SoftBank's 3-Game Win Streak Snapped; Ohmine Spins Gem

With three straight wins under their belt, the Hawks were looking to add on another win against the Chiba Lotte Marines. However, Yuta Ohmine had other ideas as he spun a gem that led to a 5-0 win for Lotte, and a snapping of the Hawks' three-game win streak.

The Hawks just had no answer for Ohmine (1-0, 2.77) today. The Lotte starter struck out 10 batters and gave up only four hits as part of a complete-game shutout. Three Hawks (Honda, Matsunaka, Hasegawa) struck out twice and nobody had more than one hit.

On the other side for the Hawks was Shingo Tatsumi, and once again, his control problems led to a short outing. In just two innings, Tatsumi (0-2, 14.29) walked four, struck out one, and gave up three runs on three hits.

Tadahito Iguchi led the way for Lotte with a 3-for-4 day, including a walk, three doubles, and two runs batted in, those runs coming in the 2nd when he doubled in Toshiaki Imae and Takashi Ogino.

Veteran left-hander Yasushi Kamiuchi came in for the 3rd and pitched the next five innings, keeping SoftBank in the game until the 7th inning. Given the circumstances, Kamiuchi pitched very well, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out five and walking two, and also balking once.

However, the two runs in the 7th were enough to put the game away as Ohmine continued to dominate throughout the game.

The Hawks will try to win the rubber game of the series as they send Tsuyoshi Wada (1-1, 5.40) to the mound against grizzled veteran Hidetaka Kawagoe (1-0, 3.60).