Where Eagles Dare A Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles Fansite

Eagles vs Hawks Game 22 Preview

Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp

Despite last night's tough loss the Eagles inched ever closer to their first postseason berth, as the 4th place Seibu Lions were blasted at home 13-3 by the Lotte Marines.  Rakuten has to stop looking over their shoulders at Seibu however and try to keep pace with Softbank.

Photo © Yahoo! Japan

Pitching Matchup

Out on the mound tonight for Rakuten is 11-game winner Satoshi Nagai.  The 3rd year pro reached double figures in wins for the first time this season, and his mettle will no doubt be tested as he pitches in what is probably the most important game yet of his young career.  Nagai has fared well versus Softbank this year with a 4-1 record and a 3.64 ERA.  He is also 4-1 in his last six starts, but so was Iwakuma heading into last nights game, and we all know what happened there.

He'll be facing unknown Sho Iwasaki.  And when I say unknown, I mean it.  The 20-year old right hander has all of 3 innings NPB experience, and that was in 2008.  From the little information I could find, his fastball tops out at around 150 km/h (93 mph), and he likes to sing karaoke.  It could go either way with wildcards like this; he could get hit early and often or he could shut down Rakuten's batters completely.  Let's hope for the former.

Who's Hot

Todd Linden continues to swing the bat well, collecting a pair of hits last night.  Leadoff hitter Naoto Watanabe also had a couple hit in yesterday's loss.  While Fernando Seguignol only went 1 for 5 last night, he has been riding a wave this month.  It will be interesting to see however if the bases loaded double play he hit into in the bottom of the 9th last night will have any effect on him.

Who's Cold

Takeshi Yamasaki remains mired in a September slump, even though he put one out of the park last night.  He's 3 for 26 (.115) over the past seven games.  This season though he's batting .350 versus the Hawks.

Yosuke Takasu has also fallen on tough times recently, hitting .208 (5 for 24) over the same stretch.

First pitch at 6pm, JST.

Related posts:

1. Eagles vs Hawks Game 21 Preview
2. Eagles vs Hawks Game 24 Preview
3. Eagles vs Hawks Game 24 Preview
4. Eagles vs Hawks Game 23 Preview
5. Eagles vs Hawks Climax Series Game 2 Preview

About Andrew

Andrew has lived in Japan since 2006, spending time exploring the Tohoku region. He frequently attends Rakuten Eagles games in Sendai. You'll find him sitting along the 3rd base line drinking Guinness wearing a #46 Teppei jersey, next to a Japanese girl in a #5 Seguignol jersey.          You can follow him on Twitter if that makes you happy.