Pitching Kills, Serves, Hawks in End of Buffaloes Series

The old saying goes that two out of three isn't bad. It's a good way to start the season for the Hawks, especially against the pesky Orix Buffaloes. Starting pitching is usually the crutch the Hawks lean on, and on Saturday, the Hawks had the crutch kicked out from under them. Shota Ohba was knocked around for 3 earned runs in the shortest outing of his career, at 3 and 1/3 innings. Ohba was knocked around for 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3 in his ever-continuing 4th inning problems.

On the other side, Kazuki Kondoh, who was 4-1 against SoftBank last season, was brilliant again against the Hawks. He worked 7 innings, giving up 1 run on five hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. The 25-year old righty from Kanagawa officially qualifies for the title "Hawks-killer," at this point.

The big, lumbering Orix sluggers had their way with Ohba in this one. Veteran Hirotoshi Kitagawa started the fourth-inning rally that chased Ohba by hitting an RBI double, and Tuffy Rhodes launched his first homer of the season off lefty reliever Koji Mise in the 5th.

The rubber game of the series was a tightly-contested pitcher's duel between the Hawks and Buffaloes. Team ace Toshiya Sugiuchi was called on to win this one, as the Hawks were looking for a series win to kick off the year. Mamoru Kishida was sent to the mound to counter Sugiuchi.

The only offense in the game in regulation was matching home runs from Alex Cabrera and Nobuhiko Matsunaka, both in the 6th inning. The offense was few and far between, as Orix sent 5 pitchers to the mound and SoftBank sent 4 pitchers to the mound. The moment of truth was in the bottom of the 10th. Yasushi Kamiuchi, who did not pitch last season, threw a scoreless inning of relief. Hirotoshi Kawagoe was lit up for the sayonara RBI double, courtesy of Yuichi Honda, after Kawagoe had walked Yuya Hasegawa.

After an off-day, the Hawks head to K-Stadium Miyagi, home of the equally-pesky Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Hawks will take on the hard-hitting Eagles, who out-slugged the Fighters yesterday 17-16.