Hawks Lose 4th in a Row to Marines, 9-5

Back in July, when Takahiro Mahara returned from a shoulder injury, I remember thinking that the Hawks chances were much better than they were without him. Now upon reflection, getting to Mahara is the most important task. If the starter can't go the duration, then it's up to the bullpen to take care of business.

That hasn't happened with the Hawks, especially the last few weeks. The return of some veterans to the bullpen helped at first, but now it's a case of the Hawks having trouble stopping the bleeding. There was more evidence of the Hawks bullpen implosions today.

Tsuyoshi Wada took the mound, hoping to log some quality innings and rebound from his last start against the Marines, which was not good at all. Instead, it was more of the same. Wada was rocked for 6 runs on 9 hits in 4 and 2/3 innings, striking out 9. Four extra-base hits in a row put four runs across: a triple by Tsuyoshi Nishioka, and doubles by Jose Ortiz, Julio Zuleta, and Saburo scored four runs after a leadoff single by Tasuku Hashimoto.

Akihiro Yanase took the mound for 1 and 2/3 innings, and wasn't much help. He gave up a run himself in the Marines Lucky 7, digging his own grave with a walk to Ortiz, and Yanase jumped in when he gave up a triple to Zuleta, who is not the most fleet of foot, to pad the Marines lead at 7-5. Akio Mizuta would surrender two more runs in the Lotte half of the 8th, giving us the final score of 9-5.

Offensively for the Hawks, they continued the trend that they have had all season long of scoring in the middle innings. After Nobuhiro Matsuda singled, two outs were recorded. Yusuke Kosai flew to right and Yamazaki sacrificed Matsuda to second. Then, some two-out lightning struck in the form of the suddenly-potent top of the SoftBank lineup off Lotte starter Hiroyuki Kobayashi.

With Matsuda on second, Honda walked and Morimoto singled in Matsuda. Then, the hot-hitting Hitoshi Tamura singled to knock in Honda. The damage was finished after Matsunaka singled to score the third run of the game. Nao Ohmura could have kept the inning going, but he grounded out to second. The Hawks had taken the lead 3-2, but they could not hold it.

With their next set of outs, the Hawks made the most of them again, scoring two more runs off Kobayashi. Matsuda, batting for the second time in as many innings, smacked a home run, a solo job, to make it 6-4. Then, a single by Kosai and a double by pinch-hitter Tanoue brought in the 5th and final run of the day for SoftBank, despite rapping out 12 hits.

On Respect for the Aged Day, the Hawks finish up their three-game series with the Marines, and it is a must-win situation. The Hawks are fading fast, and are 2.5 games in back of the Fighters for the 3rd and final playoff spot. The Hawks send Rick Guttormson to the mound against Yuki Karakawa.