JAPAN – The Seibu Lions claimed their first Pacific League title in four years despite falling in a 2-0 shutout to the Nippon Ham Fighters on Friday.

Seibu clinched the league crown in anticlimactic fashion after the second-place Orix Buffaloes were crushed 13-1 at the Rakuten Eagles, minutes before the PL pennant winner crumbled to its fourth loss.

Seibu won its 16th league title since taking over from its predecessor, the Crown Lighter Lions, after the 1978 season.

”The players gave it everything all year long,” said Seibu’s rookie manager Hisanobu Watanabe. ”They became a stronger and stronger team with each game. I am proud of them. This is the crystallization of all of our hard work in practice and our tears and sweat. It is an unforgettable victory. Today we will celebrate together.”

After squandering a chance to clinch the championship for three consecutive days, the Lions’ bats were silenced by Brian Sweeney (12-5) who allowed only two singles while walking five in 8-1/3 innings of work.

Yoshinori Tateyama finished off the game at Sapporo Dome as Nippon Ham won its fourth straight to move alone into third in the playoff race, 1.5 games behind Orix. Kazuyuki Hoashi (11-6) took the loss, allowing both runs and six hits over six innings.

Atsunori Inaba had a run-scoring single in the first inning, followed by Jason Botts’s fourth-inning RBI double at Sapporo Dome.

The league title allows Seibu to enter the Climax Series playoffs in the second round with a one-win advantage over the winner of the first stage between the second- and third-place teams. The winner of the playoffs will move on to face the Central League playoff winner in the Japan Series.

Seibu, who has been in first place in the league standings since April 5, completed a turnaround from its worst season in 26 years in 2007, when it slumped to fifth place. Its potent offense features seven batters with double-digit homers, including Japanese baseball home run leader Takeya Nakamura’s 44 dingers.

Eagles 13, Buffaloes 1

Fernando Seguignol homered for the third straight game and Rick Short capped an eight-run second inning with a three-run homer as Rakuten ended Orix’s slight hopes of winning the league title.

Rakuten took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Seguignol’s two-run shot and made it 10-0 in the second on seven hits, including five straight, chasing Ramon Ortiz (4-7) in the process at Kleenex Stadium.

Seguignol had a two-run single in the second and finished with four RBIs. Takeshi Yamasaki added a three-run homer in the fourth.

Masahiro Tanaka (9-6) allowed only a single and two walks over six scoreless innings as Rakuten won its third straight game and moved past the idle Softbank Hawks into fifth place.

Mitsutaka Goto homered in the seventh and had two of Orix’s three hits of the night. The Buffaloes’ magic number to clinch a spot in the playoffs remained at three.

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Tags: Japan