2007 NPB Playoffs: Marines, Fighters set to square off

By JASON COSKREY
Staff writer

Here are five key questions ahead of the second stage of the Pacific League Climax Series between the last two Japan Series Champions, the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters:

How hot are the Marines coming into this series?

Lotte is 10-2 in its last 12 games and isn't showing any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

News photo
Fighters ace Yu Darvish tosses the ball during Friday's practice at Sapporo Dome. Darvish, the likely Game 1 starter, and the reigning Japan Series champions face the Chiba Lotte Marines in the second stage of the Pacific League Climax Series on Saturday. KYODO PHOTO

Shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka is coming off a stellar performance in the first stage. He went 7-for-12 with three RBIs and two stolen bases, and big performances from Saburo Omura and Kazuya Fukuura and others helped propel the Marines to this point.

On the mound, possible Game 1 starter Shunsuke Watanabe is coming off complete-game wins in his last three starts and 21-year-old pitcher Yoshihisa Naruse is looking unbeatable.

In the bullpen, Masahide Kobayashi is "looking better every time out," manager Bobby Valentine said earlier in the week and fellow reliever Yusuke Kawasaki has given up just one run in his last 9 1/3 innings, making the Marines a formidable opponent.

Can the Fighters finally beat Naruse?

The Fighters can almost certainly expect another date with their baby-faced nemesis. Naruse was dominant in four games against the defending champions, going 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA and two complete games.

No PL team has had an answer for Naruse this season (he's 12-0 against PL teams), but the Fighters could find themselves looking for one at a crucial point in their season.

Can the Marines overcome Darvish?

On the flip side, the Marines need to come up with a winning formula against Fighters ace Yu Darvish, who they could conceivably face twice. Darvish was 8-2 with a 1.19 ERA and three shutouts this year at Sapporo Dome.

The hard-throwing righty, who was 15-5 overall, was 2-1-1 in four games against Lotte but would be unbeaten if not for a pair of homers.

Julio Zuleta slugged a sixth-inning grand slam in a rain-shortened 4-4 tie in the season opener and Tomoya Satozaki's second-inning shot gave the Marines a 3-2 win on Sept. 13, a game in which Darvish fanned 14.

Do the Fighters have enough offense?

The Fighters were at or near the bottom in almost every offensive category yet ended the season 79-60-5 and had the highest winning percentage in either league (.568).

In other words, they've made the most of the runs they have scored and have leaned heavily on their pitching staff.

For the Hammies, the main problem comes in the form of Lotte pitchers Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kobayashi and Naruse.

The Marines can score in bunches and those three can make life extremely hard if Nippon Ham falls behind by a couple of runs.

However, the Fighters' offensive problems are nothing new at this point and as their record shows they've gotten by just fine so far.

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Who can be the difference makers?

For the Marines, nobody has come up bigger in big situations than Saburo Omura, who said he's just having fun at this point.

"No matter whether I can get a hit or not, I try to go out there and have some fun," he said after his three-run triple in the sixth inning of Game 3 of the first stage.

Although, with runners on base, seeing Omura step into the batter's box has been anything but fun for opposing pitchers. With runners in scoring position Omura batted .310 (44-for-142) with one home run and 56 RBIs during the regular season.

For Nippon Ham, Atsunori Inaba is the main attraction. He has had a great season, batting .333 with 17 home runs and 87 RBIs. He was even better with runners in scoring position, hitting .350 with seven homers and 72 RBIs.

He finished the season 8-for-24 (.333) with four RBIs over his final six games despite battling through a wrist injury after being hit with a pitch late in the season.

"He's playing with a lot of pain," Fighters manager Trey Hillman said after the team's win over Tohoku Rakuten on Sept. 18.

"If you've never been hit with a 94-mph (151 kph) fastball on any part of your body, you can't appreciate what he's doing."

After a long layoff, Inaba is likely healthy again, which could pose all sorts of problems for the Marines.

Also not to be overlooked is the havoc opposing leadoff men Nishioka and Nippon Ham's Hichori Morimoto can cause on the basepaths in crucial moments.

Just ask Fukuoka pitcher Jason Standridge, who issued two game-changing walks on Wednesday with Nishioka bouncing around behind him.

Nishioka had already stolen second and, despite a couple of long stares from the Softbank starter, was looking good to swipe third before Standridge walked the bases loaded, then gave up the series-clinching hit to Omura.

Game 1 is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sapporo Dome.


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