11/8/08 – Japan Series – Saitama vs. Yomiuri – Game 6
November 8th, 2008
Saitama Seibu Lions 4
Yomiuri Giants 1
(Tokyo Dome)
Well, folks, there’s going to be a game seven.
Saitama starter, Kazuyuki Hoashi, only made it through 3.1 innings, but Takayuki Kishi, another starter, saved the day by pitching 5.2 innings of shutout relief.
Hoashi gave up one run off of six hits, but he didn’t strike anybody out, and he issued one walk.
Hisanori Takahashi, Yomiuri’s starter, fared about the same. He got yanked after only 52 pitches (two innings!).
Providing the offense for Saitama was Hiroshi Hirao, the Lions first baseman. He went 3-4 on the night with a single, a three-rbi double and a solo home run. For the record, he drove in all four of Saitama’s runs tonight.
Also hitting well for Saitama was Tomoaki Satou. He went 3-4 with three singles. Meanwhile, Nakamura drew three walks, and both Kuriyama and Nakajima went 1-3 with two walks apiece.
Suzuki and Ramirez had a decent night on offense for Yomiuri, but only one run was produced.
Kishi (2-0, 0.00) took the win for Saitama while Takahashi (0-1, 6.14) went home with the loss.
The deciding game seven is tomorrow night at Tokyo Dome starting at 6:15 PM.
wow…
5 and 2/3 scoreless innings in relief after a complete game shutout just 3 days ago? Are Lions running out of pitchers?
The Manager Watanabe doesn’t seem to trust his relievers at all, being a former star starter this may not be too surprising. Hoshino showed similar tendencies.
Anyways, it was unreal, it was like watching a high school game with the “ace” coming into relief early in the game and finishing the game. The Lions pitchers today are likely going to be Nishiguchi-Ishii-Wakui and maybe some relievers. Kinda troubling, the Lions will have to outhit the Giants again.