Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 5 Postgame: Sayonara
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - The Rakuten Eagles surprising season came to an unfortunate close Saturday evening, as they fell to the Nippon Ham Fighters 9-4 in the fifth game of the Climax Series, 2nd Stage. The loss also closes the book on manager Katsuya Nomura, who was not offered the skipper's job for the 2010 season, but may return to the team in some honourary capacity.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 5 Preview
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With the season hanging in the balance, the Eagles will look to rookie left-hander Hiromichi Fujiwara to keep their slim hopes alive in an afternoon game in Sapporo today. Game 5 was going to be the wildcard game in the series for Rakuten anyways; after their top three pitchers the quality of their starters is questionable at best. Facing elimination though means the stakes will be even higher, so we'll truly get to see just what this 24-year-old is made of.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 4 Postgame: Not over yet
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SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - It wasn't pretty, but it was enough. Ma-kun came through when the Eagles needed him most, and the lineup provided a few surprises to keep their season alive for at least one more day, beating the Fighters 3-2 Friday night. Rakuten now trails Nippon Ham three games to one in the best-of-seven series.
Eagles vs Fighters CS Game 4 Preview
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The Eagles try to stave off elimination tonight as they battle the Fighters at the Sapporo Dome. The Rakuten offense finally sputtered last night, despite having multiple opportunities late in the game to score runs, highlowlighted by a bases loaded, no out situation in the 8th inning where they failed to produce a single run. The two defeats in Hokkaido have been of the soul-crushing variety; the series could just have easily been 2-1 in favour of the Eagles. Now they'll just try to save some face by not getting swept by the Pacific League winning Nippon Ham Fighters.
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 Postgame: Paradise Lost
SAPPORO DOME, SAPPORO - Two outs. They can come in a blink of an eye, with a second baseman turning a 6-4-3 double play. 2 outs. They can take forever, as pitch after pitch gets batted around the ball park like a pinball. ２ アウト。 Sometimes, they never come at all.
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.
Climax Series Stage 2 Preview, Part 2
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Yesterday we saw how the starting rotations and relievers compared to each other. Today let's see how the offense stacks up.
Climax Series Stage 2 Preview, Part 1
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Stage 2 of the Pacific League Climax Series gets underway this Wednesday at the Sapporo Dome, home of the Nippon Ham Fighters. Just like the crazy CFL compared to the NFL, the playoff format is slightly different in Japan. Since the Fighters are the higher seed, they will not only get home field advantage for all games, but will even begin the series with a 1 win advantage. This means that the Fighters will only have to win three games to advance to the Nippon Series, while the Eagles will have to win four. It won't be easy for either team though. There are a couple of interesting subplots that have been brewing since the end of the regular season for both teams, let's take a look at those first before diving into the head-to-head numbers.
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
2009 Season Standings
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