June 2013 – Page 3

Futility Reigns

It was rough afternoon for the Marines at Koshien Stadium, scoring only 3 runs on 15 hits while committing 2 errors. The season finale with the Tigers was punctuated by a Matt Murton sayonara homerun, as Hanshin walked off with a 4-3 win. Lotte hit into four double plays on the day, contributing to a total of ten men left on base. Starting pitcher Ohmine was pulled after three innings (0ER) for the second straight start, while the NPB save leader Masuda was charged with the blown save and the loss. The Marines finished the year winless against the Tigers at 0-3-1. Their lead in the Pacific League also falls to two games, and Lotte is now two games out of the inter-league title with only four games left to go.

Marines Lose Battle of Aces

In a battle of number one starters, our ace Naruse was out-dueled by Atsushi Nohmi in a 3-1 win for the Hanshin Tigers over the Marines at Koshien Stadium. Naruse only gave up 2 earned runs in 7 innings, but it was not enough to best the Tigers ace. Nohmi hurled a rather efficient complete game 3-hitter, logging just 103 pitches. The Marines are now 0-2-1 versus the Tigers on the year.

VERY Small Ball

In a complete turnaround from the previous three games with the Hiroshima Carp, Our Marines couldn’t hit and couldn’t play defense. The Carp capitalized on Lotte mistakes and ended the season series by defeating Chiba 4-1 in Onomichi.

The Blooming of the Iguchi Spring

On a day when 39-year-old Tadahito Iguchi was named the Pacific League MVP for May, Our Marines battered the pitching staff of the Hiroshima Carp for 14 hits and 5 runs en route to a very nice 5-3 win. With losses by Rakuten and Seibu, Lotte jumps back to the top of the interleague standings and in front of the PL standings by a whopping 4 games. Who cares if it just turned June, this has been one enjoyable ride.

Nishino Is At It Again!

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.