CHIBA (Interstat) — Chihiro Sumida pitched seven strong innings, Alexander Canario homered twice and the Saitama Seibu Lions beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-2 on Saturday night, Sept. 19, 2026, at Chiba Marine Stadium. The game took 2 hours, 40 minutes and drew 25,516. Seibu improved to 74-56-4, while Lotte fell to 59-68-3.

Sumida earned the win after allowing two earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts. He improved to 10-7. Shuta Takano took the loss for Lotte, giving up three earned runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over seven innings. He dropped to 3-4. Hiroshi Kaino recorded his 21st save with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out two. Hibiki Shinohara also pitched a scoreless inning for Seibu, striking out one. Koshiro Sakamoto and Fumiya Ono each threw a scoreless inning for Lotte.

Seibu struck first in the opening inning. Canario hit a home run to right-center with no outs to give the Lions an early lead. Takano settled down after that, striking out Natsuo Takizawa and Tyler Nevin around a walk to Taiga Kojima before Seiya Watanabe grounded out to the pitcher. Lotte put a runner on in the bottom half when Ryusei Terachi singled to shallow right, but Toshiya Satoh grounded out to second to end the threat.

The Lions added another run in the second. Watanabe delivered a solo home run, giving Seibu a 2-0 advantage. Taiga Hirasawa followed with a single to shallow right, but Shinya Hasegawa bunted into a sacrifice, Junichiro Kishi grounded out to third and Sosuke Genda struck out looking. Lotte could not answer in the bottom of the second. Kyota Fujiwara flew out to shortstop, Hisanori Yasuda singled to shallow left, and Kouta Inoue and Tsuyoshi Yamasaki both struck out swinging.

Sumida kept the Marines off balance through the middle innings. He worked around a two-out single by Misho Nishikawa and a double by Terachi in the third, getting Satoh to fly out to left with runners on second and third. In the fourth, Sumida struck out Fujiwara and Yasuda before Inoue grounded out to third. Seibu’s defense helped in the fourth when Hasegawa grounded into a double play after Hirasawa singled. The Marines put together another threat in the fifth when Yamaguchi singled with two outs, but Nishikawa flew out to center.

Seibu broke the game open in the sixth. Canario homered again, a solo shot that made it 3-0. The Lions then took advantage of a Lotte error to add another run, pushing the lead to 4-0. Takano finished the inning but was charged with three earned runs over seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Sakamoto and Ono later kept Seibu from adding more, each tossing a scoreless inning.

Lotte finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Yamamoto reached on a single, and Neftali Soto followed with a two-run home run to left, cutting the Seibu lead to 4-2. Sumida limited the damage, retiring Ryusei Ogawa and Koki Yamaguchi on groundouts to end the inning.

Seibu’s bullpen protected the lead. Shinohara pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out Nishikawa and retiring Terachi and Satoh on a groundout and a flyout. Kaino took over for the ninth and struck out Fujiwara before Kyuto Ueda doubled down the right-field line. Kaino then struck out Yamamoto and got Soto to ground out to second to seal the win.

Sumida’s performance was the standout for Seibu. He improved to 10-7 and delivered his second straight quality start after a no-decision against Nippon Ham on Sept. 12 in which he pitched eight innings and allowed two earned runs with eight strikeouts. Against Lotte, he allowed two earned runs on seven hits and struck out five over seven innings. The outing helped the Lions maintain their position in the Pacific League standings.

Canario powered the offense. He went 2 for 4 with two home runs and two RBIs. Watanabe was 1 for 3 with a home run and an RBI. Hirasawa and Hasegawa each added hits, while Genda and Kishi also reached base. For Lotte, Terachi went 2 for 4 with a double. Soto was 1 for 2 with a two-run homer. Yamamoto and Ueda also contributed hits, and Nishikawa and Yamaguchi singled.

The loss was a costly one for Lotte, which dropped to 59-68-3. The Marines have struggled to gain ground in the standings and have now lost three of their last four games. Seibu, meanwhile, moved to 74-56-4 and continued its push toward the top of the league. The Lions had lost two of their previous three games before Saturday’s win.

Seibu and Lotte will continue their series at Chiba Marine Stadium on Sunday and Monday. The Lions then travel to Fukuoka Softbank for two games before returning home to face Lotte again. The Marines will host Orix for two games after this series before visiting Seibu later in the month.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Saitama Seibu Lions 1, Chiba Lotte Marines 0. Interstat’s ELO system gave Seibu a 53.4 percent probability to win. Seibu had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 6.5.