Limping Lions, flying Fighters …
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Lions get blanked, drop sixth straight at home
This could easily be a story about the Nippon Ham Fighters’ Kazuhito Tadano, who pitched six shutout innings at Seibu Dome in a rare Monday game, beating the Seibu Lions 13-0 for his first win since Aug. 27, 2009.
It could even be about a team that is winning just fine without departed ace Yu Darvish after posting its Pacific League-best 10th victory.
Instead, it’s about the stumbling Lions, who were shut out for the second time in 10 games already and have dropped a club-worst six straight home games to kick off the season.
The Fighters got two hits, including a homer, and four RBIs from No. 5 hitter Atsunori Inaba, and three hits and two RBIs from No. 6 hitter Terrmel Sledge to shred the Lions, who are 2-8 and in the PL cellar.
Seibu’s 20 runs are the fewest in Japan and their .207 team batting average is second from the bottom. They have allowed nearly twice as many runs as they have scored. Against Tadano and two relievers, they couldn’t parlay any of their six singles and one walk into a run.
Tadano (1-0), who pitched in 19 ballgames in relief last season, held the limping Lions to four hits and a walk with three Ks. He said he expected it to be a close game, but the runs helped him focus on his approach.
“They scored early for me so I just relaxed and threw the ball,” the soon-to-be-32-year-old said during the TV hero interview. “It was a chance for me to get a start so I just wanted to do a good job and hand it over to the bullpen.”