Gaudy pitching numbers may bring home awards and adoration. But it's coming through in the clutch that leads to titles.

More often than not, pitching will make or break a team's season. A lesson the Seibu Lions may have recently learned the hard way.

Over the weekend, the Lions trailed the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles by two games for the last spot in the Pacific League Climax Series with pitchers Takayuki Kishi (12-5, 3.30 ERA entering the weekend) and Hideaki Wakui (15-5, 2.17) set to go.