FUKUOKA — The Chiba Lotte Marines have achieved a feat nobody had ever done before — advanced to the Japan Series as a third-seeded team.
There were basically two reasons that factored their miraculous run.
The first is their pitching. Ace hurler Yoshihisa Naruse, who won the Most Valuable Player Award of the Pacific League Climax Series, and the relieving corps helped the men in black by a large degree. Putting Naruse's two-win performance aside, the unsung relievers also deserve their time in the spotlight.