Tonight at the Kyocera Dome, Lotte bats launched a 10-hit barrage against Orix starter Chihiro Kaneko – 2 doubles, a triple, and throwing in 2 walks for good measure. The Baby-Faced Killer took the mound for Our Marines, looking at times super sharp, holding Orix to hits in only two innings and recording 10 outs in a row at one point. I don’t even have to tell you how this one ended up, do I? Orix 4, Lotte 1.
After a brief scheduled 4 day layoff that stretched to a 5th day following a rainout Friday, Our Marines restarted the Pacific League campaign with a whimper. Ace Naruse and the Lotte defense couldn’t stop Nippon Ham from scoring early, and as a result Chiba limped to a 4-2 home loss.
When Chunichi and Lotte get together, brevity and subtlety tend to go AWOL. These last two games with the Dragons at QVC Marine Field were no exception.
The DeNA (nee Yokohama) BayStars rolled in to QVC on a damp Wednesday evening fronted by their ace, Daisuke Miura. 9 innings later Our Marines had been completely shutdown as Miura and Co. emerged on top via a a 3-0 shutout. With the loss, Chiba has dropped 4 in a row and the lead in the Pacific League is down to 1.5 games.
This week Lotte went to Tokyo Dome to avenge the loss (and tie) against the Kyojin at Chiba Marine Stadium Field presented by QVC. It wasn’t the most elegant of set of victories but victories they were, as Our Marines came back at the last possible moment in both games to sweep the 2 game
