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 …
Author: Steve Novosel
I've gotta write, usually my voice is shot from yelling too much during Lotte games!
Hail Karakawa!
I missed the game report from yesterday’s 6-2 loss to Rakuten, but I will include some notes/commentary in this post. I sat in front of the TV this afternoon with the game on, ready to write some about the last game and I just couldn’t. Why? Budding ace Karakawa was on the hill, and he’s …
Game Report: Rakuten vs Lotte, 5/8
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 …
Game Report: Fighters vs Lotte, 5/6
Today was game 2 of the Fighters/Marines series – wait! I forgot yesterday’s debacle. How could I? Officially it was game 3 of the Fighters vs Marines series at stormy Chiba Marine. Lotte was looking for their first win of the season vs Nippon Ham. Watanabe Shunsuke started the game looking for his first win, …
Semi Game Report: Fighters vs Lotte, 5/5
I’m calling this a semi game report; it’s really more of a rant. The Fighters get out of Chiba Marine with a 2-0 victory, but that’s not the story. It’s a Golden Game, a 5 inning, monsoon-filled nonsense-that-somehow counts in the standings. Kobayshi take the meaningless-yet-still-a-loss loss with 5 innings of work. Seriously, who things …
Game Report: Fighters vs Lotte, 5/4
It’s the top of the third of Monday’s holiday day game between the visiting Fighters and the Marines. I’m going to try a little live blogging of this one to give my impressions of the game as it unfolds. Lotte is trying for its first win against the Fighters this year – the Fighters took …
Game Report: Lotte vs Softbank, 5/3
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. …
Game Report: Lotte vs Softbank, 5/2
After a disappointing 6-2 loss to Softbank in the opener of the weekend series on Friday, Lotte needed a win to get closer to coming out of the Pa-league cellar. Pitching tonight was Karakawa Yuki, who has had a strong start to the season with an ERA of 2.57 in 3 starts. Yahoo Dome is …
Game Report: Lotte vs Softbank, 5/1
The Marines went back on the road tonight for a 3 game set with 5th place Softbank in Fukuoka, hoping to continue the momentum from last night’s sayonara victory. Alas, it was not to be. Lotte starter Ono gave up 6 ER in 6 innings, including a pair of HRs to Softbank slugger Matsunaka (for …
Game Report: Orix vs Lotte, 4/30
After Tuesday’s extra-inning heartbreaker and yesterday’s tantalizing-comeback-that-fell-short Lotte entered tonight’s game needing a strong performance to avoid their second straight series sweep at the hands of Orix. Would Marines ace Shimizu Naoyuki (0-2 with a 9.20 ERA in ’09) be able to shut down the power-hitting Buffalo bats? Would the erratic Lotte offense be able …