Beware the Cellar-Dwellers; Hawks Start Strong vs. Seibu

The Orix Buffaloes have had the SoftBank Hawks number this year, and the remaining 2 games at Kyocera Dome proved it. The Buffs improved their record against the Hawks to an impressive 6-5 against the Hawks, and completed the sweep of the visitors from Fukuoka.

In the 2nd game of the 3-game set, one big inning was the Hawks undoing. In this case, it was the 6th inning. Closer-turned-starter DJ Houlton was doing very well through 5 and 1/3 innings, but then all of a sudden he melted down. Singles by Sakaguchi and Alex Cabrera and a double by Tuffy Rhodes plated the first 2 runs of the game for Orix, putting them ahead 2-1. After Kitagawa walked, Houlton was lifted for super rookie Yuki Kume. He struck out Shimoyama, but then Shimamura and Gotoh stroked back-to-back doubles to plate 3 more runs, giving the Buffaloes a 5-run inning, which would be all the offense they would need.

SoftBank put up a rally of their own in the 8th inning. With Orix starter Nakayama on cruise control, the Hawks almost ran Orix off the road with their 8th-inning rally. Trailing 6-1 (Cabrera hit a home run in the 7th), Tsuji pinch-hit for catcher Yamazaki, and lifted a double down the right-field line. Then, four straight singles from Honda, Kawasaki, Matsunaka, and Kokubo made it 6-5 .

In the top of the 9th inning, with the game in the balance, Matsuda hit a double to lead off the inning, and then Tsuji was hit by a pitch. Honda flew out, but then Kawasaki hit the game-tying sacrifice fly to make it 6-6. However, in the 10th inning the Hawks were victimized by having a double-play with runners on 1st and 2nd by Matoyama, and Yuya Hasegawa grounded out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 10th, the Buffaloes succeeded where the Hawks failed. Cabrera singled, and after a Rhodes groundout, Shiozaki walked, then Shimoyama delivered the sayonara single for a 7-6 win.

The next day, the Hawks sent their other gaijin starter, Rick Guttormson, to the mound. Guttormson went exactly 1 inning less than Houlton, as he went 4.1 innings, surrendering runs in the 2nd through 5th innings (the Buffaloes scored in the 6th as well). He surrendered home runs to Gotoh and Cabrera, and gave up 4 runs overall. Shinsuke Ogura gave up 2 runs of his own, though only one was earned. SoftBank put up single runs of their own in the 1st and 5th, and just like the previous night, the Hawks put up a rally again in their Lucky 7.

Shibahara, who pinch-hit for Tsuji, laced a single to lead off the inning, and Honda hit a singe of his own. After Kawasaki grounded out, Matsunaka and Kokubo each hit singles of their own, to make the score 6-5, but Daisuke Kattoh slammed the door shut in the 9th to preserve the sweep.

Next up for the Hawks was the Chiba Lotte Marines, who have had a very disappointing season. The first game's pitching matchup was Kenji Ohtonari against Yoshihisa Naruse, but it was all Marines in this one. The Marines exploded for 10 runs on 12 hits, with Lotte getting home runs from Ohmatsu and Satozaki, with a 5-run outburst in the 6th inning. Naruse stifled the Hawks for 7 innings; the only run he surrendered was in the 4th as Naruse gave up doubles to Matsunaka and Ohmura. Lotte won going away, 10-1.

The next day was even more of a laugher as it was a Home Run Derby of sorts. The two teams hit 5 home runs combined, but two huge innings for Lotte put the Hawks away, as the Marines doubled up on the Hawks, 12-6. The difference was the bullpens. Neither Shota Ohba nor "Mr. Submarine," Shunsuke Watanabe, went longer than 5 innings. However, the Marines bullpen threw 4 innings of scoreless ball. The Hawks bullpen surrendered 9 runs, as both Takahashi and Ogura gave up more runs than Ohba did in his 4.2 innings of work indicated.

Yuichi Honda, Nobuhiro Matsuda, and Matsunaka all hit home runs for the Hawks, but Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Ohmatsu each hit homers in the 7th inning for the Marines, but in the 6th and 7th, Lotte was the beneficiary of the Hawks pitchers' developing an allergy to the strike zone. In those two innings, the Hawks walked 5 batters and hit one, with all but one of them scoring.

The final game of the three-game set finally saw the Hawks break through, but they won ugly. Tsuyoshi Wada gutted his way through 7 tough innings, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits, walking 4. Hiroyuki Kobayashi was not much better, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, but he walked 4 batters of his own.

Once again, one big inning accounted for most of the Lotte offense, this time the 5th inning. The Marines sent all 9 men to the plate, with Imae starting it all with a double. Nishioka walked, then Jose Ortiz singled in Imae to make it 3-2. Hori walked, and Satozaki singled to send in Ortiz to tie the score. Ohmatsu popped out, then Saburo hit a sacrifice fly to put the Marines ahead. Finally, a double by Benny Agbayani put the Marines ahead 5-3.

SoftBank tied it with 2 in the 8th thanks to a pinch-hit home run from Shibahara, then took the lead in the 9th with 2 more. Pinch-hitter Takaya struck out to begin the inning, then a single by Honda and a double by Kawasaki put the Hawks ahead 6-5. Satozaki was charged with an error as another run scored to make it 7-5.

The drama reached fever pitch in the bottom of the 9th. Yanase started the inning by walking Nishioka. Ortiz went down swinging, then in came lefty specialist Nitkowski to try and get the lefthander Fukuura. Instead, Fukuura doubled in the speedy Nishioka. Nitkowski was lifted for super rookie Kume. Satozaki walked, then pinch-hitter Nemoto flew out. Saburo walked to load the bases. A base hit would tie the score, and who better to do it than Agbayani? Instead, Agbayani flew out to left, and Kume preserved the 7-5 win.

Today, after a day off, the Hawks started a fresh series with the Saitama Seibu Lions. The Lions sent Kazuhisa Ishii to the mound, and he has pitched well against the Hawks this season. The Hawks struck first quickly with singles by Kawasaki, Matsuda, and Restovich to make it 1-0 in support of Hawks stopper Toshiya Sugiuchi.

A hit batsmen and a double led to Seibu's first run of the game in the 3rd inning, tying the score, but in the top of the 4th, SoftBank was the beneficiary of some classic Ishii loss of control, and an error by shortstop Nakajima. Coupled with a leadoff double by Nakanishi, the Hawks plated 2 runs in the inning, even though Ishii was not responsible for those runs.

In the 5th, singles by Kataoka and Kuriyama scored the Lions only other run of the game. From then on, Sugiuchi was unhittable. He retired the last 13 batters he faced, and 19 of the last 21 overall, with only one strikeout in that span (he had 7 on the day). Meanwhile, the Hawks scratched out runs in the 7th and 9th innings. In the 7th, a double by Nakanishi and an infield hit by Kawasaki extended the Hawks lead to 4-2, then in the 9th a triple by Honda and a sacrifice fly by Kawasaki gave the Hawks a 5-2 lead, which is how the game ended.

The Hawks are 41-41, with 2 games in-hand over the Rakuten Eagles, who are also at .500. The Hawks continue their series against the Lions tomorrow at Seibu Dome.