On Wednesday, we learned that Samurai Japan will warm up for November’s Premier12 with two games against the darlings of the 2023 WBC Pool B round, the Czech Republic, while on the field the Carp played a little kids game against the Orix Buffaloes, and Seibu got a win for the Lions’ GM.
Wednesday’s games:
Lions 1, Dragons 0: At Nagoya Dome, Chihiro Sumida (3-4) struck out six without a walk, while allowing four hits over eight innings as Seibu won its first game under GM Hisanobu Watanabe, whose tenure as interim manager began Tuesday.
Takuya Hiruma‘s sixth-inning RBI infield single snapped Chunichi’s run of scoreless defensive innings at 32, as the Lions took a 1-0 lead against Shinnosuke Ogasawara (2-4). Albert Abreu allowed two runners in the ninth but started an inning-ending double play to secure his 10th save.
There were three 2-1 games in Japan on Wednesday, and in the one game that was way off that pattern, Tsuyoshi Wada had a terrific game that left Rakuten calling an emergency meeting in which the riot act was not read, while Seibu’s headaches continued and Yakult’s center field dilemma deepened.
Wednesday’s games:
Marines 2, Lions 1: At the domed stadium formerly known as “Prince,” Atsuki Taneichi (3-3) struck out eight while allowing an unearned run over the distance as Lotte remained undefeated in seven straight games, including two ties, while Seibu lost its seventh straight and its eighth in a row to Lotte. Taneichi’s complete game victory was his first in four years.
Lotte’s Gregory Polanco doubled and scored off Chihiro Sumida (2-4) in the second on a Toshiya Sato sacrifice fly. Two sixth-inning walks and a Shogo Nakamura single made it 2-0 before Seibu’s Shota Hiranuma singled in a run in the home half.
