Archived Weblog Entry - 03/06/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Ochoa Doubles His Pleasure in Debut; Swallows Finally Win"

The Baseball Guru Archives

[Previous entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Fujikawa Walks Like a Man"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Kokubo May be Out for Season; Giants are Meat Against Nippon Ham"]

03/06/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Ochoa Doubles His Pleasure in Debut; Swallows Finally Win"

Yoshizaki Makes Good Case for Rotation Slot in 7-1 Fighters Victory

Lefthander Masaru Yoshizaki has been a nobody since he was drafted in 1999 by the Nippon Ham Fighters, but Wednesday, he made a strong case for a rotation spot, going six strong innings of four hit shutout ball on just 67 pitches to earn credit for the 7-1 victory over the Yokohama Bay Stars at Yokohama Stadium.

Stars manager Daisuke Yamashita celebrated his 51st birthday, but his charges couldn't gift wrap a win for him, as reliever Yuji Hata blew up in the fourth inning to let it get out of hand.

Kenichi Wakatabe made the start for the home nine and found himself behind early, when he hung a curve ball to third baseman Yukio Tanaka, who dispatched it to the no deposit, no return section in left to make it 1-0 Fighters.

Hata was assigned to take the mound in the third and that energized Nippon Ham's order, as centerfielder Hichori Morimoto walked with one out, stole second, and then cruised home on a two out sizzler into the rightfield corner by first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara that he hustled into an RBI triple to double the Tokyo contingent's advantage to 2-0.

The following frame, leftfielder D.T. Cromer leadoff with a poke into the rightcenter alley for two bases and then eased on over to third on a groundout to second. Rightfielder Katsuhiro Nishiura promptly cashed Cromer in when he singled to left. Catcher Shinji Takahashi banged a single to center. Hata plunked second baseman Hiroshi Narahara to fill the sacks. Morimoto slapped one into center to pickup both Nishiura and Takahashi and it was now 5-0 Fighters.

Meanwhile, Yoshizaki was cruising like a cadillac. He had allowed no more than one hit in any inning and Yokohama because he was serving up ground ball after ground ball, those runners didn't get anywhere.

In the fifth, with Ryuichi Kawahara in the center of the diamond for the Stars, third baseman Katsuaki Furuki kicked a ground ball from DH Angel Echevarria to commence the stanza. One out later, Tanaka grounded into a 6-4 force. But then Nishiura pounded an offering from Kawahara into the leftfield stands to widen the Nippon Ham lead to 7-0.

Yokohama struck for its lone tally in the seventh when Tyrone Woods, who seems to be on a mission to drive in a run in every game, jackhammered an 0-2 slider off of Hayato Nakamura into the rightcenterfield bleachers to make it 7-1 Fighters.

The only other highlight for Yokohama was when sidearming sinkerballer Atsushi Kizuka came on in the eighth and struckout the side.

Otherwise, the Fighters pitching staff had euthanised the up to now surprisingly productive Yokohama order and this one was over in only two hours and 27 minutes.

One peculiar feature of Yoshizaki's delivery is that when he brings his leg up, he turns his head toward first base. This is to keep him from opening his shoulder too early and helps maintain both the movement of his pitches as well as his control. On his outing as a whole, manager Trey Hillman assessed, " I think this gave him a shot of confidence. He made some quality pitches."

As for the error that lead to two unearned runs in the fifth, Furuki revealed that he has a habit of tensing up when the ball is hit to him. Obviously, somebody needs to teach him how to relax.

For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 1-5 and is at .083. Cromer was 1-4 with three strikeouts and is at .273.

For Yokohama, Woods was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .263.

Pitching Lines:

Nippon Ham:

Yoshizaki (W, 1-0) IP 6.0 BF 21 PC 67 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Nakamura IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 25 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Ko. Yamaguchi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yokohama:

Wakatabe (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 29 H 2 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Y. Hata IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 38 H 5 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 11.25
R. Kawahara IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 60 H 3 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 2 ER 0 ERA 1.29
Kizuka IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Whiteside IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: K. Furuki, S. Murata, Ryoji Aikawa, Aranuma
SB: Morimoto, Narahara
2B: T. Ishii, Cromer, Taneda
3B: M. Ogasawara
HR: Y. Tanaka (1), Nishiura (1), Woods (2)
RBI: Morimoto 2, M. Ogasawara, Y. Tanaka, Nishiura 3, Woods
WP: Hata
HBP: Narahara (Y. Hata), K. Furuki (Ko. Yamaguchi)
GIDP: Woods, Nishiura, Uchikawa
LOB: Nippon Ham 6, Yokohama 4

Season Series: Nippon Ham 1, Yokohama 1

Game Time: 2:27
Attendance: 7000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Honda (2B), Yanagida (3B)

Kawakami Tattooed Again in 4-2 Dragons Loss to Orix

Koo Dae-sung is attempting to carry on from where he left off last season, when he lost the PL ERA title due to leg surgery preventing him from running up enough innings to qualify, but Chunichi Dragons righthander Kenshin Kawakami is not exactly doing well at the moment, as he was stained with the loss in the wake of permitting two late inning runs in a 4-2 Orix Blue Wave triumph at Nagoya Dome.

Dragons' Centerfielder Alex Ochoa was penciled into the cleanup role in his first game in Japan and responded with two doubles, one of them thanks to good hustle when leftfielder Roosevelt Brown was slow getting the ball back to the infield.

Marc Valdes started for Chunichi and while his control wasn't 100% sharp, he nonetheless limited Orix to one run on three hits during his three innings, pleasing manager Hisashi Yamada. Valdes said he needed to work on getting the opposition to hit it on the ground a little more.

Orix broke through first in the third, when second baseman Keiichi Hirano singled to center, stole second, and, one out later, dug for home when first baseman Takeshi Yamasaki bashed one up the rightcenter alley to guide Hirano in and it was 1-0 Blue Wave.

Koo couldn't hold the line, however, and Valdes was able to leave the game with a lead. Leftfielder Takayuki Onishi kicked off the home segment with a single to left. One out later, shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to right. Following another out, rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome steamed one into the leftfield corner and Onishi scored easily while Ibata put it into fourth and slid in ahead of the relay to make it 2-1 Dragons.

That's the way it stayed until the sixth, before Brown beat out an infield roller with one away. DH Kota Soejima walked. Rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi singled to right and Brown reported with the tying run at 2-2.

Kawakami entered for the eighth and he was greeted by a Scott Sheldon single to left. Brown drilled one into the rightfield corner for a double. Soejima grounded to first, Hiroyuki Watanabe going to the plate for the tag on Sheldon and the second out. Substitute rightfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani singled to right to reel Brown in and put Orix in control at 3-2. Catcher Takeshi Hidaka walked to load the bases, but Kawakami fanned the next two men to stifle the size of the Blue Wave breakout.

Sheldon added to his team's advantage when he exited to the lefthand side with two outs in the top of the ninth for a big insurance run to make it 4-2 Orix. Kazuya Motoyanagi then retired three of the four men he faced in the ninth to send Dragons acolytes home disappointed.

Yamasaki left after his third at bat due to a toothache. He had a painful 2002, but has been feeling better with what he has done the last couple of games in a new location.

For Orix, Sheldon was 2-2 with an RBI and is at .375. Brown was 2-4 and is at .222. He was talked to after the end of the eighth for missing a sign by manager Hiromichi Ishige.

For Chunichi, Ochoa was 2-3 and is at .667. He said he's not 100% yet, but he feels good. The former Angel also said that he doesn't see any difference in the NPB and MLB strike zones. He told Chunichi Sports that, "I was happy to get a chance to hit in front of the fans here at Nagoya Dome because I was able to do something in front of people who had never seen me play before."

Starting first baseman Ivan Cruz was 0-2 with a walk and is at .333.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Koo IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 62 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
Tokano IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 38 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Takuji Yamamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Iwashita (W, 1-0) IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 15.43
Motoyanagi (S, 1) IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 27 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Chunichi:

M. Valdes IP 3.0 BF 14 PC 52 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.80
Iwase IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
Kito IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Yamakita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kawakami (L, 0-2) IP 2.0 BF 11 PC 46 H 4 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.00

E: T. Tamaki
SB: Hirano, K. Oshima, Ibata, Tanishige
2B: Ochoa 2, T. Yamasaki, Fukudome, Brown
HR: Sheldon (1)
RBI: T. Yamasaki, Sheldon, Katsuragi, Shiotani, Fukudome 2
WP: Motoyanagi
LOB: Orix 10, Chunichi 7

Season Series: Orix 1, Chunichi 0

Game Time: 3:00
Attendance: 13,000
Umpires: ? (HP), Nagami (1B), T. Kobayashi (2B), Okada (3B)

Three Carp Runs in Ninth Whips Kintetsu 4-1

The Hiroshima Carp busted a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth Wednesday at Osaka Dome against the Kintetsu Buffaloes with a three run burst and then rookie forkballer Katsuhiro Nagakawa tossed a perfect ninth to seal it as a 4-1 victory for the fish. Masaki Hayashi was given the win for two hitless innings of work while Takuya Matsumoto's record went to 0-1 on the spring.

Hiroshima acquired a first inning edge off of Buffs starter Kevin Beirne, as second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to left and shortstop Andy Sheets singled to right. Higashide moved up on a 5-4 force play. First baseman Takahiro Arai then tapped one toward third and out ran the play to push Higashide across with a 1-0 lead.

Kintetsu threatened in the bottom of the first, when Carp starter Tetsuto Tomabechi gave up a leadoff single to centerfielder Naoyuki Omura and then distributed one out walks to rightfielder Koichi Isobe and leftfielder Kenshi Kawaguchi. First baseman Yuji Yoshioka bounced to Sheets, who flipped to Higashide, who then threw wide of the first base bag to ruin an inning ending double play and let in a run as a result, incensing manager Koji Yamamoto, who pulled Higashide after the frame ended. Tomabechi worked himself out of it, however and it was back at equilibrium at 1-1.

Each side had some minor threats, but couldn't convert until Hiroshima amassed a cohesive assault in the top of the ninth. With one away, pinch hitter Kojiro Machida singled to right and backup leftfielder Shima slashed a double to right Reserve second baseman Kazuki Fukuchi grounded to second for an RBI and substitute shortstop Tomofumi Matsumoto yanked a shot down the leftfield line to see in Shigenobu Shima. DH Shigeru Morikasa singled to center and Matsumoto crossed to make it 4-1 Carp. Nagakawa, who was clocked at 91mph, contained the Buffs within the infield and it was "game setto."

Beirne liked his outing, saying that he was able to keep the ball down and that he felt good. The ex-Dodger was clocked at 92mph.

For Hiroshima, Jimmy Hurst was 0-1 with two walks and is at .000. Sheets was 1-3 and is at .167.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Tomabechi IP 4.0 BF 16 PC 66 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
Lundquist IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Hayashi (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 30 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nagakawa (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Kintetsu:

Beirne IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 53 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
A. Okamoto IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Koike IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
Teramura IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
D. Miyamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
T. Matsumoto (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 9 PC 47 H 5 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 9.00

SB: Morikasa
2B: T. Arai, Isobe, Shima, Matsumoto
RBI: Fukuchi, Matsumoto, I. Asai, Morigasa, Yoshioka
GIDP: Yamazaki, Kurihara
LOB: Hiroshima 11, Kintetsu 5

Season Series: Hiroshima 1, Kintetsu 0

Game Time: 3:17
Attendance: 2000
Umpires: Kaneko (HP), Nemoto (1B0, Yoshikawa (2B), Watamari (3B)

Yakult Exploits Four Daiei Errors 8-1

The Yakult Swallows finally registered their first win of the spring Wednesday at Fukuoka Dome against the Daiei Hawks, as they exploited three eighth inning errors to roll a six, five of those unearned, and pull away to an 8-1 victory. Yataro Sakamoto threw a lot of pitches, 84, in five innings, but he blanketed the birds of prey for no runs on three hits and struckout seven to gain the win.

Kazumi Saito, who was clocked at 92mph, continues to angle for the opening day assignment for Daiei, as he went four rock solid innings of three hit, one run ball, ringing up nine strikeouts. Unfortunately, that wasn't good enough and he was saddled with the loss.

The Hawks hassled Sakamoto in the second, as second baseman Bryant Nelson cracked a two out single to center and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki did similarly. But rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara went down on strikes and that opportunity was history.

Saito struckout the side in the third and then also blew away the first two batters of the fourth, but third baseman Akinori Iwamura belted a pretty good slider on the inner half of the plate on a low line into the rightfield seats 425 feet away and it was 1-0 Swallows. Rightfielder Atsunori Inaba doubled to leftcenter and second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi walked. DH Ken Suzuki struckout, however, and the runners were left adrift.

Veteran Takayuki Shinohara was inserted in the fifth and carved through those Swallows at bats okay, but in the sixth, Iwamura pinged a shot off the centerfield wall for a double. Inaba singled to center to drive Iwamura in and it was 2-0 Yakult.

Fast forward to the eighth, and shortstop Shinya Miyamoto got aboard on a miscue by Ryo Yoshimoto. First baseman Todd Betts singled to right off of Makoto Sato. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez blooped a double to center to bring Miyamoto and Betts in. Backup second baseman Yoshiyuki Noguchi walked. Inaba flew out to left, but Takeshi Tsuji geeked it and Ramirez scored on the error. With a five run lead, manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu called for a sac bunt, which Shiroishi got down. Suzuki walked to load the bases. Catcher Masakazu Fukukawa scorched a double into the leftfield corner and it cleared the bases and the Swallows were in command at 8-0.

Hirotsugu Maeda sought to put it to bed, but that quest was interrupted when catcher Masanori Taguchi flattened one off the rightfield wall for a double. Infielder Mitsuru Honma singled to center and Taguchi ran in to make it 8-1. Maeda then got two groundouts and a flyball to center and see you later.

Manabu Hiramoto, Yakult's number one draft choice in 2000, had his second good outing in relief. Is he finally beginning to come into his own? He was once offered a deal with the Yankees, which he turned down to sign with the Swallows. He then had severe control issues that have retarded his career. He can reportedly bring it up to the plate in the low to mid 90's, os if he can be straightened out like Hanshin did with Taiyo Fujita, then they might have something.

For Yakult, Betts was 1-3 with a walk and is at .357. Ramirez was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .222.

For Daiei, DH Pedro Valdez was 0-2 and is at .200. Nelson was 1-3 and is at .250.

Pitching Lines:

Yakult:

Y. Sakamoto (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 84 H 3 HR 0 K 7 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hiramoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Maeda IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 30 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00

Daiei:

K. Saito (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 17 PC 65 H 3 HR 1 K 9 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
Shinohara IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
M. Sato IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 55 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 6 ER 1 ERA 3.00
S. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: Shiroishi, Takamatsui, T. Tsuji, Yoshimoto, M. Kawasaki
SB: Inaba
2B: Inaba, Iwamura, Ramirez, Fukugawa, Taguchi
HR: Iwamura (1)
RBI: Ramirez 2, Iwamura, Inaba, Fukugawa 3, T. Tsuji
HBP: Watarai (S. Yoshida)
GIDP: Manaka, Iguchi
LOB: Yakult 7, Daiei 6

Season Series:

Game Time: 3:14
Attendance: 43,000
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Kakigizono (1B), Suginaga (2B0, Maeda (3B)

Team Reports

Yomiuri Number one draft choice Hiroshi Kisanuki will start against the Chunichi Dragons in the third game of the regular season on March 30th, according to Sports Nippon. He will then start every sixth game if he pitches well. Kisanuki threw 105 pitches in the bullpen. It appears that Ivan Cruz may get some chin music, as manager Tatsunori Hara urged Kisanuki to "shave Cruz' beard off"....The Giants are in Sapporo right now preparing for an exhibition series against Nippon Ham. Only about 25,000 tickets have been sold for the game due to the opening of a new train station building that includes a shopping mall. Sapporo Dome holds 44,500....Sankei Sports printed an obscure stat Wednsesday about how the Giants have fared in Hokkaido through their history, where they have played games since 1942. They are 87-56-2. however, since the introduction of the two league system, they have a losing record there....First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara took 37 swings in batting practice and did some light running Wednesday....Masumi Kuwata will start against Nippon Ham Thursday....Gary Rath powdered two homers in batting practice Wednesday and then ran almost three miles during his workout.

Chunichi Number three draft choice Yoshimi Sakurai is proving popular among female fans, according to Chunichi Sports. A group of them were shouting his name during the game. One fan, Mariko Yoshida, commented, "Sakurai is cool and he's cute, too." Now we'll have to see if he's the next Ichiro or a dud on the field.

Hanshin Tetsuro Kawajiri may start on the ninth against Seibu at Koshien Stadium. Trey Moore is also likely to see action sometime this weekend.

Seibu Lions players proposed that the ballclub find ways of discounting admission tickets to games since the difference could be made up by selling more team-related merchandise. Seibu's front office is looking into it. Among the suggestions is to offer discounts to Saitama Prefecture (where the Lions are based) residents or to Tokorozawa denizens, etc. Seibu already offers discounts for women on Fridays and student discounts on Wednesdays....Alex Cabrera took batting practice with the top club for the first time this spring, blasting five homers in 50 swings. The slugger said that he is at about 60-70%.

Hideki Matsui Masao Matsui will attend Thursday's exhibition game against Philadelphia....Hideki Matsui went 0-3 Wednesday against Atlanta, grounding out to second twice and grounding out to short in a 12-2 Yankees loss.

Miscellaneous My condolences to the familly of Brewers Nigerian prospect Augustine Ozorede, who died in a car accident....Another embarrassment for MLB: according to Jim Callis over at Baseball America, the Angels illegally added Francisco Rodriguez to their roster for the AL playoffs. Rodriguez reportedly hadn't gotten on to the Angels 40 man roster until September 15 while the deadline was August 31. Yet, MLB approved the addition of the phenom to Anaheim's playoff squad, so you can't blame the Angels. So is the Angels' World Series victory tainted? In my humble opinion, no. For the playoffs and WS, I want to see the best of what the competing organizations have to offer. The Yankees couldn't get past Rodriguez, boo hoo freakin' hoo. As much as I hate Disney, the Angels world championship is 100% legit in my eyes....Nice to see Rob Ramsay back on the mound for San Diego after his brain tumor surgery....Isn't there any way we can keep Bud Selig from going to Japan? Having such a, imho, major liar and incompetent over there is really embarrassing!....You really can't blame Japanese umpires from going on strike since they get treated like garbage by league officials, players and managers for low pay (averaging about $75-85,000 depending on the league and inclusive of meal money and incidental expenses. That amount carries half of the purchasing power of a similar amount in the U.S.). That is why the Japanese leagues haven't been able to attract better officiating talent to improve the overall dire performance of their arbiters. But then again, MLB umps get high pay and a generous pension plan and their performance has left a lot to be desired over the last decade. Sigh....Mariners reliever Ryan Franklin was all but sold lock stock and barrel to the Yokohama Bay Stars two years ago before Seattle told him they needed him after all, and he became a very valuable long man. Now he will actually get a chance to experience Japan when the M's face the A's opening day....Ichiro Suzuki went 2-4 today against the Angels and has a six game spring hitting streak....Kazuhiro Sasaki pitched in that game and threw a shutout inning of one hit ball....But Shigetoshi Hasegawa got lit up, surrendering three runs in two innings on three hits....Tsuyoshi Shinjo went 1-3 for the Mets against Florida, a single....So Taguchi had a double to right in one at bat for St. Louis....Hideo Nomo already owns a U.S. minor league outfit. Now he is putting together an amateur club team in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. At one time, there were 237 industrial league teams in Japan, but now with mass restructuring by Japanese firms that has been reduced to 89. Nomo, who was drfted by Kintetsu out of Shin-Nittetsu's Sakai branch, wanted to give back to that municipality, so he came up with this idea. He will pay all the team's expenses himself.

Quote of the Day

The quote of the day comes from Dan Shaughnessy, who offered this tidbit in the Boston Globe:" Jose Offerman in Montreal. How do you say ''junk'' in French?" The rest of the article is pretty amusing, too, so check it out Here.

Today's Pictures

Yoshizaki Looks Toward First Before Making His Delivery

Yoshizaki: Another View

Kazumi Saito Making His Pitch

Kevin Beirne in Wednesday's Game

Alex Ochoa Drills a Double

Another View of Ochoa's Hack

Ochoa Make Front Cover of Chunichi Sports

Marc Valdes During His First NPB Start

Tuffy Rhodes, Norihiro Nakamura, and Masataka Nashida With Osaka Governor Fusae Ota

Lundquist Sees His First Game Action

Masao Matsui: Son's MLB Adjustment Will Take a Little Time