With the Pacific League races heating up, and with the Hawks leading the league in games played, every one counts that much more, especially since the season is now in the home stretch.
One thing that needs to happen is that Tsuyoshi Wada needs to get back on track and have a few good starts in a row. He took one step towards that today with eight innings of scoreless baseball as the Hawks shut out the Eagles for the second day in a row.
He also got some help in the person of Hitoshi Tamura, who hit a home run for the second game in a row, and also hit a second one in his second consecutive at-bat, accounting for four of the Hawks five runs.
Against Rakuten starter Satoshi Nagai (L, 8-10, 3.92), the Hawks put together one of their best performances of the season against him, and this is a pitcher who has traditionally been tough on them.
All it took was Tamura's pair of two-run shots in the third and fifth innings, respectively. In both instances, a walk set up the big blast, as Kokubo walked right before the first home run, and Ortiz's free pass preceded Tamura's second blast.
Wada (W, 15-8, 3.25) took it from there as he looked very sharp, something the Hawks need. He only gave up five hits, striking out seven and walking just one. The victory set a new career high in wins in a season for the longtime Hawks lefty, as he hit the 15-win plateau for the first time in his career.
Thanks to a loss from Lotte, the Hawks are two games clear of the Marines for second place in the Pacific League. Seibu recorded a win, and they are still one and a half games ahead of the Hawks for first place.
The Hawks close out the series against the Eagles with their next-to-last meeting against them this season (the two meet in a makeup game in the final game of the season on the 26th). The pitching matchup will be Shingo Matsuzaki (1-0, 4.09) against Shinsuke Ogura (4-8, 5.49).
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One thing that needs to happen is that Tsuyoshi Wada needs to get back on track and have a few good starts in a row. He took one step towards that today with eight innings of scoreless baseball as the Hawks shut out the Eagles for the second day in a row.
He also got some help in the person of Hitoshi Tamura, who hit a home run for the second game in a row, and also hit a second one in his second consecutive at-bat, accounting for four of the Hawks five runs.
Against Rakuten starter Satoshi Nagai (L, 8-10, 3.92), the Hawks put together one of their best performances of the season against him, and this is a pitcher who has traditionally been tough on them.
All it took was Tamura's pair of two-run shots in the third and fifth innings, respectively. In both instances, a walk set up the big blast, as Kokubo walked right before the first home run, and Ortiz's free pass preceded Tamura's second blast.
Wada (W, 15-8, 3.25) took it from there as he looked very sharp, something the Hawks need. He only gave up five hits, striking out seven and walking just one. The victory set a new career high in wins in a season for the longtime Hawks lefty, as he hit the 15-win plateau for the first time in his career.
Thanks to a loss from Lotte, the Hawks are two games clear of the Marines for second place in the Pacific League. Seibu recorded a win, and they are still one and a half games ahead of the Hawks for first place.
The Hawks close out the series against the Eagles with their next-to-last meeting against them this season (the two meet in a makeup game in the final game of the season on the 26th). The pitching matchup will be Shingo Matsuzaki (1-0, 4.09) against Shinsuke Ogura (4-8, 5.49).