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Tag: Sikorski

Game Report: Orix vs Lotte, 5 July

Hashimoto singles in a run in Sunday’s 4-1 victory

Tonight was a nice game on a very nice night for Lotte to close out the series with Orix. Ono Shingo pitched 7 2/3 strong innings to pick up the win in Lotte’s 4-1 victory over the visiting Buffaloes.

Ono starts strong versus Orix

Lotte took advantage of Orix starter Hirano’s lack of control to get ahead early in this one, and Ono made the necessary pitches to keep Orix from making a comeback. He was by no means perfect, but the times he worked his way into a jam he forced Orix batters into making mistakes to get right out of that jam. In short, it was a gutsy performance, and one that made him today’s hero. In the last month and a half he’s rather quietly turned in fantastic performance after fantastic performance. He’s 4-1 in his last 5 decisions and has recorded a 2.38 ERA in his last 6 starts. Without crunching the rest of the starters’ numbers I’d say that easily makes him the best starter on the team over the past month and a half.

Ono receives the adulation of the fans, as he’s done several times recently

In the second inning Saburo got the offensive action started with a blast into the teeth of a 8 m/s gale. It just cleared the right field fence to put Lotte up to an early 1-0 lead.

Saburo knows it’s outta there despite the strong wind

Hashimoto followed up Saburo’s jack with a single, and Satozaki doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Hori hit a light fly to left that was just deep enough to score Hashimoto and make it a 2-0 game.

Hashimoto slides in before the throw makes it home – SAFE!

In the 3rd Lotte added to their lead. With one out Iguchi singled to center. Ohmatsu followed him with a towering shot to right that hung up in the wind, yet bounced off the fence for a double. Iguchi had to hold up in case the ball was caught so he could only move to third on the play. After Saburo walked to load the bases Hashimoto delivered an RBI single to score Iguchi and make it 3-0. Satozaki came to the plate with the opportunity to add more, and patiently he let Hirano pitch around him – 4 balls style. A bases-loaded walk, and Lotte led 4-0.

Iguchi singles and later scores in the third

Meanwhile Ono was tantalizing the Orix bats by allowing scattered baserunners but never allowing them to actually come home. Orix got two men on in the 2nd, 5th, and 7th innings but Ono made the right pitches and the defense made solid plays to keep the shutout alive.

Sakaguchi is really unhappy at grounding out with two on, but Ono isn’t

Orix finally broke through in the 8th with a double by Ohbiki and an RBI single by LaRocca. Between the two Fukuura made a great sliding catch of a foul fly by Fernandez – one of several nice plays in foul territory today. With LaRocca’s single Orix pulled to within 4-1, and Ono was replaced by Ogino.

Ogino finished up the 8th without event and Sikorski came in to shut down the bats in the 9th for the save. A 4-1 win for the Marines, their second win of the year against Orix. It’s a good way to send the guys on the road for a lengthy 9-game road trip to Rakuten, Nippon Ham, and Orix. I wish I could make one of these road games – I especially want to make Tuesday’s game in Fukushima – but instead I’m just going to have to root from afar.

Some random thoughts from this game – Orix is always poorly represented in the outfield, even in Osaka, but I thought this weekend’s crowds were especially thin. I don’t think there were more than 100 people in the outfield tonight, and that’s on a lovely early summer evening. It’s too bad – I have a soft spot for the Buffaloes from their Kintetsu days as I watched many of their games in the (former) Osaka Dome. I do wish that their fans supported them better.

Seriously, this is a mid-game shot of Orix’s supporters

Also, I’ll need to check the injury reports but Hori came out of the game after his sac fly in the second tonight. I thought I saw him in the dugout a little later, so hopefully it’s nothing serious.

July 5, 2009
Game Report: Lotte vs Seibu, 30 June

No photos today – no photos needed to illustrate the lovely, see-saw, extra-innings, dramatic 8-6 victory over Seibu in Tokorozawa tonight! Thanks to gutsy play, great clutch hitting, and one dramatic swing by Saburo the Marines took the first game of three with the Lions and put themselves closer to the top half of the Pa-league.

Lotte ran out to an early 3-0 lead thanks to RBI doubles by Takahara (scoring Saburo) and Imae (scoring Takehara) in the top of the second. The Marines added the third run off a bases loaded sac fly in the 4th off the bat of Fukuura.

Shimizu Naoyuki took the hill tonight and threw five scoreless innings before yielding 2 in the 6th on a RBI double by beefy Seibu masher Nakamura and a timely single by GG Sato. Both Lotte and Seibu went to their bullpens in the late innings and the real drama began.

Lotte added a 4th run in the top of the 8th on a solo shot to left by Iguchi off of Seibu’s annoyingly arrhythmic hurler Iwasaki. Lotte’s normally reliable reliever Itoh came out for the bottom of the 8th and returned that insurance run quickly, thanks to the large bat of the large Nakamura, who hit a very, very large homer to the right of the big screen in center. Not content with making it 4-3, Seibu tied it at 4-4 on an Osaki single.

The stage was set for 9th inning dramatics, and dramatics we got. With two outs and Tsuyoshi on, Ohmatsu singled to right to bring home the go ahead run. 5-4 Lotte!

Seibu came to bat in the bottom of the 9th facing Lotte fireballer Sikorski. Sikorski struck out Hirao to lead off the inning, but the next batter Kataoka took him deep, putting a game-tying HR in the Lotte fans to make it 5-5. To extra innings we would go!

Lotte had a great chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th. Burnham Jr and Satozaki singled, and with 2 outs Imae was plunked to load the bases. With Tsuyoshi coming to the plate the stage was set for a big hit and another lead. Seibu’s Onodera caught Imae leaning a bit too much off of first, though, picking him off to end the chance.

Sikorski really knuckled down after the 9th inning problems and mowed down the Seibu side in order with a pair of Ks in the bottom of the 10th.

In the top of the 11th Tanaka Masahiko pinch-hit for Fukuura and delivered a clutch double to get a rally started. With two outs after an Ohmatsu grounder, Iguchi walked to make it two baserunners for Mr “Face of the June Lotte Poster” Saburo. Saburo took the opportunity to put Lotte ahead and smashed it into Seibu fans in left. They surely had no appreciation for the immense gift Saburo gave his teammates and the fans, but believe me we did! 8-5 Lotte, with only a pesky bottom of the inning standing between Lotte and thier second win in a row.

Ogino came in to mop up the 11th – he gave up a run but a 3-run HR is a lot of padding in extra innings, and Lotte held on for a wonderful 8-6 victory.

Definitely heaps of anxiety in this one for all involved, but all that’s important is the good guys came up on top, and closed the gap between Lotte and 4th place Seibu to just one game.

June 30, 2009
Interleague Game 24: Ending on a Good Note

After yesterday’s loss to the evil Kyojin I predicted a big Lotte win for today. Whaddya know, I got one right! Today, Lotte pounded out 9 runs on 11 hits – with 4 homers, too – as they won the last game of Interleague 2009 in the Tokyo Dome, 9-4.

Around this time I would normally insert the first of several pics I took during the game, as surely I wouldn’t miss a big road game just down the road. I had tickets for the Lotte gaiya and I, um, … lost them. How lame. So, I got to enjoy the action from the comfort of my own living room. It feels a bit odd not inserting piles of pics, but I’ll soldier on.

Lotte took the lead right off the bat today. Tsuyoshi returned to the starting lineup for the first time in weeks, and celebrated his return by giving a great souvenir to the Giants fans in right in the form of a solo shot on the third pitch of the game. 1-0 Lotte.

Yomiuri got the run right back in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a sac fly by Ramirez off Lotte starter Shimizu.

Shimizu pitched quite well today, for that was the only run he would give up in 7 innings of work. He also got on the board offensively – more on that in a minute.

Yomiuri starter Utsumi was also effective – for a while. Lotte untied the score in the 6th inning with a big blast by (La La La La) Takehara into the very appreciative Lotte fans. I should have been there to catch it! 2-1 Lotte.

In the 7th, Lotte added to their lead. Saburo singled to lead off, but was caught stealing on a botched hit-and-run. Imae singled to center, and Shimizu helped his own cause with a single into right. Tsuyoshi walked to load them up for Takehara. He did what needed to be done, scoring two with a bloop double to center to make it 4-1 Lotte.

It wasn’t enough runs to sate the Lotte bats, though. In the 8th more runs would come – first a lead off HR by Iguchi. Fukuura pinch hit for Hori and drew a walk, bringing Imae to the plate. Like a hungry man at a buffet he cleared off everything in sight with a 2 run jack of his own to left – 7-1 Lotte.

Yomuiri tried to make a game of it in the bottom of the 8th, though everyone (including the players, I’m sure) knew there was no hope. Itoh came in to relieve Shimizu and gave up a 2 run HR to Kamei, and then a solo HR to Abe to allow Yomiuri to get to 7-4.

In the 9th, Lotte put the game out of reach. Tsuyoshi smacked a double off the right field wall, and after Ohmatsu was cowardly plunked Iguchi got revenge with a 2-run double right below the Lotte ouendan in left. It was now 9-4, and with Sikorski coming in to finish the 9th, the game was over.

Lotte ended up the interleague play on a very strong note. Let’s hope the momentum carries over to next weekend’s 3 game set with Nippon Ham in Chiba!

June 21, 2009
Interleague Games 21 & 22: Jinxed in Jingu

Lotte came into the second series with Yakult on a very high note. Having won three in a row, including the 23-2 destruction of Hiroshima and a sweep of Hanshin, expectations were high that the strong play would continue.

The first game was a complete debacle for the Marines as the pitching completely imploded, giving up 10 runs on 4 2-run Yakult HRs in a 10-1 loss. The runs were spread pretty evenly as starter Naruse yielded three (taking the loss), Nakagoh gave up two on a HR to D’Antona, Furuya gave up another, and Ogino was taken deep twice for 4 runs.

The offense was similarly ineffective, grounding into 4 double plays to eliminate several potential rallies. It’s best not to dwell on this loss, I think.

I managed to make it to Thursday’s game at Jingu and had a quite enjoyable time in the Lotte outfield bleachers with Deanna of the Marinerds blog. There was a lot of offense in this game but not so many timely hits to capitalize on that offense as the game went to 11 innings, won by Guiel’s sayonara blast to deep right center off Lotte reliever Sikorski. It was a very entertaining 6-5 loss to Yakult.

Lotte starter Ohmine warms up in the bullpen

Tokyo got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. With two on D’Antona singled off of Lotte starter Ohmine to make it 1-0. Lotte struck back in the thrid with three straight doubles off of Tokyo starter Tateyama, the third off the bat of Hashimoto to score Ohmatsu and Iguchi to give Lotte the lead 2-1.

Tokyo scored again in the bottom of the inning to tie it up at 2-2. There it stayed until the top of the fifth. In that inning, Ohmatsu hit a solo shot to right to give Lotte a 3-2 lead, and after a pair of Tateyama walks Benny hit a 2-run double to give Lotte a 3-run lead.

Not content with being in front, Ohmine gave it all back in the bottom of the fifth. Guiel hit a single to score Aoki and make it 5-3, and after singles by Miyamoto and Aikawa Nakagoh relieved Ohmine. After a strikeout of Kawashima pinch hitter Morioka singled to tie the game. Miyamoto scored the second run on a wild throw from right by Ohmatsu, who was given an error. It was a wide throw but the error to my mind shouldn’t have been charged to Ohmatsu, as nobody was backing up Hashimoto at the plate when the throw got by. If someone backs up that play (it should have been Nakagoh’s responsibility) the run wouldn’t have scored, and the inning would have ended 5-4 Lotte.

Lotte outfield chills during a pitching switch

But the game was tied, and the rest of the game was left to the bullpens. Neither Lotte nor Tokyo mounted a real threat until the 10th inning. With two outs in the top of the frame Lotte loaded the bases on a walk to Lambin, a double by pinch hitter Takehara, and a HBP to pinch hitter Heiuchi. The HBP looked simply awful, nailing Heiuchi in the lower leg. He had to be carried off by stretcher. Unfortunately, Fukuura struck out to leave the game tied.

Tokyo un-tied the game in a big way in the bottom of the 11th, as Sikorski came in to pitch. Not wanting to walk leadoff batter Guiel on a 2-3 pitch, Sikorski gave Guiel a pitch to hit, and he promptly put it very, very deep into the right field stands. 6-5 Yakult, and a sayonara loss for the Marines.

Lotte fan loves the Tokyo Ondo

It’s a bit disappointing that Lotte would only score 5 on a day when they would record 8 doubles and a HR (on 12 hits total), though Tokyo’s offense was just as inefficient, with their 6 runs coming on 15 hits. But they got the hit that counted and took the season series 3-1.

Lotte fans have umbrellas of their own

It was a bit odd cheering at this game without any drums. Our part of the stands was constantly out of sync with the rest of the stands (usually faster) so I had to keep looking to my right to see what was going on with the rest of the fans. It’s amazing how helpful the drums are; you don’t realize that until you don’t have them.

Be careful! There’s balls around

June 18, 2009
Interleague Game 20: Chiba Clutch City

The Maiko were back, and they DO love Marines!

Wow, what a well-played game for both teams! The final game of 2009 between Lotte and Hanshin (barring a 2005 Japan Series rematch) had it all – a pitching duel, great defense, unexpected plays, and best of all – a clutch hit to drive in the winning run in a 4-1 Marines victory.

Lotte starter Kobayashi Hiroyuki and Hanshin starter Andoh Yuya were both on fire early. Kobayashi was making a spot start out of the pen for the injured Karakawa (apparently out with some elbow soreness) and went 8 strong innings, giving up 5 hits and only one run (on a HR by yesterday’s HR hitter, Brazell).

Lotte starter Kobayashi waits to go out for the next inning by the dugout

Andoh was even stronger in the early innings, not allowing a runner until the 4th (on a walk by Ohmatsu) and no hits until the 5th. Brazell hit a solo no-doubter to the Lotte fans in right to get Hanshin on the board first in the top of the 4th. In the bottom of the 5th, Satozaki broke up Andoh’s no-hit bid with a very, very high HR of his own to right. I honestly said “Aaaahhh…” when the ball came off the bat as it was so high and looked to be going foul, but in a slight wind going out to right the ball hung up and carried several rows into the outfield bleachers to tie the game at 1 each.

Morozumi gives Sato a pat for his homer to right

Kobayashi really knuckled down after the Sato HR. It looked for a time that he would have to leave the game due to injury as he needed to go into the locker room to fix an issue with his finger (either a blister or a fingernail, it looked like). He came back and shut down the side in order in the 5th and 7th, and got a double play in the 6th after a walk to Kanemoto.

Benny, Saburo, and Ohmatsu relax in center as Kobayashi gets fixed up

In the Hanshin 8th, Hirano got a lucky break off a ball hit back to Kobayashi. The ball went off Kobayashi’s glove toward Iguchi, but Hirano ran very swiftly and dove headfirst to beat the throw. Mayumi called for a sac bunt by CF Akahoshi, and he hit possibly the worst bunt I’ve seen in person. It popped gently towards the first base line for Kobayashi, who snagged it on the fly, threw to Iguchi (covering 1st) to double off Hirano. I recorded the game to watch at home this evening and the bunt looked worse on TV than in person, even. Great play by Kobayashi and Iguchi to end the threat.

Over the next few innings Lotte had several chances to take the lead, but Andoh and the Hanshin defense held firm and kept any Marines from crossing the plate. In the 7th inning, Saburo and Imae singled to set up a scoring chance with runners on first and second, and with 2 outs Bobby pinch hit for Hayasaka with Hori. As the Marines fans started the Skinhead Running chance theme, Hori poked a single through the 3rd base side. Saburo hesitated a bit leaving second yet was sent home. In left, Kanemoto made a very quick pickup and a great throw to catcher Kano, who expertly blocked the plate, tagged out Saburo, and ended the Lotte scoring chance.

No such luck for Hanshin in the 8th as the newly-clutch Marines wouldn’t be denied. The rally started for Lotte when Andoh was pulled for Williams to start the inning. That turned out to be the edge needed. Williams gave up a walk to Tanaka Masahiko, got Ohmatsu on a fly to center, and walked Iguchi.

Tanaka shatters his bat en route to an 8th inning walk

Williams spent about 70% of his time looking at Tanaka on first or throwing to first, which surely distracted him from the more important task of actually getting out the batters. Not that I’m complaining.

Mayumi had enough after Williams’s two walks and pulled him for Atchison. Before the pitching change was announced Bobby pinch-hit for Hashimoto with Takehara leaving a righty-vs-righty matchup. On a 2-2 down-and-in slider, Takehara stroked one into the right field gap. Both outfielders were playing in and the ball easily got behind them allowing both Tanaka and Iguchi to score and letting Takehara make it all the way to third. 3-1 Lotte!

Takehara hits the game winner to right

I was too busy bouncing around like an idiot, high-fiving my neighbors, and singing the Skinhead Running chance to catch the next play on film, but on a 1-ball count Satozaki laid down a brilliant and totally unexpected squeeze to score Takehara. Awesome, awesome call – 4-1 Lotte! I couldn’t believe it, but was so glad it happened.

Sikorski came in for Kobayashi in the 9th, and he did what Sikorski does – shut down the Hanshin offense to close out the victory. The heroes were easy to choose, Hiroyuki for his fantastic pitching and defense, Takehara for the super clutch triple to win it. With the win Lotte sweeps Hanshin and takes the season series for their first series win since the start of Interleague.

There are two off days for Lotte now, then is the 2 game set in Jingu this week against Tokyo Yakult. Interleague wraps up next weekend with Lotte settling business with Yomiuri at the Tokyo Dome. The team couldn’t be in better shape for these Kanto showdowns.

June 14, 2009
Interleague Game 15: Afternoon Delight

From Wikimedia Commons

On a lovely late-spring day in beautiful downtown Yokohama both the Lotte and BayStars offenses put on a show, combining for 25 hits and 16 runs in a 9-7 Lotte victory.

Lotte jumped on former Hokkaido starter Ryan Glynn right off the bat. With one out in the top of the first Fukuura and Ohmatsu both singled. Glynn next plunked Iguchi to load up the bases. Satozaki drew a walk to make it 1-0, and with the bases still loaded Benny drew another walk to make it 2-0.

1 out, bases still loaded for Chase Lambin on his 30th birthday. He connects on a 3-2 pitch, smashing it deep into right field for a Birthday Boy Grand Slam, and putting Lotte up 6-0 before Yokohama even comes to the plate.

Yokohama bats will not be silenced, though, and even with the very big hole to dig out of they would make this game very interesting. In the bottom of the first leadoff batter Kinjo connects on a home run of his own off Lotte starter Naruse to make it 6-1. Naruse surrendered two more solo shots in the 4th to Uchikawa and Saeki, and all of a sudden Yokohama is back at only a 6-3 deficit.

Ohmatsu continued his hot hitting as of late with another solo homer in the 5th to put Lotte back up 7-3. Yokohama would keep fighting, though, scoring single runs in both the 5th and 6th to make it 7-5 going into the late innings.

Bobby shook up the pen a bit, letting Ogino work middle relief after his blown save on Saturday. He allowed two baserunners but no runs in one inning of relief. Kawasaki also worked a scoreless 8th to preserve the 7-5 lead.

Ohmatsu was at it again in the top of the 9th, hitting another homer – this one of the two-run variety – to make it a comfortable 4 run lead. Sikorski came out in the bottom of the 9th to close it out for Naruse. He’s been amazingly dominant as of late, not giving up a run since mid April and sitting on a 0.79 ERA. That would change tonight, though, as leadoff batter Uchikawa doubled and Samurai Japan slugger Murata brought him home with the 7th home run of the day. That made it 9-7, but Sikorski settled down, got the final outs, and closed out the victory.

Quite obviously that’s the best offensive performance in a while for the Marines – the most runs scored by Lotte since the first weekend of May against Softbank. It was remarkably efficient scoring, too – 9 runs on 9 hits, helped for sure by the very rough first by Glynn and the awesome power display by Ohmatsu and Lambin. Perhaps we’re seeing the start of a renaissance for last year’s player of the month for July Ohmatsu?

The season series with Yokohama finishes up at a rare Monday game. Lotte is looking for it’s first series win since the Seibu series three weeks ago.

June 7, 2009
Interleague Game 12: All Quiet on the Eastern Front

The Kyojin and Marines met up for battle again – not at Ypres, Verdun, or the Somme, but at Chiba Marine – to finish that which was left unfinished in Tuesday’s 0-0 tie. It’s baseball, though, not trench warfare – so why does it feel like a battle of attrition? Surely the good guys will break through enemy lines for victory; just not today. Yes, AGAIN – after 12 innings and 4+ hours the front lines moved nary an inch, and visiting Yomiuri and Lotte play to a 1-1 tie.

Today’s generals starting pitchers were Greisinger for Austria-Hungary Yomiuri and Shimizu for the Allies Lotte. In a bit of role reversal from Tuesday’s game, Yomiuri got several scoring opportunities off of Shimizu but were unable to cross the plate, and Lotte was kept at bay.

Actually, Lotte could have had the first scoring chance of the evening. Hayasaka led off the bottom of the first with a single, but was promptly picked off by Greisinger. Naturally, the next batter (Fukuura) singled, but instead of runners on the corners and no out Lotte only had a runner on first with one out.

Yomiuri scored the first run in the series in the 6th with a homer off the bat of Kamei. The wind was in and across but Kamei got just enough on it to sneak it over the right field fence to put the Giants up 1-0.

Lotte finally got around to scoring a run of their own in the 7th, thanks to a fortuitous error and a timely hit. Leadoff batter Iguchi popped up between home and the pitcher’s mound. Catcher Tsuruoka called for the ball and let it bounce right off his glove, leaving Iguchi on first.

Must have been the lights or a tornado or something

Iguchi then made a great break and snuck under the tag for a steal of second.

Iguchi makes his break

Hashimoto sends Iguchi to third on a sacrifice, Ohmatsu walks – and Satozaki comes through in the clutch to tie the game at 1 each!

Game tying single off the bat of Satozaki

The starting pitchers are chased, and it becomes a bullpen duel for the second night in a row. Sikorski is up first for Lotte, and he mows down the first four batters he faces in 1.2 innings of work.

I don’t think Furuki got a hold of Sikorski’s pitch

Itoh, Kobayashi, and Ogino worked run-free innings each to send it to the bottom of the 12th, still tied. After a pair of outs by Yomiuri closer Kroon, Hashimoto drew a walk. He was replaced by pinch-runner Tanaka, who was immediately moved to third on a single to right at the feet of Kamei. 1st and 3rd, 2 out, Heiuchi at the plate for his first time in 2009. He works the count, gets it full, fans going wild in anticipation – strikeout looking, game over, another tie.

Apart from the error by Yomiuri it was another very, very well played defensive game. Imae made a twisting catch to get out Ramirez early in the game.

Twisting, turning, but caught

Yomiuri left fielder Kudoh made a full-tilt running catch into the left field wall; very impressive. With Ohmatsu on first, Yomiuri center fielder Matsumoto made a sprawling catch of a Imae liner to end the 5th. It was a phenomenal catch but not a very bright play in my opinion – nobody was backing him in the OF and Ohmatsu would have easily scored from first had he missed the ball.

I got a fun little chant going in my section during a Giants rally. As they sang their rally song with Ramirez at the plate I substituted “Ramirez! Ramirez!” with “Sanshin! Sanshin!” I got a few rows to join in, and while he didn’t strikeout he did line out to end the inning.

So nothing resolved, the warring parties move on to their next battles. Lotte heads to Nagoya on Friday for the second half of the Chunichi series, and then it’s a Sunday/Monday set with Yokohama. Lotte and Yomiuri will try to move the trenches again in the 20th/21st of June in Tokyo; I’ll be there watching the good guys win.

Enjoy some more pictures from tonight’s action.

Satosaki squeezes out Kamei’s pop

Benny warms up in right

Bobby V supporters in the luxury boxes

Fukuura shares a joke with the ump

June 3, 2009
Interleague Game 11: In the beginning….

… there was nothing. In the end, too, apparently. That’s what is left after 12 innings and nearly 4 hours – and still the score is 0-0. Nothing.

WARNING: Giants fans may not want to proceed further. This is a pure anti-Giants zone, always. Everyone’s free to read, of course, but keep in mind this site is:

So. Let’s get this out of the way first: The only people to cross the plate were those chasing foul balls, the grounds crew, and the umpire. No runs were scored in anger or otherwise. Really, it’s as if nothing happened. It’s a bit of a weird feeling. I’ve been to piles of games in Japan but this is my first tie. But yes, the hated Giants and the Marines did finish 12 innings in a 0-0 tie.

The good: Everybody’s favorite submariner, Watanabe Shunsuke, was just wild and baffling enough to keep the Giants off the basepath. He went 8 innings giving up only 2 hits (but 5 walks). He only got into one jam – bases loaded in the 8th. Bobby showed the faith he normally does in his pitchers and let him work through it, and work through he did – stinking out Kudoh to end the threat.

Watanabe masterfully works out of a bases-loaded jam

More good: What defense, on both sides! Iguchi made a huge leaping spear of a line drive. Satozaki slid for a pop behind home. Heiuchi made a great snag in extra innings. Several Giants players made highlight-reel catches, especially Kudoh’s dive for a liner down the left baseline. If you liked great defense you’d be hard-pressed to see a better played game.

Hori beats the runner to the bag to get the out

The bad: Oh my, Lotte couldn’t buy a timely hit. In the 5th Benny smashed a liner off the top of the right-center fence for a double. It barely missed going out. Nobody out, man on second – unable to come home. Bottom 9 – Hori leads off with a double, Saburo is intentionally walked. Iguchi hits this ball that looks like it went off of him or the catcher but was ruled fair. It’s right in front of the plate – Abe snags it, fires – 5-3 double play. Two great chances, but nothing could come of it.

Benny comes into second in the bottom of the 5th

Bottom 10, 1 out: Takehara walks, Ohmatsu hits a broken-bat single, strikeout, strikeout. Threat over.

Ohmatsu cracks some wood for a single in the 10th

Ugly: Giants fans. A very poor showing, not very noisy ouendan, and lots of little stealthy packets of Giants supporters strewn throughout the stadium. I don’t get Giants fans. They don’t wear much gear, they don’t tend to carry towels, hats, or noisemakers. They don’t cheer when nothing is happening. You only hear them if something good happens for the Giants. It’s as if they are too fashionable to cheer. I think Giants fans treat baseball fandom like something trendy and obligatory rather than something to be embraced and enjoyed.

What passes for a cheering section in Giants-land

Their lineup seems to be a bunch of free-swinging bashers whose stats are only propped up by that soulless underlit bandbox of a stadium they call home. We may play in unfashionable Chiba, but Chiba Marine is a nice place to watch a game, especially when the sun is shining and the team is winning. Besides, we Marines fans have had a chance to celebrate our team’s championship in the past 4 years. Perhaps the Giants’ lack of titles causes their fans’ gloom?

In any case, Sikorski came in for two innings of relief (getting himself very deep into trouble in the 9th with runners at second and third, but getting out of it, too) and Itoh polished off the shutout. In the bottom of the 12th with no chance to lose Benny drew a walk. Bobby let him stay on the bases (probably because the entire bench had been used by that point). Ohmatsu hit into what could have been a game-ending DP but legged it out to just beat the throw. 2 outs, last chance – I am convinced Bobby did this largely to entertain us, and to think outside the box — but he pinch-ran for Ohmatsu with… Kobayashi. I’m not sure I’ve seen a relatively swift outfielder getting pulled for a starting pitcher-cum-runner. I was entertained at least, though the game ended soon after on Burnham Jr’s strikeout.

Benny, I advise you to score

Run, Kobayashi, run!

Here’s some more photos from Tuesday’s action.

Batozaki returns! (Thanks Deanna)

Heiuchi warms up before making a great catch

Chase Lambin, enjoying the life in right

June 2, 2009
Interleague Game 5 (ver B): Catch a Tiger by His Tail

You must indulge me a bit; I’m a bit miffed I missed this game due to Sunday’s weather. I’m going to recycle some unused pictures from Sunday’s game – the real date – for tonight’s game. I’m just pretending I was there.

It would have been a good game to be in the stands for as well – another tight game with some late-inning drama. This time the Marines pulled through with a 3-2 9th inning victory.

Mar-kun teaches To Lucky how to hop like a Lotte fan

Hanshin starter Abe was all over the place giving up 3 walks and 5 hits in 4 innings of work. Benny got the Marines on the board first with a single up the left side with runners on the corners to make it 1-0. Lotte got 3 more runners on base in the third but couldn’t bring anyone home, so the score stayed 1-0.

Hanshin struck back against Lotte starter Ono with a 2-run single in the bottom of the third to make it 2-1.

These folks probably came to Tuesday's game as well, don't you think?

There the score stayed for the next 4 innings through a variety of pitching changes and stranded runners. Using some of the leeway afforded by the current 7-man Lotte starting rotation, Bobby brought in lefty Naruse for 2 innings of middle relief. It worked well, as Hanshin was unable to get anything going off Naruse.

Imae tied the game in the 8th with a 2-run single up the middle off of Hanshin reliever Williams. Ace set-up man Sikorski came in to shut down Hanshin bats and did his job well, allowing only one baserunner in an inning of work.

Hanshin fans try to rally their team on Sunday,er,Tuesday

Lotte came to the top of the 9th looking for a breakthrough against Hanshin reliever Fujikawa, the same Fujikawa they were unable to score on in Sunday night’s heartbreaker. Tonight, Lotte broke through – Tsuyoshi led off the with a smash double off the left field fence that barely missed being a home run. after a Fukuura strikeout, Saburo came to the plate with the chance to deliver a timely knock to put Lotte ahead. He popped up to the catcher Kano, who graciously allowed it to hit harmlessly off the edge of the glove. Saburo did not take the generosity for granted and belted a game-winning RBI triple to deep right, bringing the swift Nishioka around to score.

That allowed Bobby to bring in Ogino to finish off the bottom of the 9th, which is pretty much the equivalent of the closing credits in a movie. A single by Sekimoto went for nothing as Ogino got the job done as usual, and Lotte split the series 1-1.

May 26, 2009
Interleague Game 4: Dragonslayers

Game 2 of the Chunichi-Lotte series kicked off at the unusual Saturday start time of 13:00 at a hot and sunny Chiba Marine Stadium. Up on the hill was Watanabe Shunsuke, who was looking for redemption after the I-won’t-admit-it-actually-happened 18-0 shellacking at the hands of Seibu, a game which he started and took the loss. The good news for Lotte fans today is Watanabe pitched very, very well, leading Lotte to a dramatic 2-1 Sayonara victory.

Watanabe Shunsuke brings it low and hard

If you don’t like pictures this is not the game report for you as I shot a few hundred frames today. I’ve pared it down to almost single digits, but not quite.

Watanabe came out red-hot, baffling the Chunichi hitters and staying perfect for the first 3 innings. Dragons fans had something to cheer about in the fourth, though, as Watanabe’s perfect game ended on a single by Chunichi shortstop Ibata, who was subsequently brought home on a double by 3B Morino.

Dragons fans, cheering

Watanabe was rock-solid after that 4th inning, allowing no further scoring in 8 1/2 innings of work. The lethargic Lotte offense from the previous 2 games continued today, though, and Watanabe remained in a 1-0 hole until very late in the game. A large part of the responsibility for the punchless Lotte offense has to go to Chunichi starter Chen, who allowed many runners on base – including bases loaded in the first with one out, 2 more each in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings – but each time he got out of the jam to keep Lotte off the board.

Lotte finally got on the board in the bottom of the 8th. Asao came in to relieve Chen, a happy accident for the Lotte faithful. Iguchi led off the 8th with a double, Satozaki bunted him over to third, and after Benny struck out for the second out Fukuura pinch-hit for starting first baseman Hori. Given the previous 2 games of Lotte’s offensive futility it seemed likely that Chunichi would get out of the inning unscathed, but Asao did what Lotte bats couldn’t do so far this game, bringing home Iguchi on a wild pitch. I must admit, I was laughing – hard – at the irony of tying the game in such fashion.

Lotte outfield supporters never lose faith

Something about that rather embarrassing way to score a run changed the mood in the stands, and I think changed the mood for the team as well. After the game was tied, with Watanabe still going strong, and the great setup/closer combo of Sikorski/Ogino waiting in the wings, it seemed inevitable to me that Lotte would find a way to win.

Sikorski came in with one out and a runner on in the 9th and shut down the Chunichi bats to take the game tied into the bottom of the 9th. Drama – not new flu – was definitely in the air.

Sikorski winds it up and the fans lap it up

Chase Lambin provided the first manifestation of the new-found offensive confidence, ripping a double down the right field line and diving pure-showman’s style headfirst into second. It was an absolutely unnecessary and maybe even dangerous dive, but dammit I LOVED it. What a way to fire up the crowd!

Lambin tears around second as Morozumi watches the double land

Lambin takes flight into second

Safe!

Lambin left a hero for pinch-runner Hayasaka. Chunichi reliever Hirai was pulled for Kobayashi, and the gleeful Lotte fans sang the Flag Theme. I’m telling you, we knew victory was imminent.

Even the youngest fans and their fathers knew victory was near

After a intentional walk to Tsuyoshi Ohmatsu came to the plate. He entered the game as a defensive replacement for Takehara in the 8th, so this was his first at bat of the game. He’s had a very rough year, batting below .170 coming into the game (after having been below .100 earlier this month). It was now or never time.

Ohmatsu swings at the game-winning pitch

Contact, and the game winning single rolls into left as Hayasaka races home! It’s dramatic Sayonara victory for Lotte as the fans dance and the players pour onto the field.

Benny gives today’s hero Ohmatsu an ice bath

Lotte players cheer Ohmatsu’s ice baptism

It’s nice to see Ohmatsu make an impact. He’s been so much better this month and I hope we can expect more dramatics from his talented bat this season.

Ohmatsu throws souvenir balls into the stands after his hero interview

So Lotte ends it’s second series in a row 1-1. The Marines shift to Koshien on Sunday for a 2 game Sunday-Monday set with Hanshin. I can verify that the Marines are in fact in Kansai (as am I), which I’ll discuss in detail in a later post. We’ll be there for both games in our black road uniforms, bouncing, screaming, and singing from the Koshien outfield, helping Lotte on to victory.

There’s a lot going on that I won’t cover in this post. I was very lucky today to meet many members of the NPB blogging community whom I hope I will have a chance to meet again in the near future. Also, it turns out I am a new local TV ‘star’, unbeknown to me. After the game I saw some fans taking photos of me, so I took a photo of them, smiled, and gave a thumbs up.

Fans, of course

They came up to me and said “We saw you on Chiba TV last night! You are a Nishioka fan!” Sure enough, I wear a Nishioka jersey to games. But it’s on the back, how does it get on TV, and so memorably that these fans would seek me out? I understand how I get on TV as I stick out a bit and am very vocal, but my uniform? Hmm.

In case I thought it was an isolated incident, another fan came up to me a few minutes later and told me “I saw you on TV! Nishioka!” Yes, yes. And it happened AGAIN a bit later. What could I have possibly done to be so memorable? If I were a paranoid man…

May 23, 2009