Marines draw first blood against Hawks

CHIBA — On a windy day on Tokyo Bay, the Chiba Lotte Marines picked up where they left off in the 2005 playoffs and Fukuoka Softbank Hawks starter Kazumi Saito's playoff woes continued.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs, and the Marines rallied twice to tie the game before taking the lead for good in the fourth as they beat the Hawks 8-4 in the first game of the Pacific League Climax Series on Monday at Chiba Marine Stadium.

"This team has had big guts all year," said Marines manager Bobby Valentine, whose team was making its first playoff appearance since winning the Japan Series two seasons ago. "If you're down by three to Saito, you have to have big guts to come back."

Nishioka picked up a crucial infield hit in the third to help set up Saburo Omura's game-tying two-run single, drove in a game-tying run in the fourth and gave the Marines an insurance run with an RBI double in the sixth, as Chiba Lotte won for the seventh time in its last eight games against Softbank.

"The fans came out and cheered us on a rainy and windy day and we really appreciate it," Nishioka said. "Our offensive attack in the third and fourth innings was outstanding."

Daisuke Hayakawa and Omura also finished the game with two RBIs and Jose Ortiz hit a solo homer in the fifth for the Marines, who can wrap up the three-game series with a win in Game 2 on Tuesday evening.

Saito lasted just four innings and gave up five runs on six hits, walked three and struck out three.

The game continued Saito's string of disappointments in the post season. Last season's Sawamura Award winner, he was stellar during the 2006 regular season but was on the wrong end of two 1-0 decisions in the playoffs including in the deciding game of the second stage of the PL Climax Series against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

Saito, who came into the game having won five of his last six starts, was relieved by Akihiro Yanase.

However, things didn't get much better for Fukuoka after he left, as Yanase gave up the lead-off homer to Ortiz and an RBI double to Nishioka in the sixth that gave the Marines a 7-4 lead.

Chiba Lotte starter Shunsuke Watanabe pitched a complete game to pick up the win despite giving up four runs on five hits. After giving up all four runs in the first four innings, Watanabe retired the last 16 batters he faced.

"Despite the wind and rain I was able to pitch well from the fifth inning to the end of the game," Watanabe said. "The wind became my friend."

Things took a bad turn early for Watanabe in the third. Hitoshi Tamura began the inning with a double on a hit that was inches from landing in foul territory. He scored when Watanabe fielded a sacrifice bunt attempt by Mitsuru Honma and made an errant throw which got away from second baseman Ortiz who was covering first base.

The next two batters, Munenori Kawasaki and Nobihiko Matsunaka, followed with RBIs to give Fukuoka a 3-0 advantage.

All the bounces went in Lotte's favor in the bottom half of the inning as the Marines began to rally.

Benny Agbayani led off the inning with a single, then went to third on a hit by Kazuya Fukuura. Toshiaki Imae followed by lining a ball off Saito's foot, which allowed a run to score, and beating short stop Kawasaki's throw to first to leave the Marines with two on and none out.

Nishioka then reached safely on a bunt to load the bases. Saito began to work out of the jam by striking out the next two batters but fell victim to Omura's single into right that drove in two to knot the score at 3-3.

"No one has had bigger guts this year than Saburo," Valentine said. "After seeing his two teammates strike out ahead of him, he got the big hit of the game."

The Hawks retook the lead quickly in the fourth on Naoki Matoba's RBI single but Nishioka countered with his own RBI single in the bottom half to tie the game again at 4-4. Hayakawa then gave Chiba Lotte its first lead with an RBI sacrifice fly.

The two teams will meet tonight at 6:15 p.m. at Chiba Marine Stadium as the Marines attempt to close out the series and advance to the second stage of the playoffs, scheduled to begin on Oct. 13 at Sapporo Dome against defending Japan Series champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

"I think we can wrap up the series tomorrow and pack our bags for Sapporo," Nishioka said.

Hawks southpaw Toshiya Suguichi and Marines right-hander Hiroyuki Kobayashi are expected to be the starters in tonight's game.

'Stars edge Swallows

Yoshimura connected off Shugo Fujii to cap a four-run first inning and his third hit of the game put runners at the corners before a fielding error by Yakult first baseman Adam Riggs broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth at Yokohama Stadium.

Alex Ramirez had an RBI single to left in Yakult's first inning for his 203rd hit, setting the Central League record for most hits in a season.