Bullpen, Hasegawa Save Hawks Again

In defense of the Hawks today, they had to take on Hisashi Iwakuma, who has been nothing short of amazing against the Hawks each of the last two seasons. The Eagles ace was trotted out to the mound today against SoftBank again, and again Iwakuma was great.

But seven innings does not a game make. SoftBank fought hard the rest of the way and got into the Rakuten bullpen. When it counted in the 11th inning, it was Yuya Hasegawa once again shining brighter than all the rest. Also, an inspired effort once again from the SoftBank bullpen also made for a happy end to an afternoon game at Yahoo! Dome.

The game started in the exact opposite way most games have started for the Hawks this year: they did not score first. Nao Watanabe started the game with a single, was bunted to second by Takasu, and got to third on a single by Teppei. The Hawks would trade a run for an out, as Yamasaki grounded to second and Rakuten was up quickly, 1-0.

The Golden Eagles would strike for two more in the 4th inning off SoftBank starter Nagisa Arakaki. Nori Nakamura and Rick Short both roped singles to begin the inning, and Fujii singled Nori in to double Rakuten's advantage at 2-0.

Meanwhile, SoftBank was unable to get much of anything going against Iwakuma. The Eagles starter baffled the Hawks much the same way he baffled Korea in the WBC final. The best SoftBank could manage against him was a pair of two-out singles in the 2nd from Tanoue and Shibahara, both of which have been hitting better as of late. However, Takaya again could not find a way to break out of his slump, as he grounded out to end the inning.

In all, Iwakuma would scatter four hits while striking out three and walking only one over seven innings, also inducing nine ground ball outs on only 93 pitches. Had he gone longer, the outcome of this game might have been different.

Arakaki had been ducking in and out of trouble all day against the potent Rakuten lineup, but the Eagles kicked the door in during the 7th inning, and also chased Arakaki from the game. The Eagles would send seven men to the plate in their Lucky 7, and they would score two more runs, putting the game in jeopardy and also threatening to unravel that three-game win streak earlier in the week.

Arakaki started the 7th by walking Takasu, Teppei singled, and Kusano doubled in Takasu. When another run came across, it looked like the game was over at 4-0 Eagles, and Iwakuma on cruise control.

But Iwakuma would not return for the 8th inning. Arime would come in for the 8th, and almost gave what seemed to be a safe lead right back. Satoru Morimoto started the inning by singling, and Honda followed it up with a single of his own. With 1 down via a Kawasaki strikeout, Matsunaka beat the shift and singled in Morimoto. Arime was relieved by Koyama, and he retired the only batter he would face in Kokubo, who would go 0-for-5 on the day.

However, the floodgates were opened when Arime was relieved by Satake. He started by walking the bases loaded with the dangerous Hasegawa at bat. Hidenori Tanoue then came up and lifted a triple to deep center over Teppei's head. That would clean the bases of Hawks and tie up the game at four.

Satake was then relieved by Gwyn, who got the save the previous night. He would go for 1 1/3 innings of 2-hit ball. On the other side, Kume, Kamiuchi, Settsu, and Mahara would all come in and hold the line for the Hawks. Both teams had opportunities in the 9th, and neither could score.

The 11th inning was by far the wildest of the day. With Mahara in, Teppei and Kusano both singled, but the Hawks closer got out of the jam.

Hideki Asai was called upon to keep SoftBank off the board. It started well enough as Honda and pinch-hitter Kaneko both were put out. Matsunaka was determined not to let the Hawks go quietly, as he drilled a single over the shift again. More trouble found Asai as he walked Kokubo. Then up came Hasegawa. He had doubled in his last at-bat, and this time he ended the game with a single to left, which was enough to score the lumbering DH for the sayonara victory.

Arakaki's final line was 6 and 2/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 13 hits, walking three and striking out three. He, along with Iwakuma, did not factor in the decision.

Asai took the loss, he falls to 0-3. Mahara got the win, he is 1-0. There were no home runs in the game, and there were also no stolen bases.

The Hawks and Eagles play the rubber game of their three-game series tomorrow as SoftBank sends their ace to the mound in Toshiya Sugiuchi (2-0, 3.05). Rakuten counters with former Yankee Darrell Rasner (1-1, 8.62).