Forgive me if this sounds completely ridiculous – and believe me, I think it does, too – but despite giving up 3 HRs to the worst team in the Central League at home, Naruse Yoshihisa was really, really damn good in tonight’s 4-1 loss to Yokohama. How can that be? Let’s look at the way […]
Break out the tasty beer – Lotte is no longer in the cellar (exclusively)! With a tight 2-1 victory over the Hawks tonight and a very weak Pa-league, the Marines have moved into a tie for 5th. A victory tomorrow and they could be in 3rd. How strange is that? On the heels of Karakawa’s
Chiba Marine Stadium was awash with downpours tonight as Rakuten rolled into Makuhari for the first of a 3-game weekend set with Lotte. Tonight’s starting pitchers have had as dramatically different fortunes this year as their respective teams. Lotte starter Shimizu Naoyuki comes in with an 0-2 record and a 6.26 ERA, while young Rakuten
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.
The 6 game road trip continues for Lotte; today was game 2 versus last year’s Nippon and Asia Series champion Seibu. Naruse was making his second start of the season today. He was a bit shaky in his first start against Rakuten last week, giving up 4ER in 5 innings, but Lotte won that game
