Every Year is Golden Year in Chiba
The weekend series vs cross-Kanto rivals Seibu represented a chance for Our Marines to get back to .500, as well as a taste of the only Pacific League team we’ve yet to see. Ultimately, what we learned is much the same as what the previous four series taught us – when the pitching is good, …
The Men From Makuhari headed to Kansai this week for the first series of the year vs the suddenly strong Buffaloes, winners of 5 straight coming in. But after receiving a beating at the hands of second place Orix in game 1, Lotte rallied to take games two and three to win their second series …
Last road trip of the year? Yup, last road trip of the year. Hard to believe we’re at that time of year already but indeed it’s true – this series in Sendai makes the last three road games of the 2014 season.
This series sadly also is the final opportunity for Our Marines to win a season series with a PL team. Chiba has 12 losses (exactly) in every head-to-head matchup except with Rakuten, against whom we have 11. Hey, it’s not much, but it would be nice to be better than at least one PL team.
The goals for the remaining games are basically (a) get the younger players some more experience (b) play the spoiler. Wait, I forgot to list the most important goal! (c) BEAT SEIBU. Interestingly enough, we get 7 games in 10 days vs our Tokorozawa – this 3 game set at Seibu Dome and next week a 4 game tilt at QVC – and that’s it for the season. Seibu’s in just about as hopeless a position as is Chiba, so really we should look at this as a 7 game series to determine PL Kanto supremacy once and for all.
We just took a look yesterday at the pitchers for the 2014 version of Our Marines. The pitching situation is pretty straightforward with a lot of depth both in the rotation and in the pen. The situation for position players is a bit different, though, with lots more variables to consider.
It’s the last trip to Sapporo this year for sure as Hamu is basically out of contention in the PL after a 6-13 month that has left them reeling. Meanwhile Chiba’s got a chip on their shoulder after dropping the close last game and squandering the chance to build a big cushion in the race for second. The lead is just one game with 12 to go – this is playoff ball, and we need another series win.
When Chunichi and Lotte get together, brevity and subtlety tend to go AWOL. These last two games with the Dragons at QVC Marine Field were no exception.
Last we saw young Yuji Nishino at QVC Marine Field he was making Carp batters look foolish in a dominating 8 2/3, 12K performance. Tonight Nishino was up to old tricks – he completely shut down the offense of the visiting Tokyo Yakult Swallows and earned a well-deserved 4-0 victory. With the win and a Seibu loss, Our Marines are back to a 3 game lead in the PL race and are within 0.5 games of Rakuten for the interleague crown. Very nice.
Truth be told, this wasn’t a very good game. And I am not just talking about the result – a 5-3 loss to the visiting Swallows – it was just a poorly executed game all around. Eh, it happens.
It was a rough three nights in Tokyo for the Marines, but a little home cooking was just what the doctor ordered for an ailing club. Lotte snapped their 3 game skid with a convincing 7-0 win over the Hiroshima Carp. Ohmine pitched a complete game shutout to put Chiba back in the win column. …