After two straight shutout losses in Fukuoka, it wasn’t hard to imagine this team having troubles scoring against the defending Sawamura Award (Yamamoto) and Rookie of the Year (Miyagi) winners over the weekend. However, they were up to the task, taking the opener comfortably while riding Yusuke Ohyama and his hot bat. They scrapped for two runs in the 8th to tie the game against Yamamoto on Saturday, winning on a spectacular stolen base + error in the 11th, and then powering through Miyagi on Sunday thanks to Teruaki Sato bringing six guys home on Sunday. And with a little help from the other Pacific League teams, they are now (barely) in 4th place despite still being 12.5 games out of first. (But just 2 out of a playoff spot!) Let’s keep turning up the heat on our CL opponents, Tigers!
