After dropping game 1 in Osaka Our Marines blew the doors off the best pitching staff in the PL and took the series. Who saw that coming? And which team is going to show up at QVC, that team or the team that dropped the series to the Fighters? 48 games left, 6 games out of third, if there’s going to be a run it’s gotta be now.
Our Marines hosted the Orix Buffaloes for a two game stint. Let’s start with the good news. Chiba jumped out to 3-0 leads in both games. The bad news? We blew both leads and would win neither game. Orix and Lotte played to a draw on Tuesday night, finishing tied 3-3. On Wednesday, the Buffaloes won 4-3.
Do NOT be fooled by the relatively close final score – Our Marines get beat down solidly at Seibu Dome this afternoon. Not even having this season’s ace Nishino on the hill could stop the bleeding today. Nishino got shelled. The bullpen – not good. The offense – non existent. This all added up to a 7-3 loss to the Lions.
Our Marines fell 5-3 to the Nippon-Ham Fighters in the rubber match of a 3 game set. As the line score shows, the teams combined for 8 runs in the first 3 innings, only to combined for 5 hits and 0 runs for the remaining 6 innings. Starting pitcher Fujioka lasted only 3 innings, shouldering responsibility for all 5 of the Fighters runs on the evening.
I’m not going to yank your chain with an extended intro – The Chiba Lotte Marines came alive late in tonight’s Climax Series Final Stage Game 5, finally turning on the jets and setting fire to Hawks pitching. With great pitching and furious offense, Lotte put away the Hawks 5-2 to force a decisive game
