Eagles vs Lions Postgame: No Relief, No Problem
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Leave it to young Masahiro "Ma-kun" Tanaka to stop the Eagles' bleeding. The right-hander carried the team on his broad shoulders and went an economical 10 innings to notch Rakuten's first win of the season. This time it was the Lions' bullpen that choked, walking in the tying run in the 8th inning. Box score, video, and some extra thoughts after the jump.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 3 Postgame: Meltdown
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - Boxing and baseball have few, if any similarities to each other. I suppose that both sports use a type of glove. Both sports require years of training, precision timing, and pinpoint accuracy, but at their core they are two different animals entirely. There is however, one facet, one feature, one story that not only links boxing to baseball, but to almost every competitive sport known to man -- Getting Old.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 3 Preview
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Wait, game 3? What happened to game 2??? I figured I'd get these numbered properly (at least in my opinion); since the Eagles are losing the series two games to zero, it only makes sense to me that tonight's contest should be named game 3. Don't like it? Well, I don't like how grown men spit on the floor inside an office building here in Japan but there ain't much I can do about it.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 2 Preview
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Stage 2 of the Pacific League Climax Series finally gets underway tonight in Sapporo, as the Nippon Ham Fighters host the Rakuten Eagles in this best-of-seven series. The Fighters begin the series with an automatic one game win, so the Eagles definitely have their work cut out for them as they begin this 6 games in 6 days series, having to win four games to advance to the Nippon Series.
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!!!
Eagles vs Marines Postgame: You Gotta Have Wan
KLEENEX STADIUM, SENDAI - As all of Japan awaited the arrival of Typhoon Melor, the Eagles and Marines managed to squeeze in Bobby Valentine's final NPB game, although perhaps Bobby wished they didn't as Rakuten blasted the popular manager out of Japanese baseball with a 9-0 win. With the win the Eagles lowered their magic number to one!
The Eagles began the rout in the fourth inning. Marines starter Yuki Karakawa (5-8) was going along just fine, retiring the first two batters of the inning, when the home team shocked the youngster with 6 straight hits. Catcher Jin Nakatani started the scoring with a single to center, scoring Fernando Seguignol. With runners now on 1st and 3rd, CF Ryo Hijirisawa cleared the bases with a double that LF Ohmatsu failed to catch, the error putting the Eagles ahead 3-0. Hirjirisawa then scored on a Masato Nakamura single, and the lead was four.
In the fifth inning, 3B Daisuke Kusano connected for his 5th homerun of the year, depositing it into the right field seats.
The Rakuten offense continued to put the hurt on Karakawa in the seventh. With two runners in scoring position, speedy Kensuke Uchimura (the shortest player in NPB at 163cm, or 5ft 3in) lined an RBI single to left. Kusano continued his strong night, cranking a 1-1 fastball into right field for a bases-clearing double. That marked the end of the night for the 20-year old righty. Karakawa's line on the night: 6.1 IP, 10 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 8 R, 5 ER.
The Eagles completed the slaughter in the 8th, as Uchimura picked up his second RBI of the night on a fielder's choice grounder.
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
Pitching
While supposed staff aces Hisashi Iwakuma and Masahiro Tanaka have been steadily worsening down the stretch drive, Sataoshi Nagai (13-7) has proven to be Rakuten's most reliable pitcher over the second half of the season. The 25-year old right hander is 5-1 over his last seven starts with a crisp 2.00 ERA. Nagai had a very economical outing Wednesday night, facing only three batters over the minimum through seven innings, fanning six Marines. With the game already in the bag, Tsuyoshi Kawagishi replaced Nagai, pitching a perfect 8th and 9th inning to close out the game.
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
Hitting
Teppei who?!? The PL leading hitter's replacement in centerfield, Ryo Hijirisawa, has surprised everyone with how well he's played since replacing Teppei on Monday. He's batted .500 (4 for 8), with a pair of runs scored and RBI in two games so far. Maybe he likes the rain, who knows?
Daisuke Kusano continued his excellent season with 3 RBI and a solo homer, and even little Uchimura got into the action with a pair of RBI.
Next Game
The Eagles get a well-deserved rest today as the typhoon attacks all of Japan. Tomorrow night they're back at it, looking to continue their dominance over the cellar-dwelling Orix Buffaloes. Rakuten needs only to win one of their three remaining games to lock up 2nd place, let's hope they get it over with early!
Eagles vs Marines Game 24 Preview
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
The Eagles finish off a stretch of five games in five nights in Sendai tonight and will face a familiar foe, hopefully under better conditions. The Marines won a wet one last night 5-2 in what was manager Bobby Valentine's final home game. While it's nice for him to go out on a high note in front of his fans, I hope the Eagles can rebound quickly from the loss an inch closer to home field advantage in the playoffs.
Click to enlarge
The pressure is squarely on Rakuten. Lotte, long eliminated from reaching the playoffs, will be trying to win one last game for their manager while the Eagles have to win two of their final four games to clinch second place in the Pacific League. Nippon Ham locked up first place last night so the race is down to Rakuten and Softbank.
The weather might not be any better at Kleenex Stadium than it was at Marine Stadium however, as rain is forecasted to begin in the afternoon.
Photo © Yahoo! Japan
Pitching Matchup
Satoshi Nagai (12-7, 3.57) will try to add one more win to his breakout season tonight. He last pitched on September 30th in a complete game victory at home over the Hawks. Despite this, the 25-year old has not pitched well at home, or against the Marines for that matter.
- @ Kleenex Stadium: 11 GS, 4 W, 5 L, 10 HR, 3.66 ERA
- Vs Lotte Marines: 3 GS, 0 W, 1 L, 1 HR, 4.86 ERA
The Eagles will be in tough, facing young right-hander Yuki Karakawa (5-7, 3.48). Although he's got a mediocre record, he's performed quite well versus Rakuten (2-1, 2.41). He'll be looking to avenge his most recent loss, which came at the hands of the Eagles on the 19th of last month.
Who's Hot
The Eagles' batters got cooled off (literally and figuratively) in Chiba last night. The lone bright spot was Ryo Hijirisawa (2 for 4, 2 RBI) who was playing for the injured Teppei. If Tsuchiya can go tonight, Nomura should consider moving Hijirisawa over to right field.
Who's Cold
Second baseman Naoto Watanabe is 2 for 12 (.167) in his last three games. With Teppei out of the lineup at the 3-spot, Rakuten is depending even more on the speedy 29-year old to kick-start the offense.
Catcher Jin Nakatani is continuing to receive the bulk of the playing time over Motohiro Shima recently; it looks like Nomura is going with the more experienced player through this stretch drive. He's batting just .133 (2 for 15) over the last seven games though. Shima was just starting to swing the bat well when he got planted on the bench. Both catchers are comparable defensively; Nomura should give Shima a chance, then just ride whoever is hotter into the playoffs.
First pitch is at 6pm local time, 2am PST.
Eagles vs Buffaloes Postgame: Seguignol saves the day
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KYOCERA DOME, OSAKA - Fernando Seguignol continued his improved play of late, lifting the Rakuten Eagles to a 6-3 victory over the cellar dwelling Orix Buffaloes Monday night. With the win the Eagles lowered their new Magic Number (for home field advantage during the 1st stage of the Climax Series) to three, as 3rd place Softbank had the night off.
Rakuten opened the scoring in the second inning. Orix starter Shogo Yamamoto (9-7) was almost out of the inning when the Eagles struck. Consecutive 2-out singles by Jin Nakatani and Yosuke Takasu put Rakuten up 2-0. Nakatani helped extend the lead in the fourth inning when his sacrifice fly to right field allowed Fernando Seguignol to rumble home from 3rd base.
Eagles starter Masahiro Tanaka (15-6) was cruising along through six innings, even striking out the side in the 4th, but ran into trouble in the 7th. Like Yamamoto in the 2nd inning, Tanaka's troubles began with two outs. CF Tomotaka Sakaguchi started the rally with a triple. RF Hiroyuki Oze then drew a walk, putting runners on the corners. 1B Hirotoshi Kitagawa then drove a 1-0 pitch into the corner in left field, scoring the speedy Sakaguchi with the double. With Orix runners in scoring position, veteran DH Tuffy Rhodes hit a first pitch 94 mph fastball into right field and the game was suddenly tied at three.
The comeback was short lived however, as in the top of the 8th inning Seguignol connected on a 1-2 changeup, depositing it into the right field seats. He knew it was gone as soon as it left the bat, shouting out toward the Eagles dugout as he started rounding the bases. Shinichiro Koyama replaced Tanaka in the 9th, giving up two hits before finishing off the Buffaloes and recording his fifth save of the year.
Pitching
Ma-kun dominated the first four innings to start things off, but ran out of steam over the latter half of his 8 inning performance.
- Innings 1-4: 3 hits (all singles), 4 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 runs.
- Innings 5-8: 9 hits (2 doubles, 1 triple), 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, 3 runs.
Is this a cause for concern? Perhaps. Tanaka got lucky in the 6th inning, escaping unscathed after having runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. With Rhodes on 3rd, Naoyuki Omura grounded into a double play, and the slow footed DH was unable to score. The next batter grounded out to end the inning. As the old adage goes, "You gotta be good to be lucky, and you gotta be lucky to be good."
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
Hitting
The bottom of the order supplied most of the offense tonight, with the 7 thru 9 starters combining to go 5 for 10 with 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. Seguignol was batting just .192 at the beginning of August. Since then he's managed to raise his average by 60 points! He's also on a 10 game hitting streak. During the Hero of the Game interview he was asked about the streak, to which he replied, "Oh no, now you've jinxed me!"
There was a hit of another kind that may be of concern to the Eagles. In his at bat in the top of the 9th, Teppei was struck in the back of his left leg by a Vogelsong wild pitch. He was carried off the field and did not return. Hopefully the ball hit muscle and not bone. Expect Rakuten to release info about his status tomorrow.
Next Game
The Eagles still have two more games to play before their next day off. Hisashi Iwakuma will get the start tomorrow night at Chiba Marine Stadium for Bobby Valentine's final home game as the Lotte manager. It should be a special game. First pitch is at 6:15pm local time, 2:15am PST.
Eagles vs Buffaloes Game 23 Preview
The Eagles looks to continue their dominance over the Orix Buffaloes and extend their lead on the idle Softbank Hawks tonight at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka. Rakuten has owned Orix this season, winning 17 times while losing only 4. Although the Eagles lead the Hawks by one game, due to the fact that NPB has tie games winning percentage is the ultimate factor in deciding who'll get home field advantage in the postseason.
Click to enlarge
Rakuten has 6 games remaining compared to just 2 for Softbank. In a nutshell, the Eagles could theoretically play their way out of home field advantage if they falter over the upcoming seven days. Take a look at the chart on the right to see who will end up where, depending on how they finish their remaining games. The makeup game on the 11th, the final game of the regular season, is at home against the Hawks and could determine which team gets home field advantage during the first stage of the Climax Series. Sometimes you gotta think that a higher power is manipulating the schedule!
Photo © Yahoo! Japan
Pitching Matchup
Due to the rainout back on the 2nd, manager Katsuya Nomura delayed Masahiro "Ma-kun" Tanaka's next start to tonight. Personally I think Nomu-san got a little lucky with this tactic. By crushing the Lions 14-5 on Saturday the offense bailed out the inferior Koji Aoyama, and there was little to be gained by matching Tanaka (14-6, 1SV, 2.28) against Hideaki Wakui yesterday. I'm not saying that Rakuten is guaranteed to win tonight's game versus the Buffaloes, but their chances are certainly better with young Ma-kun on the mound. There's also the matter of Nomura's challenge to the 21-year old right hander: If Tanaka reaches 15 wins on the year, Nomura will buy him any watch he wants! I'd pick a Rolex Yacht-Master myself. I bought a beautiful knockoff in NYC some years back, but somebody stole it from me. Who steals a ten dollar watch for crying out loud?!?!
Although Tanaka is 4-2 in his last six starts there are some warning signals popping up in his game. Over this span he's surrendered 18 earned runs, 14 walks, and served up 6 home runs. We'll probably see tonight whether it's just a bump in the road or something more to be concerned about. He's nearing his career high in innings pitched, and here in Sendai he's nothing short of a superhero. His face is everywhere, both on TV and in other advertisements around the city. Could it be that the pressure is getting to him?
Orix will send veteran Shogo Yamamoto (9-6, 4.09) to try to stop the rampaging Eagles offense. The left hander will be making his 4th start of the year against Rakuten, and will be looking to notch his first win versus the Eagles (0-2, 4.82). Yamamoto is winless in his last four starts, including a pair of losses to the Eagles.
Who's Hot
Despite getting cooled off a little by Wakui last night, the Eagles offense has still been rolling along. DH Takeshi Yamasaki has hit home runs in two straight games after suffering through a month long slump. He's currently sitting at 39 on the season and will no doubt be gunning for number 40.
Who's Cold
Light-hitting 2B Makoto Kosaka is hitting just .188 in his last five games. Look for Yosuke Takasu to start at second base instead, and to be replaced by Kosaka late in the game for defensive purposes. Catcher Jin Nakatani is 0 for 10 over the past five games, including six strikeouts. Expect Tanaka's regular battery mate, Motohiro Shima, to get the nod over Nakatani tonight.
First pitch at 6pm local time, 2am PST.
Eagles vs Lions Game 24 Preview
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
Quick turnaround from last night's blowout to this afternoon's game. All three Pacific League playoff teams are playing today, as the 1st place Nippon Ham Fighters host the 3rd place Softbank Hawks at the Sapporo Dome. Since it's quite a longshot to overtake the Fighters to win the Pacific League, I think everyone will be cheering for them to beat the Hawks today. Both games start at 2pm local time, 10pm PST. The weather here in Sendai is beautiful and sunny, a great day for a ball game.
Photo © Yahoo! Japan
Pitching Matchup
Right-hander Darrell Rasner (4-5, 5.93) faces a familiar foe in 23-year old Hideaki Wakui (15-6, 2.31). The two pitchers last met on September 27th in Saitama in an 11-4 Eagles victory. Rasner's pattern seems to be good/bad/good/bad, so we might be in for a long ride today. Furthermore, Wakui only lasted four innings on the 27th and will no doubt be out for revenge. It will be interesting to see how the two teams perform out of the gate. Will the Eagles let their foot off the gas now that they've clinched a playoff spot? Will the Lions collapse completely from a disappointing end to their season? Or will Seibu embrace the role of spoiler and try to stop Rakuten from home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs? The fight isn't over yet!
Photo © www.rakuteneagles.jp
Who's Hot
Basically, the whole lineup is on fire right now. The offense has scored an astounding 52 runs in their last six games! Even Takeshi Yamasaki broke out of his month long slump last night. Despite the slump Yamasaki is still second in homeruns (38) and runs batted in (106) in the Pacific League. Teppei Tsuchiya had 6 RBI last night and continues to lead the entire NPB in batting, with a .334 average.
Who's Cold
Catcher Jin Nakatani has gone hitless in his last four games (0 for 8). Manager Katsuya Nomura had been riding Nakatani's hot play of late, but don't be surprised if we see Motohiro Shima take his place behind the plate.
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Yakyu Baka » NPB
- NPB: Roster Changes for 9/4/2010 September 4, 2010Pacific League Roster Updates Added to the Active Roster Nippon Ham Fighters - Sunaga, Hideki P Rakuten Eagles - Kitani, Hisashi P Removed from the Active Roster Nippon Ham Fighters - Ishii, Yuya P Rakuten Eagles - Hasebe, Kohei P […]
- Tsuyoshi Nishioka scores 100th run September 4, 2010Tsuyoshi Nishioka (LOT) recorded his 100th run scored last night and became just the third player in franchise history to reach the 100 run milestone (the last Lotte player to do it was Hiromitsu Ochiai in 1985 with 118; the other player is Kaoru Betto with 108 in 1950). […]
- Kanemoto, Shimoyanagi, Hiyama to return to Tigers next season? September 4, 2010It seems the Tigers feel Tomoaki Kanemoto, Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi, and Shinjiro Hiyama are all still capable of putting up numbers and are considering them as pieces of the puzzle for the 2011 season. […]
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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