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LOAD YOUR BOW - ARROWS TO THE POSTSEASON
Last year officially gets labelled a "blip." With an emphatic 10-0 rout of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters at home, the Shizuoka Arrows have punched their ticket into the postseason for the first time in three seasons with a 77-66 record (13-10 in September).
Even better - they will host the Pacific League Climax Series First Stage against the Orix Buffaloes thanks to that win and an Orix loss. The Arrows went 10-7 against the Buffaloes in the regular season, and look to take that momentum into the postseason.
Game 1: Orix 6, Shizuoka 0
Welcome to the postseason, Shigejiro Matsumoto. The Arrows' ace was rimrocked to the rune of 6 earned runs on 9 hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings, striking out 9. The opposing starter, Yasuo Iizuka, threw a 3-hitter complete game shutout, striking out 13 Arrows along the way. Every Shizuoka batter struck out at least once.
Game 2: Orix 5, Shizuoka 0
Another game, another complete game shutout from a Buffaloes starter. Yoshiaki Shimizu allowed 6 hits and 2 walks over all nine innings, striking out 6 Arrows. Arrows starter Yoshimitsu Ota yielded 4 runs on 2 two-run shots, and the Arrows offense again went quiet.
Well, that was disappointing. Still, considering where we were last year, I'm not too fussed. We're a team on the upswing, and this was a valuable lesson.
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