We Love Marines

Tag: Naoya Masuda

All According To Plan

from marines.co.jp

The Chiba Lotte Marines plan for the last two months of the 2013 season is in full effect. No more of the bad pitching, no more of the losing. The goal was to forget all that went down in July and start playing like we did in May. After a little bit of a stumble to start the month of August Our Marines have been playing like a team destined for A-Class.

Tonight, Chiba rode the fantastic start of New Righty Ace Nishino and the closing power of PL saves leader Masuda to a 2-0 shutout win over Nippon Ham in Sapporo. The win marked Our Marines’ 3rd win in a row and the 5th win out of the past 6.

Orix Series
I’ve been travelling a lot recently and haven’t had a chance to update. That’s too bad as Lotte has put on a hell of a good show this month! The first two games of August were kind of bad, notable only for Keiyo Aomatsu making his first appearance at ichi-gun since 2006 and getting an RBI in his first AB (he got hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance.) Also, Fukuura of all people legged out a triple, high off the outfield wall at Kyocera Dome – his first triple in 7 years. But other than that, there’s nothing to discuss – consecutive losses to Nippon Ham and Orix.

Since then, though, there’s been a whole lot of enjoyable baseball (save a snooze-inducing loss to Daiei in Fukuoka). Last Saturday featured 6 Lotte pitchers holding Orix to 4 runs at a very hotto Hotto Motto while beating up Kei Igawa and the Buffs pen to the tune of 7 runs on 14 hits. There were big games at the plate by T OGINO (2-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBI from the leadoff spot), Okada (3-4 with a triple and an RBI), Braz (a massive pinch-hit homer to right), and Aomatsu with his first modasho and first trip to the podium as the hero. It was a very enjoyable 7-4 victory.

Sunday’s game looked much like Saturday’s game as Nishino started a bit shaky (3 runs in 3 innings), but 5 men from the pen (Ledezma, Uchi, Matsunaga, Rosa, Masuda) took over and shut down Orix. The bats were just as lively as in Saturday’s game – 7 runs on 11 hits including big performances by Iguchi (his 20th HR of the year), T OGINO (2-3 with 2 HBP and a 2-run HR), Braz (a key RBI double), and Okada (his second consecutive modasho). The 7-3 victory sealed Lotte’s first series win in 3 weeks.

Daiei Series
Our Marines dropped the opener in Fukuoka 6-1, but that doesn’t matter as they rebounded strongly to take the next two games 2-1 on Wednesday and 5-4 on Thursday for the second series win in a row.

Wednesday’s game was a type we haven’t seen in a while – a close pitching duel behind the start of New Lefty Ace Furuya (7 IP, 5 H, 4 Ks, only 1 run). Chiba had a hard time getting runners across the plate despite 2 runners on in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th innings and bases loaded in the 6th due to the crafty pitching of the Hawks’ Takeda, Morifuku, and Yanase. Lotte broke through in the 8th vs Padilla, though – a leadoff hit by Imae and a sac bunt by Kakunaka gave Braz the opportunity to tie the game with a lovely RBI single. In the 9th, Heiuchi (HISAO! HISAO! HISAO! HISAO!) led off with a double, and T OGINO brought him in with a timely bloop double to left. Masuda mauled the bottom of the Hawks lineup in the 9th to seal the win.

In Thursday’s rubber match, Greisinger looked fantastic for 5 out of 6 innings (not so much in the other one, though) but the pen was really dodgy making this one much tighter than it should have been. Our Marines ran out to an early 5-0 lead thanks to a big 3rd inning off the bats of Imae (modasho and an RBI single), Kakunaka (2-3 with a 2-RBI double), and Fukuura (1-3 with a big 2-RBI double). That should have been plenty of runs – and indeed it was – but the outcome was very much in doubt until the last pitch.

Greisinger gave up a pair in the 4th to make it a 5-2 game, and Ledezma game up another via a long Egawa HR in the 7th to make it 5-3. Masuda came in to close it in the 9th, but his performance was pretty much the exact opposite of his outing on Wednesday. 3 quick hits to start off the inning including an RBI single by Egawa to make it 5-4 – the Hawks fans were smelling blood. A sac bunt by Kaneko put runners on 2nd and 3rd, only one out, and Masuda was pulled for Matsunaga. (4 batters, 3 hits for Masuda on only 9 pitches!) Yanagita was in to pinch hit – he chopped one past the mound, Matsunaga made a nice snag and gunned it home to nail Hasegawa at the plate! And soon after Matsunaga induced a game ending grounder by Tanoue to seal the victory. Too close for my comfort but a 5-4 victory and another series win again!

from marines.co.jp

On To Sapporo
Friday’s start to the Hamu series was one for the fans of pitching. Nishino got the start and was downright dominant. I feel it was probably his second best start of the year (behind the 12-K masterpiece vs Hiroshima) and it was one he easily could have completed. 8 IP, 3 hits¹, 5 Ks, 1 walk, and 0 runs on the night for young Nishino, and taking only 98 pitches to do so. Perhaps Itoh-kantoku was worried about the long fly outs Nishino gave up in the 8th as the reason for pulling him, but no mind as Nishino did everything he needed to do to get the win.

¹And one of the hits could have reasonably been caught on a different day by all world center fielder Okada. It would have been a very difficult catch on a liner to deep center, and Okada did in fact get a glove on it, but just couldn’t reel it in. It says a lot about how good Okada is that we are almost disappointed when he doesn’t make a crazy twisting circus catch on a tough ball.

The offense? Well, the Chiba bats only got runs across the plate in the first inning thanks to great pitching by Keppel, Otani (in his first relief appearance) and Enoshita, but with Nishino as good as he was a single run would have gotten the job done. The first Lotte run came thanks to a leadoff walk by T OGINO, a sac bunt by Okada, and a timely single off the bat of Iguchi. A single by Imae (to run his batting streak to 9 games and his batting average to .320) moved over Iguchi, and Braz brought him home to make it a 2-0 game.

That was the final score! Masuda took over for Nishino in the 9th, looking to get over the bad outing the previous night and largely he did. The fastball looked lively in striking out Akada and Nakata, and Abreu lined out to end the game.

Our Marines are all alone in 2nd place now, well behind 1st place Rakuten but looking stronger and stronger. A good run now could push the weaker teams out of the picture completely and there’s still 11 games left with the Eagles (7 at QVC) to reel them back in. If the boys from Chiba can continue to win, positioning for the Climax Series will take care of itself.

Up next is The Baby-Faced Killer vs Takeda in an afternoon tilt at Sapporo Dome. Karakawa REALLY needs to step up with a nice outing this time.

August 9, 2013
Seibu Series? So-So.

Ah, The Good Ol Days

Was it indeed the best of times, the worst of times? Perhaps not, but Wednesday’s game and Thursday’s games at Seibu Dome were about as different as could be. In game one, great pitching by an ensemble of arms led to a solid 4-1 victory, but in game two anyone who stepped on the mound for Lotte got lit up as Our Marines lost 11-4.

Game 1
Furuya on the hill and looking great – with the exception of his second start at Kleenex, that’s been his thing. In this game my buddy was fantastic for 5 innings – 1 hit, no runs, 4 Ks – before getting into a huge jam in the 6th. In that inning, Furuya gave up a double, hit by pitch, and a single to Watanabe to load the bases, then walked Kuriyama to put a run on the board for Seibu. That was it, and Itoh-kantoku went to the pen. UCHI.

Anybody who has bothered to read me for a while knows how much I like Uchi. No – LOVE Uchi. But he hasn’t been around ichi-gun at all this year, and in ni-gun wasn’t throwing all that great. Still, he got the post All Star call up and was thrown into a critical spot right off the bat. Bases loaded, Lions smelling blood. But he’s been here before, and Seibu Dome has no magic over him. One pitch, 5-4-3 DP, inning over. That’s my guy!

The rest of the pen did a lovely job as well. Uchi was followed by Matsunaga, who got the one out he was asked to get with a filthy slider to nail Hoshi. Rosa got into a jam of his own in the 8th but allowed nothing, and Masuda shut the door with 2 Ks and no baserunners in the 9th.

From marines.co.jp
The offense? Plenty, though it was all small ball. 14 hits, 13 of them for singles and 4 runs on the night. Iguchi and Nemoto with Modasho, Iguchi racking up the 1500th hit of his NPB career. Imae and Kakunaka also recorded a pair of hits each, and Daichi’s one hit scored Braz and Kakunaka in the second inning, and proved to be the game winner. A nice 4-1 win for Chiba.

Game 2
Just awful. Basically worthy of the Mr Yuk designation except for… in a minute.

The Baby-Faced Killer got the start in this one, and though he has been dodgy all year there’s been signs he was coming out of his funk. His last two outings have been very solid indeed. This one? Garbage. 4+ innings, 9 hits, a walk, and 6 earned. I hate to say it – everyone knows I’ve been a fan of Karakawa since his rookie year – but he’s unequivocally the worst qualifying pitcher in Japan this year, and it ain’t even close.

The bullpen was equally horrid. Katsuki took over for Karaage-kun and immediately gave up a bomb to Akiyama. Abe took over for Katsuki and also looked bad – 7 hits and 4 ER for the pair in relief, and both got sent back to ni-gun after the game. The total damage? 11 runs, 10 earned, 16 hits, 5 of those for extra bases.

BUT STEVE you said “except for…” at the beginning! This sounds awful! It WAS awful, basically unwatchable except for big power smashes from Iguchi (his 18th of the year to left field) and Braz – again (his 4th and 5th of the year. NO – his 4th and 5th in the past 4 games!) Imae contributed a double and Daichi a triple (leading the league with 7!) – it’s easy to imagine how if the pitching was any good at all that the game could have gone much differently.

I just gotta bring up Braz again – he’s played 10 games for Our Marines, and in those 10 games he’s a) gotten a hit in every one b) racked up 17 hits in total and c) those 5 HRs – wow. What a nice signing he’s been!

Next up is a 3 game set in Sendai, starting with undefeated Tanaka vs Greisinger. Time for some revenge for the beating we took at the beginning of the month!

July 25, 2013
Braz Attack!

It’s been a rough July for Chiba – coming into Tuesday’s game vs Daiei the Boys by the Bay were just 2-8-1 for the month (most of the games on the road). But thanks to some great pitching, timely hitting, and a powerful smash by new addition Craig Brazell, Our Marines pulled out a fun 6-3 victory at QVC. Oh, I wish I had been there to see it.

Honestly I was supposed to go – had planned on it for weeks – but I left Japan for a business trip and brought a cold back with me. Time to rest at home. I missed a good one.

I’m also conveniently ignoring the two games prior to this one – both Lotte losses – and neither of them interesting enough to warrant dredging up the past. Let’s just say I spent a good portion of Monday’s 8th inning complaining loudly in my seat about managerial decisions and poor performance. But this is We LOVE Marines not We Complain Loudly About Questionable Decisions And Poor Execution By Marines (that’s what Twitter is for) so I won’t get into that.

Let’s Do Some Hitting!
Indeed, let’s! Is 11 hits, 2 doubles, a triple (by – get this – T OGINO!) and a crushed line drive of a homer by Braz sufficient? Yes? Then, friend, you would be happy with this game!

Lotte bats pounded on Hawks starter Terahara early and often. The fun got started in the first as Iguchi drilled a 2-out double and Imae immediately brought him home. That’s a very quick 1-0 Lotte lead, folks!

More goodness for the Chiba fans in the second as T OGINO ripped a triple to left center. For mere mortals it would have been a double but everyone’s favorite speedster had designs on three bases the whole way and was in easily. Daichi grounded to first – the throw went home and Ogino scampered back to the bag, everybody safe. Kanazawa brought him in with an RBI ground-out to make it a 2-0 Lotte lead, Fighting Nemo ripped a double of his own to score Daichi, and Okada singled to bring in Nemoto. End of 2, and it was 4-0 Lotte!

Bottom 3 – Imae led off with a single and Braz followed with one of his own (that’s a 7 game hitting streak in 7 games played by Craig!). Kakunaka grounded into a force at second to leave runners at the corners for…. T OGINO. Yeah, he’s got this one – a single to left, Imae in, Lotte laughing it up at 5-0!

Happy Braz is Very Happy

As I just mentioned, Brazell has been basically on fire since coming to Lotte, hitting safely in every game with a .462 BA. The only thing missing has been the extra base hits, the power. But he’s been crushing the ball – huge, high deep flies in Monday’s game and in the first inning of this one. The dingers just had to come. In the bottom of the 5th, it finally did – Braz crushed a 3-2 slider on the inside of the plate into the ecstatic fans in the Lotte ouenseki! His first homer as a Marine, and an insurmountable 6-0 Chiba lead!

Insurmountable? But What About The Pitching?
What about it? In a word, superb. The Baby-Faced Killer was on the hill and for 5 innings he pitched out of his mind. 1 hit, 1 walk, that’s it. It was surely the best work we’ve seen from him all year, and he probably could have gone the distance had he not inexplicably fallen apart in the 6th inning (4 hits, 1 walk and a sac fly) to give up three runs. But this night, his performance was more than enough.

The team behind him out of the pen – Matsunaga, Carlos Rosa, and All Star Masuda – simply demolished the Hawks bats. 3 IP, 6 Ks, 1 hit, zero hope. Just a great night all around for the pitching staff.

With the win Our Marines solidify their second place position with one game left before the All Star break. Furuya gets the start against Funabashi’s own Iwasaki.

July 16, 2013
Orix Series Recap 7/9 & 7/10

Welcome to Chiba Craig! Photo from marines.co.jp

Our Marines hosted the Orix Buffaloes on Tuesday and Wednesday 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.

Game 1 – 7/9

QVC Marine Field hosted a “Beer Stadium” on Tuesday night. There’s nothing like heavily discounted tickets and half price beers to put butts in the seats on a hot and humid July evening. It was also the Marines debut of newly acquired Craig Brazell.

Karakawa took the hill for Lotte bringing with him a 4-6 record and 4.54 ERA, going up again Orix’s Chihiro Kaneko. Tonight, Karakawa threw 7+ innings and was charged with 2 runs. Quite the serviceable start and hopefully a sign of good things to come for the Baby Faced Killer, but unfortunately it would result in a no decision.

Lotte jumped out early to a 1-0 lead thanks to a lead off homerun by Nemoto to start things off in the 1st inning. The Chiba bats came alive again for a 2-run 4th inning. Kakunaka got things started with a single up the middle. Iguchi drove him in with an RBI double (300th career 2B), going the opposite way with a gap shot to center-right. After a ground out by Imae, Craig Brazell came up 0-1 in his Lotte career. But in his second Marines AB, Craig clubbed a bounding ball up the middle for an RBI single. After Iguchi’s and Craig’s RBIs, it was 3-0 Marines.

Orix chipped away at the lead with runs in the 5th and the 8th to make it 3-2 heading into the 9th. Lotte was in position for it’s first win in July with the PL’s save leader Masuda in to close. Due to our horrific play as of late, Masuda hadn’t seen action in a week and a half. Perhaps the layoff caused some rust to form on Masuda’a right arm, as he blew the save, giving up the tying run to Shinji Takahashi. The score was now tied 3-3.

Lotte almost walked off in the bottom of the 9th. With the outfield playing shallow and a runner on, Okada sent a deep fly to left-center. Orix CF Goto made a tremendous sliding catch going toward the wall to rob Okada of a game winning hit. So, we went into extra innings instead.

The two teams combined for only 3 base runners in innings 10-12, with neither team putting up much of a threat. After over 4+ hours, Lotte and Orix finished tied at 3-3. Two-through-five hitters Kakunaka, Iguchi, Imae, and Brazell all had 2 hit performances. Karakawa pitched well too, but it still wasn’t enough for our first win in July.

Game 2 – 7/10

Nice catch by Okada in Game 2. Okada! Okada! Okada! Photo from marines.co.jp

Furuya took the mound for his third start in a Lotte uniform, his second start against Orix. Two weeks ago Furuya threw 8 2/3 of no-hit ball in Osaka, blanking the Buffaloes in a 1-hit shutout. Things started rather similarly tonight, as Furuya added an additional 5 inning of shutout pitching, giving up only 1 hit.

Furuya would only get one more out after that. Things didn’t start well in the 6th, as Furuya was victim of a 2 base error by Kakunaka to lead off the inning. The error allowed the hitter Itoh to get three bases on a lead off single. The next hitter Adachi sac flied Itoh home to make it 3-1. Two singles and a walk later, Furuya was pulled, leaving the bases loaded with one out.

Before we get to how Lotte blew a 3-0 lead, let’s explain how they built the lead first. Chiba struck first in the 3rd inning by way of a Nemoto 1-out double down the right field line, followed by an Iguchi walk. Imae hit a base hit up the middle to knock in Nemo to make it 1-0.

The Marines added two more runs in the following inning. T. Ogino led off with a double to left field and would advance to third on a Daichi Suzuki sac bunt. Starting catcher Kanazawa¹ scorched a single past first base to bring home Ogino. Okada added a hit to put runners on 1st and 2nd for Nemoto. Nemo grounded a potential double play ball to the SS, but the throw from second skipped past Orix 1B Lee Dae Ho. Kanazawa rounded third and came in to make it 3-0. Personally, I thought Nemo would have beat the throw to first anyway, but he was not credited with the RBI.

¹Kanazawa later left the game with an injured knee after making a great sliding catch up against the dugout netting.

Now back to us blowing the lead. Let us recall Furuya left the game with the bases loaded and 1 out in a 3-1 ballgame in the 6th. Itoh-kantoku called on Ueno to hold the lead, facing off against Lotte-killer Lee Dae Ho. Lee Dae Ho crushed an Ueno pitch back to the mound, hit so hard that Ueno barely had time to react. The ball smashed off of Ueno’s throwing shoulder and ricocheted into shallow left field. The 2-RBI single tied the game a 3-3. Ueno was pulled immediately (hopefully suffering just a nasty bruise), and Itoh came in to get the last two outs of the 6th thanks to a T.Okada line out double play.

Orix took a 4-3 lead in the 8th thanks to an Itoi RBI single. Matsunaga gave up the two out hit, but Itoh was charged with the run and the loss. Lotte went down 1-2-3 in bottom half of the inning, going down in order for the third inning in a row. Daichi Suzuki drew a lead off walk in the 9th against Orix’s Hirano, but the Marines bats couldn’t advance him past first. Game over.

Where are we now?

Well, we are now 0-6-1 in July, still searching for that elusive first win of the month. We still sit 2.5 games back of first place Rakuten, and are holding on to the 2 spot by 1/2 game over Seibu. On the plus side, Craig Brazell looked good in his Lotte debut going 3-for-9 with an RBI and a couple of loud outs in the DH spot. In addition, our starting pitching at least put us in a position to win both games, something that hasn’t been said all month.

July 11, 2013
Softbank Series: Savior Saburo, Slugging Salvo

From marines.co.jp

Note: This is posted late because I am lazy as hell. It happens.

Forget all that stuff that happened on Friday – we are all about good news at We Love Marines, and we want to celebrate the great weekend Our Marines put together! On Saturday, Lotte got a sayonara single from Saburo in the bottom of the 9th to walk away with a 3-2 victory. And on Sunday, Lotte bats beat the heck out of Softbank arms to the tune of 11 runs on 17 hits, cruising to a 11-3 win. This makes Our Marines the first Pacific League team to 40 wins!

Saturday’s Game
Yuji Nishino got the start on Saturday vs former MLB’er Vicente Padilla. It’s impossible to deny that Nishino has been the best Lotte pitcher all year – he’s among the league leaders in ERA, wins, WHIP, K/9 – almost every statistical category. On this day Nishino was not sharp at all to start the day, but the damage didn’t extend to the scoreboard.

Padilla was similarly shaky, requiring 68 pitches to get out of the first two innings though the Chiba bats could hardly take advantage of opportunities. Our Marines did score first, in the first inning. T OGINO, newly installed as the leadoff batter, lead off in perfect style with a single. With one out, Iguchi took a hard pitch off his elbow protector and got a free pass to first (Iguchi would leave the game after the inning but was back in the lineup on Sunday). In the 4 spot Imae hit a single to right, and with the ultra-fast T OGINO on the basepaths he was coming home for sure. No throw home, even – a quick 1-0 Lotte lead.

As I mentioned, Nishino didn’t have his best stuff, and that put him in some very tight spots early on as the Daiei bats at the top of the lineup were consistently able to get on base. The 2-6 batter each had two hits (and Honda had 3), most of them in the first 4 innings. Nishino escaped without giving up a run in the first two frames but in the 3rd his fortunes would change. With two outs, speedster Honda poked a single to center. Nishino worked him hard to keep him at first, but Emura misgloved a pitch and let it drop to his feet right in front of him. Emura seemed to forget there was a runner on base, and Honda easily got into second as Emura was distracted. Itoh-kantoku looked ready to kill, he can put up with many faults but not from a catcher. And soon after, timely double by Uchikawa and a 1-1 tie game.

From marines.co.jp

Emura more than made up for this mistake, though. Matsuda, the next batter, singled to left in front of T OGINO. Uchikawa was coming home. Ogino scooped, fired a bullet to Emura who blocked the plate brilliantly and allowed Uchikawa no chance at all to score.

In the 4th, Daiei put the first two runners on the corners. Nishino was in trouble again. He struck out La Hair looking for out 1, and Akiyama-kantoku pulled out the small ball handbook with Imamiya at the plate. Imamiya dropped a bunt – squeeze! Nishino charged, gloved it, and flipped it with the glove to Emura who was like a mountain of lead in the basepath. O. U. T., and tie game saved.

Pitching Duel, And DRAMA
Both Padilla and Nishino settled down very well at this point – Padilla getting out 14 Men of Lotte in a row before getting pulled due to high pitch count after 6. Nishino stayed in much longer, getting 10 in a row of his own out and staying in through the 8th. With the game still tied and the pens in action, both teams needed to get some offense started.

Lotte got it started first. Falkenbourg in for the Kyushu Birds, and he didn’t look good at all. He issued a leadoff walk to ageless Fukuura, who was pulled for youthful and speedy Ishimine. Two outs were recorded. Daichi at the plate – single! Kakunaka up with a big chance – Nishino is in the dugout, his arm iced, hoping for a big hit and getting a big hit! It’s a double, Ishimine in easily, and Lotte now with a 2-1 lead!

Masuda in to close it out. Matsuda up first – he grounds a ball to Nemoto deep between first and second. Nemo gets to it and fires to first, but in a bang-bang call Matsuda is ruled safe. Hmm. Hasegawa up – he grounds a ball right at Imae! Double play ball… that Imae drops, picks up, and fires into right. YIKES. Nobody out, big trouble on the sacs, and Egawa is singling in the tying run. Nay. No win for Nishino, and a very, very hard luck blown save for Masuda. He buckled down and got out of the inning without further damage, though.

So bottom of the 9th – young fireballing sensation Senga in. First up is Okada – and look at that, he’s beating out and infield single, his third infield single of the day (though he should have been out on the second one). T OGINO, ahem, strikes out but Nemoto singles to send Okada to third – only one out! It’s up to SABURO. .114 BA with RISP Saburo. Err. But Saburo? No, he’s not worried about the past, only that moment – first pitch, single to right, little smile, fist pump, sayonara 3-2 victory! GREAT stuff!

Nishino’s final line – 8 IP, 9 H, 5 Ks, 1 BB and just the one early earned run. Masuda gets the win in relief, and Saburo has to be the hero.

From Marines.co.jp

Sunday’s Game
This game was nothing at all like Saturday’s game, but it was definitely a hell of a lot of fun for us Lotte fans.

Ohmine got the start – his first in two weeks since the catastrophe vs Chunichi. In the other dugout was ex-Seibu pitcher Hoashi. You’d think based on recent results – Hoashi undefeated in Interleague play, Ohmine unable to make it into the 4th inning since May – that one would have the upper hand, but if you did think that way you probably got it backwards. Ohmine got in a bit of early trouble but pitched through it, and Hoashi got absolutely bombed and couldn’t even record and out in the second. You got it, Our Marines closed out the series by trouncing Daiei 11-3.

The Hawks got on the board first thanks to a bonehead play that made all the highlight reels. Ohmine gave up two hits in the first, and with two outs Hasegawa hit a grounder to Daichi, who flipped to Nemoto to record out three. Except Nemoto wasn’t covering second at all! Nemoto catches the flip and fires to first, but Hasegawa is very safe and a run is in. I don’t know who would be to blame on that one – seems like you could divvy it up evenly between the two.

The Funny Thing Is
Those two decided to pretty much destructify Hoashi and the Daiei staff all by themselves. In the second inning everyone got in on the action – Our Marines rang up six runs on seven hits and a walk before the Hawks could even record an out. By that time, Hoashi was long gone. Daichi did the most damage in the inning as he got to bat twice and recorded RBI singles both times. Nemoto delivered a 2-run single on his own, Emura also ripped a 2-run single and T OGINO got yet another RBI on an infield single. All in all, a 7 run inning, and a 7-1 Lotte lead!

Nemoto enjoyed that so much he decided to have some more fun – a 2-run shot to deep right center made it 9-1 Lotte. Our Marines added another after Emura grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs to make it 10-1.

Ohmine wasn’t fantastic, much like Nishino on Saturday, but he was good enough to stay in through the 6th. He gave up a meaningless 2-run homer to Egawa after the game was over – final line, 6+ IP, 9 H, 4 K, 1 BB, 3 ER (though the first one shouldn’t have been earned in a just world). Not bad at all.

Chiba added another one late as Daichi smashed a double that scored Kiyota from first and gave us the final score of 11-3 Lotte. Ohmine, Emura, and Daichi (4-5 with 3 RBI) were the heroes, but you could have thrown Nemoto up on the podium as well.

These two games were awesome to watch after the Friday debacle, and a good way to finish up June. Despite a few bumps in the road Lotte finished June with a 10-9 record and remain on top of the PL.

June 30, 2013
End Of Interleague, On To Pacific League

When Chunichi and Lotte get together, brevity and subtlety tend to go AWOL⁰. These last two games with the Dragons at QVC Marine Field were no exception. Saturday’s showdown required a furious comeback from 6 runs down and yet another one to tie it again, but Our Marines fell short in the 12th inning, losing 10-8. But runs came in bunches again on Sunday, and Lotte roared back from 2 runs down not once but twice, ultimately cruising to a very pleasing 9-5 win. And with that, my friends, the 2013 Interleague Series has ended.

⁰ Much like this post, I must say.

Game 1
I must tell you the truth – I didn’t know what to think about this game when it ended and 2 days later, I still don’t know.

On one hand, the pitching got pummeled to the tune of 10 runs, 22 hits, and 3 homers including an insanely big, 2-run 12th inning, game-winning jack by Matt Clark. Our ace Naruse got beat up at home by light-hitting Chunichi – 6 runs, 4 of them earned. The defense committed 4 errors. 4! 4!!

None of this is remotely good.

On the other hand, down 7-1 in the 8th inning, Our Marines said “NO SEÑOR you will NOT win in that fashion in our stadium, you will have to find some other way to win but you are NOT going to do it that way!”¹ and scored 6 to tie the game. And in the 9th after a costly, costly throwing error by Imae let Chunichi take the lead again, Our Marines said “NO! Absolutely NOT! NO! You cannot win like that either! You must find some other way to win but not like that, definitely NOT like that!” and tied the game on a superb 2-out, bottom of the 9th smashy smash by Iguchi.²

¹ Perhaps they didn’t say it exactly like that?
² Of course, the Dragons did eventually find a way to win that all parties could agree upon. Dammit.

From marines.co.jp

This is all good.

So maybe my feelings on this game are just entertained ambivalence? How else should one feel about the second longest 12-inning game in Japanese history, beating one of my favorite games ever by 2 minutes and only 10 minutes shorter than the longest ever? After all, these two teams played a 15-inning tie and a 12-inning Lotte win on back-to-back nights in November 2010 – what else should we expect?

A (Not So) Quick Rundown
Chunichi got off to a quick start in the first thanks to an Araki (5-7 with 3 runs scored on the night) double – actually a triple but a fielding error was charged to Ishimine for fumbling the ball – and a single by Clark. Rapidly 1-0 Chunichi.

But just as rapidly – no, even rapidlier – Nemoto tied the game on the first pitch he saw from Dragons starter Ohno. Hello, left stands, and welcome to your tie game.

Despite 6 more Lotte baserunners over the next 6 innings, that first pitch was pretty much it for Our Marines. There was not a whole heck of a lot coming across the plate. On the other half of the scorecard, though, it was Batting Festa for Chunichi. An unearned run in the 4th, another regular run in the 5th, 3 more runs in the 7th – Naruse pulled (a rather miserable outing – 6 1/3, 110 pitches, 10 hits, 6 runs (4 earned), a pair of walks, only 3 Ks and a 2 run homer by Luna. I think we’ve seen better from him), Ueno in and also ineffective. A solo shot by Oshima off Ueno to lead off the 8th and whoops, it’s 7-1 Dragons. Hmmph.

But the Lotte 8th? Magic, folks. Ohno, Suzuki, Kobayashi, Nakata – none of these Chunichi arms could slow down the Lotte attack. First it was Ishimine with a single, then Nemoto. Then a double from T OGINO plates Ishimine, and another by Iguchi-saaaan! plates two more. Ooooh….. Imae and Saburo make it two outs but a walk comes next to Daichi and there goes Kakunaka with a single up the middle – Kawamoto in for Emura, light-hitting Kawamoto, and he drills a liner off the third base bag! Iguchi in, Daichi in, and Our Marines were BACK! All the way to an unbelievable 7-7 tie!

Our joy was short lived, though. Masuda came in and gave up quick singles with no outs to Iwasaki and Fujii. He coaxed a DP out of ~~Doala~~ Morino, sending Iwasaki to third. Ibata lines a hot shot to Imae, who makes a nice play on the ball, fires to first and auuuuuggh! Throwing error…. All that effort wasted, 8-7 Chunichi.

But no, not really – as I mentioned earlier, Iguchi was having none of that, he was tying the game in the bottom of the 9th. This one just had to go to extra innings. Why not, with this much fun? I should add it was already over 4 hours at this point.

Extra Time, Extra Drama
The day was patrolled by Naruse, Ueno, and Masuda, but the evening went to Matsunaga, Carlos Rosa, Hattori, and Nakagoh. Unfortunately only 3 of the 4 could get the job done³.

Lotte had the first real chance – bases loaded, 2 outs in the 10th, Nemoto at the plate – but it was a weak fly ball ending the inning. Mottainai. Chunichi managed the rare 4 hits in an inning yet no runs scored and no double plays feat (thanks to a nifty pickoff by Rosa) in the 11th, and the Chiba bats went meekly in the bottom of the 11th.

³ If you can call Rosa’s 4-hits-but-somehow-no-runs outing “getting it done”

That led to Nakagoh in the 12th, just needing 3 outs to guarantee a tie and a miracle escape. But Our Marines ran fresh out of miracles, and with Araki on first Matt Clark leveled a Nakagoh pitch about as far as could be… leveled, way way way into the upper reaches of right field. He posed for some time, threw the bat down with force, and strutted home.

This was how it would all end, 5:44 of exhausting baseball. A combined 18 runs (5 homers) and 36 hits on the evening for these two teams. The game was a 14:00 start and went on so long that the Lotte ouendan launched into the “Summer Evening” song.

Game 2
Wait, MORE baseball? And MORE post from Steve??? AMAZING.

I have no mixed feelings about this game. Sunday’s end of interleague play was a warm blanket on a cool autumn evening, the ice-cold beer after a hard day’s work, that indescribable X that you need and you didn’t know you needed until you got it. I liked it, in short.

Birthday Boy Yuta Ohmine got the start vs 74-year-old Masa Yamamoto. Whoops! That should be 47-year old, but in baseball years that’s basically 74 (though amazingly, even though he’s been playing in NPB since 1986, Yamamoto is still a reasonably effective pitcher.) Ohmine has hit a few recent speed bumps since starting the season quite strongly – he hasn’t made it longer than 3 innings in his last 3 starts (including this one, sadly), though there was no reason he should have been pulled in his start at Koshien last weekend. Still, with a bit of rain in the area and some recently-hot Chunichi bats, there was cause for concern.

And For Good Reason
Ohmine went from awful to very nice to even more awful in the course of his 2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 ER (though with 4 Ks) outing. First inning, leadoff batter Oshima drew a quick walk, and when Araki squared to bunt him to second (yes, with no outs in the first! Lovely!) Ohmine fired one right off Araki’s helmet. Whoops. The umps discussed the pitch to see if it was an intentionally dangerous pitch (and automatic ejection) but Ohmine stayed in. A strikeout to Clark brought up Luna, who was soon driving a deep liner to right center past the glove of Ishimine (I’d rate that a Okada 4, Craig gave it an Okada 3, so the official ruling was Okada 3.5). 2 runs in, 2-0 Dragons.

Ohmine is not Mr Pitch Through Adversity, to say the least, but down 2-0 he pitched a very solid 2nd inning – 2 Ks and a meaningless single.

Bottom 2, T OGINO at the plate, T OGINO singling to lead off! Daichi up, he’s singling as well, and of course T OGINO is off to third. Runners on the corners, no outs for Emura…. Squeeeeeze, played perfectly. T OGINO races in and Lotte is on the board! But of course there’s more – Ishimine cranks a double to center and Daichi is in to tie it! What, still not done??? Nope! Nemoto draws a walk, and there’s good ol Kakunaka breaking up the tie with another single – Ishimine in, Our Marines up 3-2!

Alas, the Bad Ohmine came back in the third. 3 hits and a walk, Ohmine is gone, Fujioka (about the only pitcher who didn’t go on Saturday, no joke) in for the long haul. All told, Chunichi would pick up 3 runs of their own, grabbing back the lead and running it to 5-3 Dragons. The details are unimportant, honestly.

We Ain’t Going Out Like That
Fujioka settled in nicely. He was everything that he rarely is as a starter – efficient, keeping the at bats short, keeping runners off the paths, generally. All in all he went 4 2/3 of 4 hit, no run, 48 pitch ball to stabilize the team and set the stage for the later innings. Fantastic work, and I expect to see a rejuvenated Fujioka back in the rotation when PL play kicks off again.

Lotte Lucky 7 – still a 5-3 Chunichi lead. It’s time to make a move, and Our Marines made that move masterfully. Fukutani (rookie who shut down the Chiba chance in the 10th the night before) is in. Nemoto says “VENGEANCE IS MINE” with a single, Kakunaka says “Yeah, me too, MAN!” with one of his own. After an Iguchi K, Imae is up. No, Imae is belting a double to right center! Nemoto in, (“TOLD YOU SO!!” he screams, perhaps) Kakunaka in (“Yeah, me too!”), tie gaaaaame!

From Marines.co.jp

Saburo is up with the chance to get the lead, but it’s Saburo so of course he walks instead. T OGINO now has a chance, and he loops a fly to right center – the outfielders are in for some reason so Oshima has gotta race back… and he gets it. Man. Daichi draws a walk to load ’em up for Emura – Nooooo, NOT Emura but the other birthday boy, OHMATSU! Hard hitting, fan favorite Ohmatsu. Everybody loves Ohmatsu. Even Seibu fans love Ohmatsu, I’m sure. Ohmatsu. We need you! WE GOT YOU! Ohmatsu rifles a ball between second and first past a diving Araki! Imae in, Hayasaka (PR for Saburo) in, and on a bad throw from right Daichi in as well! From down to 3-5 to up 8-5! Amazing!!! We (ahem, OK, I) went crazy!

The game was over then. We all knew it. The happy song was played DURING the 7th inning. The rarely used “Chance 2” theme was sung. Fin. But just for fun, Kakunaka and Imae collaborated on an 8th-inning insurance run to make it a beautiful 9-5 Lotte victory. Fujioka, Imae, and of course Ohmatsu are the heroes, and as the clouds parted and the skies turned blue, Our Smiling Marines finished interleague with a nice 2 game lead over the rest of the PL. Fantastic.

I’m really stoked about the rest of the season now (as if I wasn’t before). We still have a bit over half the season to go, it’s going to be an interesting run to the PL flag!

June 16, 2013
Back To Our Winning Ways

From marines.co.jp

The four game losing streak is kaput. With the punch of 10 hits to propel them and the control of 4 pitchers to guide them home, Our Marines closed out the season series with the DeNA BayStars in grand fashion – an efficient 3-1 victory. With the win, Chiba stretches their lead in the Pacific League back to 1.5 games.

~~An Explosion of Power~~ NOT An Explosion of Power
Do you like your games filled with extra base hits? Then this game was not your cup of tea. DeNA and Lotte combined for 16 hits, and every last one was a single. Not only was every one of Lotte’s hits a single, 8 of them went right up the middle including the first 7 of the game.

No mind. The hits were there when we needed them. Imae led the charge from the 4-spot with a PERFECT 4-4 night, including the RBI that turned out to be the difference maker.

DeNA actually got on board first in this one thanks to a shaky first by Lotte starter Yuki Karakawa. A hit by leadoff batter Ishikawa and a walk to Tony Blanco (smart move!) set runners at first and second with two outs, but venerable Nakamura kocked a single to left to bring in Ishikawa. 1-0 DeNA after 1/2 inning.

Our Marines had a chance to score in the first after singles by T OGINO and Imae put runners on the corners with 2 outs, but Saburo struck out to end the chance.

In the third inning, Chiba would not let the chances go wasted. Ishimine (starting in center) lead off with a walk from DeNA starter Takasaki, and Nemoto bunted him to second. Just two pitches later, T OGINO singled up the middle and Ishimine raced on home. 1-1 tie game! Iguchi singled to send Ogino to second, Imae followed with his second single – Ogino in easily, and Our Marines in front 2-1 after 3!

5th inning – T OGINO belts a drive down the third base line but the nimble Nakamura makes a tremendous snag to prevent him from reaching base. The DeNA defense could do nothing to prevent Iguchi, Imae, and Saburo reaching by walk, single, and walk, though, setting the table for another big chance. Daichi Suzuki delivered a sac fly to right, Iguchi scores, and the lead is stretched to 3-1 Lotte.

From marines.co.jp

Relief On The Way
The word relief conjures up feelings of people helping people, and boy did the Lotte pen help out tonight. Karakawa came out to warm up for the 7th inning but was pulled before throwing a pitch. His night: 6 IP, 6 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BB, and just the 1 run on 102 pitches. It’s not close to his best outing but way more than adequate.

But the bullpen? Simply stunningly, stupendously subarashii. Fujioka comes in first – 3 up, 3 down with 2 Ks on 14 pitches. Next: Carlos Rosa – 3 up, 3 down with a strikeout on 11 pitches. And of course in to close it, Masuda – 3 up, 3 down with a strikeout on 12 pitches. Game, set and match.

That was Masuda’s 20th save of the year in Lotte’s 58th game (already????), putting him on track for 50 on the year. That would best the NPB record of 48 held by Iwase and Fujikawa. It’s a testament to both his personal success and the team’s success this season that we’re even mentioning him as having a chance at that record.

Up next is the final leg of Interleague 2013 – a 2 game weekend set with Chunichi, who are currently hapless on the mound and punchless at the plate. We gotta win these two and finish strong! Naruse vs Ono in Saturday’s game 1.

June 14, 2013
Futility Reigns

Chiba Lotte ouenski well represented at Koshien Stadium. Photo from Steve at Koshien Stadium.

It was a 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 (0 ER) for the second straight start, while the NPB save leader Masuda was charged with his 3rd blown save and 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.

Ohmine’s Ominous Opening

One began to get the feeling from first inning that the Marines were simply destined to go winless against the Tigers for the tenth straight try. Hard throwing 19 year old rookie Shintaro Fujinami set the tone for Hanshin, striking out two Marines in a 1-2-3 first. Ohmine seemed poised to counter with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, getting the first two outs in the bottom half of the inning followed by a Toritani ground ball to SS Daichi Suzuki. However, Daichi’s throw pulled Iguchi off the first base bag (although it appeared to me that Iguchi’s foot kept contact with the bag long enough to record the out), and Toritani was called safe at first with 2 outs.

Our first look at Tigers 19 year old rookie Shintaro Fujinami. Fujinami led Osaka Toin High School to the 2012 Spring and Summer Koshien National High School Championships. Photo from Steve at Koshien Stadium.

After Daichi’s throwing error, Matt Murton singled over the head of Nemoto at 2B. Next up Takahiro Arai, fresh off yesterday’s go-ahead 2 run homerun, lined a ball directly toward Kakunaka in left. However, the liner handcuffed Kakunaka and bounced off his downward pointed glove for an E7. Toritani came into score to make it 1-0 Tigers. After a walk to the catcher Fujii, Ohmine finally escaped with a ground ball to short. The two 2-out errors brought Ohmine’s pitch count up to 36 after just one inning. And for the second day in a row, a questionable call at first cost Lotte a run.

At the Plate

As I mentioned earlier, Lotte would score only 3 runs on 15 hits in a frustrating display of futility. In the second, the Marines hit three consecutive two out singles. But 2-out station-to-station ball was not a winning solution with the pitcher’s spot due up and the bases loaded. Ohmine fought hard fouling off two 3-2 pitches, but eventually went down swinging on a gutsy eight pitch AB.

Iguchi would tie the game at 1-1 with his 13th homerun of the year in the third. Lotte had chance to take the lead in the next inning thanks to two hits and a Hanshin error. A double play by Kiyota would erase the first hit, and a fly out by PH Ohmastu (PH for Ohmine, 69P through 3IP) would strand the other two runners. In the top of the 5th, a Kakunaka double play was mostly to blame to wasting two singles.

Chiba did have some success bringing runners home in the 6th. Daichi Suzuki lead off with a single and stolen base, while Kiyota and Okada added infield singles to load the bases. Yet, the Marines would be the victim of a double play for the third straight inning. With the infield playing in, Emura hit a one hopper right at the second baseman recording a 4-2-3 double play. Next up pinch hitter Saburo lined a single past SS Toritani. Matt Murton bobbled the ball in left, allowing Kiyota and the speedy Okada to score easily. Marines took the lead 3-1.

A Hurtin from Murton : The Sequel

Another Marines double play and a Tigers run later, Lotte clung to a 3-2 lead heading into the 9th. Over four hours into the game, Masuda would come in to try and earn his 20th save of the year. Number three hitter Toritani led off by slapping a single through the hole between 3B and SS. Next up, cleanup hitter Matt Murton took a big swing at an 0-1 pitch. The second it left the bat, there was no doubt. Murton would play the hero for the second time this year against Lotte, hitting his second career walk off homerun, both coming in the last three games. A sold out Koshien Stadium exploded as Murton rounded the bases, the Tigers won 4x-3.

Notes

Daichi Suzuki, Okada, and Kiyota each had 3-for-4 days at the plate. In case I haven’t beaten the double play thing into the ground, Okada and Kiyota also contributed one each.

The bullpen only gave up 1 run in innings 4 through 8. Hattori still hasn’t given up a run in 16 appearances, 9 IP. Carlos Rosa recorded a huge strike out with two runners on and two out in the 8th, preserving a 3-2 lead at the time. Former starter Fujioka came in again in relief in the 4th.

With the win and a Giants loss, the Tigers jumped 1/2 game ahead of Yomiuri for first place in the Central League.

June 9, 2013
Nishino Is At It Again!

From marines.co.jp

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.

For 6 out of the 7+ innings he pitched Nishino was damn near perfect. In fact, he WAS perfect for the first 4 1/3, not allowing a baserunner until Hatakeyama’s single in the 5th. An Iihara walk got Nishino in a bit of a spot right after Hatakeyama’s knock but there was never a feeling of a real rally developing, and in fact Nishino escaped unscathed via ground out to Nemo.

Bat Masters
All the Lotte offense came in one gigantic lump in the 4th inning, but that explosion was all Nishino, Matsunaga, and Masuda would need to get through this game. In the 4th, Iguchi led off with a double down the left field line, and Imae immediately brought him home with a rocket off the left field foul pole. Instant 2-0 Lotte lead!

Our Marines weren’t done – T OGINO smashed a ball into the right field gap and never hesitated getting all the way to third. That’s why we love T OGINO – he’s always exciting. Daichi brought Ogino home on a single to center to make it 3-0 Lotte.

But wait – there’s MORE! Emura singled to right and Ishimine (starting in center) brought in Daichi to make it a 4-0 Lotte lead. Our Marines recorded a cycle as a team in this inning – 3 singles, the Iguchi double, T OGINO triple, and the Imae homer. Cool.

From marines.co.jp

A Touch of Drama
Lotte had another chance in the 5th inning with bases loaded and two outs, but Emura grounded out to end it. The 5th featured an extremely rare beast – a Saburo infield single. I’m sure that’s happened before but not anytime I can remember.

Nishino’s pitch count was running a bit high – 114 after 7 – but he still came out to start the 8th. That’s because he hadn’t allowed another hit or walk since the two runners in the 5th, and who’s going to pull a young pitcher hurling a 1-hitter? But in the 8th it was clear he was tiring, as Nakamura, Hiyane, and Yamada singled with one out. In comes Matsunaga – last time he faced Tokyo a sayonara grand slam resulted (incidentally, those 4 runs are over half his total for the year on one swing. He’s had a very nice rookie campaign!). This time on a 2-2 pitch Matsunaga gets Miyamoto to ground into the inning-ending 1-2-3 double play. That’s a nice bit of payback.

There were a few nice defensive plays in this one. Of course I need to mention T OGINO some more, in this case well-deserved. In the third Iihara belted a deep ball to the wall – it looked like it would be the first hit off Nishino but Ogino made a violent catch at the fence to keep the slate clean. No Okada Index on that one. Okada made an appearance as a defensive sub for the last two innings (giving us the super speed outfield of T OGINO-Okada-Ishimine), actually.

Masuda closed it out as usual (even though it was a non-save situation) and Our Marines salvaged one win from the season series. Up next is two games in Hiroshima vs the Carp (only one in Zoom-Zoom, though). Wish I could go, gonna have to settle for Koshien next weekend instead.

June 3, 2013
Kings of the Mountain

From marines.co.jp

With today’s win, Lotte now has the best record in the NPB, top position in the inter-league title race, and first place in the Central League.

For the second game in a row the Marines held off a late offensive attack by Yomiuri, defeating the Giants this afternoon by a score of 3-2. Imae continued to tear it up in the number four slot, golfing a two-run double to left in the 3rd inning. Our ace Naruse looked great early on, highlighting his performance by recording his 1,000th career strike out in the 3rd. Despite a scoreless 4 innings to start the game, Naruse departed clinging to a 3-2 lead with 1 out in the 7th. However, the bullpen shut the Giants down again for 2 2/3 innings, preserving the win for Naruse.

Recap

It was a wild inter-league battle between two first place teams at a sold out QVC Marine Field. Here’s my attempt at an abbreviated version of the flow for an eventful afternoon:

Top 1:

Matsumoto and Abe each hit singles off Naruse. Murata ended the top half of the inning by flying out to center field with two outs and two on. If the Giants were planning to jump on Naruse early, this would have been their chance.

Bot 1:

Nemoto led off with a 9 pitch AB that resulted in a fly out to right field. The AB may look inconsequential in the box score. But, Nemo fouling off 3 pitches with 2 strikes really set the tone for the type of fight Lotte would bring to the Giants all afternoon.

The next batter Kakunaka doubled down the right field line. Iguchi followed with a high fly ball to left center for what should have been out number two. Even though Giants left fielder Kamei was squared under the ball, he couldn’t manage to squeeze it into his glove. Upon seeing the drop, Kakunaka raced around third and headed for home. Giants’ catcher Abe blocked the plate in true professional fashion, but Kakunaka sneaked his hand around Abe’s shins and slapped the top of the plate to beat Abe’s tag! 1-0 Marines!

Top 3:

Naruse is honored in the middle of the 3rd for recording his 1000th career strike out. (From marines.co.jp)

Naruse recorded his 1,000^th career strike out on a low and away backwards K. Nasty pitch. Congrats to Naruse!

Bot 3:

Nemoto and Kakunaka each grounded a 1-out single through the Giants infield. With 2 outs, Imae sent both runners home on a gap shot off the base of the left field wall (Imae celebrating on second pictured above). 3-0 Marines!

Top 5:

Nakai scored on a passed ball, putting the Giants on the board at 3-1.

Top 6:

Giants rallied with two 2-outs. After ground outs by Chono and Abe, Murata hit a single past a diving Daichi at SS, and Kamei hit a broken back looper that bounced in front of Kiyota in CF. Lopez knocked in Murata with a single past a diving Imae at 3B to make it 3-2. Nakai lined a 3 balls 2 strikes pitch to RF to end the inning, stranding two runners.

Top 7:

Naruse gave up a pair of singles to Terauchi and Sakamoto to start the inning. Matsumoto advanced the runners with a sac bunt. Naruse is pulled with two runners in scoring position, 1 out. Naruse’s pitching line: 6 1/3 IP, 103 Pitches, 10H, 1ER (2R), 2K, 0BB.

Matsunaga came in and fell behind 3-0 to Chono. One might have though Matsunaga was pitching around Chono to set up a bases loaded 1-out force. Instead, he delivered a 3-0 strike right down the middle of the plate which Chono fouled off. On the next pitch, Chono popped out to first base for the second out.

Hattori was called in to fulfill the task of recording the third out, still two men in scoring position. After a lengthy AB, clean-up man Abe lined a ball to dead center field. Kiyota struggled to read the ball off of the bat, but recovered in time to make a sliding catch. Inning over.

Bot 7:

Lotte had a chance for a two out rally after a T.Ogino single to center. With the lead-off hitter Nemoto up, Ogino took off for second base. Perhaps he should have waited an extra second before running to second base, as the pitcher Sugano threw over to first instead of delivering a pitch. Ogino was easily picked off at second base. Shucks.

Top 8:

Reliever Carlos Rosa record two quick outs. The Giants once again attempted to stage a two out rally after a double by Nakai and a walk by PH Ishii. But Rosa buckled down and recorded the third out on a fly out to center by lead-off man Sakamoto. That’s now 8 scoreless IP for Rosa on the season.

Bot 8:

Lotte loaded the bases with a two out rally of their own. Iguchi hit a double, Imae walked, and Saburo drew a pinch hit walk on this 37th birthday. However, Giants reliever Mathieson got Kiyota to fan to end the inning.

Top 9:

Surprise, surprise, Masuda came in to close the 9th. Matsumoto led off with a base hit to center. With the number 3 hitter Chono up, Matsumoto (73.2% in his career on SB attempts going into today) took off to steal second. Kawamoto threw a perfect strike to second base to throw out Matsumoto! 1 out.

With the bases suddenly vacant, Chono sent a fly toward the right field line. As the ball tailed toward the right field foul line, Kakunaka reached down for a nice underhanded grab. 2 out. Abe walked next, but Masuda broke Murata’s bat on a ground ball to 2B record the third out. Marines hold on to win 3-2. Phew!

With that result, the Marines win the season series with the Giants 3-1. Lotte now has the best record in the NPB by two games. We also are now 9-4-1 in inter-league, putting us a half game ahead in the race for best inter-league record. And most importantly, we are 3 games up on Seibu, 4 games up on Rakuten in the Pacific League.

June 1, 2013