Yokohama marks his third team in the Kanto region.

• Free agent LHP Wei-ying Chen signed with Baltimore. It’s a three-year deal that consequently puts a serious dent in Chunichi’s ability to keep opposing teams off the board. Cheers to that!

Yomiuri Giants

• Sounds like the Giants may be about to sign utility INF/OF John Bowker who was recently released by the Phillies.

Hanshin Tigers

• Closer Fujikawa got pretty riled up about the absolutely appalling state of uncleanliness that some of the new recruits left the Naruohama pitching area in.

Hiroshima Carp

• The Carp were hopeful about a Hiroki Kuroda return, but he said no. But they’re still planning to keep waiting. Little bit of Hachiko action going on there if I’m not mistaken.

Yokohama Baystars

• It seems like new Yokohama manager, Nakahata, is training as hard as anyone on the team.
• The team selected journeyman and former Tokyo Swallows pitcher, Shugo Fujii, as part of the compensation deal for losing INF Shuichi Murata through free agency to Yomiuri.

Around NPB

• Former Yomiuri starting pitcher (who played for the Swallows before that), Seth Greisinger, signed a one-year deal with the Chiba Marines.
• After a swing and miss with the Yankees, Nakajima re-signed with his old club, the Saitama (Seibu) Lions. It’s a one-year deal reportedly worth 280 million yen (US$3.6 million by today’s exchange rate).

Nakajima will be playing baseball in Saitama again this season.

Chunichi Dragons

• Mr. Takagi, the Dragons’ energetic and cuddly new manager, wants fans to touch his butt if they win the Central League Pennant in 2012.

Yomiuri Giants

• In preparation for the upcoming season, Utsumi and several of his teammates went shopping in Guam.
• According to this report compiled by Yakyu Baka, Yomiuri will likely lose a player to Yokohama as compensation for picking up free agent third baseman Murata.
• And Yomiuri will likely have to pay 80% of Sugiuchi’s salary to Fukuoka since the 2011 Japan Series Champion isn’t interested in any of the players on Yomiuri’s unprotected list. Why all this compensation idiocy is a part of free agent signings is beyond me.

Hanshin Tigers

• As always, there is tons of news coming out of Osaka about every inane aspect of every inane player’s inane daily routines. Nothing worth relaying to you though.

Hiroshima Carp

• Reporter Saho Naruhashi (26) made ace pitcher Kenta Maeda (23) an honest man. Their ‘paper marriage’ apparently took place on New Year’s Day. Rumors of the impending marriage surfaced in October last year.

Yokohama Baystars

• The ‘Stars signed 33-year-old RHP Giancarlo Alvarado.  Often referred to by his nickname, Gio, he had a 3.46 ERA and 11-15 record over two seasons with Hiroshima.

Around NPB

• Free agent Munenori Kawasaki (30), formerly Fukuoka’s shortstop, has reportedly signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners.
• Free agent RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (30), formerly of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, signed a one-year deal with the Mariners as well. Suck on that, Oakland.
• Hiroyuki Nakajima wasn’t so lucky though. The New York Yankees won negotiating rights with Saitama’s prized shortstop through the posting system, but this one was doomed from the start. And it also sounds like the Yankees might have been trying to lock him in long-term for cheap. Will Aoki’s quest to play in MLB follow a similar path and see him back in Tokyo for another year?

What’s Interleague Play? How does it work?

During Interleague play each team will play every other team from the other league, twice at home and twice away. For those of you who aren’t good at math, that comes out to 144 games total, and 24 games per team. The DH rule will be in effect at all Pacific League parks, and all other Pacific League-specific rules (notably lineup reporting requirements) will not be used during Interleague play. The team with the best record after all the games have been played will be crowned Interleague Champion and will receive a cheque for 50 million yen (approx. 540,000 USD). A Pacific League team has been crowned Interleague Champion every year since the inception of Interleague play in 2005. The top player on the championship team will be named Interleague MVP and will receive a cheque for 2 million yen (approx. 21,500 USD). Two additional players, one from each league, who were not on the championship team will be recognized as valuable players. All wins and losses, as well as all individual statistics accumulated during Interleague play count in regular season totals.

How have the Swallows fared during Interleague play?

The Swallows have a total record of 79 wins and 65 losses during Interleague play since its inception in 2005. They have had a winning Interleague record in 3 out of the 5 seasons of Interleague play, coming in second in both 2006 and 2009.

Who are the Swallows playing?

What follows is a series of short summaries of all the Pacific League teams. I’ll tell you how they are doing this year, and throw out some players to watch out for during the game. They’re presented in the order we will be playing each team.

Orix Buffaloes
Last year’s Pacific League doormat, under new manager Akinobu Okada, are solidly in the race for 4th place with a record of 16-22-1. They come into Interleague play with a 2-7-1 over their last 10 games. Behind sluggers like Alex Cabrera, Greg LaRocca, and the young T-Okada, the Buffaloes lineup features some power but not much else. The Buffaloes also feature the worst pitching in the Pacific League with a team ERA of 4.55. Their best starting pitchers, Chihiro Kaneko and Mamoru Kishda, have been inconsistent both recording records of 2-3, with ERAs over 4.70. The Swallows have feasted on the Buffaloes compiling a 18-6 record against them in Interleague play, never failing to win the season series.

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
The always strong Hawks come into Interleague play with a record of 24-17-1, with a record of 6-3-1 over their last 10 games. The defending Interleague Champions, along with the Marines, are a half a game back of the league leading Seibu Lions, and are looking to use Interleague play as a springboard to the top of the league. The Hawks feature strong bats with Jose Ortiz leading NPB in homeruns with 13, and Munenori Kawasaki leading the Pacific League batting race with a .358 average. Hiroki Kokubo is also having a good season, hitting .300 with 8 homeruns. The Hawks are also aggressive on the basepaths leading the league with 59 stolen bases. In terms of pitching, Toshiya Sugiuchi just can’t seem to lose, racking up 7 wins in 8 starts, and closer Takahiro Mahara has saved 12 games while giving up only 1 earned run. In Interleague play the Hawks hold a 15-9 record over the Swallows.

Saitama Seibu Lions
Coming into Interleague play the Lions sit atop the Pacific League with a 25-16 record, with a 5-5 record over their last 10 games. The Lions sit atop the league on the strength of their pitching staff that boasts a league leading team ERA of 3.62. The rotation features Kazuyuki Hoashi with his league leading ERA of 1.27, 2009 Sawamura award winner Hideaki Wakui, and the reliable young Takayuki Kishi. Brian Sikorski leads the league with 13 saves. The Lions batters aren’t too shabby either, with sluggers Takeya Nakamura, Hiroyuki Nakajima, and Dermal Brown. The Swallows hold a 14-10 record over the Lions in Interleague play, but have split the season series every year over the last 3 years. Also, the Swallows have met the Lions in the Japan Series 3 times, coming away with the title twice, in 1993 and 1997.

Chiba Lotte Marines
The post-Bobby Valentine Marines came out of the gates swinging, opening the season with a 9-2-1 over their first 4 series. They’ve cooled down somewhat since then, mostly by being confounded by the Hawks, but they are still feature a dangerous team with a 23-15-1 record. The Marines feature a very robust offensive attack with 5 of the top 10 batting leaders wearing Marine colours. The Marines are the only team with a team OPS over .800, .820 to be exact, the next closest team is Seibu with a team OPS of .752. In layman’s terms, the Marines are patient at the plate, hit for average, and power. Former Major Leaguer Tadahito Iguchi is arguably having the best season out of the Marines batters, leading the league in doubles, walks, and OBS. Although hard slugging Kim Tae-Kyun, young captain Tsuyoshi Nishioka, and team batting leader Takashi Ogino, all have cases to make. The pitching hasn’t been too shabby either, with a team ERA of 3.97. However, beyond young ace pitcher Yoshihisa Naruse, all the other Marines starters have been somewhat inconsistent. Historically the Swallows hold a slight edge over the Marines in Interleague play with a record of 13-11.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
Last year’s Pacific League Champions have hit a serious snag in their quest to repeat, and are currently sitting at the bottom of the Pacific League standings with a record of 14-25-1. Things have started to look up for the Fighters as they have won 6 out of their last 10, and are on a 3 game winning streak going into Interleague play. The Fighters feature all-world pitcher Yu Darvish, who is leading the league with 78 strikeouts and who sports a health 1.79 ERA. Beyond Darvish, however, the Fighters have had trouble finding consistency in their starting pitchers. The Fighters feature 3 batters with .300+ batting averages in Kensuke Tanaka, Yoshio Itoi, and Tomohiro Nioka, but are having problems plating runners with only 145 runs batted in. The Fighters have only managed to hit 18 homeruns in 40 games, and their leading homerun hitter is former Swallows favourite Atsunori Inaba with just 4. The Swallows hold a 12-12 record against the Fighters in Interleague play, but that is distorted by the 5-1 record we recorded in the inaugural season of Interleague play.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
After losing manager Katsuya Nomura, last year’s Pacific League runner up are reverting back to their losing ways with a 16-23 record. Momentum is also not on the Golden Eagles’ side, with a 4 game losing streak coming into Interleague play. The Golden Eagles are like the Fighters in many ways, except instead of having one über pitcher in Yu Darvish, the Golden Eagles have three good, but sometime inconsistent, pitchers in Masahiro “Ma-kun” Tanaka, Hisashi Iwakuma, and Satoshi Nagai. Those three pitchers combine for 9 out of the Golden Eagles’ 10 league leading complete games. Unfortunately the Golden Eagles’ haven’t been able to score any runs just like the Fighters. But whereas the Fighters had three batters hitting .300+, the Golden Eagles only have one, Yusuke Takatsu. Catcher Motohiro Shima is the only other regular hitting above .300, but he hasn’t had enough at bats to qualify for the inclusion on the leaderboard. Veteran Takeshi Yamasaki, who lead the league in homeruns in 1996 and 2007, leads the team in homeruns with 4. Overall, the Golden Eagles have hit an anemic 16 homeruns in 39 games, and feature a league low .653 team OPS. The Swallows hold a 17-7 lifetime advantage of the Golden Eagles in Interleague play.

How do you think the Swallows will do in Interleague play?

I think if our pitching stays strong and our bats wake up like we saw in the last series, I think we have a decent shot at coming out of Interleague play with a winning record. If we can get lucky with some pitching matchups, I can see us going 14-10 by beating up on Orix, Nippon Ham, and Rakuten. But then again, seeing the kind of season we’ve been having so far, I can also easily see us going 10-14 or worse. I’m also curious to see how Takada will rejigger the lineup when we have the DH available.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows 6

Saitama Seibu Lions 9

Streak: Lost 1       Last 5: WWWWL

(Seibu Dome)

Saitama scored six runs off of seven hits in the bottom of the third to build a lead that they would not relinquish. Tokyo starter Hye-cheon Lee would leave the game after that inning having given up seven runs (all earned).

Saitama had Nakajima and Kataoka, fresh off of WBC duty, back in the lineup today, and they both hit well. Nakajima went 2-4 with a home run, and Kataoka went 3-4 on the afternoon.

While Aoki was not in the lineup again today, Chang-yong Lim and Yasuhiro Ichiba, the latter acquired in the Miyade trade earlier this month, made appearances in the closing stages of this game. Ichiba worked a scoreless seventh and Lim retired all three batters he faced in the eighth.

Replacing Lee on the mound in the fourth inning was Hagiwara. He gave up a hit but got out of the inning unscathed.

Takai worked the fifth, and he had another rough outing. He gave up a two-run blast to Akada and saw hit pre-season ERA get reinforced at 10.61.

Maruyama pitched the sixth and gave up a hit but no runs crossed home plate.

On offense, Takeuchi had a three-run homer in the third while going 1-5 at the plate.

Fukuchi reached base three times (2B, BB, 1B), and Keizo Kawashima got on base four times (1B, BB, 1B, 2B). He punctuated his afternoon with a two-run double in the eighth that helped make the final scoreline somewhat respectable for Tokyo.

Tokyo’s spring training schedule may have ended on a sour note, but the team’s pre-season record was 12-7-1. It’s not an accurate gauge of things to come, but one can always hope.

The regular season (click here for the schedule) begins for the Tokyo Swallows at Kyocera Dome (April 3-5) where they will be hosted by 2008 Climax Series qualifying Hanshin Tigers. The Swallows’ first home series is April 7-9 when the 2007 NPB Japan Series champion Chunichi Dragons are in town.

Iwakuma started for Japan and had a magnificent outing, going 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up two runs off four hits while striking out six. The Koreans started with Bong, who was at the helm for Japan’s two prior defeats against them.

Japan struck first in the top of the 3rd. Nakajima singled before Aoki reached on an error from the Korean second baseman to put men on first and second with no outs. Johjima then hit a groundout to third, and Aoki was forced out at second to put men on the corners with one out.  Ogasawara then singled to right to bring home Nakajima for 1-0 Japan. Next man Uchikawa singled to load the bases before Kurihara hit into a double play to end the inning and a chance of a more generous lead for Japan.

Japan put men on first and second with no outs in the top of the 5th, but couldn’t bring home a run, and Korea would make them pay for not extending the lead in the bottom of the 5th.  Shin-Soo Choo hit a solo homer to dead centre to tie things up at 1-1.

And tied the scores would remain until the top of the 7th inning. First man up Kataoka singled off Korean reliever Hyun Wook Jong (Bong had departed in the 5th after letting Nakajima and Aoki onboard). Kataoka promptly stole second during next man up Ichiro’s at bat, and Suzuki bunt singled himself on to put men on the corners with no outs. Nakajima then singled to leftfield to bring home his Seibu teammate Kataoka and edge Japan ahead 2-1. Aoki then flew out before Johjima hit into a double play as Japan continued to waste chances to take a bigger lead.

But extend the lead they would in the top of the 8th. Ogasawara got one of his trademark flailing strikeouts to start off the inning, then Uchikawa singled. Hyunjin Ryu then took the mound for Korea. DH Inaba, who had come into the game in the 6th for Kurihara, hit a drive down the first base line, the ball appeared to hit the first base bag and ended up in the crowd, and was called a ground-rule double. That put two men in scoring position with one away.  Iwamura then hit a sacrifice fly to leftfield, Uchikawa scored and Japan looked to be home and dry at 3-1.

But the Koreans weren’t done yet, not by a long shot.  In the bottom of the 8th, a Bum Ho Lee double put a man on second with no outs. A groundout then moved him to third before pinch hitter Dae Ho Loo hit a flyball to Aoki in centre and Bum Ho Lee came home to narrow the lead to 3-2. Sugiuchi came in to get the last out of the inning.

Japan left yet another two men on base in the top of the 9th, before the stage was set for Yu Darvish. Japan’s golden boy walked to the mound needing three outs to bring home the Championship for the Japanese. It was meant to be the fairytale ending, only the Koreans had obviously not read the script.

Things started out okay as Keun-Woo Jeong struck out swinging, before things started to stall a touch. Darvish walked Hyun-Soo Kim on four straight fastballs, and then five pitches later had walked Tae Kyun Kim to put men on first and second with only one away. Yu got things back on track with the strikeout of Shin-Soo Choo to put him and Japan one out away from glory. But next man up Bum Ho Lee then smacked the third pitch he saw through the gap into leftfield and the runner came home from second to tie the game at 3-3 with the winning run now at second. Darvish managed to hold himself together though, and struck out Young Min Ko to send the game into extra innings.

At this point, despite being heavily outhit by Japan, the momentum seemed to be with Korea. But the game would take a final twist in the top of the 10th. Yakult closer Lim Chang Yong, started the inning, his second for the evening. First man to the plate Uchikawa singled before Inaba sac-bunted to put the go-ahead run in scoring position with one out on the board.  Iwamura then singled to left to put men on the corners. Kawasaki then pinch hit for Kataoka, and he flied out to short as it looked like Japan would leave yet more men stranded.

But up stepped Ichiro, and despite an indifferent WBC to that point, he came to the plate seeking his fourth hit of the game. And hit he did, hitting a line drive to centre to bring home the two runners (Iwamura from second after he had easily stolen earlier) and put Japan back in front at 5-3.

And so to the bottom of the 10th, where Darvish had a chance to do what he couldn’t manage in the 9th. And despite walking the first man he faced, a strikeout, a flyball to centre followed by the striking out of Keun-Woo Jeong was enough to spark wild scenes of celebration for the Japanese, and glum faces all around for the Koreans. 5-3 Final.

So Japan managed 5 runs off 15 hits, 0 errors and 14 men left on base.

Korea managed 3 runs off their 5 hits, 3 errors and left 5 men on.

Despite the narrow margin of victory, this was a game that Japan should have sunk far earlier than they did as they wasted chance after chance. Johjima was the main culprit, going hitless with a walk and leaving a whopping 11 men stranded. Ogasawara, despite his solitary hit and RBI was also guilty, stranding six himself with three of his trademark strikeouts. Ichiro had a four for six night, with the key hit of the game.

Well done team Japan on a magnificent performance and WBC as a whole. Some thoughts:

Ichiro: Indifferent. Blew hot and cold throughout the tournament. But it’s the clutch 2RBI WBC winning hit for which he’ll be remembered so that’s by the by.

Aoki: Featured less offensively in the final two games but has firmly established himself as NPB’s premier position player, along with Nakajima who was also magnificent. Those two will be in MLB before too long, of that there is no doubt.

Matsuzaka: What more needs to be said about this man. Was named the 2009 WBC MVP to go alongside the award he won in 2006.

Iwakuma: NPB’s premier starter, no question. Darvish take note: watch some tapes of Iwakuma’s last two starts of the WBC, and that’s what a top pitcher looks like. Able to perform under pressure on the big stage. Yu has some ways to go in that regard I feel.

Johjima: Signs of improvement over last year’s poor showing in Seattle with the bat, despite today’s woes. Added invaluable experience and nous behind the plate for team Japan though. Key player.

Ogasawara: He’s a chump but he did OKish in the end. Not convinced that he couldn’t have been replaced by any one of a number of players and the results would have been the same if not better though.

Uchikawa: Should have been used more regularly by Hara. Proved that last year’s monster year was no flash in the pan.

Sugiuchi: The SoftBank man was the key player out of the bullpen. 6 and 1/3 innings of no hit baseball. I need say no more.

Iwamura: Respectable performance with the bat, and a valuable experienced hand to have in the infield and on the team in general.

Fukudome: Unremarkable in every way, and tellingly didn’t feature at all in the final.

Inaba: Pretty good with the bat, but he’s not a cleanup man. At least not in a team with as much talent as this one.

Murata: Seemed a big loss when he limped off versus Korea in the Pool 1 seeding game, but Japan coped well without him. Proved he’s more than just a chubby slugger, hitting for good average and bringing home a lot of runs.

Tatsunori Hara: I’m torn. He did what he was hired to do and did the job no-one else (save Bobby V) wanted by bringing home the Championship. But as with Yomiuri, I can’t help feeling his teams win despite of him and not because of him. But fair play, he brought it home. He is now downgraded from a complete fuckwit to a mere chump in my eyes. At least until the NPB season starts when he’ll level back up to a fucking stupid dipshit (apologies for the language, sincerely).

Anyway, it’s over. What a tournament, and what an amazing final. Feel free to discuss WBC 2009 below and thanks, as always, for reading.

Saitama Seibu Lions 3

Yomiuri Giants 2

(Tokyo Dome)

The Saitama Seibu Lions came back from an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Yomiuri Giants in the deciding game seven of the 2008 Japan Series Championship.

It was Saitama’s first Japan Series championship since 2004 when it beat the Chunichi Dragons in seven games. Saitama is the winningest franchise in NPB over the past 30 years as far as Japan Series titles are concerned. 2008 is their 13th title against eight losses overall (including three by Seibu precursor, Nishitetsu). The Lions won five Japan Series titles during the 80′s, three during the 90′s, and this is now their second title so far this decade. From 1986 to 1992, in fact, Saitama won the title six times (they did not appear in the 1989 series which Yomiuri eventually won).

Yomiuri is the winningest Japan Series contender of all time, but they have not had nearly the amount of success as the Lions over the last three decades. They are tied with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows for number of Japan Series wins during that time with five. Yomiuri last appeared in a Japan Series Championship in 2002 when it beat the Saitama Seibu Lions in four straight games.

Yomiuri now has 20 Japan Series titles against 11 losses.

With 14 year veteran, Fumiya Nishiguchi, pitching for the visiting Lions, Yomiuri got off to a quick start. With the bases loaded, Yomiuri scored one run on a Nishiguchi wild pitch in the first inning.

In the second inning, Yomiuri shortstop, Hayato Sakamoto, drove a Nishiguchi meatball into the left field stands. 2-0 Yomiuri.

Nishiguchi (2 Hits; 3 K’s; 2 BB’s; 1 wild pitch; 2 earned runs; 9.00 ERA) was pulled after the second inning, and Lions first year manager, Hisanobu Watanabe, paraded out most of the rest of his starting pitchers in a desperate attempt to get some stability on the mound. It worked last night with Kishi, so why not try it again, right?

Well, stability is what he got. Starters Kazuhisa Ishii and Hideaki Wakui, both coming off of lackluster performances earlier in the series, pitched two innings of perfect baseball each. Then Tomoki Hoshino pitched a perfect seventh and claimed the win in the process. Finally, closer Alex Graman came on for the last two innings and retired all six batters he faced. After getting four runners on base during the first two innings, Yomiuri was completely shut down for the last seven.

Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fifth, and following two excellent innings by Ishii (including 2 strikeouts), Hiram Bocachica replaced the lefty in the lineup with two outs and nobody on. Yomiuri starter, Tetsuya Utsumi, had been very sharp up until that point, but he left one hanging a little too high up in the zone and Bocachica drilled it into the orange people sitting in left. 2-1 Yomiuri.

After two unbelievable innings by Wakui (including four strikeouts), and a solid seventh care of Hoshino, it was time for the Lions batters to start dealing with Yomiuri’s impressive set-up duo of Daisuke Ochi and Kiyoshi Toyoda.

After escaping from a pinch in the seventh, Ochi came on again in the eighth, and he promptly plunked Saitama second baseman, Yasuyuki Kataoka, with some chin music. Kataoka immediately stole second, and he was then bunted over to third by outfielder Takumi Kuriyama.

Kataoka scored on a weak grounder to third by Hiroyuki Nakajima. 2-2.

Then the cracks in Ochi’s armor finally started to show. He walked the next two batters he faced and gave up an rbi single to first baseman and Japan Series sensation, Hiroshi Hirao. 3-2 Saitama.

Ochi, pitching in his fifth game of the series, gave up two runs off of two hits. He also had two strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter. His Japan Series ERA rose to a still respectable 2.35 while taking the loss for the home team.

Toyoda also had a bit of a hiccup when he gave up his first Japan Series hit in recent memory. Pinch hitter, Shougo Akada, ended up on third base after hitting one to within about half of a meter of the top of the wall in right. (That’s why they don’t open the outfield doors when the visiting team is batting.)

Toyoda escaped from the inning without further damage, however, and then it was up to Graman to take the mound again and work through the business end of the Yomiuri lineup.

First, Kimura Takuya, who scored on the wild pitch in the first, struck out swinging. Then Ogasawara grounded out to first base.

With two outs, and trailing by one run, Alex Ramirez stepped up to the plate.

Ground ball to shortstop. Soft toss to first. Championship over.

Saitama won the series 4-3, and like Yomiuri, the team played without the help of some of their bigger bats. G.G. Satou, Craig Brazell and Toru Hosokawa were injured for much or all of this series.

All in all, four Lions batters reached base twice in this game. Kataoka, Nakajima, Nakamura and Hirao were the biggest headaches for Yomiuri in that respect.

Saitama cleanup hitter, Nakamura, had an interesting series at the plate. He was hitless for the fifth time tonight, but drew another two walks. He went only 3-24 in the series (.125 BA), but all of his hits were home runs. He drove in seven rbi’s with those three dingers, and he also drew six walks.

Hiroshi Hirao, on the other hand, had an unequivocally stellar series. He went 8-14 at the plate with two home runs, six rbi’s and one plunking for a .571 batting average. He didn’t play in the first and third games, and came on as a sub in the second and fifth, but he had an impact in most every game he played. His OBP was .600 during this series.

Nakajima also had a solid series. He was very good on defense and went 8-25 from the plate with two jacks, six rbi’s, two plunkings and two walks. His .414 OBP is very respectable against pitching as strong as he saw.

But the winner of the Japan Series MVP was the pitcher who won games four and six, Takayuki Kishi.

He started game four and pitched a complete-game shutout on November fifth before being called in to pitch 5.2 innings of relief last night (Nov. 9th). He threw 147 pitches in game four and another 91 in game six. In 14.2 innings of work Kishi gave up 10 hits and two walks against 16 strikeouts. His Japan Series ERA is 0.00.

Congratulations to the Saitama Seibu Lions and all of their fans on a great season and a remarkable Japan Series Championship victory!

Yomiuri Giants 6

Saitama Seibu Lions 4
(Seibu Dome)

Saitama starter (and former Tokyo ace), Kazuhisa Ishii (7.50 ERA), took the mound for his first appearance in the Japan Series since 2001 and hoped to continue the good form he displayed during the Climax Series.

Ishii gave up six hits (including two doubles and two home runs) during his six innings on the mound. He struck out four, walked two and was charged with one wild pitch and five runs (one of which came via a wild pitch in the first).

Things looked pretty bad for Saitama after Yomiuri’s sixth inning with the score 0-5, but the top half of Saitama’s order started to get things going. Following Bocachica’s leadoff strikeout, Kataoka and Kuriyama both singled off of Yomiuri starter, Tetsuya Utsumi. That put runners on first and third because Kataoka had stolen second prior to Kuriyama’s base hit to left.

Nakajima then plated Kataoka with a single to center for Saitama’s first run of the night. 1-5 Yomiuri.

Then Pacific league home run champ, Nakamura, who hasn’t done much of anything during the playoffs, stepped up to the plate. By this point, Utsumi (5.1 IP, 3 earned runs, 6 hits, 7 K’s, 5.06 ERA) had been replaced by Nishimura, and with two men on, Nakamura promptly deposited one of his pitches into the orange-filled bleachers in left. 4-5 Yomiuri.

But that was it for Saitama’s offense. They only managed one base runner after the four-hit explosion in the sixth, and that was by way of a walk.

Yomiuri set-up man, Daisuke Ochi, made his third appearance of this series, pitching a scoreless seventh and eigth, and still boasts an impressive 0.00 ERA in this championship series.

Suzuki and Ramirez both hit home runs off of Ishii, and Ogasawara added an insurance run in the eigth with a solo shot to right. The story of the night was Suzuki who went 3-4 with three rbi’s, ran the bases well (scored in the first) and played excellent defense. Ramirez hit into his third double play in as many games while going 2-4.

Kroon got the save (with a little help from the umpire) while working a scoreless ninth.

Game four is tomorrow night at Seibu Dome. First pitch is at 6:15 PM.

Saitama Seibu Lions 2

Yomiuri Giants 1

(Tokyo Dome)

Saitama drew first blood in this series on the back of an eight-inning, one-hit performance by starter Hideaki Wakui. Providing the run support were left fielder, Taketoshi Gotou, who slugged a solo home run over the wall in center in the fifth, and shortstop, Hiroyuki Nakajima, who belted a similar long-ball an inning later.

Mr. Tatsunori Hara, Yomiuri’s manager, gambled by having Kouji Uehara start game one against Wakui. My choice would have been Greisinger, but that’s just me. Not that Uehara pitched badly–he lasted seven innings, gave up only five hits plus one walk and a single hit batter. Pretty solid start, actually, but those two home runs were all it took.

Alex Graman took the mound in the ninth, and he looked to be in a little trouble after Takuya Kimura managed to beat the throw to first to make it one on with no outs. But Saitama second baseman, Yasuyuki Kataoka, displayed his range up the middle a second time and kept Yomiuri from moving pinch-runner, Takayuki Terauchi, over to second on a hard grounder up the middle off of Michihiro Ogasawara’s bat. In fact, Saitama nearly got the double play on that one, but that would have to wait.

With a man on first and one out, down by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Ramirez stepped up to the plate. Nightmare, right? Ramirez had had Yomiuri’s only hit of the game before Kimura led off with a single in the ninth. Ramirez’s double in the fourth inning, aided by a bit of luck when the ball got away from Saitama right fielder, Hiram Bocachica, allowed Takahiro Suzuki to score (Suzuki had reached base on an error to lead off the inning, so Wakui didn’t get tagged with that run).

Fortunately for Saitama, Ramirez hit into the inning-saving play that the Lions just barely missed out on during Ogasawara’s at-bat. Ramirez slapped into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play, and the Saitama Seibu Lions will head back to Seibu Dome with no worse than a 1-1 split after the first two games of this series.

Game two is tomorrow night, again at Tokyo Dome, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:15 PM.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 0

Saitama Seibu Lions 9

(Seibu Dome)

The Saitama Seibu Lions employed an old-fashioned ass-whuppin’ tonight en route to advancing to the Japan Series versus the winner of the Chunichi-Yomiuri series that is currently locked at 1-1.

The name of the night was Hideaki Wakui (2-0, 0.60) who was perfect through six and two-thirds innings and finished the game having given up only three hits. The 22-year-old righty didn’t walk anyone and recorded six strikeouts in a complete game shutout (104 pitches). Dominating is most likely the term we will be using here.

Wakui’s dominance was supported by another good night from the offense. The team scored nine runs (all of them earned) off of 12 hits. Hokkaido starter, Ryan Glynn (0-2), got yanked after giving up five earned runs from four hits and three walks (he also had one strikeout) in two and two-thirds innings of work. His second stage ERA, and this is not a typo, is 23.82.

Saitama designated hitter, Taketoshi Gotou, led the attack by going 3-3 (plus a walk) with a solo home run, one single and one double that were both of the rbi-genus. He had four rbi’s total, and both Kuriyama and Nakajima chipped in with a pair of rbi’s each.

Kuriyama, the team’s left fielder, actually reached base three times and so did third baseman, Nakamura, and first baseman, Ishii.

And with that, the Saitama Seibu Lions have proven themselves worthy of a trip to the Japan Series. They will have a few days off while the Central League finishes its second stage of the playoffs between the heavily-favored Yomiuri Giants and last year’s Japan Series champion, Chunichi Dragons.

Chunichi took care of Yomiuri in the second stage of last year’s playoffs, but this year’s edition of Japan’s most expensive team is considerably better than last year’s version. At the same time, Chunichi has been playing very well as of late, and they have already leveled the series at one game apiece.

The Pacific League champion, Saitama Seibu Lions, beat the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters by a margin of four games to two.

Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 3

Saitama Seibu Lions 10

(Oomiya Prefectural Stadium)

Half of Hokkaido’s hits were delivered by only two guys, and starter Ryan Glynn got roughed up early by an all-out Lions assault, as the home team stomped all over the visitors to make this series 2-0.*

Glynn (10 hits, 1 K, 3 BB’s) lasted four hits into the fourth inning (without getting an out) while giving up 10 earned runs. Yup, your math is correct. His playoff ERA is now 30.00. And I must say…that’s some pretty impressive patience displayed by Hokkaido manager, Nashida. Glynn was allowed to face the entire lineup in the third inning and gave up five runs during that frame before taking the mound again in the fourth.

Glynn’s counterpart, Hideaki Wakui (1.50), fared much better. He gave up one run off eight hits and had eight strikeouts and one walk.

In stark contrast to the Hokkaido offense (Tanaka and Sledge accounted for five of the team’s 10 hits), every guy in the Saitama lineup except for their number nine guy (Hiram Bocachica) had at least one hit. In fact, of the three guys that got on base only once (via a solid connection of lumber and baseball), two of them had triples and the other guy a double. Three guys reached base twice, outfielder Satou got on three times, and both first baseman Ishii and shortstop Nakajima got on base four times apiece. Nakajima had two home runs and two singles (three rbi’s) and Ishii had a walk, two singles and a double. Gotou, the DH, also chipped in with a three-run homer.

Hokkaido first baseman, Terrmel Sledge, brought in all three of Hokkaido’s runs.

Game three, like all of the remaining games in this series, will be at Seibu Dome. First pitch is scheduled for 2 PM.

* Stage two of the Climax Series in both leagues affords the league champion a one game lead from the outset of the series. Therefore the Saitama Seibu Lions entered tonight’s game with a 1-0 advantage in the series even though the two teams hadn’t yet played. It’s a seven-game series, but the maximum number of games that will actually be played is six.