Archived Weblog Entry - 03/18/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Fukudome, Cruz Ruin Yokohama"

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03/18/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Fukudome, Cruz Ruin Yokohama"

Fukudome's Six RBIs, Cruz' Two Homers Destroys Buffaloes 16-5

Chunichi Dragons rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome slugged a two run homer and a two run double as part of a 3-4, three walk, six RBI afternoon and first baseman Ivan Cruz unloaded two jacks in two consecutive at bats to rack up five RBIs himself in a merciless 16-5 pummeling of the Kintetsu Buffaloes Sunday at Osaka Dome. Kenshin Kawakami made one mistake to third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, but other than that, had by far his best outing of the spring with a four inning, two run, two hit effort to nab the win.

Hiroshi Takamura, on the other hand, needed 90 pitches just to get through his three inning ordeal, one that saw him permit six runs on eight hits, and he was saddled with the kuroboshi.

The Dragons inched in front in the first, as shortstop Hirokazu Ibata walked with one down and third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa grounded to Nakamura, who went to second for the force on Tatsunami. Cruz banged a single to left and Ibata trotted across to make it 1-0.

Then the rocks really came down on Takamura in the second. Leftfielder Kazuki Inoue connected for a leadoff solo homer to left. Second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to left and stole second. One out later, Fukudome singled to right to recall Araki. Ibata singled to left. Tatsunami selected one from column A for takeout to the righthand side, a three run meal, and it was 6-0 Dragons.

In the home portion, Kawakami put a fifth pitch 88mph heater right where Nakamura wanted it and he killed it, sending it out to straightaway centerfield to put the Buffs on the big board at 6-1.

Chunichi loaded the bases on a single and a pari of walks in the third, but Takamura struggled through it and it remained 6-1.

Hisashi Aikyo replaced Takamura for the fourth and Tatsunami plopped a double near the leftfield line for a lucky double and went to third on a groundout to first. Cruz yanked a knock to right to convert Tatsunami and it was 7-1 Dragons.

The Buffs got it back in their ups in the frame, as leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes walked and, one out later, rightfielder Koichi Isobe sailed a double to rightcenter to give Rhodes enough cover to balze around the basepaths to home plate and make it 6-2 Dragons.

Aikyo stuck his head out once more for the sixth and it was chopped off. Pinch hitter Mitsunobu Takahashi singled to left to kick it off. Takayuki Onishi was dispatched to pinch run for him. Fukudome drilled one beyond the rightcenterfield wall for another two runs. Ibata singled to right. One out later, Ochoa walked. Cruz then wailed on a 79mph fastball and buried it not far from Fukudome did his to widen it to 12-2 putting it in the refrigerator for the Nagoya squad. But wait, there's more! Hitoshi Ono was
inserted to get Aikyo to the showers and he walked Inoue, Araki, Takayuki Onishi and Fukudome consecutively to force in the 13th tally. Amazingly, with the bases loaded, Ono found enough to induce Ibata into flying out to end the stanza.

The following inning, Cruz stepped in against Teramura with two away and creamed another number one into the centerfield bleachers for a 14-2 Dragons advantage.

Kintetsu responded rather meekly with a Fumitoshi Takano drive into the leftfield stands beginning the bottom of the sixth to make it only slightly less humiliating at 14-3.

Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada let Shigeki Noguchi hit to start the seventh and he singled to left. Araki grounded to backup third sacker Yasuo Nagaike, who kicked it for an error. Onishi grounded into a 5-4 force, but came around to score when Fukudome whizzed a scorcher into the leftcenter gap for a two RBI double and it was 16-3.

Kintetsu put together its most concerted attack of the contest in the home segment when shortstop Tadatoki Maeda beat out an infield hit and second baseman Yusuke Takasu
laced a triple to the rightcenterfield fence to welcome Maeda in. Reserve leftfielder Akihito Moritani singled to left to pick up Takasu to make it 16-5.

No doubt exhausted from all the running around, each contingent went relatively quietly until it was time to head to the hotel.

Motoyuki Akahori made his first appearance this spring and his control was all over the place, walking two in his one scoreless inning in the ninth.

For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 0-1 with a walk and si at .250.

For Chunichi, Alex Ochoa was the only one who didn't get to join in on the offensive display, going 0-4 with an RBI and a walk to sink to .333. Cruz went 4-5 with five RBIs and is at .476. He know leads all players in homers with five and in RBIs with 14.

Pitching Lines:

Chunichi:

Kawakami (W, 1-2) IP 4.0 BF 16 PC 68 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.73
S. Noguchi IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 64 H 6 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 6.75
Hirai IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Yamakita IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Gaillard IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Kintetsu:

Takamura (L, 0-1) IP 3.0 BF 20 PC 90 H 8 HR 2 K 0 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 9.00
Aikyo IP 1.1 BF 12 PC 48 H 7 HR 2 K 0 BB 1 R 6 ER 6 ERA 12.46
H. Ono IP 0.1 BF 5 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.91
Teramura IP 2.1 BF 11 PC 49 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.00
T. Matsumoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86

E: Nagaike
SB: Onishi, M. Araki, Moritani 2, T.T Maeda
2B: Tatsunami, Tanishige, Isobe, Fukudome
3B: Takasu
HR: Tatsunami (1), N. Nakamura (3), Fukudome (1), Cruz 2 (5), Takano (1), K. Inoue
(1)
RBI: Fukudome 6, Tatsunami 3, Ochoa 1, Cruz 5, K. Inoue, Takasu, Moritani, N.
Nakamura, Takano, Isobe
WP: Takamura, S. Noguchi
PB: F. Suzuki
GIDP: Ochoa
LOB: Chunichi 14, Kintetsu 6

Season Series: Chunichi 1, Kintetsu 0

Game Time: 3:50
Attendance: 7000
Umpires: Kaneko (HP), Suginaga (1B), Tamba (2B), Kittaka (3B)

Woods Three Run Blast Not Enough in Defeat by Lions

Yokohama first baseman Tyrone Woods was, for a while, driving in at least one run in almost every game. He hit a barren patch this past week, though, but perhaps was just saving it all up for Sunday, when he crushed a Koji Mitsui cut fastball into the woods beyond the leftfield fence at Hiratsuka Stadium with two aboard for a three run homer. Unfortunately, the Seibu Lions steadily clocked RBI hit after RBI hit and when the smoke cleared, emerged the victors by a 9-6 margin over Woods' Yokohama Bay Stars.

Mitsui went five innings and was touched for four runs, three earned, on four hits and did not get the decision. That went to Hoshino, who tossed two innings of two run, two hit ball.

Domingo Guzman started for Yokohama and was uncharacteristically wild, nailing two hitters with pitches and walking five others during his seven innings, but he limited the damage to three runs, two earned, on three hits while striking out five. So the defeat was balmed on Masao Morinaka, who was demoted to the minors in the wake of his one inning, where he was blowed up real good for five runs on four hits and two walks.

Guzman retired Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui on a fly ball, but then free passed rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki, first baseman Taisei Takagi and leftfielder Masahide Kaizuka to jam the basepaths. Centerfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji flew out to left to bring Ozeki in on the sac fly and Seibu had a 1-0 lead.

Yokohama didn't do much with Mitsui until the fourth, when they surged to the front of the line. Shortstop Takuro Ishii leadoff with a single to right Mitsui bruised DH Hitoshi Taneda with a pitch. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki singled to left and Ishii scampered to the plate. Woods pulled his hands in on a delivery down and in and eveybody knew it was gone upon contact, the ball landing more than 400 feet away to make it 4-1 Stars.

Guzman was victimized by a bumbled double play ball in the sixth and the Lions initiated a comeback. Kaizuka walked. backup centerfielder Shogo Akada singled to center. Guzman drilled third baseman Tsuyoshi Furuya to load the bases. DH Hiroyuki Shibata rolled to Ishii, who, in his haste to get rid of the ball, fumbled it and Kaizuka crossed. Catcher Tsutomu Itoh walked to force in Akada. Guzman delivered one into second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi's wheelhouse, but he lined it at Woods for the second out. Matsui struckout and it stayed 4-3 Stars.

Tomoki Hoshino spelled Mitsui and only exacerbated his team's predicament. With one down, Suzuki walked. One out later, second baseman Hirofumi Ogawa singled to center, Suzuki hustling into third. Ogawa stole second. Third baseman Katsuaki Furuki lashed a double to rightcenter to take in both runners and it was 6-3 Yokohama.

However, Morinaka would squander that advantage in the eighth. Akada walked and, one out later, so did pinch hitter Taketoshi Goto. Substitute leftfielder Hisashi Takayama torqued one into the rightcenter alley and both Goto and Akada busted for home successfully to make it a one run ballgame. Hiroyuki Takagi singled to left, Takayama stopping at third. Matsui singled to right to usher in the tying run at 6-6 and sent Takagi to third. Somehow, Matsui managed to get to second after another out and then pinch hitter Toshiaki Inubushi singled to right to drive in two and the Lions were now on top 8-6.

Yokohama loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning on a hit batsman and a pair of singles, but pinch hitter Shogo Kimura struckout to throw a wet blanket on that opportunity.

In the top of the ninth, Hiroyuki Oshima performed a rendition of "Long Stick Goes Boom" pinch hit stylee for the folks in the rightcenterfield seats and it was 9-6 Lions.

Yokohama couldn't get their motor running in the ninth and when Taneda flied out to left the Stars suffered their sixth loss in a row.

Inubushi is a specialist's specialist, as he is 4-7 against lefty pitchers this spring while he is at .000 confronting righties.

For Yokohama, Woods finished 1-3 with three RBIs and is at .286.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Mitsui IP 5.0 BF 19 PC 74 H 4 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.00
T. Hoshino (W, 1-1) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 44 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
K. Maeda (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 39 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.13

Yokohama:

Guzman IP 7.0 BF 31 PC 113 H 3 HR 0 K 5 BB 5 R 3 ER 2 ERA 1.38
Morinaka (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 9 PC 46 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 10.50
Tazaki IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00

E: Miyaji, K. Furuki
SB: Ogawa
2B: Furuki, Takayama
HR: Woods (3), H. Oshima (1)
RBI: K. Matsui, Inubushi 2, Miyaji, H. Oshima, Shibata, T. Itoh, Takayama 2, T.
Suzuki, Woods 3, Furuki 2
SF: Miyaji
HBP: Miyaji (Guzman), Furuya (Guzman), S. Murata (Maeda)
PB: Hosokawa
LOB: Seibu 8, Yokohama 5

Season Series: Seibu 2, Yokohama 1

Game Time: 3:11
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Sakaemura (HP), Hamano (1B), Akimura (2B), Nishimoto (3B)

Shimizu Excellent in Lotte Victory Over Yakult 3-1

Naoyuki Shimizu posted a strong five inning start Sunday for the Chiba Lotte Marines against the Yakult Swallows at Chiba Marine Stadium, limiting the birds to one unearned run on three hits to cadge his first win of the spring. Masanori Ishikawa flailed a little bit, requiring 90 pitches during his five innings, but the two runs he surrendered were enough for him to lose his second in exhibiton play.

Yakult dissolved a scoreless deadlock in the second, as leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to right, went to second on a groundout, and then set the controls for the heart of home plate on a single to center by centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka to go up 1-0.

Ishikawa, though, was put on the defensive in the fourth when first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center and Derrick May doubled into the rightfield corner. Tetsuya Kakiuchi singled to center to even it at 1-1. Third baseman Rick Short flied out to center, May tagging up and scurrying in to make it 2-1 Lotte.

Yakult had a man on third with one out in the sixth, but stranded him to leave the Lotte lead intact.

Hideki Sato came on for the sixth for the Swallows and May got it rolling for Lotte with a one out single to left. Kakiuchi singled to left. One out later, Kiyoshi Hatsushiba singled to left to plate May and it was 3-1 Lotte.

Hiroyuki Kobayashi was ordered to save it in the ninth for Lotte, but when he walked leadoff hitter Shinya Miyamoto after 11 pitches and rightfielder Atsunori Inaba singled to right, Miyamoto flying over to third, and the tying runs were aboard. Kobayashi, who is having a fabulous spring, reached back and fanned Hirobumi Watarai and tempted Ramirez into bouncing a comebacker to him. He made the pivot and winged it to shortstop Makoto Kosaka at second, who relayed it to first for the game ending double play.

Fukuura suffered a cut on his palm when he was hit on the hand near the bottom of the bat on a half swing. He went to hospital and received four stitches. He isn't expected to miss any playing time.

For Lotte, May was 2-3 and is at .280. Short was 0-3 and is at .231.

For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .209. First baseman Todd Betts was 1-3 and is at .351.

Pitching Lines:

Yakult:

Masanori Ishikawa (L, 0-2) IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 90 H 5 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.00
H. Sato IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 49 H 5 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.00

Lotte:

N. Shimizu (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 17 PC 61 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
K. Takagi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.50
Funaki IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
A. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00
H.Y. Kobayashi (S, 2) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.57

SB: Morozumi
2B: Haru, May, S. Sato
RBI: Manaka, Kakiuchi, Short, Hatsushiba
SF: Short
GIDP: S. Omura, Ramirez
LOB: Yakult 3, Lotte 8

Season Series: Yakult 0, Lotte 2

Game Time: 2:45
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Kawaguchi (HP), Watada (1B), Yanagida (2B), Honda (3B)

Takahashi Throws Five Inning Shutout Against Hanshin

There's not much to say about this one, as Yomiuri lefty Hisanori Takahashi rebounded from a not too hot outing against Yokohama to stifle the Hanshin Tigers on one hit in a 2-0 triumph that was called after five due to rain.

Trey Moore made his first start of the spring and was obviously rusty even if his new forkball worked well, giving up two runs on two hits in three innings in defeat.

All the action took place in the Giants half of the second, as centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi singled to right. Moore then hit rightfielder Roberto Petagine on the elbow with a pitch. The two stared at each other breifly while Petagine made his way to first base, but everyone stayed on their respective benches. First baseman Akira Etoh grounded to the right side to move the runners over. Catcher Shinnouske Abe singled to center to slingshot Takahashi in. Third baseman Daisuke Motoki flew out to center and Petagine tagged up and strode in for the 2-0 lead.

From there, only Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto's single broke the cavalcade of outs and when the moisture got to be too much, it was shutdown.

The Giants' coaching staff was upset about Petagine being struck and are considering retaliation. Late last season, Moore hit Petagine and when Yakult manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu refrained from retaliating, the former Red left the ballpark without permission.

For Hanshin, third baseman George Arias was 0-2 and is at .167.

For Yomiuri, Petagine was 0-1 and is at .188.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

H.N. Takahashi (W, 1-2)IP 5.0 BF 17 PC 62 H 1 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.21

Hanshin:

Moore (L, 0-1) IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 36 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.00
Igawa IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 28 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.00

E: Etoh
RBI: S. Abe, Motoki
SF: Motoki
HBP: Petagine (Moore)
LOB: Yomiuri 0, Hanshin 0

Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Hanshin 0

Game Time: 1:11
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Watamari (HP), Yoshimoto (1B), Tani (2B), Manabe (3B)

Team Reports

Yomiuri Kazuhiro Kiyohara took 170 swings off of a pitching machine Sunday and then took about 40 ground balls.

Yakult The Swallows announced that they are in the final stages of agreeing to a contract with Jason Beverlin from the Cleveland Indians. the 29 year old righty is 0-3 with an 8.69 ERA in limited MLB action. The Ohio native was orginally drafted on the fourth round by the A's in 1994. He features a fastball, a slider, curve and changeup.

Hanshin There's a story in the Monday (JST) issue of the Osaka edition of Nikkan Sports that seems to indicate that leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto is a real drinker. If I'm reading the article correctly, he starts off every night by downing a liter of beer, then a bottle of shochu, a kind of Japanese vodka. He then chases that with a bottle of wine. In fact, the article says, Kanemoto has spent, at times, about $8500 in a month just on wine. If that's true, you'll be seeing a movie about him in a few years. It will be called, "Dude, Where's My Liver?"....Hanshin has been putting a lot of effort this spring into scouting and analyzing Roberto Petagine and it's now wonder. The Venezuelan, according to Nikkan Sports, has smashed 28 homers and driven in 80 runs against Hanshin in his four years in the CL. He has also posted a .357 batting average against the Tigers staff lifetime, though he only hit about .250 last season against the Osaka favorite sons, but eight of his hits were dingers and he drove in 20 runs....Promising fifth round draft choice Tomoyuki Kubota made an instructional league start and gave up two runs on four hits while only bringing it at 89mph. He has been clocked at 95mph while at Tokiwa University. In two other appearances, he had gone a total of six shutout innings....I hadn't heard anything about him, so I had thought he had retired after a fiasco of a 2002 campaign, but little lefty reliever Takehiro Hashimoto is still in the Hanshin organization. He made an instructional league appearancem throwing a scoreless inning.

Hiroshima Hiroki Kuroda was disappointed he didn't get a chance to start Sunday thanks to a rainout, so he went to the bullpen and threw 111 pitches. He is expected to make his next start on the 22nd.

Orix Makoto Suzuki was supposed to start against Nippon Ham Sunday, but it was cancelled due to rain. So instead, he went to an indoor practice facility and threw 129 pitches. He is scheduled to start against Yakult on the 21st, but he needs more work than that to really be ready, especially since he's been getting hammered this spring.

Hideki Matsui The Denver Post quotes Yankees pitcher Jeff Weaver on Matsui's on the outfielder's stroke: "It's not your typical left-handed swing. It's pretty level and compact. It doesn't look like he ever swings and misses"....Matsui had a fifth inning single to right off of a fastball up and in during three at bats againts the Astros Sunday.

Miscellaneous The Cleveland Plain Dealer quotes Indians assistant GM Neal Huntington as saying that the recently inked Kazuhito Tadano, "He can start or relieve," "He's got a good change-up, a power breaking ball and a fastball that needs work. We think he could come pretty fast"....The Baltimore Sun is hinting that the Orioles might be interested in Kazuo Matsui this offseason.... Taiwan product Chin-feng Chen tripled off of David Cone Saturday....MLB is reportedly considering playing regular season games in Europe in July, 2004. Among the countries being considered are Italy, Holland, Britain and France. France? Don't they hate all things American?...So Taguchi started in centerfield and batted second Sunday for the Cardinals and banged a third inning single off of Greg Maddux in four at bats. He now has a five game hitting streak....Antonio Pacheco and Orestes Kindelan arrived in Japan Sunday to begin another season with Shidax in the industrial leagues. They are expected to see game action on the 21st in a Tokyo area tournament....Rangy Iranian-Japanese junior righthander Yu Darvish of Tohoku High School, who is being heavily eyed by Japanese and, to a lesser degree, MLB scouts, threw in a practice game before the Koshien Tournament and went two innings of one hit shutout baseball. There is talk that Darvish, whose father once played soccer in Iran, may go in the first round in the 2004 draft. The game was called after five innings due to rain.

Today's Pictures

Hideki Matsui Rams a Single to Right

Naoyuki Shimizu About to Throw a Breaking Ball

Another View of Shimizu

Masanori Ishikawa Flings it to the Plate

Ivan Cruz Say All Bad Pitches Must be Punished

Yoshinobu Takahashi Displayes Textbook Technique

MLB Security in Place for Japan Trip

See story at: San Francisco Article

Big Leaguers Looking Forward to Japan Trip

See story at: San Francisco Chronicle Article

Mariners Players a Little Apprehensive About Going to Japan