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03/08/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Nakamura Goes Upper Deck"
Hanada Shows No Control and Kintetsu Takes Advantage 5-3
Yakult reliever Masato Hanada just flat out had no command of his pitches Friday at Osaka Dome and the Kintetsu Buffaloes were only too happy to exploit that defect, as they came from a 3-2 deficit and turned a pair of walks from the floundering hurler into a lead and then expanded on it the inning after to come out on top 5-3. This game also marked the first action of the season for future Hall of Fame backstop Atsuya Furuta, who threw out two runners attempting to steal and contributed an RBI single.
Jeremy Powell started for Kintetsu and gave up a two run homer to rightfielder Atsunori Inaba to mar an otherwise solid three inning outing to leave the contest behind.
Hideki Sato, a former number one choice of the Chunichi Dragons in 1992 who signed with the Swallows after a tryout in the wake of his release by Seibu, spun three hitless frames and may have won himself a rotation slot due to the injury to Shugo Fujii.
Yakult seized an advantage in the second when Powell walked third baseman Akinori Iwamura and then, one out later, laid something into Inaba's wheelhouse and he bashed it into the leftfield bleachers for a 2-0 Swallows lead.
Sato got two quick outs in the home portion, but walked first baseman Yuji Yoshioka with one away. Yoshioka, not what you would call a speed burner, was apparently hoping to catch Sato napping with the count 1-1. Sato wasn't and Furuta's aim was true to end the inning.
In the bottom of the third, Sato walked centerfielder Naoyuki Omura with two outs. Omura then attempted to take off for second. But Furuta put it right on the money again and Omura was rung up by the umpire and had to retrieve his glove to go play defense.
Daisuke Miyamoto came on to open the fourth for Kintetsu and first baseman Todd Betts wall balled one to right for a double. One out later, third baseman Akinori Iwamura walked. Furuta then wacked a fastball that was up and on the outer half of the plate to right and Betts strode in to put the birds up 3-0. However, while Iwamura was able to advance to third, Furuta was out trying to go to second.
Yuya Kamada, who hasn't been doing well at all, entered form the pen and most of the Swallows lead disappeared. Second baseman Yosuke Takasu walked. One out later, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura got an 0-2 85mph fastball on the inner half of the plate and pounded a missile off the facade of the upper deck in left to make it 3-2 Yakult.
Things really got mild from there until the bottom of the seventh. Hanada free passed both rightfielder Koichi Isobe and Yoshioka. Akihito Moritani and Takashi Muto pinch ran for them. Both men moved up on a groundout. Hirotoshi Kitagawa, pinch hitting for catcher Tetsuya Matoyama, played jai lai with the rightfield wall to pick up the runners and turn the 3-2 disadvantage into a 4-3 lead.
An inning later, Hanada was touched for singles to center by Takasu and leftfielder Shinji Shimoyama and he plunked reserve third baseman Katsumi Yamashita to load the bases. Pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano grounded to third and Takasu crossed with the insurance tally and it was now 5-3.
Tomokazu Teramura twirled a perfect ninth for Kintetsu and this one was in the books.
When Sato first came into the league, he could reportedly hit 92mph on the radar gun, but he has changed his approach to one that emphasizes pitch movement rather than velocity, and so his high Friday was only about 85mph.
Furuta, in case you're wondering, finished third in the Central League among catchers with a 42.3% caught stealing ratio in 2002 according to statistics given by the Japanese press, not bad for a guy with aging knees. It's not up to the 64.4% he reached a few years ago, but it's still pretty solid.
For Yakult, Betts was 1-3 with a walk and is at .353. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .182.
For Kintetsu, Tuffy Rhodes was 0-1 with a walk and is at .500.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
H. Sato IP 3.0 BF 10 PC 50 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kamada IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 45 H 1 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.14
Hanada (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 11 PC 49 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 7.20
Kintetsu:
Powell IP 3.0 BF 11 PC 43 H 1 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
D. Miyamoto IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 49 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.86
Aikyo (W, 1-0) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 23 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Arime IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
Teramura (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Moritani
2B: Betts, H. Kitagawa
HR: Inaba (1), N. Nakamura (1)
RBI: Furuta, Inaba 2, N. Nakamura, Takano, H. Kitagawa
HBP: Yamashita (Hanada)
LOB: Yakult 3, Kintetsu 4
Season Series: Yakult 0, Kintetsu 1
Game Time: 2:52
Attendance: 2000
Umpires: Hayashi (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), Higashi (2B), Kittaka (3B)
Tanoue Shelled in 8-0 Loss to Hanshin
Whether it was the shock of losing Hiroki Kokubo with a knee injury or if it was just one of those nights, but the Daiei Hawks were as lifeless as Keisaburo Tanoue's pitches Friday at Fukuoka Dome, accumulating a mere five hits, in an 8-0 drubbing at the hands of the Hanshin Tigers. Keiichi Yabu started for the Tigers and had a strong four inning outing on two hits to nab the victory.
Tanoue, who is sporting a 6.75 ERA, needs to be demoted to the minors. Now.
The contest was hitless until the top of the third, when leftfielder Koji Hirashita leadoff with a single to right and stole second. One out later, shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to left and it was 1-0. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka got behind 0-2 and then was relieved to see a curve ball hanging in his eyes, which he nailed to the rightcenterfield wall bazooka stylee to provide cover for Fujimoto to blaze around the basepaths and make it 2-0 Hanshin.
In the fifth, the Tigers treated Tanoue as if he was Curly and they were Moe. Catcher Akihiro Yano singled to center to get it rolling. Fujimoto singled to right. Tanoue hung a first pitch slider to Imaoka and he pulled it between third and short to load the bases. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to center to welcome Yano home. First baseman Shinjiro Hiyama drilled one to the centerfield wall, but for what ever reason, it only became a two run single. Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka sliced a 1-2 slider down and away into the rightfield corner for another pair and it was 7-0 for the Osaka forces.
Trey Moore succeeded Yabu and handcuffed the Hawks on two hits in three innings on the hill, striking out five, partially thanks to the forkball he added to his arsenal this spring.
The Tigers capped off their scoring in the ninth with a one out walk to Hamanaka, who now leads all hitters this spring with a .571 average, and a liner up the rightcenterfield gap by Shuta Tanaka that went for a triple to make it 8-0.
Lou Pote walked a man and balked him to second in the bottom of the ninth, his second balk of the spring, and then retired the next three hitters on the infield to maintain the shutout.
The big rally in the fifth is significant when one considers that Hanshin left a league worst 989 runners on last season. Tigers fans are praying that this chronic disease their side has will finally clear up so that they can contend.
For Daiei, DH Pedro Valdez was 0-3 and is at .100. Third baseman Bryant Nelson was 0-3 and is at .286. Leftfielder Chen Wen-pin was 1-3 and is at .190.
For Hanshin, third baseman George Arias was 0-3 and is at .222.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Yabu (W, 1-0) IP 4.0 BF 14 PC 48 H 2 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Moore IP 3.0 BF 11 PC 46 H 2 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Williams IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Pote IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Daiei:
Tanoue (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 22 PC 76 H 11 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 7 ER 5 ERA 6.75
Yoshitake IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 36 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Ogura IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 31 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kamiuchi IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
E: Torigoe, Tanoue
SB: Fujimoto, Hirashita
2B: Imaoka, Hamanaka, H.M. Saito, Sekimoto
3B: Tanaka
RBI: Imaoka, Akahoshi, Hiyama 2, Hamanaka 2, S. Tanaka, Fujimoto
WP: Kamiuchi
Balk: Pote
GIDP: Tsuji
LOB: Hanshin 9, Daiei 5
Season Series: Hanshin 1, Daiei 0
Game Time: 3:18
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Sugimoto (HP), Nemoto (1B), Kodera (2B), Watamari (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri The Giants have had another injury to a valuable player. Takayuki Saito, who hit over .300 last season in a reserve role and who can play multiple positions, broke the pinky finger of his right hand furing a defensive drill before Thursday's game with Nippon Ham and will likely be out past opening day....Yuya Kubo is almost certainly going to make the big club out of spring training in a setup role and may receive a starting assignment or two, depending on the health of Kimiyasu Kudoh. If Kubo, Hiroshi Kisanuki and infielder Masahiro Nagata do indeed start the regular season on the first team roster, it will be the first time in Yomiuri's history that three rookies have done it the same year. Chunichi Sports says that rookie outfielder Kenji Yano may also make it, too. Kubo may start on the 17th against Hanshin....Shigeo Nagashima has signed a commercial endorsement deal with All Nippon Airways (ANA) and will be in a tv commercial for the firm beginning in April. Hideki Matsui endorses rival Japan Airlines (JAL)....Petagine hit off of a pitching machine Friday for 45 swings. He said that he was at about 45% of full strength.
Chunichi Marc Valdes will start against Hanshin on the 18th following his scheduled appearance on the 11th against Orix....Relievers Akira Miyakoshi and Tetsuo Yaguchi have been sent down to the minors.
Hanshin One of the team's pitching coaches, Yoshinori Sato, said that even with the good results he got in an instructional league game Thursday, Hideki Irabu's stuff still isn't up to par yet and he won't be put into the starting rotation until it is....Atsushi Kataoka, who is rehabbing an oblique strain, hit 80 balls off of a tee Friday. He says he's at about 50%....Rookies Tomoyuki Kubota and Naohisa Sugiyama will each make an instructional league appearance Saturday.
Hiroshima Slumping Jimmy Hurst received some special batting instruction Friday from hitting coach Uchida, working on having him load up on his back leg so that he doesn't lunge at the ball....Ken Takahashi threw 40 pitches as a tune up to his start Saturday.
Hideki Matsui The Yankees-Devil Rays game in St. Petersburg Sunday is a sellout. Matsui is expected to play....Roger Clemens said that he went out to dinner with Matsui Wednesday and revealed, "I was able to hear how he lived and what he thinks. When I [went to Japan as part of an MLB all star team] in 1991, the Japanese called me "rocket-san." I'm happy to see everyone [in the Japanese media] here." Matsui said that he was happy just for the opportunity to talk to and exchange jokes with "as great a pitcher" as Clemens ....Former Yomiuri outfielder Dan Gladden, who is now an announcer for the Twins, said that "[Matsui] will do fine [in MLB]." they were teammates back in 1994.
Miscellaneous Former Royal and Orix infielder Joe Vitiello is now attempting to find a spot with the SF Giants ....Another ex-Japan leaguer, Ben Rivera, is experiencing elbow pain and had an MRI today, though results have yet to be announced. So the Yankees released him....Ichiro Suzuki homered in three at bats Friday against the SF Giants....Tsuyoshi Shinjo had a 3-5 day against Detroit....Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi went 1-3 with two RBIs against the Marlins, both runs driven in on a double that proved to be the game winning hit....Yomiuri gave away 15,000 free tickets to its morning practice before Friday's game....The Pacific League is going to try to convince its umpires that due to the supposedly shaky economics of the Japanese pro leagues right now as well as the recession in Japan in general, that they cannot afford to give the arbiters a pay raise. However, should the umpires strike, league officials are considering using retired umpires. Are you kidding me?....Tomokazu Ohka has passed the entrance exam to get into Ritsumeikan University and will take adult education classes in business management there, according to Nikkan Sports. He will be bale to take some of his classes over the internet during the season and then will show up at the school in the offseason....Kazuhiro Sasaki is scheduled to appear in a game between Seattle and Yomiuri on the 23rd.
Today's Photos
Norihiro Nakamura Lays the Smack Down
Poll Shows Baseball, Matsui Most Popular With Public
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Twins Show Matsui What Good Defense Is
See story at: Minneapolis Star-Tribune Article
See related story at: Naples News Article
Clemson Rallies to Beat Chukyo 5-2
See story at: The State Article
Mariners Prospects from All Over the World
See story at: Seattle Times Article
Lee and Shim Pack for Home After Marlins Stint
See story at: MLB.com Article
