakawa swiped second anyway to set up another prime scoring chance. After a Tsuyoshi K Imae hit a big double to right to score Hayakawa and make it 7-3 Lotte!
Kobayashi was relieved in the top of the 8th by Ogino. Ogino plowed right through the Hawks, striking out the side (with a single by Tamura in the middle).
 Jose Ortiz is definitely out at first in the 7th Sikorski came in to close out th Hawks 9th, and shut them down he did on a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to end it. A 7-3 Lotte victory, and a new streak begins!
 Gary Burnham Jr greets the fans after his Hero-making performance Burnham Jr was today’s hero for his tie-breaking HR, which I think is his first hero-winning performance of the year. I know I’ve seen both of his other HRs in person this year but both were parts of comebacks that fell short. This one wasn’t, though, and the game hero was very well deserved.
 Bobby and the rest of the team are all smiles after Friday's win The series continues on Saturday evening in a youthful pitching matchup as 20-year-old Karakawa takes the hill vs Softbank’s Ohba. I am sure Friday’s win will inspire Karakawa and Lotte to another strong performance.
On a personal note, it was SO nice to be back at the ballpark after two weeks. There’s nothing better than coming to the ballpark on a Friday after a long work week and watching your favorite team kick ass. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the weekend’s games on this long holiday weekend.
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