The SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball suffered a shocking nine-game losing streak for the first time in 27 years.
The Hawks were swept 0-3 against the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday at the PAYPAY Dome in Fukuoka, Japan.
The Orix won the game in the sixth inning when Cedeno hit a three-run home run over the right field fence with runners on first and second. It was Cedeno’s second consecutive game with a home run, the first coming the day before.
SoftBank lost all three games of the series against Rakuten, Seibu, and Orix, snapping a nine-game losing streak. It’s the first time in 27 years that SoftBank has lost nine straight games since September 1996 during the Dai-E era.
“SoftBank’s three-game sweep of three teams is the first humiliation for the franchise,” said a Japanese media outlet. SoftBank finished the first half 4.5 games behind the first-place Orix.
SoftBank failed to score a run on the day with four hits and two walks. They didn’t even reach second base once. Akira Nakamura led off the second inning with a single to right, but the next three batters struck out, grounded out, and flied out to center field.
The third inning ended with a strikeout, and the leadoff batter in the fourth led off with a walk, but two outfield singles and an infield grounder ended the threat. The fifth and sixth innings were consecutive strikeouts.
With one out in the seventh, Nakamura led off with a single to left, but a strikeout and an infield grounder ended the threat.
Trailing 0-3 in the ninth, Gensuke Kondo led off with an infield single to second base. Yuki Yanagita struck out swinging, and Nakamura and Makihara followed with back-to-back grounders to the shortstop to end the threat.
Stewart Jr. took the loss on the mound, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings.
Meanwhile, SoftBank wore special uniforms for the game, which was part of the Hawk Festival. The team is now 6-0 in six games this season and has lost nine consecutive games in the falconry event dating back to last year. Fans of SoftBank said, “Enough with the falconry festival,” and “It’s not a falconry festival, it’s a disaster.” 파워볼분석