Lions Win Series; Giants Stay Alive
Seibu Lions 8 Nippon Ham Fighters 1
Nippon’s struggles continued in the playoffs as Seibu had no trouble sweeping them in two games. The first half of the season the Fighters were battling the Hawks with two of the best records in the NPB. But their season came crashing down in the last two months, and the slump continued into the playoffs. Now they will have to make a decision on whether they will post Yu Darvish and use that money to rebuild.
The game was 1-1 going into the top of the eighth, but two walks, one intentional and fielding error gave the Lions the go ahead run without benefit of a hit. They then destroyed the Fighters bullpen, specifically Hirotoshi Masui for six runs in the top of the ninth to run away with the game. Lions slugger Takeya Nakamura got the climatic hit with a 3-run homer to end the scoring.
It was a disappointing way to end the season in front of the home crowd. The bullpen allowed both games to get out of control. The Fighters did have an opportunity to get back in the game in the bottom of the eighth, putting runners on first and third with no one out, but they squandered that opportunity and it seemed to have an impact in their ninth inning debacle.
Fumiya Nishiguchi went seven plus innings for the Lions to pick up the victory.
You can see a summary of the games at: http://yakyubaka.com/2011/10/30/cs-saitama-seibu-lions-vs-hokkaido-nippon-ham-fighters-october-30-2011/
Yomiuri Giants 6 Yakult Swallows 2
The Giants stay alive, also breaking the game open with a 4-run ninth to give themselves a split of the series. Yoshinobu Takahashi delivered a clutch pinchhit 3-run double to extend the Giants 2-1 lead and allow them to waltz to victory. The Giants starter Tetsuya Utsumi went six innings to pick up the win, giving up only one run. Shinnosuke Abe got the scoring started for the Giants with a solo homerun in the fourth and they never trailed in this game.
You can see more of the summary of this game here: http://yakyubaka.com/2011/10/30/cs-yomiuri-giants-vs-tokyo-yakult-swallows-october-30-2011/