Eagles vs Buffaloes Postgame: Home-field cookin’
KLEENEX STADIUM, SENDAI - The Eagles wrapped up a dominating season series with the Orix Buffaloes, in the process clinching home field advantage in the 1st stage of the Climax Series with a come from behind 4-3 victory in front of almost 20,000 screaming fans on a chilly Friday night.
Rookie Hiromichi Fujiwara (5-4) was a little shaky early on, giving up a 2-run blast by RF Shinji Shimoyama and a fielder's choice RBI by SS Koji Yamasaki in the top of the second inning.
Rakuten struck back quickly however with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings, with the bottom half of the lineup doing most of the damage once again. Fernando Seguignol started things off with a great 9-pitch at-bat, eventually drawing a walk. Todd Linden singled to left, and Jin Nakatani grounded one through the left side of the infield, loading up the bases with two outs. Leadoff hitter Yosuke Takasu cracked a 137km (85mph) fastball grounder into center field, scoring Seguignol and Linden to cut the lead to one.
The Eagles came roaring back the very next inning, again with some clutch 2-out hitting. Orix starter Yasunari Takagi (1-2) started to lose control of the strike zone, walking Daisuke Kusano on four pitches and Seguignol on five, setting the stage for Linden who belted a 2-2 fastball into the left field corner for a 2-RBI double. Linden actually ended up on 3rd base on the play but was unable to score. The damage was already done however.
Fujiwara settled down after that, scattering just 4 more hits (all singles) over the next 6 innings. He was also helped out by some great deep outfield catches by Linden and RF Toshiya Nakashima. Kazuo Fukumori came on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning to record his team-leading tenth save of the year.
While the victory will relieve a little pressure on the Eagles, their final two games still have postseason ramifications, as they face 1st place Nippon Ham in Sapporo tonight, and finish off the regular season at home against their 1st stage opponent, the Softbank Hawks. They'll definitely want to finish strong to keep their momentum as they enter their first ever postseason!
Pitching
24-year old rookie Fujiwara continues to see his stock rise and is undefeated in his last seven starts (3-0). The lefty showed a lot of poise after surrendering a three run lead early on, basically shutting down the Buffaloes offense after the second inning. Has Rakuten finally found their left-handed starter? All signs are pointing to yes at this point.
Hitting
Takasu and Linden provided all the offense Rakuten needed on this night. Takasu (3 for 3, 2 RBI, 1 BB) has now brought his batting average up over the .300 mark, and Linden (2 for 3, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R) is rapidly approaching the .300 level himself. Seguignol also played an important role in the scoring, going 1 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored.
Next Game
The Eagles travel up to Sapporo today to face the Pacific League winning but Yu Darvish-less Fighters. Both teams have nothing really to play for, but could end up meeting in the 2nd stage of the Climax Series later this month.
Me and Gen
* Note - I got to meet up with the venerable Gen Sueyoshi of Yakyu Baka before the game. We chatted briefly about websites, baseball (of course), and some other topics. With both of us being Eagles fans I'm sure our paths will cross again soon!
I picked up a 55-200mm lens for my Nikon yesterday afternoon as well. I took a ton of photos, too many to put in this post, so you can find them on this page.
http://theeaglesblog.com/eagles-vs-buffaloes-oct-9th-2009
GO EAGLES!!!
Related posts:
- Eagles vs Buffaloes Postgame: Seguignol saves the day
- Eagles @ Buffaloes Postgame: Throwing It All Away
- Eagles vs Buffaloes Postgame: A New Hope?
- Eagles @ Buffaloes Postgame: Longballed
- Eagles vs Buffaloes Postgame: Mr. Dependable
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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.Last Series (Away)
13th: Win 4-0
14th: Loss 3-2
15th: Loss 6-3
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Yakyu Baka » NPB
- Takahiro Okada has a strained hamstring September 10, 2010Takahiro Okada (ORI) had an MRI earlier today and was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain and will require 6 weeks for a full recover. But it seems the Buffaloes won't be taking Okada off the active roster and will have him join up with the team in Sendai on the 10th. […]
- Swallows would like to see Lim, Whitesell return next season September 10, 2010The Yakult Swallows are hoping both Chang-Yong Lim and Josh Whitesell return to the team for the 2011 season. With regards to Lim, it seems the club may be willing to offer him a multi-year deal and / or a substantial raise (his 2010 salary is 146M yen) in order to keep him in Jingu. Lim [...] […]
- Hanshin Tigers pitching news and notes September 10, 2010Atsushi Nomi (HAN) will get tonight's start against the Chunichi Dragons. This will be his first Ichi-gun start since he suffered a fracture in his right foot during his last Ichi-gun start on 5/2 (vs Yomiuri). This is going to be a big start for Nomi, not only because Messenger had a short start last [...] […]
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2009 Season Standings
2009 Playoffs, 1st Stage
16th Win 11-4
17th Win 4-1
Eagles win 2-0
2009 Playoffs, 2nd Stage
21st Loss 9-8
22nd Loss 3-1
23rd Win 3-2
24th Loss 9-4
Fighters win 4-1
October 10th, 2009 - 16:57
Wow, I thought I was the only American who rooted for the Eagles! This blog is GREAT!
I must say that as an Eagles fan, I really hope they draft well in terms of offense, since it’s a tricky proposition with a 41-year old cleanup hitter. I was very happy that Mikitani spent some $$$ for Nori Nakamura….although he was (not surprisingly to me, at least) an unmitigated BUST.
The starting troika of Iwakuma, Nagai and Ma-Kun is a rotation to build upon for at least the next 3 years. Rakuten is just a couple of players (bullpen stopper, I think the league will catch up to Fukumori next year in a big way and some dearly needed power) from being a solid, A-class team for the next 3 years.
Lotte is a mess right now, Orix which amazing went to the playoffs last years is far too dependent on old suketto (Cabu-chan, Larocca, Fernandez), which leaves Seibu. Had Okawari-kun stayed healthy the entire season, it’s hard to see how they wouldn’t really come close to knocking the Eagles out of 2/3rd place.
The Hawks are a team that is on the downswing. Kokubo and Matsunaga are getting long in the tooth and their once-dominant staff is now in tatters as Saitoh and Arakaki have spent more time on the d/l than they have pitching.
In other words, if Mikitani is smart, he can seize a GREAT opportunity to really establish the Eagles as a team to be reckoned with for the next 3 years AND keep NPB in Sendai for GOOD!
Again, thanks for the absolutely wonderful blog and keep up the good work.
I became an Eagles fan immediately after they were formed (I was in Kobe when the 2005 strike came out and the whole Mikitani-to-the-rescue thing played out). The Buffaloes were such a generic, afterthought in Kobe that they needed a place to be #1 and hopefully Sendai reaches out and makes them stay. Sapporo has really turned the corner in terms of attendance and it looks like the old-guard has finally seen the light that NPB can thrive in cities OTHER than Tokyo and Osaka!
October 11th, 2009 - 01:35
Yeah, maybe you and Gen are the only American Eagles fans! I’m Canadian though, eh?
Kidding aside, thanks for the words of encouragement, it’s already been quite an adventure over the site’s infancy and it’s nice to hear from a fellow Rakuten fan.
Great capsule writeup of the Pacific League as well! Maybe you’d like to guest blog on the site sometime, you seem to know a lot about the Eagles’ short history; I just started following NPB this season!
October 11th, 2009 - 16:19
I actually got my nom-de-internet from my wife’s maiden name (Murata). I live in the States, central time zone, so my exposure to NPB is limited to NHK highlights and – thank you MYP2P – the internet. Rakuten was only one of 2 teams to netcast their home games a couple of years ago (as did Softbank). Combined with the fact that they played outdoors made me a big fan.
Wasn’t real happy with the turf being put in as Miyagi had the chance to be only one of 3 NPB stadiums with real grass (Koshien and Hiroshima being the others – Skymark doesn’t really count since Orix plays the majority of their games at the ridiculously generic Osaka Dome). Obviously, $$$ was the deciding factor as it is much cheaper maintenance-wise to have turf and the Eagles aren’t exactly awash in money.
When I am in Japan, I have been to the Nagoya and Osaka Domes and they remind me entirely of my hometown Twins Metrodome. In other words, plasticky and boring.
I think Miyagi is a very cool, old stadium and the grass was the icing on the cake.
Still, it’s nice in that it is an outdoor stadium along with Chiba Marine, Mazda Zoom-Zoom, Koshien. Obviously, many NPB clubs could learn something from the Mazda experience and when I get to Japan in due time (probably in the next 2 years or so), I hope to catch a game there.
I grew up in Minnesota and have been to Vancouver….but most Americans have never been to…..Winnipeg (I’ve been there twice). Both times I went in the middle of winter….it was DARK!