For the 5th time in the month of August, Our Marines have won a series, this time vs Orix. That’s every series so far this month, for those of you counting at home. In Game 1, the team won 5-2 behind the start of Karakawa and timely hits from Imae, Kakunaka, and Braz. In Game 3, New Lefty Ace Furuya + a strong pen combined with a pair of timely hits from birthday boy Daichi for a 3-1 win. Overall, Lotte won 2 of 3 and has now moved to within 4.5 games of Rakuten and sits 2.5 games up on third place Softbank.
Category: game report
Lotte Walks Off in 11!
Things didn’t start pretty for Our Marines on Wednesday night. The first place Rakuten Eagles started the game by putting a crooked number 4 on the scoreboard in the first inning off starter Seth Greisinger. Seth managed to settle down though, going 5 innings while only giving up one additional run. This kept Chiba within striking distance, allowing for a comeback win in one of the most exciting game thus far in 2013. Veteran catcher Satozaki hit a sayonara solo home run in the 11th, giving Lotte a 6-5 11th inning walk off win!
New Lefty Ace Wins Again!
Less than two months ago, an unexpected start by Takuya Furuya resulted in a no-no near miss. Since then, Furuya has been a fixture in the rotation, easily the best pitcher for Our Marines since the resumption of Pacific League play. Tonight, Furuya pitched another gem vs PL leaders Tohoku Rakuten – 7 innings and 8 strikeouts – and the bullpen took it to the finish for a stirring 3-0 Lotte victory.
Another Series Win!
For the 4th series in a row, Our Marines came into the the 3rd game of the series with a chance to take it. And has been the case for every series so far in August, the Men of Chiba did just that, putting together timely hitting and impressive pitching from a whole host of players to take the finale from Nippon Ham 5-1.
Lotte Falls in Extras
On Saturday the bullpen couldn’t back up Karakawa’s six and a third, one run performance. Little by little, the Nippon Ham Fighters picked away at Lotte’s 2-0 lead to win in sayonara fashion. The final score would read Fighters 3 – Marines 2 in 10x inning.
All According To Plan
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.
Struggle and Redemption
It’s been a rough month in Lotteland – a terrible, loss-filled disaster of a July. On Wednesday night Our Marines, behind steady pitching and strong veteran leadership, broke a 5 game losing streak and ended July on a stirring note via a strong 6-1 victory over Nippon Ham at QVC.
What A Mess!
What a nasty weekend for Our Marines in Sendai! Friday’s 9th inning disappointment carried over to a total pitching disaster and an 8-1 loss on Saturday and another inexplicable meltdown – a 5-4 loss – on Sunday.
The One That Got Away
Things were looking good for Our Marines heading into the 9th inning on Friday night with a 2-1 lead. Greisinger pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball, putting himself in position for the win over Rakuten’s ace, the 13-0 Masahiro Tanaka. Lotte had the 2-1 lead thanks to Iguchi’s 2000th career MLB/NPB hit, a solo home run in the 6th. Most importantly, we were about to pull ourselves within one game of the first place Eagles.
Seibu Series? So-So.
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.