Eagles Take Two Out of Three From Hawks

This week has been very trying for the SoftBank Hawks, considering that they have been reeling ever since they got swept by the Chiba Lotte Marines last week. Even though they're getting healthy, it may be a case of too little, too late.

The first game of this three-game series against the perpetually-annoying Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles was once again overseen by Hisashi Iwakuma, who beat the Hawks yet again. Just like his previous start, Rick Guttormson took the mound and put up another excellent start, but Iwakuma was too tough, handing Guttormson his second straight hard-luck loss.

Iwakuma out-dueled Guttormson over 8 innings, with Guttormson surrendering 3 runs on a staggering 12 hits, striking out 2 batters, while Iwakuma gave up only one run on 11 hits while striking out 7. Marcus Gwyn came on to notch the save in the 9th.

For both sides it was a case of missed opportunities. The Hawks had at least one man reach base in all but two innings, only scoring in the 5th inning. The Eagles got all of their runs in the 4th inning, rapping out 5 straight hits: singles from Uchimura and Jose Fernandez, a double by the resurgent Fernando Seguignol, and singles by Takeshi Yamazaki and Rick Short. These 5 hits plated three runs, and accounted for all the offense Iwakuma would need.

On a four-game losing streak going into the second game, SoftBank desperately needed a win to stay close in the wide-open Pacific League. Wildly inconsistent Nagisa Arakaki took the mound looking to take the role of stopper, while Hideki Asai attempted to keep the Eagles rolling. Arakaki once again flirted with the no-hitter through 4 and 1/3 innings, with a plethora of walks following him.

Most of the game was a pitcher's duel between Asai and Arakaki, but it was an ugly pitcher's duel, with help from SoftBank's incompetent offense. The Hawks first run came in the 2nd inning when Asai walked in a run after a pair of singles from Matsunaka and Kokubo. After Ohmura walked, Asai committed a cardinal sin by walking Hawks catcher Katsuki Yamazaki (who is only hitting .143!) to force in a run.

Meanwhile, Arakaki continued to either walk or hit batters. Ironically enough, the Eagles only run came in almost the same way the Hawks first run did. Nakamura and Uchimura singled, and after a sacrifice bunt by Takasu which put Nakamura and Uchimura on 2nd and 3rd, Fernandez walked to load the bases, and then Seguignol was hit to force in the Eagles only run of the game.

In all, over 7 and 1/3 innings, Arakaki would walk 5, hit 2, and strike out 10 while giving up one run on four hits while picking up the win. Akio Mizuta cleaned up for Arakaki in the 8th, and Mahara worked a scoreless 9th for the save.

Hideki Asai went 6 and 2/3 innings in the losing effort, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4.

With the rubber game today, things looked good for the Hawks on paper. Innings-eating ace Toshiya Sugiuchi was on the mound, and he was facing Masahiro Tanaka. With the Hawks needing to take this game, Sugiuchi put up possibly his worst outing of the season.

He was rocked for 5 runs on 7 hits, walking 4 (1 intentional) and striking out 5, taking the loss. Sugiuchi had only one inning in which the Eagles were retired in order (2nd inning), and SoftBank could not get any offense going once again, this time against Tanaka, who has been a pest for the Hawks since his debut last season.

The Eagles dynamic gaijin duo of Fernandez and Seguignol put the Hawks in a bad way the entire game, as they were a combined 4-for-8 with 4 RBI and 2 runs scored and 2 walks.

Of course, the Hawks didn't help themselves with continuing their disturbing trend of leaving lots of runners on base. Three straight singles culminated in one run in the 1st inning, but in the 2nd inning, the Hawks were in good shape with a leadoff double from Ohmura, and then a single by Hidenori Tanoue put runners on the corners. However, the next two batters smoked line drives at Uchimura at 2nd, and then a flyout by Honda ended the promising inning.

It got worse. Morimoto hit a leadoff double in the 3rd but was stranded, the Hawks had 1st and 2nd with 2 down in the 6th, and there was another leadoff double in the 8th. The Hawks seem to be taking RISP (runners in scoring position) batting lessons from the Yokohama BayStars, because by my count, the Hawks left an inexcusable 13 runners on base throughout the game. A team cannot hope to do that and win. Part of it was just great pitching from Tanaka, who makes a living out of getting out of pinches like those, but the situational hitting has been suspect all year, and just now the problem is coming to a head.

The Hawks need to get their act together, as they are 8.5 games in back of the Lions for first place, but Hawks fans can throw winning the PL out the window now. Second place in the PL is also a longshot because of the Orix Buffaloes white-hot play. They remain four games in back of Seibu for the PL lead.

The main concern is getting into that 3rd and final playoff spot, for which the Hawks are 1/2 game in back of the Fighters for that position. Since the Fighters lost today, the Hawks lost no ground, but they are only half a game ahead of Lotte for 4th place.

And guess who the Hawks have to play? Yep, it's the Marines, and it's at Chiba Marine Stadium, Saturday through Monday. Once again the Hawks need to take at least 2 out of 3, but it's at the point where SoftBank needs to win series in succession, or go on a winning streak of at least 6 games.