[Previous entry: "MLB News 3/1/02: Affeldt Turning Heads in Camp"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Rookie Pitchers Impress"]
03/02/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Hawks' Yamada Goes Wild and Giants Win"
Four Run Sixth by Giants Tops Hawks 5-2
The Yomiuri Giants took full advantage of wildness on the part of Daiei Hawks reliever Akichika Yamada Saturday in the sixth inning of a game at Fukuoka Dome and turned it into four runs to come out on top 5-2. Takashi Kashiwada, following a shaky effort by starter Koji Uehara, got the win with two excellent innings of relief while Yamada absorbed the defeat.
Uehara, whose game plan was to work on his cut fastball to set hitters up and then finish them off with forkballs, walked two men in the first inning, but also struckout the side to terminate what appearewd to be a promising opportunity for the birds of prey. The Giants then put a couple men on in the top of the second when Daiei starter Keisaburo Tanoue plunked centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi on the elbow and catcher Shinnosuke Abe singled to center, enabling Takahashi to motor to third. DH Akira Etoh grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, but Takahashi crossed the plate and it was 1-0 Yomiuri.
Daiei got a double off the centerfield wall in the home portion from second baseman Tadahito Iguchi with one out, but catcher Matoba fanned. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki walked. However, centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu flied out to left and another scoring chance went by the wayside for the Hawks.
In the third, though, Daiei pulled in front. DH Kenji Johima cracked a one out single to left. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo picked on a first pitch 86mph fastball on the inner half of the plate, pulled his hands in slightly and then lifted a towering drive that nearly hit the roof, the ball barely nestling into the first row behind the 18 foot high wall in left for a two run homer and a 2-1 Hawks advantage. Two more Daiei hitters got on in the inning on singles, but those were sandwiched around strikeouts and it remained 2-1 after three.
Unfortunately, Yamada, who may be pitching himself off the team, suffered command problems in the sixth and that was all she wrote. Yamada struck third baseman Mototsugu Kawanaka with a pitch to leadoff the frame. One out later, shortstop Tomohiro Nioka beat out a little bouncer near short. Rightfielder Takayuki Saito singled to right to bring Kawanaka in and knot it at two apiece. Takahashi walked to load the bases. Yamada also handed a free pass to Abe, forcing Nioka in. Pinch hitter Daisuke Motoki singled to center and Saito toed the dish for a 5-2 Yomiuri lead. Yamada struckout the next two men, but the damage proved fatal. Daiei mustered only two hits and a walk the rest of the way, Ryuji Kimura inducing a trio of groundballs from the Hawks order in a perfect ninth to secure the victory.
Bryant Nelson made a pinch hit appearance for Daiei and went 1-1 to elevate his average on the spring to .250.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Uehara IP 3.0 BF 17 PC 71 H 5 HR 1 K 6 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
Kashiwada (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kawamoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
J. Kawahara IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 21 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
R. Kimura (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Daiei:
K. Tanoue IP 4.0 BF 13 PC 42 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
A. Yamada (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 20 PC 71 H 3 HR 0 K 4 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 9.00
M. Sato IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Yoshimoto
SB: Shibahara
2B: Iguchi
HR: Kokubo (1)
RBI: Takayuki Saito, S. Abe, Motoki 2, Kokubo 2
HBP. Y. Takahashi (K. Tanoue), Kawanaka (A. Yamada)
GIDP: Takayuki Saito, Etoh
LOB: Yomiuri 4, Daiei 9
Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Daiei 1
Game Time: 2:56
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), Tamba (1B), Kasahara (2B), Iizuka (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara said that his hamstring had been at between 70-80% before he re-injured it during a workout Friday....Before he made his start against Daiei today, Uehara threw 60 pitches in the bullpen. He was clocked at 88mph in the game....Closer Junichi Kawahara has added a shuuto to his arsenal, getting a strikeout with it in the game....Rightfielder Roberto Petagine experienced what was termed "strong discomfort" in his throwing shoulder and sat the game out. He thinks he may have hurt it chasing Kenji Johjima's double Friday night. He is listed as day to day.
Yakult Since today's game with Lotte was rained out, Kevin Hodges will start Sunday against the same club. Masanori Ishikawa, who was originally slated to open the contest on the hill, will follow Hodges stint.
Chunichi Masafumi Hirai, who is coming back from elbow surgery two years ago, threw well in a practice game today against Nippon Ham, striking out five, all on forkballs, in four hitless innings. Once a 15 game winner back in 1995, when he could toast opposing hitters with 95mph heat, he is now hoping to cadge a back of the rotation slot by being a control artist who tops out at around 90-91mph....Kenta Asakura followed Hirai's performance with a no hit outing of his own. The no hitter was averted when catcher Shinji Takahashi beat out an infield hit off of Ue in the seventh, the only safety the Fighters registered on the afternoon. The game was called in the top of the eighth due to rain...Hayato Nakamura started the game and went two scoreless innings, allowing two hits....Outfielder Kazuki Inoue, who has been rehabbing a sore shoulder, has rejoined the big club and amassed two hits in three at bats in today's practice game.
Hanshin Kentaro Sekimoto has been taken out of the competition for the shortstop job and will be solely stationed at third base, a wise decision. With Atsushi Kataoka out with an injury, that will give the former minor league batting champ a chance to get a death grip on the position....Manager Senichi Hoshino has been pumping Pacific League clubs for info on Kenichi Wakatabe, who joined the Yokohama rotation this season via free agency....Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto, who is out with a leg injury right now, will see exhibition action perhaps as soon as March 15th against Nippon Ham....Sports Nippon had an interesting stat against right and lefthanded pitching last season. When he stood in against righties, he racked up a .262 average with 26 homers. Southpaws were a little more difficult at .248 and eight homers.
Hiroshima Number one draft choice Katsuhiro Nagakawa says that his short term goal is to notch back to back scoreless outings during the current exhibition season. He is scheduled to make his pro debut Sunday. He has racked up four shutout innings in
intrasquad play.
Yokohama Manager Daisuke Yamashita says that he is going to use number two draft choice Shuichi Murata in all the remaining exhibition games. Murata is 0-14 so far in the "open sen" season. Hideki Matsui didn't hit even a buck in spring training (in fact, 5-53) during his rookie year and opened the regular slate in the minors. Murata, from the footage I've seen of him, seems to be a dead high fastball hitter and obviously has some adjustments to make.
Seibu Righthander Chang Chia-chiah said that he couldn't keep up with the intensity of the Lions practices after not working out at all during the offseason back in Taiwan. Team management, as a kind of punishment, may assign him to be Alex Cabrera's batting practice pitcher while the big slugger gets himself in shape for the regular season. The question, though, is just who would that be punishment for? Chang has an excellent changeup and Cabrera is a fastball hitter. Sankei Sports also says that Chang has a sore throat....Daisuke Matsuzaka was ordered not to throw for three days so that the blister on his foot can heel. He did some weightlifting today, but otherwise attempted to stay off his feet as much as possible....Toshiaki Inubushi has a sprained ankle....Reporters ran across something they've apparently never seen before today when they spied a bat that shortstop Kazuo Matsui was using that was a little less than half the length of his normal weapon while he was hitting off of a tee. Matsui explained, somewhat eliptically, that if he used his normal bat in this kind of situation, it would cause problems with his swing. Now I can imagine that the half-bat would be lighter and thus you could put in more swings with it as you become fatigued, but otherwise what he's actually thinking here is a bit of a mystery to me personally. As someone who liked to use 34 inch, 33-34 ounce bats when I played as a teenager, I don't see how it can feel good on your hands to use such a short bat. Maybe I'm just dense or ignorant (or both).
Daiei Rookie southpaw Taiki Mizoguchi had surgery on his ankle after being involved in an auto accident this past week. He will be in hospital about ten days.
Nippon Ham Carlos Mirabal tossed two perfect innings in today's practice game with the Dragons and will start an exhibition in Sapporo on the 6th with Yomiuri..... After the game ended, manager Trey Hillman called a meeting to talk with his charges about hitting with two strikes. However, he was pleased at the five BB/HBP his order worked. But being limited to one hit is pretty embarrassing, especially when the team president is on hand to watch....Hillman got up early to see Matsui play in a Yankees exhibition game yesterday, which ultimately was rained out after the third inning began....Reliever Hiroshi Shibakusa contributed $4000 to the Nago Tourist Authority. After the 9/11 attack, tourism to Okinawa declined significantly, so Shibakusa vowed to make a contribution based on his 2002 numbers to help the town out.
Lotte Kosuke Kato was scheduled to start against Yakult today, but since the game was rained out, he threw 130 pitches in the bullpen today. Even with that pitch count, he may still see action in Sunday's tilt with the Swallows.
Orix Orix was expecting 30,000 fans to show up for their scheduled tilt with Hanshin, but mother nature interfered with that, costing the Blue Wave bottom line in excess of $800,000 in admission fees, merchandise sales and tv money....Masato Yoshii was supposed to start, but instead threw 50 pitches in the bullpen indoors. He will next pitch on the fourth against Kintetsu at Osaka Dome. Leggy model Miho Yoshioka was going to throw out the first pitch.
Hideki Matsui According to Hochi Sports, after the rainout of Friday's game between the Yankees and Phillies, Jim Thome started quizzing Japanese reporters about Matsui. "Is he better than Ichiro?" and he followed up a response by one of the reporters with, "why's that?" Thome then reportedly commented, "I like his swing.He uses his legs well." Then he asked, "what's he like personally? Does he smoke or drink?" The former Indians slugger then evaluated, "I know he hit 50 homers last year. I don't think he'll do that here, but he should still hit a lot of them here." Of course, the writers were overjoyed at this line of questioning since it gave them another chance to fill up column inches with something about the ex-Yomiuri centerfielder.
Miscellaneous Sherman Obando was welcomed back to MLB with a golden sombrero as a new member of the Florida Marlins this weekend by being struckout four times in a DH role....Can someone tell me what is going on here: MLB player's union head Don Fehr cmae out today, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and said that those who acted as replacement players during a strike a few years ago, still wouldn't be allowed to join the MLBPA. Huh? Didn't the players union threaten to pull the Mariners and A's out of the opening day games in Japan due to the situation revolving around a scab named Kevin Millar? Consequently, was that threat actually empty and more of a gratuitous chance for the union to flex its muscles? There is certainly no consistency to what Fehr said today and what the union did during the Millar episode....Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune praised Ichiro for his comments decrying the lack of focus in recent times of fundamentals by MLB teams. I concur....The folks in Portland who want to attract the Expos there are talking about getting money from Indian tribes who want to build a casino there. In exchange for permission to erect the gambling hall, the tribe would finance a new ballpark for the Expos. However, it doesn't seem as if anyone has asked MLB about this arrangement, an organization who once blackballed a retired Willie Mays for being a Las Vegas casino greeter....Tsuyoshi Shinjo batted seventh and started in left today for the Mets and had an RBI single in five at bats, his first knock of the spring. His comment about his performance? "I sucked today." He is 1-9 so far in the exhibition season.
Sportswriter Accuses MLB of Gambling Coverup
This is kind of interesting. Dan Cook at the San Antonio Express-News is accusing MLB of covering up the fact that Pete Rose bet against his own team since it would conjure up memories of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Here is what Cook said:
"How about a bet or two against his own team when he was managing Cincinnati? A strong source of mine in Nevada recently explained to me that the commissioner's file on Rose carries hard evidence showing that Pete is guilty on that count, baseball's absolutely unpardonable sin. It's so potent, dragging minds back to the 1919 scandal, that top execs don't even want to publicly accuse Rose of that offense. By the way, Thomas, Rose recently came up short of votes in his attempt to get into Canada's baseball Hall of Fame. Now Pete must wonder, does Japan have a baseball Hall of Fame?)." The actual piece is Here
Wouldn't Rose then be throwing a game? And, iirc, that is against the law. So if MLB is indeed covering up hard evidence that Rose committed a felony, as this guy seems to be asserting, then can't Commissioner Bud Selig and other MLB executives be accurately accused of obstructing justice? I'm no lawyer, but if Rose is indeed guilty of throwing games, then it should come out in the open to both finish off the Rose debate itself and to put Pete in jail where he would belong in such an instance.
By the way, jerkoff, Japan does have a Baseball Hall of Fame. Not only is Rose ineligible for it, but you display your profound ignorance by not knowing that.
Today's Pictures
Shigetoshi Hasegawa Delivers Againt the Padres
Kazuo Matsui Shows Off Half-bat He Uses in Hitting Practice
Model Miho Yoshioka With Manager Hiromichi Ishige
Nomo Wants Ball on Opening Day
See story at: Fresno Bee Article
Chang Demoted to Minors by Seibu
Hardly a surprise. See story at: Japan Today Article
Kiyohara Hamstring Problems Continue
See story at: Japan Today Article
Red Sox Risked Scorn to Get Millar
See story at: San Jose Mercury News Article
Matsui Reaches Out to Japanese Media
See story at: Toronto Sun Article
