Archived Weblog Entry - 02/26/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Dragons Squeak by Giants in Slugfest"

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02/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Dragons Squeak by Giants in Slugfest"

Rath, Bailey Ineffective

Second year pitcher Hiroki Sanada and imports Gary Rath and Cory Bailey all got their clocks cleaned for a combined ten runs on 12 hits in six innings to waste a nine run offensive bonanza from their own batting order to lose to the Chunichi Dragons 10-9 Tuesday. Marc Valdes was awarded the victory as well as a rotation shot when he twirled two perfect innings to stem the bleeding suffered by starter Daisuke Yamada.

The Giants got on the board in the first inning when Yamai plunked shortstop Tomohiro Nioka with one out and catcher Shinnouske Abe and centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi each singled to right to load the bases. Rightfielder Roberto Petagine grounded out to first to recall Niokaand Yomiuri was up 1-0.

Giants second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled with one out in the second, but he was subsequently naiiled attempting to swipe second by catcher Motonobu Tanishige. Then Tanishige came up in the bottom of the frame with two gone and exposed Petagine's defensive shortcomings when he looped a fly ball into rightcenter. Petagine was very late reacting to it and what Tanishige thought was going to be a routine out ended up a bloop double. Tanishige was stranded, but scouts watching the game rolled their eyes when asked about Petagine's outfield play.

Then in the third, Yomiuri notched another tally when leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu beat out a roller toward second and Nioka singled to right and both men moved up on a groundout. Takahashi grounded to third, but the only play was to first and Shimizu crossed to make it 2-0 Giants.

Sanada didn't really have anything, though and squandered his advantage when Chunichi got their licks in during the same stanza. leftfielder Koichi Sekikawa singled to right and moved to second on a groundout. Second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to right. DH Kosuke Fukudome grounded to first baseman Takayuki Saito, who attempted to go after Sekikawa diving back into third, but didn't get anybody and now the bags were juiced. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to center and both Sekikawa and Araki toed the dish to knot it at two all. Fukudome went to third on a wild pitch. First baseman Ivan Cruz lofted a ball to center for the RBI sac fly and the Dragons seized a 3-2 advantage.

Yamai couldn't withstand sudden prosperity and Yomiuri applied the hammer in the fourth. He retired the first two hitters of the inning, but then he walked Nishi. Saito whistled one into the leftcenter alley for a double. Yamai threw Shimizu an 88mph fastball that was above the belt and in the middle of the plate and he ripped it on a line into the rightcenterfield bleachers for a "gyakuten (come from behind)" three run homer and it became 5-3 Yomiuri.

Rath took the mound in the fifth and was pummeled. Fukudome leadoff with a walk.Hiroyuki Watanabe laced a double to rightcenter, Fukudome sprinting around the bases to make it a one run ballgame at 5-4. Cruz singled to left. Tanishige walked to load the bases. Centerfielder Hidenori Kuramoto grounded to third baseman Akira Etoh, who went to the plate for the force. Rightfielder Takayuki Onishi grounded to short to get Cruz in with the tying run. Sekikawa singled to left to usher Tanishige in and it was 6-5 Dragons.

Former Royal Bailey was next on the hill for Yomiuri and Araki singled to center to catalyze the uprising. Manager Hisashi Yamada then flashed the hit and run sign and Fukudome found an opening in left to send Araki to third. With the count 1-2 on Watanabe, Yamada ordered up a squeeze bunt and Watanabe laid it down to make it 7-5 Chunichi. Backup third baseman Masahiko Morino rolled one to Etoh, who was now stationed at first, and Etoh booted it. Tanishige grounded to third and Saito went home with the ball, but Fukudome was in ahead of the tag and it was 8-5. Both runners moved up on a ground ball to first. Pinch hitter Kenji Makuta singled back up through the middle and Morino and Tanishige scored and now it was 10-5 Dragons.

Eiji Ochiai entered from the pen and promptly served up an 0-2 fastball that he was trying to jam Saito with but instead left it out over the plate. Saito went mideaval on it to the seats in right and it was 10-6.

22 year old righthander Tetsuo Yaguchi was assigned mound duty in the eighth and he couldn't finish the job. Infielder Mototsugu Kawanaka leadoff by beating out a dribbler toward third. Etoh singled to left, Kawanaka seeing an opening and sliding into third. Etoh stole second. Koji Goto singed one down the leftfield line and while it rattled around in the corner, both runners scurried in. Takahiro Suzuki grounded to short, but in a good location so that Goto could advance to third. Yuichi Hisamoto relieved Yaguchi. Saito grounded to second to drive Goto in and it was tense again at 10-9. Hisamoto struckout the side in the ninth, however, and Chunichi held on.

Valdes said after the game that he was satisifed with his performance, especially since he was keeping the ball down. The Dragons have also come up with an interesting way to defense Petagine. The infielders will cheat toward the first base line, but in the outfield, the play him like an opposite field hitter. Consequently, the ball to leftcenter he hit in the fifth inning that would have been a double if he was played like most lefthanded hitters, instead was a routine fly ball out.

For Chunichi, Cruz was 1-2 with an RBI and is at .571.

For Yomiuri, Petagine was 0-3 with an RBI and is at .250.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

Sanada IP 4.0 BF 20 PC 59 H 6 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 6.75
Rath (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 8 PC 30 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 27.00
Bailey IP 1.0 BF 8 PC 31 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Pedraza IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 14 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Okajima IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 20 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Chunichi:

Yamai IP 4.0 BF 20 PC 72 H 7 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 11.25
M. Valdes (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Ochiai IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 19 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Yaguchi IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 18 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 81.00
Hisamoto (S, 1) IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: Etoh
SB: Onishi, Sekikawa, Etoh
2B: Tanishige, Takayuki Saito, H.Y. Watanabe, K. Goto
HR: T. Shimizu (1), Takayuki Saito (1)
RBI: T. Shimizu 3, Y. Takahashi, Petagine, K. Goto 2, Takayuki Saito 2, Tatsunami 2,
H.Y. Watanabe 2, Cruz, Tanishige, Onishi, Makuta 2, Sekikawa
SF: Cruz
WP: Sanada
HBP: Nioka (Yamai)
LOB: Yomiuri 4, Chunichi 12

Season Series: Yomiuri 0, Chunichi 1

Game Time: 3:09
Attendance: 15,000
Umpires: Kamimoto (HP), Fukatani (1B), Watada (2B), Manabe (3B)

Team Reports

Yakult Rookie Yuhei Takai reportedly has a tendency to overthink on the mound and put too much pressure on himself, so to help resolve that, they sent him to a Tony Robbins-like mental training guru. That same consultant has also advised Japanese pro tennis players and golfers....

Chunichi Alex Ochoa still hasn't received his work visa yet, and so had to sit out Monday's game.

Hanshin Hideki Irabu has asked that he be allowed to appear in an exhibition game against Daiei on the 7th and manager Senichi Hoshino granted his wish. The big righty will be limited to 45 pitches. He will then make a start against Seibu on the 9th. Today, he threw batting practice, using his fastball, changeup and curve and got good results....Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto hopes to get into an exhibition game against Yokohama on the 11th....Now that Taiyo Fujita has gotten a handle on the forkball, he is now attempting to add a shuuto to his repetoire. In his bullpen session today, 40% of the 97 pitches he threw were the shuuto. He hopes that pitch will help him get some double play ground balls.

Hiroshima Outfielder Jimmy Hearst finally got off the schnide in intrasquad action, as he scorched a double down the leftfield line in the second inning off of a cutter that Alan Newman got up in the zone for his first hit in seven total tries. Hearst is still having trouble with the way the high strike is called in Japan and struckout his next time up partially due to that. Hearst also lamented the fact that in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, he cann't get the fish sandwich that he was used to eating in Okinawa. He normally scarfs down two of those with two large fires at lunch when he can (those are Japanese portions, which are smaller than what you get in the U.S. Rookie hurler Katsuhiro Nagakawa threw in that intrasquad game and ran up two scoreless innings on two hits, but his velocity was down to 87mph and his control wasn't very sharp....Masayuki Hasegawa threw 303 pitches in his bullpen workout today and looked real good, according to manager Koji Yamamoto.

Yokohama Manager Daisuke Yamashita is contemplating enacting a two platoon system where in close games he will replace offensively talented by defensively lacking players such as third baseman Katsuaki Furuki and outfielder Tyrone Woods with better glove men in order to preserve leads....With Furuki looking as if he is going to be a fixture at third for years to come, top draft choice Shuichi Murata will be getting his playing time, when it comes, either at first or second. Coaches were also contemplating working him out at catcher, but a childhood knee injury may preclude that idea. He has some Steve Garvey-like qualities, though let's hope he throws better than Garvey did.

Seibu Alex Cabrera was due to arrive in Japan on the 25th, but due to airline flight schedule changes at the airport in Miami, he will report the following day instead. What is ironic about Miami is that even if the security has been beefed up, it is still known as a baggage thieve's paradise. Go figure.

Daiei The Hawks have sold more than 70,000 tickets to a intrasquad night game at Fukuoka Dome that will be played on the 27th and are expecting a full house. The ballpark holds 48,000. Tickets were only 1000 yen (about $8) and they don't expect everyone to show up. So what happens if they do? I guess we'll find out ....Sports Nippon has details of how sixth round draft choice Manabu Morimoto dislocated his shoulder and tore ligaments so that he will be out a year. In a Sunday intrasquad game, he singled to get on, but then on a pickoff play, he injured the shoulder scrambling back to the bag. He will have surgery Thursday....Hayato Terahara threw in the bullpen today and apparently looked a lot better than he did in his most recent intrasquad appearance. He is once again slated to start on the 28th in a game against the Giants....Number one draft choice Tsuyoshi Wada amde 100 throws in a long toss session today. He is expected to throw in the bullpen in the next few days.

Kintetsu Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura was giving advice today to rightfielder Koichi Isobe on using his legs when he hits....Manager Masataka Nashida threw 50 pitches to outfielder Fumitoshi Takano today in a special hitting instruction session....Infielder IKatsumi Yamashita homered in a practice game against Fuji Heavy Industries of the Japanese industrial leagues today and has racked up six jacks in intrasquad games, putting him in the mix to win a job with the big club....Kintetsu announced that three of their young pitchers will journey to the Dodgers spring camp from March 2nd to April 1st. The trio consists of Etsuji Taniguchi, Kazuki Kondo, and Hideki Asai....Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes says that he's feeling fatigued right now, but that he will be fine in a couple of weeks. He has set goals of winning a Gold Glove and hitting .300 this season.

Nippon Ham Outfielder Angel Echevarria, who hasn't hit much at all since coming to Japan, really launched one today, a 455 foot shot that completely left the ballpark in centerfield and landed on the beach that fronts Nago Bay off of an 0-2 fastball from Satoru Kanemura in an intrasquad game. Monday, the former Cub chowed down along with a couple of the other foreign players on kimchi and kalbi at a local restaurant ....That was the only run that Kanemura surrendered in three innings, as he retired everyone else who stood in against him. He is battling with Carlos Mirabal for the opening day assignment....Also distinguising himself was outfielder Tomochika Tsuboi, who cracked three hits. Tsuboi has been a major disappointment in five previous intrateam faceoffs, going 0-17. However, at least he has hit in the club's two exhibition tilts.

Lotte Tomohiro Kuroki threw 117 pitches in the bullpen today, more than 70 of those at nearly full speed. Unfortunately, while he didn't have any pain after the session, his control is still "a long way off" where he wants it....Naoyuki Shimizu threw in an intrasquad game today and tossed a pair of scoreless innings on two hits.

Orix Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani made his first intrasquad game appearance of the camp and went 0-4. Despite taking the donut, Tani said it felt good to get into a game again....Masato Yoshii threw in an intrasquad game today and was touched for two runs on five hits in three innings. He may make a start against one of his former teams, Kintetsu, on March 28th....Seventh round draftee Daisuke Shioya saw his first intrasquad action today and allowed just one hit to the seven men he faced in his two inning stint. He is a 26 year old Osaka native and a refugee from the U.S. independent leagues who stands 5'8" and 165 pounds. He and wife Rie just had their first child this past December, so this is his last shot at pro baseball.

Hideki Matsui Matsui used a white ash bat in Monday's intrasquad game, but he apparently didn't care for it, so he is reportedly leaning toward wielding a maple bat, according to Nikkan Sports....Since he didn't play in today's intrasquad game, Matsui took some cuts in an indoor batting cage with Rick Down looking on and then did some weightlifting....Eight scouts, including those from the San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos, were on hand to see Matsui's intrasquad game and they largely liked him even if he went 0-2.

Miscellaneous Jason Giambi compared the new uniform dress guidelines handed down by MLB to North Korea. For that little piece of stupidity, the Yankees slugger earns the Moron of the Day Award....Ichiro Suzuki threw Kenny Kelly out at the plate Monday in an intrasquad game...So Taguchi played in a Cardinals intrasquad game and went 0-2....A game scheudled between the Lotte Giants and the Seattle Mariners for today was cancelled due to rain. Both Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Kazuhiro Sasaki were going to throw in that game, so they will instead get into tomorrow's match with Lotte....Tsuyoshi Shinjo played in an intrasquad game today for the Mets and went 0-3 in a DH role....From the Sebastian Sun's Jim Saturday comes this remark by Jeff Torborg about playing against Sadaharu Oh during Torborg's Dodgers days: "Oh hit four consecutive home runs against us," Torborg said. One sailed clear out of the stadium. "He was watching, it, too. He was admiring it. And he passed the runner at first base. That was the only way we got him out."

Today's Pictures

Takayuki Shimizu Starts His Long Distance Runaround

Jimmy Hearst Hits it Hard

Daisuke Shioya About to Fling One Home

Bobby Rose Left for Family Reasons

See story at: Japan Times Article

Matsui Battling Monstrous Expectations

See story at: Rocky Mountain News Article

Matsui Enjoys Day in the Sun

See story at: Newark Star-Ledger Article

White Feels Left Out in Matsui Hoopla

See story at: Stamford Advocate Article