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 …
Tag: Chiba Lotte Marines
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 …
Game Report: Orix vs Lotte, 4/29
Quick on the heels of last night’s gloomy disappointment was today’s afternoon game, the second with Orix. The pitching matchup featured Watanabe Shunsuke (who was 0-2 on the season to date despite a 2.40 ERA) and Kanako Chihiro (1-2 with a 5.30 ERA). Watanabe has always pitched well at Chiba Marine, so optimism was running …
Game Report: Orix vs Lotte, 4/28
The Marines returned home on Tuesday after the 3-2 road trip to Sendai and Tokorozawa to face the 10-9 Buffaloes. The first series with Orix didn’t go so well, with Lotte losing all 3 games in Osaka a few weeks ago. Taking the hill tonight was Kobayashi, facing Orix pitcher Kondo. There were alot of …