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03/22/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Saito Solid for Daiei Again; Padres Want Kazuo Matsui"
Saito Pitches Hawks to 11-2 Victory Over Lotte
Kazumi Saito came on strong after returning from injury the second half of last season and he continues to do so, as he tossed 6.2 strong innings of two run, three hit ball in an 11-2 drubbing by the Daiei Hawks of the Chiba Lotte Marines Thursday at Chiba
Marine Stadium. Taking the brunt of the Hawks attack was Kosuke Kato, who left with an injury 1.2 innings into his start after he surrendered three runs on four hits and 41 pitches to be awarded the loss.
The Hawks blew a sweet opportunity in the first when they had men on second and third with one down thanks to a leadoff walk to rightfielder Yudai Deguchi and a double stoked down the leftfield line by second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, but catcher Kenji Johjima struckout and first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka popped out to second and that was all she wrote.
Lotte then posted their only lead of the afternoon then third baseman Rick Short slammed a double off the centerfield wall and DH Derrick May drilled a ball off the glove of third baseman Ryo Yoshimoto that Short hustled to the plate on to make it 1-0.
That didn't last long, though. In the top of the second, centerfielder Takeshi Tsuji walked with two away and Yoshimoto singled to right. Deguchi singled to left to recall Tsuji and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki socked a triple to the base of the rightcenterfield fence to pickup the runners and it was 3-1 Hawks. Kato began experiencing cramps and was lifted in favor of Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who induced a grounder to third by Iguchi to end the inning.
Atsushi Yoshida came on in the fifth and the Hawks picked him apart. Kawasaki commenced it with a single to center and, one out later, Johjima singled to right. Soichi Fujita was inserted to spell Yoshida. Matsunaka got a fat one and bigtimed it into the rightfield bleachers to make it 6-1. Pedro Valdez whistled a shot up the leftcenter alley and all the way to the wall for a triple. DH Masanori Taguchi singled to left to redeem Valdez. Tsuji singled to right. Yoshimoto walked to pack the sacks. Deguchi grounded to short and Taguchi crossed for an 8-1 Daiei edge.
Lotte got its second run in the bottom of that frame when second baseman Koichi Hori buried one into the leftfield seats and it became 8-2.
To the Hawks, however, it was only a flesh wound. Reserve second baseman Mitsuru Honma responded to Hori's dinger with a drive into the rightfield stands off of the touted rookie Yoshihide Kanda and Daiei was back up by a lucky seven at 9-2.
Kanda was rocked once more in the seventh, as Yoshimoto singled to center and first baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba geeked substitute rightfielder Masashi Matsuda's little fly ball for an error. Kawasaki singled to send to send Yoshimoto in while Matsuda busted for third. Johjima singled to left to usher Matsuda in and it was a laugher now at 11-2.
Lotte attempted to get something going in the ninth against reliever Akira Matsumoto with an infield hit by Jun Inoue and a walk by leftfielder Takashi Tachikawa. But Hori popped out to Johjima and Hatsushiba grounded into a game ending 6-4-3 twin killing and it went into the books as an 11-2 Hawks triumph.
For Lotte, Short was 1-4 and is at .219. May was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .290.
For Daiei, Valdez was 2-4 with a walk and is at .189.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
K. Saito (W, 2-1) IP 6.2 BF 24 PC 101 H 3 HR 1 K 7 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.62
A. Yamada IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 2 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.91
S. Ogura IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.59
A. Matsumoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Lotte:
K. Kato (L,) IP 1.2 BF 11 PC 41 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 10.13
H.Y. Kobayashi IP 2.1 BF 8 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.93
A. Yoshida IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 8 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 10.80
S. Fujita IP 0.0 BF 4 PC 18 H 4 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 13.50
Kanda IP 2.2 BF 15 PC 56 H 4 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 1 ERA 1.17
K. Yamasaki IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Hatsushiba
2B: Short, Iguchi, P. Valdez
3B: M. Kawasaki, P. Valdez
HR: Matsunaka (2), K. Hori (1), M. Honma (1)
RBI: May, Hori, Deguchi 2, M. Kawasaki 3, Honma, Johjima, Matsunaka 3, Taguchi
GIDP: Hatsushiba
LOB: Daiei 9, Lotte 5
Season Series: Daiei 1, Lotte 0
Game Time: 3.19
Attendance: 3000
Umpires: Yanagida (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Tachibana (2B), Sakaemura (3B)
Seibu Scoring Now, But Ineffective Pitching and Fielding Lead to Loss
Now that the Lions are showing that they can score some runs, their pitching and defense, specifically Gold Glove second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi, went to pot, as the Kintetsu Buffaloes mugged them for three longballs in a 10-8 victory by the Osaka side.
Takashi Ishii started for Seibu and continues to suck, as he permitted four runs on seven hits in fiveinnings to get hung with the loss. His ERA also inflated to 7.71.
The ever mediocre Hiroshi Takamura started for the Buffs and had a typical outing for him, as he was done up for two runs on four hits in four innings to cadge the shiroboshi.
Kintetsu rightfielder Koichi Isobe struck the first blow in the Buffs offensive explosion when he clobbered a slider into the rightcenerfield seats at Seibu Dome leading off the second to make it 1-0.
Seibu then loaded the bases in the home segment on a one out single to center from Centerfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji, an error by first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa and a walk to catcher Tsutomu Itoh, but Takagi grounded to his opposite number, who executed the 4-6-3 double play to snuff the rally.
Kintetsu then notched another tally in the third when centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to left and wa sacrificed to second. Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes singled to center and Omura sped home to widen the Buffs advantage to 2-0.
Seibu, though, surged back to knot it during their ups. With one away, Tatsuya Ozeki laced a ball into the leftfield corner and sprinted all the way around to third for a triple. First baseman Taketoshi Goto doubled down the leftfield line for the RBI. One out later, leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada walked. Miyaji clocked one down the rightfield line to welcome Goto back to the bench on the two bagger and make it 2-2.
Ishii, though, was dented again in the fourth. With one out, DH Kenshi Kawaguchi singled to right. Osamu Hoshino ripped one to the rightfield fence and by the time Ozeki returned the ball back to the infield, Hoshino had an RBI triple. Manager Masataka Nashida called for the safety squeeze and catcher Tetsuya Matoyama laid it down. Ishii scooped it up and went to the plate, but Hoshino was in ahead of the tag and it was 4-2 Buffs.
Seibu had Ozeki on third on a double and sacrifice in the fifth, but couldn't convert and so we go to the seventh and see that the Buffs are ready to stampede. Matoyama opened the stanza with a walk off of Yoshitaka Mizuo. Pinch hitter Akihito Moritani doubled off the leftfield fence, but the relay beat Matoyama to the plate and he was meat. Reserve shortstop Tadatoki Maeda singled to center. Substitute leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano lowered the boom and lost it in the leftfield seats to make it 7-2 Kintetsu.
Seibu finally organized itself for a counterattack in the seventh and what appeared to be a rout tightened up. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui doubled to rightcenter. Shogo Akada singled to right to push Matsui across. One out later, rookie backup DH Hiroyuki Nakajima, who the Lions project as the next Little Matsui, blasted an Akira Okamoto offering into the leftfield bleachers to shrink the deficit to 7-5.
Kintetsu would pull away, however, in the eighth when Hoshino walked with two down and Matoyama torched one into the leftfield corner, Hoshino blazing around form first to score. Moritani spanked one twoard Takagi, who allowed it to go through the wickets and Matoyama was able to wend his way home and it was 9-5 Buffs.
They tacked on another in the ninth when reserve rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama brought some pain to a hanging forkball and smashed it into the leftfield stands to make it 10-5 Buffs.
Seibu, though, ambushed reliever Tomokazu Teramura in their last at bat. Pinch hitter Taisei Takagi kicked it off with a drive into the rightfield seats. Pinch hitter Hiroyuki Shibata grounded to Maeda, who booted it. Pinch hitter Hiroyuki Oshima sent one down the rightfield line for a double. Nakajima zipped one back through the middle for his third and fourth RBIs of the day and it was 10-8 with the tying run now coming to the plate in the form of Wada, who singled to right. Nashida went to the pen for Takuya Matsumoto, who struckout Miyaji. Substitute third baseman Tsuyoshi Furuya grounded to third, the runners holding while the out was made at first. Masahide Kaizuka walked to load the bases. But Hiroyuki Takagi grounded out to second and the Buffs pocketed the W.
Mizuo was demoted to the minors after the game.
Nakajima, who is in his third year in the Lions organization, is apparently going to get substantial playing time while Scott McClain is out of action. Manager Haruki Ihara had planned to distribute playing time for that position between Yoshihito Ishii and Furuya, but Ishii isn't hitting, so Nakajima is being plugged in to that spot.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .310.
For Seibu, DH Alex Cabrera was 0-2 and is at .429. Kazuo Matsui was 1-4 and is at .405.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Takamura (W, 1-1) IP 4.0 BF 19 PC 75 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.36
T. Yoshida IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 40 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
A. Okamoto IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 31 H 3 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.86
Teramura IP 0.0 BF 5 PC 14 H 4 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 6.43
H. Koike IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
T. Matsumoto (S, 1) IP 3.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.12
Seibu:
Takashi Ishii (L, 0-3) IP 5.0 BF 22 PC 76 H 7 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 7.71
Mizuo IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 39 H 4 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 10.50
Uchizono IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 24 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K.Y. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 15 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.80
E: H. Takagi 2, Matoyama, O. Hoshino, H. Kitagawa
SB: Furuya
2B: K. Kawaguchi, T. Goto, Miyaji, Ozeki, Moritani, K. Matsui, Matoyama, H. Oshima
3B: Ozeki, O. Hoshino
HR: Isobe (2), Takano (2), H. Nakajima (2), Shimoyama (3), T. Takagi (1)
RBI: Rhodes, Takano 3, Isobe, Shimoyama, O. Hoshino, Matoyama, T. Takagi, Akada,
T. Goto, H. Nakajima 4, Miyaji
PB: Hosokawa
GIDP: H. Takagi, Rhodes
LOB: Kintetsu 6, Seibu 10
Season Series: Kintetsu 1, Seibu 0 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:22
Attendance: 5000
Umpires: Yamazaki (HP), Akimura (1B), T. Yamamoto (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Hirosawa Three Run Homer Powers Hanshin Over Hiroshima 8-5
A three run shot in the seventh inning by 40 year old Katsumi Hirosawa broke a 5-5 tie to propel the Hanshin Tigers to an 8-5 victory Thursday over the Hiroshima Carp at Takamatsu. The Tigers blew a 3-0 early lead, but then rallied to ultimately prevail.
Yuya Ando started for the Tigers and wasn't very good, as he was taken for three runs on seven hits in four innings. Therefore, the win went to reliever Makoto Yoshino, who threw a nice one hit 1.2 innings on just 16 pitches.
Kawauchi started for the Carp and he floundered (no pun intended) his way to five innings of three run ball on five hits to get a no decision. David Lundquist followed and was subjected to a right flogging for five runs on three hits and two walks to absorb the defeat.
Hanshin went out to a 2-0 lead in the first, as Norihiro Akahoshi walked and, one out later, stole second and then headed home on a double to leftcenter by second baseman Makoto Imaoka. After another out, third baseman George Arias singled to left to and Imaoka crossed.
The Tigers balled and played again in the third when shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to right and stole second. Imaoka carromed a shot off the leftfield wall, Fujimoto traversing the plate easily and it was 3-0 Hanshin.
But in the fourth, Ando was taken on an involuntary tour of Takamatsu's downtown area via the centerfield exit by centerfielder Koichi Ogata to shorten the Tigers lead to 3-1. One out later, Tomonori Maeda singled to center. Jimmy Hurst, in his 27th at bat this spring, connected for a homer to leftcenter, his first in a Carp uniform and it was even at 3-3.
Then in the sixth, Maeda singled to left off of reliever Shinji Taninaka and Hurst singled to center and the pair were advanced on a sac bunt. Yoshino was summoned from the pen. One out later, Kazuyoshi Kimura spanked a single to left for two RBIs and a 5-3 Carp advantage.
Lundquist was then a victim of some bad defense behind him in the bottom of the frame. Hirosawa walked. Kentaro Sekimoto singled to right. Catcher Akihiro Yano tapped a double play ball to Akihiro Higashide, who let it get through him, and Hirosawa rumbled around to score, Sekimoto moving to third. Yutaka Nakamura grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, but Yano was plated and it was a new ballgame at 5-5.
Lunquist came back out for the seventh and walked Fujimoto, who went to second on a groundout. Hiroshi Yagi singled to left, Fujimoto holding at third. One out later, Hirosawa got a second pitch fastball on the inner half of the plate and buggywhipped it 410 feet into the leftfield stands and now the Carp had to climb up from an 8-5 disadvantage. That didn't happen, as Jeff Williams spun a perfect ninth to close it out.
It's actually kind of amazing that Hirosawa is still around. The jovial slugger was actually infamous for not being too assiduous in keeping himself in great physical shape for most of his career. But now looking at imminent retirement, he has changed his eating habits and began watching his weight over the last few seasons. He was 4-18 before this game, but responded with the dinger and two walks in his four trips up to help his team to victory.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-2 with a walk and an RBI and is at .269.
For Hiroshima, shortstop Andy Sheets was 1-3 and is at .333. Hurst was 2-3 with two RBIs and is at .200.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Kawauchi IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 91 H 5 HR 0 K 6 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.60
Lundquist (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 11 PC 34 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 2 R 5 ER 3 ERA 5.14
Oyamada IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00
Hanshin:
Ando IP 4.0 BF 18 PC 82 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.15
Taninaka IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 21 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.71
Yoshino (W, 1-0) IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K. Shibata IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Williams (S, 2) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Kawauchi, Higashide
SB: Akahoshi 2, Fujimoto
2B: Sheets, Imaoka 2, A. Yano, Ishihara
HR: Ogata (1), Hurst (1), Hirosawa (2)
RBI: Ogata, Hurst 2, K. Kimura 2, Imaoka 2, Arias, Hirosawa 3
GIDP: Y. Nakamura, Ogata
LOB: Hiroshima 6, Hanshin 6
Season Series: Hiroshima 0, Hanshin 2
Game Time: 2:55
Attendance: 13,000
Umpires: Yoshimoto (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), Manabe (2B), Tani (3B)
Kamada's Best Spring Outing for Nought in Yakult Defeat
The Yakult Swallows have been expecting big things out of Yuya Kamada since they drafted him out of Waseda University a couple of years ago, but so far he hasn't displayed what the birds' scouts saw in him. That changed Thursday at Meiji Jingu Stadium. He tossed six innings of one run ball on a solid 81 pitches. Unfortunately, the Swallows offense has gone in the tank and the Chunichi Dragons got to reliever Yoshikawa for two hits and a run and they won it 2-1. Masahiro Yamamoto had his scroogy working well and was outstanding in his five innings of three hit shutout ball even if he wasn't able to grasp the victory, but he is in "save my career mode" in the wake of a less than optimum 2002 and was happy with how he fared.
Instead, Takashi Ogasawara was touched for the tying run in the sixth and then was credited with his third shiroboshi when his teammates in the batting order snatched the tally off of Yoshikawa. Such are the vagaries of baseball.
Kamada's stint was highlighted by his striking out the side in the third, but then in the fifth, he saw Dragons catcher Motonobu Tanishige get real gone to right to put Chunichi up 1-0.
Swallows centerfielder Tetsuya Iida returned serve in the sixth, when he crushed one into the leftcenterfield seats to tie it at 1-1. Yakult then got a single from shortstop Shinya Miyamoto and a one out knock to center from leftfielder Alex Ramirez. However, first baseman Hirobumi Watarai flew out to center and catcher Yoneno struckout to foil any further scoring.
Ivan Cruz then lead a speaheaded the winning rally for Chunichi when he singled to right with one out and was pinch run for by Morimoto. One out later, leftfielder Kazuki Inoue walked. Second baseman Masahiro Araki doubled into the leftfield corner and Morimoto was across without a play to the 2-1 edge.
Yakult missed an opportunity to level it again in the seventh when they had men on first and second with one out when Iida grounded to short and second baseman Yoshiyuki Noguchi fouled out to third and they were done, Kito weaving a perfecto in the ninth to put it to bed.
The Japanese press believe that Kamada has locked up the sixth starter's job. He was clocked at 89mph.
For Chunichi, centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 0-3 and is at .346. Cruz was 1-3 and is at .452.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-3 with a walk and is at .226.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
M. Yamamoto IP 5.0 BF 18 PC 81 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.45
T. Ogasawara (3-0) IP 1.1 BF 8 PC 33 H 3 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.68
Hirai IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 7 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.79
Kito (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 21 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.35
Yakult:
Kamada IP 6.0 BF 21 PC 81 H 4 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Yoshikawa (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 38 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.26
Hiramoto IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 23 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Kuramoto
2B: Furuta, Fukudome, M. Araki
HR: Tanishige (1), Iida (1)
RBI: Tanishige, M. Araki, Iida
WP: Hiramoto
GIDP: Watarai,
LOB: Chunichi 6, Yakult 7
Season Series: Chunichi 2, Yakult 0
Game Time: 3:00
Attendance: 4000
Umpires: Nako (HP), T. Kobayashi (1B), Ino (2B), Kiuchi (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Rookie infielder Masahiro Nagata came down with a cold four days ago and has sat out practice until Thursday. He is expected to start in an instructional league game Friday.
Yakult Reliever Ryota Igarashi has been deemed ready to contribute again and he has been sent up from the minors to the big club.
Chunichi Akinori Otsuka signed a one year deal for somewhere in the neighborhood of $750,000 and he will wear number 64.
Yokohama Steve Cox will start the regular season in the minors. Manager Daisuke Yamashita doesn't think that the former Tampa Bay first sacker is yet ready after missing several weeks due to knee surgery. He reportedly can't run all out and is still experiencing some residual discomfort in the kniee. That enables both Tyrone Woods and Chris Holt to be on the roster opening day.
Hideki Matsui Matsui had the day off Thursday and is apparently feeling homesick, according to Sankei Sports. He told reporters to not talk about Tokyo in front of him...A team comprised of Japanese sportswriters and announcers played one made up of Yankees public relations and equipment people in a game of softball at Legends Field in Tampa just for fun.
Miscellaneous This item today from Reuters: "[Japanese] fans [are] tuning into Mariners games instead of Japan's well-established baseball franchises." Jesus, who does their fact checking? According to Japan's equivalent of the Nielsen ratings, Video Research, the ratings for Mariners games are only about 10% of that of the domestic Japanese clubs, especially when you look at Yomiuri's numbers. Moreover, a lot of the M's games are often broadcast in the middle of the night in Japan, when the audience is rather thin. To members of the media who read my stuff, before you jump off the cliff and write or utter patently untrue statements such as that, would you make a couple of phone calls to check? Or you could email me. Man, editors are getting lazy these days....Good to hear that Tony Cloninger appears as if he will make a full recovery from bladder cancer....According to an interview at the Phoenix Suns website, Jerry Colangelo, who also owns the Arizona Diamondbacks, "the White House wanted Major League Baseball to play the games and to move forward, and try to be as normal as possible under the circumstances, but the [decision to cancel the Japanese opener] decision was made"....Meanwhile, the idiots at the JFA, which governs Japanese pro soccer, have decided to pull out of a U.S. tour....The San Diego Union-Tribune says that Kazuo Matsui "is at the top of [the Padres] wish list" of free agents this coming offseason." I don't know how they are going to afford him, however, as he will command something in the $3-5 million a year range. Furthermore, with the fat wallets of the Dodgers, Mariners, Mets, Diamondbacks, Orioles, and Red Sox in the game, if I were a San Diegan, I wouldn't be too optimistic. And don't be surprised if the Cardinals, the Cubs, and San Francisco end up courting him, too....Ichiro Suzuki blooped a double off Ted Lilly in an exhibition game with Oakland Thursday in an 11 pitch at bat.... Tsuyoshi Shinjo continues his recent good fortune at the plate, as he banged out a pair of hits, a single and a double, in three at bats and drove in a pair against the Devil Rays....So Taguchi went 0-2 against Baltimore to end his seven game hitting streak....Tomokazu Ohka's nightmare spring continues, as he lasted less than five innings and was hammered for five runs on eight hits, two of those leaving the yard.
