Our Marines took to the road for the first time this past weekend, taking two of three games from the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka. Just like the sakura all around Chiba Prefecture, Our Marines have also blossomed quite beautifully into a first place team over the weekend, sitting atop the PL with a 5-3 record. […]
If only that one ball didn’t take that awkward bounce. If only we could have turned just one LOB into an RBI. If only the outfield fence was just a few centimeters shorter. Unfortunately for Our Marines, it felt like Game 1 of the Climax Series Final Stage alone could have fulfilled a season’s quota of “if only”s.
I have no voice, nothing left in me at all right now. But I must tell you this, fellow traveller in Lotte fandom – Our beloved Marines sent Nippon Hamu to an early bedtime on this Monday with a tense, thrilling 2-1 win in Sapporo. The streak of first round victories in the playoffs is intact, the Golden Year dream lives on. It’s a wonderful day to be a Lotte supporter.
On Monday night at a jam-packed, roaring Seibu Dome, the hated Lions had a chance to virtually end Chiba’s season with a defeat. Instead, ace (yeah, I said it) Ishikawa delivered a wonderful start, the bullpen brought out their best pitching, and the mighty bat of one Alfredo Despaigne smashed through Seibu’s pitching to earn a absolutely essential 4-2 victory.
You’ve probably noticed we haven’t written in a while. There’s a reason for that – it’s been a tough team to write about for many months now. But here we are roaring into the final 8 games of the season and… we’re alive. Not only that, but we’ve got a real chance, but Our Marines need to play by far their best baseball of the season – without two of the best players on the team – for the Climax Series to become a reality.
