Games 43-45 @ Carp: Squeezed Out Series Win

The team giving us the biggest fits this year is the team that has struggled the most with run production. That said, the Hiroshima Carp have an outstanding pitching staff, to the point that they entered this series just 1.5 games out of first place. They figured out Shoki Murakami early and often in the first game of the series, but could find no answer for Koutaro Ohtake or Yuki Nishi in the remaining two. They made both games interesting, though, putting the walk-off run on base in the bottom of the ninth, but our closers (Suguru Iwazaki and Javy Guerra) held tight, getting the final out from pinch hitter Matsuyama both times, giving our Tigers a hard-earned series win. They host the Giants this weekend.