Fighters Fight Back to Stun Hawks, 4-3

Nippon Ham has been a real tough test for the Hawks so far this season. With an excellent record against SoftBank going into this series in Sapporo, the Hawks needed to take two out of three to at least give them some confidence. However, as the old saying goes, "so close, and yet..."

Toshiya Sugiuchi was again good over 7 solid innings, but unfortunately the bullpen could not hold the lead, as Nippon Ham stormed back in the final three innings to take 2 out of 3 from SoftBank this series and put the Hawks in a precarious position going into this weekend's series against Lotte at Yahoo Dome.

On a rare day when Sugiuchi wasn't at his best, he was still able to keep the Fighters close before the always-dormant-before-the-7th-inning Hawks offense took their time revving up. Despite giving up some hits early, Sugiuchi did not let the Fighters get any runs across.

That is, until the 4th inning. Nippon Ham did what they do best and play some small ball to get their run in. A leadoff double by Kensuke Tanaka set the table, and a groundout by Inaba got Tanaka to 3rd. After Terrmel Sledge walked, Eiichi Koyao, who has had a great series in the clutch, lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored Tanaka and put Nippon Ham up, 1-0.

The very next half-inning, SoftBank roared back. After Yuichi Honda flew to left for the first out, Satoru Morimoto doubled and Matsunaka walked for the third time in the game. Kokubo was called out on strikes to put the rally in trouble, but Nobuhiro Matsuda saved the day by singling in Morimoto and tying the game up.

Both Fighters' starter Brian Sweeney and Sugiuchi pitched well into the 7th, and then both hit trouble. Sweeney's trouble almost cost Nippon Ham the game. In the Hawks Lucky 7, Satoru Morimoto flew out to start the inning, but Matsunaka doubled to set up the rally. It almost didn't come to fruition as Kokubo grounded out, but a walk to Matsuda gave the Hawks the opening they needed.

Naoyuki Ohmura singled in Matsunaka to put the Hawks on top 2-1, then Arakane doubled in Matsuda to put the Hawks up 3-1. It could have been worse, but the tiring Sweeney was relieved by Yoshinori Tateyama, and he induced a fly ball from Takaya which ended the inning with the Hawks in an excellent position to finally win a series against Nippon Ham.

Sugiuchi was sent back out to pitch the 7th, but trends reared their ugly heads again. The light-hitting Fighters always seem to have their way with the Hawks' pitching staff, and today was no different. The light-hitting Jason Botts led off the 7th with a towering home run to left, his 5th of the season. Sugiuchi finished up the 7th, but the damage was done, and the Hawks lead was cut to 3-2.

The 8th inning was more of the same from the Fighters, as they ganged up on Takayuki Shinohara. Hichori Morimoto led off the inning with a single, which is always bad with his speed. He was bunted to 2nd by Kensuke Tanaka, but Inaba was called out on strikes to put the Fighters' inning in trouble. However, once again the Fighters managed to get some timely hitting, and former Major Leaguer Terrmel Sledge provided the dagger in this inning, singling to left to bring Morimoto around to score and tie the game at 3.

The Hawks put runners on in the 8th and 9th innings, but nothing amounted from those hits, with Miyanishi and Hisashi Takeda stopping potential Hawks rallies. This set the stage for the Fighters in the 9th.

Makoto Satoh was brought in to try and send the game into extra innings, and he had been pitching well as of late. However, two harbingers of Hawks destruction were up in the inning. Satoh started the bottom of the 9th by walking Jason Botts, who pulled the Fighters to within 1 on his 7th-inning solo blast. Shinji Takahashi then was called on to bunt Botts to second, and that he did.

That brought up the ultimate kick to the groin in Makoto Kaneko. He has been hitting under .200 all season, and is even hitting .111 against SoftBank this season, but every time Kaneko manages to come up with the big hit. He put the dagger in the Hawks heart yet again, singling to left and scoring Botts to win the game.

An utterly demoralizing defeat for the Hawks today. SoftBank's bullpen did what they did best before Mahara came back, and that is, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Everyone in the Hawks locker room must ask themselves, "what do we have to do to beat the Fighters?"

However, more importantly, the Hawks have to re-focus, and an off-day will help them do just that as they move to their next series with the always-tough Chiba Lotte Marines for the start of a 5-game homestand at Yahoo! Dome.

This is yet another immense series, as the Hawks have the Marines breathing down their necks in the standings, and now they are tied for 3rd with the Fighters. Thanks to a Seibu loss today, the Buffaloes gained another game with their win today, and are now in 2nd place, 7 games in back of the Lions.

Lotte comes into this brief 2-game series 1.5 games in back of the Hawks for 3rd place in the Pacific League. The pitching matchup will be reported once it is made available.