On a splendid summer afternoon at QVC Marine Field, the Marines edged the Nippon Ham Fighters with a 2-1 victory. With veterans Okada and Ohmatsu in the lineup and Nishino on the bump, Lotte shook off some early troubles with the same coolness as the breeze blowing in off Tokyo Bay.
Tag: shunichi nemoto
Futility Reigns
It was rough afternoon for the Marines at Koshien Stadium, scoring only 3 runs on 15 hits while committing 2 errors. The season finale with the Tigers was punctuated by a Matt Murton sayonara homerun, as Hanshin walked off with a 4-3 win. Lotte hit into four double plays on the day, contributing to a total of ten men left on base. Starting pitcher Ohmine was pulled after three innings (0ER) for the second straight start, while the NPB save leader Masuda was charged with the blown save and the loss. The Marines finished the year winless against the Tigers at 0-3-1. Their lead in the Pacific League also falls to two games, and Lotte is now two games out of the inter-league title with only four games left to go.
Marines Lose Battle of Aces
In a battle of number one starters, our ace Naruse was out-dueled by Atsushi Nohmi in a 3-1 win for the Hanshin Tigers over the Marines at Koshien Stadium. Naruse only gave up 2 earned runs in 7 innings, but it was not enough to best the Tigers ace. Nohmi hurled a rather efficient complete game 3-hitter, logging just 103 pitches. The Marines are now 0-2-1 versus the Tigers on the year.
The Blooming of the Iguchi Spring
On a day when 39-year-old Tadahito Iguchi was named the Pacific League MVP for May, Our Marines battered the pitching staff of the Hiroshima Carp for 14 hits and 5 runs en route to a very nice 5-3 win. With losses by Rakuten and Seibu, Lotte jumps back to the top of the interleague standings and in front of the PL standings by a whopping 4 games. Who cares if it just turned June, this has been one enjoyable ride.
Kings of the Mountain
Image: From marines.co.jp
With today’s win, Lotte now has the best record in the NPB, top position in the inter-league title race, and first place in the Central League.
For the second game in a row the Marines held off a late offensive attack by Yomiuri, defeating the Giants this afternoon by a score of 3-2. Imae continued to tear it up in the number four slot, golfing a two-run double to left in the 3rd inning. Our ace Naruse looked great early on, highlighting his performance by recording his 1,000th career strike out in the 3rd. Despite a scoreless 4 innings to start the game, Naruse departed clinging to a 3-2 lead with 1 out in the 7th. However, the bullpen shut the Giants down again for 2 2/3 innings, preserving the win for Naruse.
One Giant Leap
The Marines were able to contain a late game awakening by the Giants bats to preserve a win for starting pitcher Yuki Karakawa. With 4 runs coming in the form of a pair of 2-run home runs by Iguchi and Daichi Suzuki, the Marines defeated the Yomiuri Giants 4-3. The Marines and Giants went into the game tied with the best records in the NPB. Now, Lotte has sole possession of that honor. The win also guarantees at least a season split with Giants, as well as maintaining our position of 1/2 game out of the inter-league title and 3 games atop the Pacific League.
Marines Take 2 in Yokohama
The Marines finished the year 2-0 at Yokohama Stadium as they closed the books this afternoon on a 4-1 win over the BayStars. The Eagles and Lions both lost today, growing our lead to three games atop the Pacific League.
Jingu Batting Doom
Our Marines sent ace Naruse to the hill on Saturday night at Jingu looking to get back into the winning spirit. It didn’t work out that way as Tokyo Yakult blasted their way to a 5-3 victory over Lotte. Grr. It’s actually kind of refreshing to have a garden-variety loss after the back to back …
They Might Be Giants
Yomiuri Giants walk off with a 5-4 win to split the series. The Marines were looking for their third straight come-from-behind win. For the second straight night, they rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead in the Tokyo Dome. But tonight the Giants would get the last laugh on a 2RBI walk-off …
Gatecrash the Tokyo Dome!
Plenty of people thought Yomiuri would be leading the Central League at the start of interleague play, but who are these guys in first in the Pacific? Weren’t they supposed to be horrible? Shouldn’t the Lotte-Kyojin series in game 1 & 2 of interleague feature the first vs last teams? Nope. Our Marines have played …