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Lotte Takes Two out of Three

Discussion in the NPB News forum
Lotte Takes Two out of Three
Thanks to a three run pinch hit double off the bat of new foreign player
Berry to tie the game, then a gyakuten triple by lead off batter
Morozumi, Lotte managed to come back from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead
and defeat their arch rival Lions on Monday (7/17) night.The Lions' undoing came when former Taiwanese ace Shu Mincho gave up
three consecutive walks to start the bottom of the 7th inning.  And
it turned out to be a big "Lucky 7th" for the home team when Berry doubled
off the top of the center field fence to clear the bases and tie the game. 
Morozumi's triple chased Shu from the mound, and sealed his fate as the losing
pitcher.

Lotte added two more runs in the bottom of the 8th with a pair of doubles
and a sacrifice fly to give them a comfortable 6-4 lead.  And going
to the top of the 9th, the Chiba crowed stared chanting, "Warren! 
dondon!  Warren!  . . ."  I was listening
to the game on the radio, and it's the first time I've gotten to hear the
"Warren chant" that the newspapers have referred to often.

Maybe Higashio-kantoku has settled down too much or something, because
Warren didn't seem to have that same concentration as usual.  He had
gotten tagged for the loss the previous evening (7/16), giving up one run
on three hits in the 10th inning of a knotted game.  Or perhaps the problem
there was that Shingo (Ono) didn't start the Sunday game, and "Sunday Lotte"
just doesn't carry the same weight as "Sunday Shingo."

Nonetheless, after getting Takagi Taisei to foul out to third and striking
out pinch hitter Kawada after walking Kaizuka, it looked like Warren had
returned to his Lion killing pattern.  But then, the unthinkable happened. 
Pinch hitter Hiratsuka took Warren deep to right, and we suddenly had a
one run ball game!  Bear down, Warren!

Finally, facing his third pinch hitter in a row in the personage of
Kakiuchi, Warren closed the game with a big strike out.

The save was Warren's 16th (1W 2L), tying him with Seibu's Mori (3W
3L 14S) for second place in save points at 17.  Daiei's Pedraza has
a commanding lead 21 saves (and save points, 0W 2L).

Lotte's record improves to 10 and 8 (1 tie) against the Lions. 
I thought that I'd read that Lotte had a 7 game winning streak against
Seibu until it was broken on Sunday.  Can anyone confirm or deny that?

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