No Errors Here, Arakaki Delivers Strong Outing in Hawks Win

In terms of fortune, Nagisa Arakaki has been very unlucky in his four starts this season. Not only has he lost four of his nine starts, leading to his 0-4 record entering today, but he has also been on the butt end of possibly the most unearned runs of any pitcher in Japan this season despite his limited starts.

Today, there were no miscues in the field, and Arakaki put forth his best start of the season, going 8 innings and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, walking only one and striking out a staggering 11 Buffaloes. Takahiro Mahara worked a scoreless 9th to earn his 6th save of the season as the Hawks turned the tables on the Buffaloes from yesterday, winning this one 3-2 and earning a split of the 2-game series.

Arakaki's counterpart, Kazuki Kondoh, was also very effective in 7 and 2/3 innings against the Hawks and even carried a no-hitter into the 5th, but he ran into trouble late.

After surrendering only one hit all day, the Hawks woke up with 2 down in the 8th. After Naoyuki Ohmura grounded out to begin the inning, Kenta Nakanishi singled. In a puzzling move, Oh-kantoku pinch-hit slumping catcher Takaya for Tsuji, a move that did not pay off as Takaya struck out. Next up was another pinch-hitter, reserve infielder Motohiro Yoshikawa. He delivered a huge hit, a 2-out double to right that put him on 2nd and Nakanishi on 3rd.

Next up was the struggling Yuichi Honda, who had been 0-for-8 in the series with 4 strikeouts, three of them in yesterday's frustrating loss. The young 2nd baseman delivered when it counted though, slapping an RBI single to short and letting his blazing speed take care of the rest. Kenji Ohbiki could not get the throw onto the 1st baseman in time, and Nakanishi scored to cut Orix's lead in half, 2-1.

Another member of SoftBank's walking wounded who had returned recently was ace pinch-hitter Mitsuru Honma, who put the goat horns on Orix reliever Akio Shimizu. Shimizu's responsibility was to get Honma out, but a single off Honma's bat scored not only pinch-runner Kidokoro, but also Honda, who flashed his speed again by not only stealing 2nd, but also scoring on the base-hit. The timely base hit put SoftBank in the lead 3-2, and also put the game on ice.

Before the dramatic 8th inning, the game was a nail-biter. Both Kondoh and Arakaki were on the top of their games, almost to perfection on both sides. Kondoh through the first 4 innings walked one batter, and didn't give up a hit until the 5th, when Nobuhiro Matsuda singled. In all, two batters reached through the first 23 batters.

Arakaki was perfect through the first 14 batters (4 and 2/3 innings), but Mitsutaka Gotoh ruined the perfect game bid by cracking his 8th home run of the season, and it put Orix on top, 1-0. Arakaki did not surrender anything else until the 8th inning, though. He only allowed 1 baserunner in 22 batters, a walk to Alex Cabrera.

In the 8th, the Buffaloes could have put away the Hawks, but Arakaki went to damage control. A pair of singles from Hamanaka and Gotoh led to the Buffaloes 2nd run of the game.

Thanks to a Fighters loss at the hands of the Chiba Lotte Marines, the Hawks have reclaimed 2nd place in the Pacific League. The Hawks now have to face the PL-leading Saitama Seibu Lions, and the pitching matchup tomorrow is between both teams' aces, both fresh off the Olympics: Toshiya Sugiuchi (9-5, 2.60) vs. Hideaki Wakui (8-8, 3.38).