Nippon Series 2010

The 2010 Nippon Series was the 61st edition of the finals of the Japanese baseball championship . The Chiba Lotte Marines from the Pacific League under manager Norifumi Nishimura met the Chūnichi Dragons from the Central League of Hiromitsu Ochiai . The best-of-seven series was held between October 30th and November 7th, 2010. The Dragons had home rights in the first two games and from the sixth game as representatives of the Central League.

The Marines, who qualified third of the regular season in the playoffs, defeated the Dragons four to two. Three games in the series went in extra innings, including the first draw since 1986 . As MVP of the series Chiba was Toshiake Imae excellent, had received the title already in the last championship of the Marines of 2005.

Lotte as the winner of the Nihon Series played on November 13, 2010 in the Korean-Japanese Club Championship, the successor to the Asia Series , in the Tokyo Dome against the SK Wyverns as the winner of the Hanguk Series of the South Korean Baseball League and won with 3-0.

Season finals and playoffs

In the regular season of the Pacific League, the decision on the first three places was only made in the last three games: The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks secured first place on September 26th ahead of the Saitama Seibu Lions and thus participation in Stage 2 of the Climax Series ; and the Chiba Lotte Marines prevailed 0.5 games ahead of the Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters in the battle for third playoff place. In the Central League, Chūnichi Dragons, Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants fought for first place until October 1; the decision on second and third place, i.e. home rights in Stage 1 of the Climax Series, was not made until the penultimate game of the league on October 8, 2010.

Final table of the 2010 regular season

Central League						Pacific League
#	team	S.	N	U	Win rate	#	team	S.	N	U	Win rate
1.	Chūnichi Dragons	79	62	3	.560	1.	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	76	63	5	.547
2.	Hanshin Tigers	78	63	3	.553	2.	Saitama Seibu Lions	78	65	1	.545
3.	Yomiuri Giants	79	64	1	.552	3.	Chiba Lotte Marines	75	67	2	.528
4th	Tōkyō Yakult Swallows	72	68	4th	.514	4th	Hokkaidō Nippon Ham Fighters	74	67	3	.525
5.	Hiroshima Tōyō Carp	58	84	2	.408	5.	Orix Buffaloes	69	71	4th	.493
6th	Yokohama BayStars	48	95	1	.336	6th	Tōhoku Rakuten Golden Eagles	62	79	3	.440

Climax Series

The playoffs began with Stage 1 of the Climax Series on October 9 (Pacific League) and October 16 (Central League).

In the Pacific League Lotte qualified in two tight games in the Seibu Dome against Seibu 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. From October 14th, the team played in the Fukuoka Dome against SoftBank, who went into the series as the first place in the regular season with a win lead, for entry into the Nippon Series. After a 1-3 game deficit, the Marines managed to win the last three matches and thus their sixth participation in the final series, the first since 2005. The Marines were the first team ever to take part in the Nippon Series as third of the regular season.

In the Climax Series of the Central League, the Giants sat away in Kōshien smoothly in two games (3-1 and 7-6) against Hanshin and were in a new edition of the Climax Series of the previous year with opposite signs from October 20, the Chūnichi Dragons in the Nagoya Dome opposite. The Dragons won the first two and fourth games, securing their ninth appearance in the Nippon Series.

Climax Series Stage 1				Climax Series Stage 2					Nippon Series
3	Yomiuri Giants	2		3	Yomiuri Giants	1
2	Hanshin Tigers	0		1	Chūnichi Dragons	3 +1
Central League
									1	Chūnichi Dragons	2
									3	Chiba Lotte Marines	4th
3	Chiba Lotte Marines	2		3	Chiba Lotte Marines	4th
2	Saitama Seibu Lions	0		1	Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks	2 +1
Pacific League

Game overview

In the Nippon Series, Chūnichi Dragons and Chiba Lotte Marines met for the first time since 1974 . At that time Lotte, still under the name Lotte Orions, won against Chūnichi with four to two games. The meeting in 2010 was seen by the media as a duel between the pitchers of the favored, defensively strong and offensively balanced Dragons and the outstanding offensive of the Marines.

game	date	guest	Score	home	Score	Starter (LOT-CHU)	Total stand (LOT-CHU)	Stadion	spectator
1	October 30, 2010	Chiba Lotte Marines	5	Chūnichi Dragons	2	Naruse - Yoshimi	1–0	Nagoya Dome	38,066
2	October 31, 2010	Chiba Lotte Marines	1	Chūnichi Dragons	12	Murphy - Chen	1-1	Nagoya Dome	38,065
3	November 2, 2010	Chūnichi Dragons	1	Chiba Lotte Marines	7th	Watanabe - Yamai	2–1	Chiba Marine Stadium	26,923
4th	November 3, 2010	Chūnichi Dragons	4th	Chiba Lotte Marines	3	Karakawa - Yamamoto (Win: Takahashi )	2–2	Chiba Marine Stadium	27.197
5	November 4, 2010	Chūnichi Dragons	4th	Chiba Lotte Marines	10	Penn - Nakata	3–2	Chiba Marine Stadium	27.209
6th	November 6, 2010	Chiba Lotte Marines	2	Chūnichi Dragons	2	Naruse-Chen	3–2 (1)	Nagoya Dome	38.094
7th	November 7, 2010	Chiba Lotte Marines	8th	Chūnichi Dragons	7th	Watanabe – Yoshimi (Win: Itō )	4–2 (1)	Nagoya Dome
Lotte beats Chūnichi 4–2

Game 1

Due to the opening in the Nagoya Dome, the series remained unaffected by the passing Typhoon No. 14 (outside of Japan: Typhoon Chaba).

The first game in the series was opened for the Chūnichi Dragons not by Chen Weiyin , who was still preferred in the Climax Series, but by Kazuki Yoshimi ; for the Marines, pitcherass Yoshihisa Naruse stood on the mound. Yoshimi had to allow the first hit in the first inning, the flyball from rookie Ikuhiro Kiyota had no consequences. In the second inning, the Marines were able to record the first run with an RBI double from Shōitsu Ōmatsu . Ōmatsu injured his thigh while baserunning and had to be replaced. In the back half of the second inning, the Dragons were able to take the lead with solo home runs by Kazuhiro Wada and Motonobu Tanishige . However, Yoshimi had to allow the decisive runs in the following third inning: A solo homer by Ikuhiro Kiyota - his third in the postseason - was followed by a hit from Tadahito Iguchi when he hit by pitch , who then moved up to second base , and then a hit from Toshiaki Imae that got Iguchi running. Yoshimi hit another batter in the same inning. Although he did not allow another run, he was then substituted for the pinch hitter Masaaki Koike.

Yoshihisa Naruse

The Lotte Marines did not give up the lead from the third inning afterwards: Naruse allowed four hits in five innings with six strikeouts and the relievers Yasuhiko Yabuta, Tatsuya Uchi and Yoshihiro Itō, who each threw one inning, kept Chūnichi without a hit or point . The Lotte offensive was also able to achieve two more runs against Chunichi reliever Masafumi Hirai with an RBI from Tsuyoshi Nishioka in the sixth and a home run by Tadahito Iguchi in the seventh inning. In the ninth inning, Lotte's closer Hiro Kobayashi allowed two hits, but ended the game without another run for Chūnichi with a strikeout.

Toshiaki Imae not only gave the Marines the lead in the third inning, he was also involved in the first run through a sacrifice hit and recorded a total of three hits in three at-bats and one walk.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	R.	H	E.
Lotte	0	1	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	5	13	0
Chunichi	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6th	0

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, Masahiro Araki came to number 1 in the Dragons lineup in the first three innings each to a hit.

In Game 2, the Dragons with Chen Weiyin offered the expected strong pitching from the start, while the batter, unlike against Naruse the day before, got a chance and was supported by Lotte's defensive errors. The starter for the Marines was Bill Murphy . Shortstop Masahiro Araki turned Murphy's very first pitch into a hit, which was followed by more from Masahiko Morino , Kazuhiro Wada and Yōhei Ōshima as well as a walk. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi made an error, Chūnichi took the lead with four runs; all nine dragons on the grid were already on the bat in the first inning. The second started just as badly for Murphy: Without an out, the bases were full with a hit arakis and two subsequent walks. After the resulting 2-RBI double from Wada, Murphy was replaced by Shingo Ono , who could not finish Chūnichi's hit series and had to allow three more runs by the end of the third inning, plus another due to an error from left fielder Ikuhiro Kiyota . Then Takuya Furuta took over the nine-run deficit, which increased further in the sixth inning when first baseman Tony Blanco took a 2-run home run from him. In the end, Yūji Yoshimi took over the mound and remained the only Lotte pitcher of the day without an earned run for two innings.

On the other hand, Lotte's offensive against Chen barely had any chances and couldn't extend their running streak of ten or more hits per encounter to a fourth game. Only in the fourth inning did Kiyota move from a pitch hit to first, then to second base with a hit from Iguchi: Toshiaki Imae turned a 2-0 pitch into the only run on an out, which Chen did in six innings with a total of five Strikeouts and four hits allowed. After that, the Chūnichi bullpen with Jun'ichi Kawahara , Kōji Mise , Akifumi Takahashi , Takuya Asao and finally Closer Hitoki Iwase Lotte with only one more hit with no chance of another point.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	R.	H	E.
Lotte	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	2
Chunichi	4th	3	3	0	0	2	0	0	x	12	14th	0

WP : Chen (1–0)   LP : Murphy (0–1)  

HRs :   CHU - Blanco (1)

Game 3

With a tie after games, the series moved to Chiba Marine Stadium.

Right-handed Shunsuke Watanabe opened the game at the Marines' 2010 post-season home premiere ; Daisuke Yamai started throwing for the Dragons and struggled with control of his pitches. Lotte recorded the first hits, but Chūnichi made it onto the scoreboard first in the third inning: After hits from Tanishige and Ōshima, the two were on first and third base. Masahiro Araki brought Tanishige to the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly - caught with a sliding catch from left fielder Ikuhiro Kiyota -. Lotte equalized in the lower half with an RBI from Saburō .

Tadahito Iguchi kept his Nippon Series batting average at .538 with 2 hits in 4 at-bats on an RBI in Game 3.

While Watanabe threw a quality start and - apart from the third - saw only three batter per round through the seventh inning, Yamai let the Marines score the decisive points in the fourth inning: After a double by Designated Hitter Kazuya Fukuura , a walk by Kim Tae kyun , a Sac Bunt by catcher Tomoya Satozaki and another walk, the bases were full on two outs. Kiyota turned the opportunity into a 3RBI triple with one punch into center field; Tadahito Iguchi made a fourth run with an RBI double. Then Yamai was substituted for Yoshihiro Suzuki , who only allowed one hit in 2 1/3 innings.

Early in the back half of the seventh inning, Akinobu replaced Shimizu Suzuki as the Dragons pitcher. After a double from Iguchi, Shimizu Saburō sent straight four balls to first base. With a wild pitch , both runners advanced to bases two and three without an out. Two sacrifice flies from Toshiaki Imae and Kazuya Fukuura gave Lotte a 7-1 lead. Shunsuke Watanabe also threw the last two innings and with it a complete game in which he threw five strikeouts and no walk with five hits. The win gave Lotte the chance to end the Nippon Series with two more successes at home.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	R.	H	E.
Chunichi	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
Lotte	0	0	1	4th	0	0	2	0	x	7th	10	0

WP : Watanabe (1–0)   LP : Yamai (0–1)  

Game 4

Masahiko Morino hit three hits in four at-bats in Game 4, as did team-mate Kazuhiro Wada. At number three and four of the lineup, the two are the core of the Chūnichi offensive.

Game 4 was the first in the Nippon Series since 2003 to go into overtime. Starting pitchers were 45-year-old left-hander Masa Yamamoto for Chūnichi and 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 from Yoshifumi Okada , Tsuyoshi Nishioka (RBI double) and a 2-run home run by Tadahito Iguchi. And at the beginning of the fourth inning, Chūnichi Masahiko Morino hit a triple and Kazuhiro Wada hit an RBI double from Karakawa, which after his replacement then led to the second run for the Dragons by Kei Nemoto . An error from Lotte-Reliever Shingo Ono, who put Motonobu Tanishige on first base, led to the equalizer run in the fifth inning. Then hit a pitch Onos Yōhei Ōshima, and a Bunt from Masahiro Araki created with full bases without out the chance that Hirokazu Ibata used for the RBI. At the same time, however, a double play helped to prevent further runs: With two outs, Morino's grounder ended Chūnichi's attack.

The bullpens of both teams allowed more hits, but no more run until the end of the ninth inning. In the lower half of the ninth, Tsuyoshi Nishioka cheered a ball that he hit over the outfield wall and thought it was a Sayonara home run; but the ball was close to foul. With 3-3 it went into overtime. In the tenth inning, a walk from Morino and a hit from Wada created an opportunity for Chūnichi with two outs, but Tony Blanco was unable to take advantage of his third strikeout of the day. Blancos batting average after four games in the series was .125. Lotte also had the chance of the decisive run in the tenth: A hit by pitch from Kiyota, a hit from Iguchi and an error from Right Fielder Hidenori led to runners on bases two and three with an out. Imae failed to strike due to a deliberate walk, and the eighth pitch of the now substitute pitcher Akifumi Takahashi beat DH Kazuya Fukuura in a double play. In the eleventh inning, Hidenori came for Chūnichi to the game-winning run. After a single, he moved through a sacrifice Bunt from Tanishige to second base, and Yōhei Ōshima brought him home with a triple - center fielder Okada just missed the ball. In the lower half, Akifumi Takahashi and Closer Hitoki Iwase sealed Chūnichi's victory, which brought the team the level of the series and the safe return to Nagoya in the sixth game.

In addition to Morino and Wada, the Dragons rookie Yōhei Ōshima convinced with two hits in four at-bats, one hit by pitch and the game-winning RBI.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	R.	H	E.
Chunichi	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4th	12	1
Lotte	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1

Starting Pitchers : CHU - Yamamoto   LOT - Karakawa    WP : Takahashi (1–0)   LP : Itō (0–1)   SV : Iwase (1 SV)  

HRs :   LOT - Iguchi (2)

Game 5

Tony Blanco, who was weak on the previous days, beat three of Chūnichi's four runs in game 5.

At the last home appearance of the year, the Lotte offensive demonstrated its strength in game 5. Chūnichi recorded the first run with a sacrifice fly from Kazuhiro Wada in the first inning. But already in the lower half, which began with an error from second baseman Naomichi Donoue , the Lotte lineup responded with successive hits from Iguchi, Saburō, Imae, Fukuura and Kim, which brought in a total of four runs. Marines starter Hayden Penn and Chūnichis Ken'ichi Nakata allowed more chances in the following innings. In the fourth inning Lotte was able to increase his lead with a 2-run home run by Saburō, which grew to eight points in the fifth inning when hits from Kim, Satozaki and Okada filled the bases and then a sacrifice fly from Nishioka and a hit from Kiyota got three more runs on the scoreboard. At the beginning of the sixth inning, Penn also left another point: After hits from Ōshima and Morino, Blanco was able to convert a 1-0 pitch into an RBI double. Takuya Furuya, now substituted for Penn, ended the inning without another hit.

Lotte-Reliever Takuya Furuya

In the seventh inning, Kim Tae-kyun was able to advance to first base in as many at-bats with his fourth hit of the day. Although he was substituted for the pinch runner Hisao Heiuchi , he was indirectly involved in the tenth run for Lotte: In runners on 1 and 3, Akinobu Shimizu Heiuchi's wild pitch scored points. In the eighth inning, the Dragons were able to shorten two runs with a two-run home run by Tony Blanco. But the score of 10-4 remained unchanged thereafter - Lotte led the series before returning to Nagoya with three to two games.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	R.	H	E.
Chunichi	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	4th	8th	1
Lotte	4th	0	0	2	3	0	1	0	x	10	15th	0

WP : Penn (1–0)   LP : Nakata (0–1)  

HRs :   CHU - Blanco (2) LOT - Saburō (1)

Game 6

In game 6 Lotte and Chūnichi met their top pitchers Yoshihisa Naruse and Chen Weiyin. After a run on both sides in the first inning, by RBIs from Saburō and Morino, the teams remained in four innings without a point. In the lower half of the sixth inning, Blanco hit an RBI double and temporarily put the Dragons ahead. After the sixth inning, Naruse was substituted off, after the seventh Chen. Takuya Asao, who was now throwing for Chūnichi, had to accept the equalizer at the beginning of the eighth inning: Again Saburō beat the RBI, who brought Kiyota home from second base.

When the score was 2–2, the game went into overtime. In the eleventh inning, a walk by Imae and a hit by Kim resulted in runners on bases one and two on two outs; however, the following flyball was caught by Satozaki in center field. In the lower half the bases were full after three walks and two outs; but Shingo Ono, the third Lotte pitcher of the inning, avoided defeat: Araki hit his third pitch with a liner to first base. In the following innings runners came on the bases a few more times; but the total of 14 pitchers used in the game could keep the game until the end of the 15th inning at the score of 2–2. In a total of 101 at-bats, the hitters of both teams achieved 19 hits on twelve walks. At 5 hours, 43 minutes, Game 6 was not only the first 15-inning game, but also the longest game in the 60-year history of the Nippon Series.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	R.	H	E.
Lotte	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8th	1
Chunichi	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	11	0

Starting Pitchers : LOT - Naruse   CHU - Chen  

Game 7

Yoshifumi Okada beat the RBI triple in the 12th inning of game 7, which decided game and series for Lotte.

The starters in Game 7, Shunsuke Watanabe for Lotte and Kazumi Yoshimi for Chūnichi, had to record several earned runs in the first innings and were replaced early. With the score of 7-6 for Lotte, the Dragons were able to equalize in the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly from Blanco and force the extension. In the 12th inning, however, Lotte took the lead again with a hit from Okada with two outs and runner on second base. Chūnichi could not increase in the lower half and thus lost series and championship title with two to four games.

team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	R.	H	E.
Lotte	2	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	8th	16	0
Chunichi	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7th	13	1

Starting Pitchers : LOT - Watanabe   CHU - Yoshimi    WP : Itō (1–1)   LP : Asao (0–1)  

Web links

• Nippon Yakyū Kikō / Nippon Professional Baseball: Nippon Series 2010 (Japanese)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Different paths lead to Japan Series. In: asahi.com . October 30, 2010, accessed October 30, 2010 . 
2. ↑ Series offers clash between well-balanced teams. (No longer available online.) In: Yomiuri Shimbun . October 30, 2010, archived from the original on November 2, 2010 ; accessed on October 30, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Marines, Dragons prepare to lock horns. In: The Japan Times . October 30, 2010, accessed October 30, 2010 . 
4. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game statistics game 1 ( Memento from November 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Jim Allen: Naruse, Marines march to victory in Series opener. (No longer available online.) In: Daily Yomiuri Online . October 30, 2010, archived from the original on November 2, 2010 ; accessed on October 30, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Jason Coskrey: Marines triumph in Game 1. In: The Japan Times . October 31, 2010, accessed October 31, 2010 . 
7. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game Statistics Game 2 ( Memento from November 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
8. ↑ Jim Allen: Dragons torch Marines to even Series. (No longer available online.) In: Daily Yomiuri Online . October 31, 2010, archived from the original on November 2, 2010 ; accessed on October 31, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
9. ↑ Jason Coskrey: Chen pleased with Game 2 performance. In: The Japan Times . November 2, 2010, accessed November 2, 2010 . 
10. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game statistics game 3 ( Memento from November 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ Lotte wins Game 3 to take 2-1 Japan Series lead. In: Japan Today / Kyōdō Tsūshin . November 2, 2010, accessed November 2, 2010 . 
12. ↑ Jason Coskrey: Watanabe, Kiyota carry Marines to Game 3 triumph. In: The Japan Times . November 3, 2010, accessed November 3, 2010 . 
13. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game Statistics Game 4 ( Memento from November 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
14. ↑ Jim Allen: Dragons survive scare, win in 11th to knot Japan Series at 2-2. (No longer available online.) In: Daily Yomiuri Online . November 3, 2010, archived from the original on December 15, 2010 ; accessed on November 3, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ Jason Coskrey: Oshima's 11th-inning triple lifts Dragons. In: The Japan Times . November 4, 2010, accessed November 4, 2010 . 
16. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game Statistics Game 5 ( Memento from November 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
17. ↑ Lotte routs Chunichi to take 3-2 lead in Japan Series. In: Japan Today / Kyōdō Tsūshin . November 4, 2010, accessed November 4, 2010 . 
18. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game statistics game 6 ( Memento from November 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
19. ↑ Jim Allen: Longest Japan Series game in history ends in 15-inning tie. (No longer available online.) In: Daily Yomiuri Online . November 7, 2010, archived from the original on November 10, 2010 ; accessed on November 6, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
20. ↑ Yahoo Sports: Game Statistics Game 7 ( Memento from November 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive )