Who are these guys? Whoever they are, I like them – alot. After weeks of frustration, missed opportunities, and men left on base like unwanted promotional items, the Lotte offense has turned into the Monsters of Makuhari. In the past week, they’ve put up games of 9, 23, and now 9 runs again as they …
Tag: Kazuya Fukuura
Interleague Game 17: Gone Fishing
The Red Hell from Hiroshima stormed into a very windy (even by local standards) Chiba Marine Stadium tonight with an eye towards continuing their dominance over our dear Marines. It was no domination, but it was definitely a victory as Lotte loses again to Hiroshima, 2-0. If you like strikeouts and lost opportunities, this was …
Interleague Game 13: History Repeating
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Lotte starter {insert name} pitched quite well this evening versus {insert Central League team} – well enough to win most nights. Unfortunately, the offense didn’t give him much support, and Lotte succumbed to {insert Central League team} again, {final score}. For example: Lotte starter Ono pitched quite well …
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 …
Interleague Game 9: Kanto Battle part 1
Today the Swallows returned to San Juan Capistrano Chiba Marine Stadium for the first time in 2009, and the first of the 4 interleague matches. Lotte returned home in winning fashion after the 2-game sweep at the hands of Hiroshima, beating Tokyo 6-3. I certainly love to watch a Lotte win but it’s always a …
Interleague Game 3: Dragooned
Interleague play continued as the Chunichi Dragons roared into town for the second interleague matchup. Unfortunately the fizzling offense from Wednesday’s game with Yokohama made another appearance as Chunichi took the first game 4-1. Much like Naruse’s start on Wednesday Lotte starter Ohmine didn’t pitch all that poorly, but there was no offensive help to …
Game Report: Lotte vs Softbank, 5/14
Ugh. It’s not my fault, I couldn’t have jinxed them. No really, I couldn’t have — I was watching the game recorded, not live. No, it can’t possibly be my fault, even though I started to write this post – with victory in mind, searching for pictures of brooms to represent ‘sweep’ – before the …
Game Report: Lotte vs Softbank, 5/13
Tonight the 3-game set with Softbank shifted from the Yahoo Dome to just down the road in Kitakyushu. Looking to build on last night’s tense 2-1 win, Lotte put on quite a show, pummeling the Hawks on their own turf 7-0. It was a multi-pronged attack, helped in great part by the new rule change …
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, 5/4
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 …