2010 Japan Series
The Nippon Series 2010 was the 61st edition of the finals of the Japanese baseball championship. The Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League under manager Norifumi Nishimura met the Chunichi Dragons of the Central League of Hiromitsu Ochiai. The best- of-seven series was played between 30 October and 7 November 2010. The home advantage in the first two games and from the sixth game had the Dragons as representatives of the Central League.
The Marines, who had qualified in the playoffs as the third in the regular season, defeated the Dragons with four to two. Three games of the series went into extra innings, including the first draw since 1986. As MVP of the series Chiba Toshiake Imae was awarded, who had received the title already in the last championship of the Marines in 2005.
Lotte as the winner of the Nihon Series played on November 13, 2010 in the Korean- Japanese club championship, the successor of the Asia Series, at the Tokyo Dome against the SK Wyverns as the winner of the South Korean Hanguk Series Baseball League and won with 3-0.
- 2.1 Game 1
- 2.2 Game 2
- 2.3 Game 3
- 2.4 Game 4
- 2.5 Game 5
- 2.6 Game 6
- 2.7 Game 7
Season finale and playoff
In the regular season the Pacific League to decide on the top three places was only in the last three games: The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks secured on September 26, the first place from the Saitama Seibu Lions, and thus to participate in Stage 2 of the Climax Series; Chiba Lotte Marines and sat down with 0.5 games ahead of the Hokkaido Nippon by Ham Fighters in the battle for the third playoff spot. In the Central League Chunichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants fought until October 1 for the first place; the decision on the second and third place, so the home advantage in Stage 1 of the Climax Series was only in the penultimate game of the league on October 8, 2010.
Climax Series
The playoffs began with Stage 1 of the Climax Series 9 (Pacific League) and 16 October (Central League).
In the Pacific League Lotte qualified in two close games against Seibu Seibu Dome for the " Final Stage " of the Climax Series: The first game ended after eleven innings 6-5, the second - also after eleven innings - 5-4. As of October 14, the team played in the Fukuoka Dome against Softbank, who went as a first place winner of the regular season with a winning edge in the series, for a place in the Nippon Series. After a 1-3 game backlog succeeded the Marines to win the last three games and thus win their sixth participation in the final series, the first since 2005. The Marines were thus the first team ever to participate as third in the regular season at the Nippon Series.
In the Climax Series of the Central League, the Giants put away in the Koshien in two straight games ( 3-1 and 7-6) against Hanshin through and stood in a new edition of the Climax Series last year with the opposite sign from 20 October to Chunichi Dragons over at Nagoya Dome. The Dragons won the first two and the fourth game and secured their ninth participation in the Nippon Series.
Game Overview
In the Nippon Series Chunichi Dragons and Chiba Lotte Marines first met each other since 1974. At the time, won Lotte, still under the name Lotte Orions, against Chunichi with four to two games. The meeting of 2010 was seen by the media as a duel between the pitchers of the favored, and defensively strong and balanced offensively Dragons and the outstanding offensive of Marines.
Game 1
The first game of the series was opened for the Chunichi Dragons not Weiyin Chen, who had given preference in the Climax Series, but by Kazuki Yoshimi; for the Marines stood Pitcherass Yoshihisa Naruse on the Mound. The first hit had to admit in the first inning, the Flyball of rookie Ikuhiro Kiyota without consequences Yoshimi. In the second inning, the Marines then were able to record the first run by an RBI -double by Shōitsu omatsu. When baserunning to omatsu injured his thigh and had to be replaced. In the back half of the second inning, the Dragons were initially able to take the lead by solo home runs by Kazuhiro Wada and Motonobu Tanishige. However, Yoshimi had to allow the decisive runs already in the following third inning: At a solo homer by Ikuhiro Kiyota - his third in the postseason - followed in an out a hit of Tadahito Iguchi, who then by a hit by pitch to the second base advancing, and then a hit of Toshiaki Imae, the Iguchi brought to Run. Yoshimi hit in the same inning one more batter. Although he did not allow any further run more, but was subsequently changed for the Pinch Hitter Masaaki Koike.
The leadership of the third inning gave the Lotte Marines then from no more: Naruse let in five innings with six strikeouts four hits to and reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta, Tatsuya Uchi and Yoshihiro Ito, each threw one inning, Chunichi held hit- and no points. The Lotte - offensive could also by a RBI Tsuyoshi Nishioka of the sixth and achieve a home run in the seventh inning of Tadahito Iguchi two more runs against Chunichi - Reliever Masafumi Hirai. In the ninth inning Lotte Closer Hiro Kobayashi was still two hits to the game finished but without further Run for Chunichi with a strikeout.
Toshiaki Imae brought the Marines not only in the third inning in the lead, he was involved with a Sacrifice Hit and Run on the first and posted a total of three hits in three at-bats and a walk.
WP: Naruse (1-0 ) LP: Yoshimi (0-1) SV: Hiro Kobayashi ( 1 SV ) HRs: LOT - Kiyota ( 1), Iguchi ( 1) CHU - Wada ( 1), Tanishige ( 1)
Game 2
In Game 2, the Dragons offered with Chen Weiyin from the beginning to the expected strong pitching, while the batter unlike Naruse against the previous day came to the course and were then further supported by defensive error by Lotte. Starter for the Marines was Bill Murphy. Already the very first pitch Murphy turned shortstop Masahiro Araki to be a hit, the more of Masahiko Morino, Kazuhiro Wada and Yohei Oshima and a walk followed. Then there was an error by second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, Chunichi went with four runs in the lead; all nine Dragons on the grid were already in the first inning at bat. The second began similarly bad for Murphy: Out Without the bases were full by a hit Araki and two subsequent Walks. After the resulting 2 - RBI double by Wada Murphy was replaced by Shingo Ono, the Chūnichis hit series but also could not finish until the end of the third inning had to allow three more runs, this was another by an error by left fielder Ikuhiro Kiyota. After Takuya Furuta took over the nine -run residue, which further enlarged in the sixth inning when he first baseman Tony Blanco declined a 2 -run homerun. Finally, Yuji Yoshimi took the mound and stayed in two innings as the only Lotte pitcher of the day without Earned Run.
On the other hand, the Lotte offensive against Chen was very little chances and could not be extended to a fourth game of their ongoing series of ten or more hits per encounter. Only in the fourth inning Kiyota moved from one pitch to hit the first by a hit from Iguchi then to the second base before: Toshiaki Imae turned in an out a 2-0 pitch for single run, the Chen in six innings with five strikeouts and four hits allowed. After that, the Chunichi - Bullpen with Jun'ichi Kawahara, Koji Mise, Akifumi Takahashi, Takuya Asao and finally Closer Hitoki Iwase Lotte held in only one other hit with no chance of another point.
WP: Chen (1-0 ) LP: Murphy ( 0-1) HRs: CHU - Blanco ( 1)
Game 3
In the first home of the Marines in the postseason in 2010 right handed Shunsuke Watanabe opened the game; Daisuke Yamai threw at the start for the Dragons and struggled with the control of his pitches. The first hits recorded Lotte, but first on the scoreboard in the third inning made it Chunichi: After hits from Tanishige Ōshima and the two were on the first and third base. Masahiro Araki brought a sacrifice fly - caught with a sliding catch by left fielder Ikuhiro Kiyota - Tanishige for the first run of the game. Even in the lower half resembled Lotte by a RBI of Saburō.
While Watanabe threw a quality start and - apart from the third - until the seventh inning only saw three batters per pass, Yamai left the Marines in the fourth inning to make the decisive points: After a double by designated hitter Kazuya Fukuura, a Walk by Kim Tae- kyun, a sac bunt from catcher Tomoya Satozaki and another Walk were the bases full with two outs. Kiyota transformed the occasion with a slap in Centerfield to a 3RBI triple; Tadahito Iguchi presented with an RBI -double by a fourth run. Then Yamai was replaced for Yoshihiro Suzuki, who only allowed one hit in 2 1/ 3 innings.
At the beginning of the rear half of the seventh inning Akinobu Shimizu Suzuki replaced as a pitcher for the Dragons. After a double by Iguchi Shimizu Saburō sent smooth with four balls to first base. Through a wild pitch moved both runners without out prior to the bases two and three. Two Sacrifice Flies by Toshiaki Imae and Kazuya Fukuura Lotte brought the 7-1 lead. Shunsuke Watanabe also threw the last two innings and thus a Complete Game, in which he five strikeouts and no Walk threw five hits. Lotte received by the victory the chance to end the Nippon Series with two more successes in the home stadium.
WP: Watanabe (1-0 ) LP: Yamai (0-1)
Game 4
Game 4 was the first of the Nippon Series since 2003 that went into overtime. Starting Pitchers were the 45 -year-old left-hander Masa Yamamoto for Chunichi and the 21 -year-old Yūki Karakawa for Lotte. Both were responsible for the first runs for the opponents: Yamamoto three in the third inning with hits by Yoshifumi Okada, Tsuyoshi Nishioka ( RBI double) and a 2 -run homerun by Tadahito Iguchi. And early in the fourth innings for Chunichi beat Masahiko Morino Kazuhiro Wada a triple and a RBI -double by Karakawa what then still led the Dragons by Kei Nemoto for the second run after his replacement. For Ausgleichsrun led in the fifth inning of an Error Lotte reliever Shingo Ono, the Motonobu Tanishige applied to the first base. Then hit a pitch Ono Yohei Oshima, and a stained by Masahiro Araki created with full Bases Out without the chance Hirokazu Ibata used to RBI. At the same time contributed a double play helps to prevent further runs: With two outs the following Grounder Morino ended the attack by Chunichi.
Although the bullpens of both teams could be more hits, but by the end of the ninth inning no run to. In the bottom half of the ninth Tsuyoshi Nishioka hailed a ball he had hit on the Outfieldmauer and held for a sayonara home run; but the ball was just foul. With 3-3 it went into overtime. In the tenth inning with two outs created a Walk of Morino and a hit by Wada an opportunity for Chunichi, the Tony Blanco but with his third strikeout of the day was no goal. Blancos batting average after four games in the series thus stood at .125. Also Lotte had the chance in the tenth to the crucial Run: A hit by pitch from Kiyota, a hit by Iguchi and an error by right fielder Hidenori resulted in runners on second and third bases in an out. Imae came through an intentional walk not to blow, and the eighth pitch of the now substitute pitcher Akifumi Takahashi Kazuya Fukuura beat DH into a double play. In the eleventh inning Hidenori came for Chunichi then the game-winning run. After a single he advanced by a sacrifice bunt by Tanishige to the second base before, and Yohei Oshima silenced him with a triple home - center fielder Okada missed the fly ball in short supply. In the lower half Akifumi Takahashi and Closer Hitoki Iwase sealed the victory Chūnichis, which earned the team the balance of the series and the safe return to Nagoya in the sixth game.
Besides Morino and Wada convinced under the Battern the Dragons rookie Yohei Oshima with two hits in four at-bats, a hit by pitch and the game-winning RBI.
Starting Pitchers: CHU - Yamamoto LOT - Karakawa WP: Takahashi (1-0 ) LP: Itō (0-1) SV: Iwase ( 1 SV ) HRs: LOT - Iguchi ( 2)
Game 5
At the last home appearance of the year, Lotte offensive demonstrated in Game 5 of their strength. Although Chunichi recorded with a sacrifice fly by Kazuhiro Wada in the first inning of the first run. But already in the lower half, which began with an error of second baseman Naomichi Donoue, the Lotte lineup responded with consecutive hits by Iguchi, Saburō, Imae, Fukuura and Kim, who contributed a total of four runs. Marines starter Hayden Penn and Chūnichis Ken'ichi Nakata left to further opportunities in the following innings. In the fourth inning Lotte its leadership enlarge by a 2 -run homerun by Saburō who grew up in the fifth inning on eight points, as hits by Kim, Satozaki and Okada filled the bases and then a sacrifice fly by Nishioka and a hit by Kiyota three more runs applied to the scoreboard. At the beginning of the sixth inning and Penn was again a point: After hits from Ōshima and Morino Blanco was able to turn a 1-0 pitch into an RBI double. The now substitute for Penn Takuya Furuya ended the inning but without another hit.
In the seventh inning, Kim Tae- kyun could move forward with his fourth hit of the day in as many at-bats at first base. Although he was replaced for the Pinch Runner Hisao Heiuchi, but was thereby indirectly involved even at the tenth Run for Lotte: With runners on 1 and 3 had a wild pitch by Akinobu Shimizu Heiuchi points. In the eighth inning, the Dragons were able to reduce by two runs with a two -run home run by Tony Blanco. But the level of 10-4 thereafter remained unchanged - Lotte led the series before returning to Nagoya with three to two games.
WP: Penn ( 1-0) LP: Nakata (0-1) HRs: CHU - Blanco ( 2) LOT - Saburō ( 1)
Game 6
In Game 6 Lotte and Chunichi clashed with their Toppitchern Yoshihisa Naruse and Chen Weiyin. After each one run on both sides in the first inning by RBIs from Saburō and Morino, the teams stayed in four innings without a point. In the bottom half of the sixth inning Blanco hit a RBI -double and brought the Dragons temporarily in the lead. After the sixth inning Naruse has been replaced, after the seventh Chen. The now throwing for Chunichi Takuya Asao suffered at the beginning of the eighth inning the balance: Again hit Saburō the RBI, the Kiyota from second base brought home.
With the score at 2-2, the game went into overtime. In the eleventh inning walk of Imae and a hit by Kim led to runners on bases one and two with two outs; However, the following Flyball of Satozaki was caught in center field. In the lower half of the bases were full after three walks in two outs; but Shingo Ono, the third Lotte pitcher of the inning, avoided the defeat: His third pitch hit Araki with a liner to first base. In the following few innings Male Runner still came up with the bases; but the total of 14 pitchers used in the game were able to keep the game up to the end of the 15th inning with the score at 2-2. In a total of 101 at-bats, the hitter both teams achieved together 19 hits in twelve Walks. With 5 hours, 43 minutes playing 6 was not only the first 15 - inning game, but also the hitherto longest game in the 60 - year history of the Nippon Series.
Starting Pitchers: LOT - Naruse CHU - Chen
Game 7
The starter in Game 7, Shunsuke Watanabe for Lotte and Kazumi Yoshimi for Chunichi, already had in the first innings and recorded several Earned Runs were replaced early. With the score at 7-6 for the Dragons in the ninth inning Lotte could offset by a sacrifice fly by Blanco still and force overtime. In the 12th inning but Lotte went through a hit by Okada with two outs and runner on second base again in the lead. Chunichi could no longer increase in the lower half, thus losing series and championship title with two to four games.
Starting Pitchers: LOT - Watanabe CHU - Yoshimi WP: Itō (1-1) LP: Asao (0-1)