Pacific League champion: Chiba Lotte Marines
Play offs 2nd stage: Hawks vs Fighters
* October 17 at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome
The Marines dream came true, starting with a hit by veteran Kiyoshi Hatsushiba.
Tomoya Satozaki doubled to clinch the game, 3 to 2 over the Hawks.
And with this win, the Marines secured its Pacific League victory for the first time in 31 years.
Bobby Valentine's the first non-Japanese skipper since Wally Yonamine in 1974 to take a team to a league victory.
* October 16 at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome
Julio Zuleta was finally blasting away. He singled a home run. He also slammed a 2 run.
The Hawks won 3 to 2 against the Marines.
* October 15 at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome
The Marines had a 4 run lead by the 9th inning.
It's close Masahide Kobayashi was on. Under such circumstance most fans may have given up their hopes on the Hawks.
But the Hawks batters got themselves on bases, and Kobayashi walked Julio Zuleta with bases loaded, succumbing to a tie.
In the 10th inning, the Hawks Monenori Kawasaki hit in a run, and the Hawks clinched the game, 5 to 4.
* October 13 at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome
It was again Jolberto Cabrera who slammed the first run of the game.
Matt Franco of the Marines was on with bases loaded and hit in 2 runs.
In the end, the Marines won again 3 to 2 with Masahide Kobayashi closing the game.
* October 12 at Chiba Marine Stadium
The Marines starter was Dan Serafini. Jolberto Cabrera homered off him.
Then the Marines Tomoya Satozaki who's replaced Kenji Jojima as catcher homered of Toshiya Sugiuchi to give his team the lead.
With Benny Agbayani's 2 RBI the Marines clinched the game 4 to 2.
Play offs 1st stage: Lions vs Fighters
* October 8 at Chiba Marine Stadium
Benny Agbayani helped his team win a game winning RBI. The Marines won 3 to 1.
* October 7 at Chiba Marine Stadium
The starting pitcher for the Marines, submarine hurler Shunsuke Watanabe.
For the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka.
Matt Franco hit in a run to give his team a 2 to 1 win.
September
The Hawks Julio Zuleta slammed a 2 run on Sept 27 and the Golden Eagles lost 6 to 3. The Hawks marked a victory in the final game of the season with
Julio Zuleta and Nobuhiko Matsunaka's home runs.
The Marines and the Fighters tied in a 12 inning game on Sept 27, and the Fighters won the final game.
The Buffaloes defeated the Lions 5 to 2 on Sept 27, but the Lions won the last game 7 to 0.
The Marines are in good shape. On Sept 23, Johnny Kuroki pitched well and his team won 12 to 3 over the Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles which won the next day. But on Sept 25, the Marines won. A tearful Yasushi Tao announced that he's leaving his post with the Golden Eagles. The Hawks lost the the lions on Sept 24, but won the next day on RBIs by Nobuhiki Matsunaka.
On Sept 19, the Hawks Kenji Jojima blasted 2 homers. But in the end, the Marines won 9 to 5. The next 2 days the Hawks lost too. On Sept 19, the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka shut out the Fighters in a 3 to 0 game. The Lions won again the next day. The Buffaloes defeated the Golden Eagles 5 to 4 on Sept 19.
On Sept 17, the Haws lost to the Buffaloes, 3 to 4, andthe Buffaloes since the Lions lost to the Marines 0 to 6 emerged to 3rd place. The Fighters won that day on Michihiro Ogasawara's 3 run home run. On Sept 18, the Hawks won 1 to 0 over the Buffaloes. The Lions won 8 to 3 over the Marines. The Fighters Yu Darvish for the first time clinched a shut out win in a 12 to 0 game against the Golden Eagles.
The Hawks clinched the game on Sept 13 with Tony Batista's home run in the 10th inning. It's 3 to 2 over the Fighters. The next day, it was thanks to Julio Zuleta's home run the Hawks won again, this time 1 to 0. The Marines caught up with Lee Seung Yeop's home run and in the 11th inning clinched the game from the Buffaloes 3 to 2 on Sept 13. The Marines won agains the next day 6 to 4. The Golden Eagles lost its 90th game of the season against the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka in a 2 to 10 game on Sept 13.
On Sept 10, the Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka slammed a 3 run homer for his team's 6 to 3 win over the Golden Eagles. But the Golden Eagles won the next day. The Marines on Sept 10 won 8 to 4 over the Lions. The next day the Lions won instead as the Marines Johnny Kuroki gave up 3 homers. Tsuyoshi Shinjo on Sept 10 smashed a comeback home run to help his team win 2 to 1 over the Buffaloes.
The Buffaloes beat the Hawks in the 11th inning 2 to 1 on Sept 6 and won again the next day. On Sept 6, the Golden Eagles performed a shut out pitchers relay to defeat the Marines 2 to 0 but lost the next day 5 to 6. The Lions beat the Fighters 5 to 4 on Sept 6 and against hte next day in a game Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his 12th win.
The Buffaloes defeated the Lions 2 to 1 on Sept 1. On Sept 2, the Golden Eagles won 18 to 3 and also the next day against the Buffaloes, but lost on Sept 4 1 to 2. The Lions, on Sept 3 beat the Hawks 4 to 0. Fumiya Nishiguchi earned his 17th win. On Sept 4, the Hawks Nagisa Arakaki shut out the Lions in a 2 to 0 game. The Marines on Sept 3 won on Lee Seung Yeop's home run, 2 to 0 over the Fighters. The next day, the Fighters won 6 to 2.
Final league standing
1.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Buffaloes
5.Nippon Ham Fighters
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles
August
On Aug 29, the Golden Eagles lost, 1 to 2 to the Fighters to secure its last place in the league this season.The next day, it lost again 1 to 4.
On Aug 30, the Hawks beat the Marines in a see saw game clinched with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's RBI hit. It's, 8 to 7.
The Hawks won the next day 6 to 3.
That day, the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka hurled over the distance in a 8 to 1 game against the Buffaloes.
On Aug 26, the Marines Hiroyuki Kobayashi shut out the Buffaloes in a 4 to 0 game. The next day the Marines won again 6 to 2. On Aug 28 fans welcomed Johnny Kuroki back on the Marines team after 1 year recovering from an elbow injury. He started and hurled a shut out 7 inning, and his team won 4 to 0. Lions beat the Golden Eagles on Aug 26, 6 to 3. On Aug 27, Fumiya Nishiguchi had a perfect game in 9 innings, not allowing a runner on base. But the game went into extra inning, and in the 10th inning he lost a base hit, but his team in the end hit in a run to win 1 to 0. And the Lions won again the next day 8 to 2. On Aug 27, the Fighters Michihiro Ogasawara helped equalize with a 3 run homer. In the 10th inning, Yukio Tanaka hit in a run for a 5 to 4 win against the Hawks. The Fighters won agains the next day 10 to 6.
Fernando Seguignol's 3 run and Michihiro Ogasawara's 3 run took the Fighters to a 19 to 3 win over the Lions on Aug 23. The Fighters lost the next day to Daisuke Matsuzaka, in a 1 to 8 game. The Golden Eagles recorded its worst tie losing streak on Aug 23 in a 5 to 6 game against the Buffaloes. But thanks to Hisashi Iwakuma's patient pitch, it won on Aug 24, 4 to 1. The Hawks Kazumi Saito clinched his 14th straight win,in a 2 to 1 game against the Marines that day.
On Aug 19, the Fighters won 5 to 3 over the Buffaloes, lost in the final inning 2 to 1 on Aug 20, and won 10 to 3 on Aug 21. On Aug 20,the Hawks Toshiya Sugiuchi struck out 14 and hurled over the distance to defeat the Lions 2 to 1. The Hawks, the next day won on Julio Zuleta's home run 6 to 5. The Golden Eagles continued to lose games and marked its 10th loss in a row in a 6 to 10 game against the Marines on Aug 21.
The Marines Shunsuke Watanabe won his 13th game against the Lions on Aug 16. The Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka lost 6 runs in 7 innings and his team lost 1 to 9 to the Marines on Aug 17. It managed to win the next day on Jose Fernandez's homerun.It's 5 to 4. The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka blasted a 2 run homer and helped his team defeat the Buffaloes 7 to 2. The teams tied on Aug 17. Then the next day, the Buffaloes won 8 to 1. The Fighters won all 3 game it played against the Golden Eagles from Aug 16.
Julio Zuleta's 3 run home run helped the Hawks won on Aug 12, 5 to 2 over the Fighters. But the next day, it was shut out by the Fighters started Yusaku Iriki. Then Zuleta on Aug 15 hit 2 homers and helped his team win 5 to 1 despite Tsuyoshi Shinjo's comeback RBI. Karim Garcia of the Buffaloes homered again on Aug 12, but the Marines won 4 to 3 and also on Aug 13, 13 to 8 and the next day 5 to 4. Alex Cabrera was awesome on Aug 12. He homered a 2 run, twice, and the Lions won 8 to 2 over the Golden Eagles. The Lions won 11 to 4 the next day and then 4 to 0.
As if it was a monster awakening, the Buffaloes Karim Garcia on Aug 10 and Aug 11 blasted 3 homers each. He helped give his team a 10 to 2 win over the Golden Eagles in the first game, and 13 to 0 in the next. The Hawks Naoki Matoba gave his team a 7 to 5 win over the Liona on Aug 10. That day the Fighters won on Fernando Seguignol's 2 run homer.
On Aug 8 the Marines beat the Fighters 4 to 3, but the next day lost in the 12th inning 4 to 5. The Hawks Kazumi Saito earned his 12th straight win in a 9 to 3 game against the Lions on Aug 9. The Golden Eagles lost to the Buffaloes 3 to 7.
The Hawks continue to be in good shape. It defeated the Golden Eagles on Aug 5 8 to 5, and on Aug 6, 10 to 8. The Golden Eagles at last won on Aug 7. The Marines on Aug 5 managed to win 3 to 2 over the Buffaloes but lost the next day 0 to 4. Masato Yoshii won his 6th game in a row.The Buffaloes won again on Aug 7. The Fighters Yu Darvish hurled over the distance for the first time on Aug 6 but lost the game against the Lions 0 to 3. The next day, the Fighters Michihiro Ogasawara finished the game with a home run.
The Fighters shut out the Hawks on Aug 1 in a 4 to 0 game. The next day, on Julio Zuleta's grand slam, the Hawks won 4 to 3.It won agains on Aug 3 with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's 2 run homer. The Marines defeated the Golden Eagles in all 3 games. The Lions lost to the Buffaloes on Aug 1 to 2 but won the next day 6 to 4.
League standing as of August 31
1.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Buffaloes
5.Nippon Ham Fighters
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles
July
The only game on Jul 29, the Lions beat the Golden Eagles. But the next day, Koichi Oshima with a 2 run homer
took his team to a 6 to 3 win and on Jul 31, Kanehisa Arime became the Golden Eagles first pitcher to hurl over the distance
a shut out. It's in a 4 to 0 game.
On Jul 30, the Hawks beat the Marines 6 to 0, but had a devastating loss of 2 to 12 the next day.
The first game after the all star break took place on Jul 25 only between the Golden Eagles and the Fighters. Michihiro Ogasawara homered a 2 run for his team's 6 to 2 win. The next day's game was rained out, but others played. The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka slammed a 3 run homer and his team won 5 to 3 over the Buffaloes. The Marines managed to beat the Lions 3 to 2. On Jul 27, the Hawks lost while the Lions won 5 to 1. The next day, the Golden Eagles had a devastating loss of 2 to 12 against the Fighters.
On Jul 18, the Golden Eagles defeated the top team 7 to 5, but lost the next day 4 to 7. The Marines managed to clinch an 11 inning game from the Fighters 4 to 3 on Jul 18. And it did a 10 inning game 4 to 2. On Jul 20 Lee Seung Yeop made a valuable contribution to help his team to a 15 to 4 victory. The Lions pitcher Kazuyuki Hoashi shut out the Buffaloes on Jul 18, but the team lost the next day 0 to 3 and the day after too.
The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka was awesome on Jul 15. He slammed 3 home runs. The last one gave his team a win of 4 to 3 over the Lions. The next day, the Lions won 3 to 2 and again on Jul 17. The Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma recovered later in the game and managed to hurl over a distance. His team won 8 to 4 against the Fighters. The Golden Eagles won again on Jul 16, 4 to 2. But it lost in a 11 inning game on Jul 17.
The Hawks had a strong start against the Fighters Yu Darvish with a grandslam by Munenori Kawasaki, but the game went into extra innings which Hawks finished in the 10th inning 8 to 7 on Jul 12. It won again the next day 7 to 3. A competitive game finishing 10 to 9 was won by the Marines over the Lions on Jul 12. The Golden Eagles Gary Rath won his first game, by winning 5 to 3 against the Buffaloes. It lost the next day, however, 0 to 6.
The Hawks winning streak ended at 15 on Jul 9. It was shut out by the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka in a 0 to 4 game. The Lions won again 10 to 4 on Alex Cabrera's 2 run, and Jose Fernandez's 2 home runs. On Jul 9, the Golden Eagles Hisashi Iwakuma hurled over the distance for a 5 to 2 over the Marines. The next game ended a tie.
Fernando Seguignol and Tsuyoshi Shinjo's 2 homers took the Fighters to a 10 to 7 win over the Buffaloes on Jul 8.
The game on Jul 4 between the Hawks and the Golden Eagles exploded with home runs. In the end, Tony Batista's RBI took the Hawks to a 8 to 7 win. The following day, the Hawks Toshiya Sugiuchi earned his 12th win in a 9 to 1 game. On Jul 6, the Hawks Julio Zuleta slammed his 27th home run. Kenji Jojima earned 3 RBIs and the team won 14 to 3. On Jul 4, Yu Darvish started for the Fighters. He lost a super huge 2 run homer to the Marine Lee Seung Yeop. That was all he gave up though. The game went on, and in the end the Marines clinched in the 10th inng 6 to 2. Then the next day the Fighters won on Fernando Seguignol's and Michihiro Ogasawara's home runs 8 to 1. The Marines won on Jul 6 thanks to Lee's game tieing home run in the 9th, and Kazuya Fukuura's RBI in the 10th. The BlueWave that day replaced the Lions for 3rd place in a 5 to 4 game.
With Lee Seung Yeop's 2 run homer, and Shunsuke Watanabe's good pitch, the Marines beat the Lions 6 to 1 on July 1. The next day, the Lions veteran pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi pitched well. The Lions won 3 to 1. The Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his 6th win in a 5 to 2 game on Jul 3. On Jul 2, the Golden Eagles had a dramatic victory over the Fighters, with Koichi Oshima's game winning run. The next day, it won 6 to 5, despite a shaky start by its ace Hisashi Iwakuma. The Hawks Tsuyoshi Wada earned his 9th win in a 3 to 1 game over the Buffaloes on Jul 2. The next day, the Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Kenji Jojima, Julio Zuleta homered one after another and marked the teams 12th win in a row.
June
The Fighters golden rookie Darvish Yu started for the 2nd time on June 27.
He pitched 7 inning giving up just 2 runs.
He won the 4 to 2 game against the Lions while Daisuke Matsuzaka took the loss.
The top two team faced eachother on June 28. It was a seesaw game which the Hawks clinched with homers by Julio Zuleta, Kenji Jojima 6 to 2 from the Marines and replaced first place. The Marines lost again the next day.
The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka who was in a slump homered a 2 run on June 24 to help his team win 5 to 4 over the Fighters. It's the Hawks 6th win in a row. Despite Tsuyoshi Shinjo's 3 run homer, the Hawks clinched the next game in the 11th inning 6 to 5. The Hawks winning streak marked a record of the year at 8, on June 26. On June 25, the Buffaloes Masato Yoshii earned his 4th win, in a 9 to 2 game against the Marines. The Golden Eagles defeated the Lions in a 11 inning game, 11 to 7. It was incredible again the next day. In the 10th inning, the Golden Eagles hit in 7 runs, to clinch the game 16 to 9.
It's back to normal for the league from June 21. The Marines lost to the Fighters 1 to 3, the Hawks Julio Zuleta grandslammed to take his team to a 10 to 4 win over the Golden Eagles, and the Lions defeated the Blue Wave 10 to 5. Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his 5th win by pitching only 5 innings. On June 22, The Marines lost again, while the Hawks beat the Golden Eagles. The Lions beat the BlueWave 9 to 6.
League standing as of June 30
1.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
3.Orix Buffaloes
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Seibu Lions
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles
May
MORE IN INTERLEAGUE
The Marines won again on May 3, 4 to 3 over the Golden Eagles, and 10 to 0 the next day for its 12th consecutive win.
But on May 5, the Golden Eagles at last halted the Marines winning streak in a 7 to 1 game.
The Hawks exploded with a 3 run homer by Nobuhiko Matsunaka, and Kenji Jojima,
to win 8 to 3 over the Buffaloes on May 3.
The Hawks won the next 2 games too.
The Fighters beat the Lions on a grand slam by Michihiro Ogasawara, 14 to 7 on May 3.
The Lions won 12 to 3 the next day, and 10 to 1 on chubby player Takeya Nakamura's 2 homers.
The Marines for the first time in 20 years recorded a winning streak of 10 on May 1, defeating the Hawks 15 to 3, thanks to Benny Agbayani's 2 home runs. The Fighters beat the Buffaloes 5 to 1. The Golden Eagles lost to the Lions 2 to 3.
League standing as of May 31
1.Chiba Lotte Marines
2.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
3.Seibu Lions
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Orix Buffaloes
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles
April
The Golden Eagles losing streak ended at 11 on Apr 29, by clobbering the Lions Daisuke Matsuzaka, winning 6 to 4.
But it was back losing the next day 1 to 4 .
The Marines, beat the Hawks 6 to 5, on Apr 29, and 2 to 1 the next day.
The Buffaloes celebrated skipper Akira Ogi's 70th birthday by beating the Fighter 6 to 2 on Apr 29.
It lost though the next day 1 to 11
The Lions messed up out in the field. The Marines took advantage and won 8 to 2 on Apr 25. It won the next day be attacking Takashi Ishii, 7 to 1. And again on Apr 27, 7 to 1 for its 7th win in a row. The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka blasted 2 homers. Kenji Jojima had a homer too. The Hawks won 10 to 1 over the Fighters on Apr 25. Tsuyoshi Shinjo helped the Fighters win the following day 7 to 5. On Apr 27, Matsunaka slammed 2 homers again, and the Hawks won 8 to 1. The Golden Eagles marked 1 to 7 game against the Buffaloes on Apr 25, 5 to 6 the next day, and again 4 to 8, for its 11th straight loss.
The Hawks defeated the Lions started by Daisuke Matsuzaka 2 to 0 on Apr 22. The next day it won with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's home run 6 to 4. That day, the Fighters Tsuyoshi Shinjo marked his 1500th game, but could not contribute. It was Michihiro Ogasawara was the star with his 10th homerun to clinch the 10 inning game 8 to 4 over the Buffaloes. Alson on Apr 23, the Golden Eagles succumbed to its 7th loss in a row. It was in a 4 to 12 game agains the Marines.
Julio Zuleta helped the Hawks to beat the Buffaloes 2 to 0 on Apr 18. The next day a consecutive hit of 7 helped the Hawks win again 12 to 0. And it clinched its 3rd win in a row on a grand slam by Nobuhiko Matsunaka and a 2 run by Julio Zuleta. It's 8 to 3. The Fighters marked its 7th win in a row in a game Tsuyoshi Shinjo blasted a 3 run homer on Apr 18. It was a 10 to 4 win against the Marines. But the streak ended the next day in a 1 to 5 game. The Lions losing streak was ended in a 5 to 3 game against the Golden Eagles on Apr 18. And it won its 2nd game in a row the next day 4 to 1.
The top two teams faced eachother from Apr 15. The Hawks Tony Batista blasted a 3 run, to help his team defeat the Marines 7 to 4. In the 4th inning, the next day, Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Kenji Jojima, Julio Zuleta homered one after another. The Hawks won 4 to 3. It lost it's 3rd game, as the Marines, Matt Franco and Makoto Kosaka homered. On Apr 15,the Buffaloes new pitcher Jeremy Powell, alias JP, hurled over the distance to defeat Daisuke Matsuzaka led Lions. It was 2 to 1. The next 2 days, the Buffaloes won. The Fighters played at the Tokyo Dome for the first time this season on Apr 15. Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Kuniyuki Kimoto homered to beat the Golden Eagles 6 to 3. It won again the next day 5 to 3, and the day after, 7 to 2.
The Hawks Nobuhiko Matsunaka homered for the first time this season on Apr 11. Julio Zuleta slammed a 2 run homer and defeated the Golden Eagles 4 to 0. The next day, the Golden Eagles super rookie Yasuhiro Ichiba started for the first time. But he was not match for the Hawks, and the team lost 3 to 7. The Golden Eagles losing streak ended at 4 on Apr 13, in a 11 to 9 game. The Fighters on Apr 12, beat the Lions 15 to 7. Tsuyoshi Shinjo was the only one who did not have a hit. But the next day, Shinjo made up with a homer, and helped his team win 10 to 4. The Marines at last got to play, after 2 rain out games. Korean slugger Lee Seung Yeop helped the team win with a home run. It's 4 to 3 over the Buffaloes for a winning streak of 6.
The Golden Eagles beat the Buffaloes on Apr 8, 8 to 2. Former Buffaloes Koichi Isobe homered. But the Golden Eagles lost the next 2 games. Junichi Kawahara, who was the Giants ace reliever, pitched for the Lions the first time on Apr 9. It's the first time in 4 years that he's a starting pitcher. He hurled 7 innings and helped his team win 4 to 1 over the Hawks. The Hawks losing streak halted at 3 the next day, with the help of Julio Zuleta's 3 run home run. It won 4 to 1 over the Lions. The Marines is doing terrific. On Apr 9 , beat the Fighters 10 to 2, and on the 10th, won its 5th game in a row, defeating the Fighters 5 to 1.
On Apr 4, the Hawks went ahead with Julio Zuleta's RBI, and secured the game with Jolbert Cabrera's to beat the Buffaloes 4 to 1. It won 3 to 1 the next day. The Golden Eagles on Apr 5 played a competitive game against the Fighters. In the 10th inning, Michihiro Ogasawara homered to give the Fighters a 5 to 4 win. There was a technical problem. The scoreboard in Fukushima Stadium was malfunctioning all the way til the end of the game. On Apr 6, the Fighters beat the Golden Eagles again, 10 to 1. The leader, the Hawks that day lost to the Buffaloes 2 to 11. Newcomer Cliff Brumbaugh slammed his first home run. The Marines clobbered the Lions' Takashi Ishii to win 15 to 4.
The Golden Eagles lost on Apr 3 as Alex Cabrera homered twice, to give the Lions a 7 to 1 win. The Golden Eagles won 2 previous games, however. It battered the Lions ace pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to win 5 to 3 on Apr 2. It's the first time it also marked a winning streak. The Hawks remain highly competitive, beating the Marines 5 to 4 that day. The Buffaloes defeated the Fighters 10 to 0.
The Golden Eagles played at its homeground, Fullcast Miyabi Stadium for the first time on Apr 1. It opened with performance by Japan's idol group "Morning Musume". Starting for the team, of course, it's ace pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. He received quite a support from the team. Captain, Koichi Isobe slammed the team's first homerun. Then Luis Lopez slammed a 3 run. It was all in the first inning. In the end, the team beat the Lions 16 to 5. The Hawks lost its first game of the season 0 to 5 to the Marines. The Fighter lost 5 to 7 to the Buffaloes despite Tsuyoshi Shinjo's grand slam.
League standing as of April 30
1.Chiba Lotte Marines
2.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
3.Nippon Ham Fighters
4.Orix Buffaloes
5.Seibu Lions
6.Rakuten Golden Eagles
March
The Fighters won its first game of the season on Mar 29. It beat the Liions 12 to 7 with
ample runs including a grand slam by Shin Takahashi.
The Golden Eagles lost its 3rd game in a row, in a game it was originally taking the lead.
It's 2 to 6 against the Hawks.
The Marines Masa Kobayashi clinched his first save in a 4 to 3 game against the Buffaloes.
The Golden Eagles lost 1 to 6 to the Hawks on Mar 28. The Lions won again, this time against the Fighters 1 to 0. The Buffaloes won it's first game of the season against the Marines, 5 to 2.
On Mar 27, the Golden Eagles broke a record. It lost 0 to 26 to the Marines. The Marines Shunsuke Watanabe shut out the Golden Eagles. The Hawks starter Nagisa Arakaki succumbed to a grand slam by the Fighters Shinji Takahashi. But the Hawks in the 11th inning won the game. The Lions beat the Buffaloes 11 to 7.
New team Rakuten Golden Eagles played its first official game against the Lotte Marines in Chiba on Mar 26. The game attracted a sell out crowd. The Eagles starter was Hisashi Iwakuma, former ace pitcher with the Kintetsu Buffaloes, also a team which no longer exists after its merger with the Orix BlueWave. He hurled over the distance and helped his team win 3 to 1. Orix Buffaloes played the Lions and lost 2 to 3. The Hawks which was taken over by internet company Softbank won on Hiroshi Shibahara's 3 run homer. It's 3 to 1 over the Fighters.
League standing as of March 31
1.Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
2.Seibu Lions
2.Chiba Lotte Marines
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Orix Buffaloes
5.Rakuten Golden Eagles
LAST SEASON CHAMPION: SEIBU LIONS(As a result of playoffs)
Final league standing of 2004
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Seibu Lions
3.Nippon Ham Fighters
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Kintetsu Buffaloes
6.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
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