October 19th, 2008
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 7
Saitama Seibu Lions 4
(Seibu Dome)
Hokkaido starter, Masaru Takeda, pitched five innings (four of them remarkably strong), and that was enough cover for the Fighters to build up a 5-0 lead.
In fact, those first four innings were truly dominant. It was the fifth that was a little bit rocky.
Takeda gave up two runs in the fifth, one of them earned, off of three hits and a little bit of craziness. He earned the win despite the two runs scored in that frame (1.80 ERA, 3 K’s, 1 BB).
Saitama only managed seven hits during this contest with outfielders Kuriyama and Akada being the only hitters to reach base more than once.
The home team’s pitching, headed by Kazuyuki Hoashi, got off to a rough start with a four-run third. Hoashi (7.20) gave up five runs, four of them earned, off of five hits while recording five strikeouts and no walks.
The Hokkaido managed the enviable feat of plating at least one run every time someone got on base during this game. They only had nine hits, but most of them were clumped together. Terrmel Sledge had another home run for Hokkaido (three runs scored), and second baseman, Tanaka, also came through with a pair of rbi’s.
The series is now tied at 2-2.
Game five of this best-of-seven series is on Tuesday, and the first pitch is scheduled for 6:15 PM. This one, like all the others, is to be played at Seibu Dome.
About Christopher Pellegrini
