Lotte came into today’s rubber match with Softbank looking to take their second road series of the year. Tasked with the challenge of stopping Softbank was Naruse, who was making only his second start of the year. He’s had middling results in both of his previous starts, with a shaky first and a strong second. […]
After a disappointing 6-2 loss to Softbank in the opener of the weekend series on Friday, Lotte needed a win to get closer to coming out of the Pa-league cellar. Pitching tonight was Karakawa Yuki, who has had a strong start to the season with an ERA of 2.57 in 3 starts. Yahoo Dome is
The Marines went back on the road tonight for a 3 game set with 5th place Softbank in Fukuoka, hoping to continue the momentum from last night’s sayonara victory. Alas, it was not to be. Lotte starter Ono gave up 6 ER in 6 innings, including a pair of HRs to Softbank slugger Matsunaka (for
After Tuesday’s extra-inning heartbreaker and yesterday’s tantalizing-comeback-that-fell-short Lotte entered tonight’s game needing a strong performance to avoid their second straight series sweep at the hands of Orix. Would Marines ace Shimizu Naoyuki (0-2 with a 9.20 ERA in ’09) be able to shut down the power-hitting Buffalo bats? Would the erratic Lotte offense be able
Quick on the heels of last night’s gloomy disappointment was today’s afternoon game, the second with Orix. The pitching matchup featured Watanabe Shunsuke (who was 0-2 on the season to date despite a 2.40 ERA) and Kanako Chihiro (1-2 with a 5.30 ERA). Watanabe has always pitched well at Chiba Marine, so optimism was running
