By Steve Novosel
Yet again I am behind in my blogging. Who knew that going to games, coming home late at night, and working all day would leave you precious little time to blog these games?
For the last week in August Daiei rumbled in to town for a series with our beloved Marines. The Hawks were on a roll, having won 4 in a row and cut the lead of the first place Fighters (reeling from the New Flu) to just a few games. Our Marines had just come off of consecutive 1-0 losses at Seibu, so things weren’t looking too favorable. Naturally, things didn’t go according to schedule, which was GREAT news for our guys!
Tuesday’s game featured Yuta Ohmine versus Daiei’s Takahashi. Ohmine hadn’t had a win since May and had only thrown once with the first team since June, so he was naturally a candidate for throwing a complete game. Of course, many pitchers would be candidates for throwing a complete game if they got 10 runs of support – Lotte takes game one of the series with Softbank, 10-5!
 Ohmine & co celebrate the win As you are a smart reader and can tell by the score, this wasn’t a pitcher’s duel, and in fact Ohmine was pretty shaky early and very, very shaky late but he had enough in the tank to go the distance.
Daiei got on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the first by former Lotte 2B Ortiz. Lotte came right back on the very first pitch of the bottom of the first with a leadoff HR from Tsuyoshi. Very nice. A walk by Ohmatsu and a double by the slumping Iguchi make it 2-1 Lotte after 2.
Daiei stormed back in the second with an RBI single by Tanoue, yet Lotte came right back in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff jack by Satozaki. 3-2 Lotte!
 Batozaki Returns! (copyright Deanna @ Marinerds) I went to this game with my friend Toshi – it was his first game at Chiba Marine. I was a bit worried due to the erratic nature of Lotte’s play over the past, oh, 5 months but on this night the offense put on a show.
 Sato is sotked The Marines cracked this one open in the 4th – a bases-loaded double by Tsuyoshi and a 2-RBI single by Hayasaka score 4 runs and run the score to 7-2. Says Toshi, “Wow, this is great!” Yeah, you should have come for some of the other recent games, like most of them since June.
 Tsuyoshi scores on Hayasaka's 4th inning single In the 5th things got ludicrous – a single by Fukuura scores one and a triple by Imae clears the bases – three more in, 10-2. There is joy in the stands, indeed.
Meanwhile, Ohmine went on cruise control after the early runs, scattering a few hits but letting Softbank get nothing going. That changed in the 9th when he basically fell apart after recording two quick outs. To consecutive Hawks batters he gave up single, double, double, single before finally getting the last out of the game on a pop. It wasn’t a pretty finish – 3 runs with one out to go – but it was good enough to wrap up the victory. How nice to see him in the win column again! Now if we could just get Karakawa win…
Wednesday provided one of the most bizarre games I can think of. Lotte brought only 27 men to the plate, only recorded a single hit, yet won this one 2-1. How odd!
Hiroyuki Kobayashi pitched 8 strong innings, only giving up a solo HR to Akashi in the 6th, to lead Lotte to a 2-1 victory. Wait a minute – 2-1? How do we score 2 runs on one hit with only 27 baserunners? Simple, in the 4th inning Takehara drew a one-out walk, and Imae blasted a dinger to left to score 2. Tsuyoshi walked to lead off the game but was thrown out trying to steal, and Hayasaka drew a walk in the 6th. That’s it!
The pitching staff did the rest – it’s like the dead opposite of Saturday and Sunday’s games versus Seibu where the Marines got plenty of men on but couldn’t bring anyone home. It’s about as efficient a win as could be had, and it guaranteed the series win. Fighters fans rejoiced at the Daiei loss as they pulled further in front of the Pacific League, and Lotte keeps their distance over last place Orix. Since a playoff chance is very unlikely at this point, we take the small victories.
By Steve Novosel
 What a fierce mascot Seibu has! (from wikimedia commons) As I mentioned in yesterday’s live blog I intended to go to Tokorozawa for today’s game. Clearly I am not there (for reasons too complicated to explain) so I’m kicking out another live blog.
On the hill today is the always-interesting Karakawa. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly this season he has to be the hardest-luck pitcher on the team. He’s been good to great all year and only has 4 wins to show for it – and none in months. His opponent is Nogami, who I don’t believe we’ve faced this season (though I could be wrong).
The top of the lineup is the same as yesterday – Tsuyoshi, Hayasaka, Saburo, and Ohmatsu – but the bottom half is drastically different – Takehara, Satozaki, Hashimoto (at DH), Kohbe (at first), and Heiuchi.
First Inning
A two out single by Saburo is wasted as Ohmatsu pops out to second.
Karakawa starts out much like Ono last night, striking out Kataoka and inducing ground outs by Hara and Kuriyama. 0-0 after one.
Second Inning
Satozaki strikes out to start the inning. Hashimoto hits a nice liner down the right field line, but GG Sato gets to it quickly and holds him to a single. Takehara strikes out and Kohbe grounds to first to end the inning.
More great pitching by Karakawa – he gets Nakajima, Uemoto, and GG Sato in order. Still 0-0.
Third Inning
A walk by Heiuchi and a single to left by Hayasaka are separated by a GIDP by Tsuyoshi. Hayasaka gets nailed trying to pinch second – so even with two baserunners only three come to bat in the inning. Kind of weird.
Karakawa is still on fire in the bottom of the third – Ishii, Ginjiro, and Bocachica come up and go right back down in order. That’s 9 in a row to start the game for Karakawa, but no runs to help him out. 0-0 after a quick 3.
Fourth Inning
A familiar, disturbing patter repeats itself. Saburo singles to start the inning but Ohmatsu, Takehara, and Satozaki can’t do anything to move him over, let alone bring him in.
A much better pattern repeats itself as Karakawa mows down the top of the Seibu order in order – again. 12 up, 12 down on 46 pitches for the Baby-Faced Killer – still 0-0.
Fifth Inning
Takehara grounds out to get the fifth started. The beloved Kohbe is up next, and the ouendan get his ouenka going loudly. He responds, knocking one through the left side for a single. Heiuchi pops out to Ginjiro, and Tsuyoshi hits a high pop to center that Kuriyama loses. He falls down but holds on – 3 out.
My, is Karakawa on tonight! A shallow pop by Nakajima and ground outs by Uemoto and GG Sato send Seibu down in order for the 5th time in five innings. Still no Lotte runs, though – 0-0.
Sixth Inning
Jeez. A K by Hayasaka, a soft pop off the handle of the bat to second by Saburo, and a deep fly to center – deep but in the park – 3 up, 3 down for our Marines.
Karakawa! Karakawa! Karakawa! Another 3 up, 3 down for young Karakawa – Ishii and Bocachica by strikeout, and Ginjiro by pop to Ohmatsu. If the offense doesn’t get him some runs soon I swear I’m not watching another game until Tuesday. 0-0 after 6.
Lucky 7
A leadoff walk by Satozaki. Hashimoto bunts him nicely to second but Takehara strikes out and Kohbe flies out weakly to left. Sigh… Need I mention we haven’t scored a run since Friday?
Kataoka breaks up the perfect game and the no-hitter in one swing – a little flare to center that drops between second and center. Hara bunts him to second, and Kuriyama hits a double into the corner. The run’s in – 1-0 Seibu. Nakajima lines out to Heiuchi and Uemoto flies out to Ohmatsu, but the damage is done. This is exactly why you can’t let scoring chances go by!
Eighth Inning
The Lotte eighth begins with a robust singing of the Seibu Dome-exclusive anti-Seibu song and Heiuchi at the bat. Recent MLB signee Bayliss has come on in relief. Heiuchi takes advantage of the fresh face immediately and knocks a single to right. Hayakawa is brought in to pinch run. Tsuyoshi blasts a ball to deep left – Bocachica runs to the fence and jumps…. and hauls it in. Haykawa has to scurry back to first. Hayasaka is up next; Hayakawa is running, Haysaka is swinging – strikeout, throw out. Just like that, scoring chance over.
GG Satoh leads off the Seibu eighth with a single to right. Sato guns him down by several steps when he tries to steal second. Ishii follows that up immediately with a double – whew, good thing GG was caught stealing! Karakawa gets Ginjiro looking with a pitch on the outside corner – nice. Gotoh Taketoshi pinch hits for Bocachica – he hits a long fly to center that’s reeled in by Saburo. On to the 9th and Lotte’s last chance – 1-0 Seibu.
Ninth Inning
Ohnuma’s in for Bayliss, and the Lotte 9th starts with Saburo. He flies out to right to lead off the inning. Ohmatsu smacks a 1-out double that gets the outfield singing! Satozaki walks and the rally is ON. Iguchi comes in to pinch-run for Ohmatsu (?) and Hashimoto’s at the plate. On a 2-2 count he tries to check his swing but can’t – a crucial K. It’s up to Takehara – he hits a 1-3 pitch, bouncing to third – thrown to first, beating Takehara to the bag. Jeez. Seriously? 1-0 Seibu, game set.
Wow. Ono last night and Karakawa tonight – both pitch GREAT and get nothing in return but a black circle next to their name in the box score. What does Karakawa have to do to get a win? We were talking about him getting one last win before he turns 20, and that was 2 months ago. Lotte actually outscores Seibu 12-9 in the series, but all 12 runs were in the first game…
So. Back to Chiba Marine to lick their wounds and try to regroup. The Hawks are the next opponent, and I hope the offense takes all of its frustration out on second place Daiei.
By Steve Novosel
 Swiped from skyscrapercity.com forums This blog should be renamed “We Love Marines, but We’ve Spent Almost no Time at Home Lately and Haven’t Had a Chance to Blog in Ages.” Catchy, no?
In honor of a baseball watchin’ weekend and to make up for my busy work week-induced silence, it’s live blog time! Today is Lotte on the road in Tokorozawa to face Seibu. Lotte won a run festival last night 12-7 (more to come on that later), so a win today wins the series. No matter how bad the season goes (and it’s been pretty bad as of late) it always feels great to beat up on Seibu, especially on the road.
Today’s matchup brings Ono to the hill to face Kishi. Ono had a pretty rough outing last Friday in Sendai, but he should bounce back with a good performance today. Catching Ono today is Hashimoto (batting 5th), and the rest of the lineup looks is Fukuura at first (batting 7th), Hayasaka at second (batting 2nd), Tsuyoshi at short (leadoff), Heiuchi at third (batting 9th). The outfield is Ohmatsu in left (4th), Hayakawa in center (8th), and Saburo in right (3rd). Benny gets the start at the DH.
First Inning
Lotte gets runners on the corners via a leadoff walk by Tsuyoshi, a steal, a sac bunt, and another walk by Saburo. Ohmatsu hits a shallow pop that’s unable to score a run for the second out and Hashimoto lines out to a diving Bocachica in left to end the inning.
Ono is the model of efficiency in the bottom of the inning, inducing Kataoka, Hara, and Kuriyama into ground-outs on a total of 7 pitches. Nice – 0-0 after one.
Second Inning
Benny grounds out to lead off the inning. Fukuura next hits a nice single to left center. Haykawa grounds to first – Ishii throws out Fukuura at second but the swift Hayakawa beats out the throw to first. It’s all moot, though, as Heiuchi strikes out to end the inning.
Ono is just as good in the second as the first – he induces Nakajima and Uemoto into quick ground-outs and strikes out GG Sato. He takes a grand total of 10 pitches to do it this time. Very nice – still 0-0. Viewers at home are also treated to a view of recently-retired Kiyohara (on hand for the opening pitch) in a wife-beater in the press box. We didn’t need that one, guys.
Third Inning
A bizarre bit of baseball in the top of the inning. Tsuyoshi smacks one off of Kishi’s shin and hoofs it to first for an infield single. Kishi is injured but stays on. A few pitches later Tsuyoshi takes off to steal – it looks like Kishi throws a pitchout but Ginjiro stays in his crouch and has to jump for the ball. He snags it and whips it to second – for some unknown reason Tsuyoshi has decided to stop running before reaching the bag. The throw is dropped, though, so he jogs into second with a standing steal. I suspect Bobby’s not going to be too happy with that one.
Hayasaka strikes out, Saburo walks again, and Ohmatsu hits a deep fly that reaches the warning track but no further. Hashimoto is again faced with a two-out, runners on the corners situation and again he gets an out, this time a fly to center.
Seibu gets some baserunners off Ono in the bottom of the 3rd. Ishii leads off with a single and Ginjiro sacrifices him to second. Bocachica pops out to left and Ono pops Kataoka to put runners on second and first with two out. How long has Kataoka been using Princess Princess as intro music, anyway? It’s stuck in my head now, grr.
Ono gets Hara to fly out to Hayakawa for the third out so no damage is done. A grand total of 14 pitches for all of that, too – 0-0 after three.
Fourth Inning
Benny takes a swing at strike three to lead off the fourth, and Fukuura grounds to Ishii for out two. Hayakawa grounds to second to end the Lotte fourth.
Kuriyama knocks a single to left while leading off the Seibu fourth, but he’s doubled off when Nakajima lines Ono’s first pitch right back at him. Ono makes a nice reflex snag and lobs it to Fukuura – easy peasy DP! Uemoto grounds out to Hayasaka to end the Seibu fourth, and the game cruises into the fifth still tied, 0-0.
Fifth Inning
Kishi has really got the car going going downhill now. A flyout by Heiuchi and strikeouts of Tsuyoshi and Hayasaka send Lotte down in order.
Ono is still looking nice himself – grounder, grounder, grounder and the Lions go down in order as well. Into the 6th – still a scoreless tie.
Sixth Inning
More of the same, really – Saburo lines out to left, Ohmatsu takes ball four. He tries to steal second, but is thrown out as Hashimoto strikes out. Three quick outs.
Ono also gets a quick inning, retiring Bocachica, Kataoka, and Hara in order. Still no score after 6.
Lucky 7
So close, yet… Benny draws a leadoff walk, and after a Fukuura pop out Hayakawa almost ends the inning with an infield grounder. Benny is out at second but Hayakawa beats the throw to first. Hayakawa takes off running and Heiuchi singles, but Hayakawa doesn’t see him single, rounds second and stops between second and third. Belatedly he rushes back to second and is safe. Tsuyoshi smashes a ball very deep – I thought it was gone – but GG Sato makes a great catch while jumping into the right field fence. A nice scoring chance, but no runs.
Ono continues his nice game. He gets Kuriyama to pop out to Hayakawa. Kuriyama hits a broken bat single to center, and Uemoto grounds one to Fukuura. He bobbles the ball and can’t get 2, but he makes the easy play at first. GG Sato hits an easy grounder to Heiuchi to account for the third out. 0-0, 3 hits for both teams, and into the late innings. Nice and close- the best kind of game.
Eighth Inning
The speedy Hayasaka gets on with a grounder up the middle to get the Lotte 8th started. Saburo rides one deep and high – but too high, as it’s reeled in in deep center. Ohmatsu pops to Ginjiro, and Hayasaka swipes second. The Lotte ouendan get “Skinhead Runnin’” going as Hashimoto draws a two-out walk. Benny strikes out on four pitches to end the nice scoring chance, though.
Turnabout is indeed fair play, though. Ishii flies out to very deep center to start the Seibu eighth, and Ginjiro hits a very deep ball off the right center fence, ending up on second. Ono walks Bocachica but gets Kataoka to ground to Heiuchi. Heiuchi steps on third, fires to first, double play! Threat over, and it’s still tied at 0-0 heading to the 9th.
Ninth Inning
Lotte manages a two-out baserunner as Heiuchi draws a walk but nothing doing, scoring wise. It’s up to Ono’s pitching and good defense now to send it to extra innings.
9 pitches into Hara’s leadoff at-bat Ono plunks him on the hands. It’s pretty crappy, though, as Hara moved his hands in a position to get plunked. Hardly seems like a good call and Bobby comes out to complain, but it stands.
Kuriyama drops a sac bunt, Ono fields it and whips it to Tsuyoshi at second. The throw is offline, though, and Tsuyoshi can’t reel it in. Hara keeps on running to third. No outs.
Ono intentionally walks Nakajima to load the bases with nobody out. Bobby goes to the pen – in comes Sikorski in a tough, tough spot. Can he nail it down and send it to extra innings?
No. It’s a big bouncing grounder to Fukuura. He’s got no choice but to go home – it’s a slow grounder though and Hara is in easily. A tight 1-0 loss for Lotte. I feel bad for Ono, it was as good of a performance as one would hope for but Lotte couldn’t plate anyone to give him support. I don’t think the 9th should have unfolded the way it did, though – I really don’t think Hara should have been awarded first, and if he’s not awarded first Kuriyama’s not bunting, and there’s no error…. But poor calls are an unfortunate part of the game.
So the series goes to the rubber game tomorrow. I’ll be in the Lotte gaiya helping Lotte on to a series win!
By Steve Novosel
I lied; there is no good news. How can there be good news when the pen blows a game to the hated Lions?
The pen didn’t blow a lead, but they did blow a tie – twice – and the second time was unrecoverable as Seibu beats Lotte the second night in a row, 5-3. That guarantees the series win for Seibu and keeps pushing our Marines further behind in the chase for the third and final playoff spot.
Getting the start tonight was Shimizu, who’s been pretty solid the past month or so with absolutely nothing to show for it (can’t that be said for many Lotte players this year?) Facing Shimizu is ex-Yakult and ex-MLB pitcher Ishii. I wouldn’t call the game a pitching duel, though both starters went deep and pitched reasonably well.
Ishii had the better start statistically as he only allowed 4 hits in 8+ innings of work, but fortunately for Lotte two of those four hits were homers, and a third led directly to a score.
Seibu took the lead in the top of the first as Kataoka drew a leadoff walk from Shimizu, immediately stole second, advanced to third on a ground-out, and scored on a Nakajima single. 1-0 Seibu.
Not to be outdone in the small ball sweepstakes, Lotte answered right back. Tsuyoshi led off the bottom of the first with a double, advanced to third on an Iguchi (batting second for the first time I can remember) grounder, and scored on a Saburo sac fly. 1-1 tie after one.
In the fourth Lotte made it 2-1, thanks to a big shot to deep left center by the inimitable Satozaki. Not much doubt about that ball as it came off the bat.
 Surprisingly, Satozaki throws his bat after getting a hold of one Seibu tied it back up in the sixth with a double by Kuriyama and an RBI single by the Meaty One, Nakamura. 2-2 tie.
 Bocachica slides in safely as Tsuyoshi needs to fly to snag the throw Shimizu comes out after 8, and Uchi is in. He gives up a one-out single to Ishii (Yoshihito), and Ginjiro sacrifices him to second. Bocachica smashes a liner to center and it looks to my eyes that Saburo is going to reel it in at the warning track — but he can’t get there… Ishii scores easily, Bocachica’s standing on second, Seibu’s sitting on a 3-2 lead. Oy.
Ishii (of the pitching Ishiis) stays in for the 9th, and perhaps Saburo thought he should have gotten to that ball in the top of the inning too – he certainly compensates as he smooshes a ball deep into the right field stands to tie the game! 3-3, and on to extra innings.
 Oh let's go Saburo Sikorski handles the Lions offense in the 10th and 11th – in fact I think I saw a gun reading on the scoreboard of 156 for one pitch the 10th? The highest I see on the Yahoo tracker is 152 but several are missing speeds. Anyway, Brian gets the job done. Unfortunately, so does the Seibu tandem of Onuma and Onodera – it’s on to the 12th.
 Tanaka makes a great attempt at a catch in extra innings but can't haul it in Ogino relieves Sikorski and uh-oh. Ogino is looking much more like recent vintage Ogino than early-season Ogino. After a quick out via the K, Ogino walks Bocachica, gives up a single to Kataoka, and Kuriyama puts a double down the line to clear the bags. That’s all in just 14 action-packed pitches, folks. 5-3 Seibu. I don’t know what the hell happened to Ogino – but he blew his first save when he was the closer back on 14 May (he had a 0.00 ERA for the season to that point) and he’s been generally dreadful ever since.
No matter the reason, the guys are behind and need to mount another comeback to at least force a tie. Hashimoto hits a two-out double to make an effort of it but it’s just not happening. Seibu takes the game in 12 5-3.
Losing is bad enough, losing to Seibu is worse, but losing twice to Seibu when they are really the one team we absolutely can’t afford to lose to just puts the cherry on top. Well, I’m sure the team will keep on fighting and get back in the win column tomorrow!
By Steve Novosel
If I told you that Kobayashi Hiroyuki – the starter who was great prior to last year but only went 5-12 with an ERA above 5 in 2008 and is 2-9 with a 4.67 ERA in 2009 and has lost 5 of his last 6 starts – wait, that’s too long of an aside. If I told you that Kobayshi would face the hated Lions in Chiba Marine tonight and throw a complete game, 7-hit, 7-K, 1-run performance – you’d be pretty happy with that, right? I sure would.
Problem is, his counterpart was the Lions’s ace, Wakui. And Wakui was very strong indeed – throwing a complete game, 13-K shutout and a ludicrous 161 pitches to deal Lotte the 1-0 loss in the first game of the mid-week three game set.
Here’s what you need to know about this game: Wakui only allowed Lotte two real scoring chances. The first was when Saburo led off the 4th with a double and the second was when Lotte loaded the bases in the 7th with two outs. Both times Wakui worked himself – and the Lions – out of a jam.
Hiro only made one awful pitch, the one smacked over the fence by Kuriyama in the third. And even that pitch didn’t clear the fence by much – from my perch in the outfield I didn’t think it was going out, but it just cleared.
Lotte even nailed Ishii in a rundown between third and home to prevent another run from scoring. Satozaki picked off Ginjiro from second when he took a big lead after a seventh inning double. The pitching and defense did it’s part, but really, you don’t win so many games when you don’t score any runs.
The series rolls on on Thursday, and hopefully Lotte can score a few runs this time – more than the Lions, even!
Spotted in the outfield tonight: “Heiuchi 2010″ T-shirts.
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