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03/23/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Giants Do it to Seibu Again; Orions Great Ono Dies"
Two Run Hiyama Single Puts Tigers Over Carp 3-2
A two run single by first baseman Shinjiro Hiyama broke a 1-1 deadlock and enabled the Hanshin Tigers to beat the Hiroshima Carp at Kurashiki Muskat Stadium in Okayama Prefecture 3-2. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi scooped up the victory with five innings of one run ball while Ken Takahashi accepted responsibility for the defeat.
Hiroshima caused a lot of fuss in the second when first baseman Takahiro Arai singled to center. Two outs later, third baseman Kenta Kurihara doubled down the leftfield line. Catcher Shuji Nishiyama walked to load the bases. But that brought up Takahashi and he flew out to right to terminate the threat.
So it remained scoreless until the fourth, when Carp leftfielder Jimmy Hurst slugged the bejesus out of a slider on the inner part of the plate halfway up the leftfield bleachers, and it was 1-0 Hiroshima.
Hanshin, though, surged back for the critical runs of the afternoon in the sixth, as DH Hiroshi Yagi walked and second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled through the hole between third and short and into left. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi dragged a bunt up the first baseline and beat it out to load the bases. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto grounded to Arai, who went home for the force on Yagi. Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka swung at a 2-1 sinker on the outer half of the plate and got it off the end of the bat, completely sawing it in two, but the ball blooped beyond the grasp of second baseman Kazuki Fukuchi to knot it at 1-1. Hiyama was next and he wacked a hanging curve between first and second into rightfield to redeem both Akahoshi and Kanemoto to go in front 3-1.
Takehito Kanazawa was on the hill in the seventh for Hanshin when the Carp attempted a comeback. With one down, Akihiro Higashide singled to right and stole second. He moved to third on a groundout and then trotted in when Fukuchi cracked a single to left to make for a tense match at 3-2. Shortstop Takuya Kimura singled to right. But centerfielder Koichi Ogata flew out and Hanshin was still ahead.
Then in the eighth, Jeff Williams used some deception to get himself out of a tight spot. Arai leadoff with a double to leftcenter and moved to third on a sac bunt. Williams plunked rightfielder Toyo Asayama. While pitching to Kurihara, Williams picked Asayama off. During the ensuing rundown, Arai broke for the plate. Backup first baseman Saito gunned it to third behind Arai and he was eventually tagged out. Kurihara struckout to end the inning and Lou Pote, despite only humping it up to 88mph, tossed a perfect ninth to clinch it.
For Hanshin, third baseman George Arias was 0-3 and is at .241.
For Hiroshima, Hurst was 1-2 with an RBI and is at .222.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Shimoyanagi (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 21 PC 84 H 4 HR 1 K 3 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.00
Kanazawa IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 27 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.00
Williams IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Pote (S, 2) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hiroshima:
K. Takahashi (L, 1-1) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 109 H 5 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.85
Nishikawa IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nagakawa IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Higashide
2B: Kurihara, T. Arai
HR: Hurst (2)
RBI: Hamanaka, Hiyama 2, Hurst, Fukuchi
HBP: Asayama (Williams)
GIDP: T. Noguchi
LOB: Hanshin 6, Hiroshima 8
Season Series: Hanshin 3,Hiroshima 0
Game Time: 2:57
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Tani (1B), Yoshimoto (2B), Tsuchiyama (3B)
Yomiuri Beats Seibu Again on Yamada Two RBI Knock
A two run single to right by seldom used leftfielder Shinsuke Yamada in the eighth busted a 3-3 tie to put the Yomiuri Giants over the Seibu Lions 5-3 Friday at Seibu Dome. Kimiyasu Kudoh made his second appearance of the exhibition season and his first start, tossing five good innings of two run ball on six hits. However, the victory ultimately went to reliever Tsuyoshi Jobe, who experienced some control problems and allowed the Lions to snare the tying run.
The Giants went on top immediately, as second baseman Mototsugu Kawanaka homered off of Lions starter Hsu Ming-Chieh to right to begin the game. One out later, first baseman Takayuki Saito singled to left. Centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked. Rightfielder Roberto Petagine singled to left to drive Saito in and it was 2-0 Yomiuri.
Seibu halved that lead when rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki walked with one out. One out later, DH Alex Cabrera doubled up the leftcenter gap and Ozeki sprinted all the way around from first to make it 2-1 Giants. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada legged out a dribbler up the third baseline. Centerfielder Shogo Akada walked to load the bases. However, third baseman Tsuyoshi Furuya grounded out to short and that extinguished any other incursions toward home.
In the third, shortstop Tomohiro Nioka lofted a pitch to the oppositie field and into the rightfield seats to go up 3-1. One out later, Takahashi thwacked a fastball that was up and on the outer half of the plate for a double to leftcenter. Petagine and catcher Shinnosuke Abe both walked to pack the sacks. DH Daisuke Motoki grounded into a 5-4-3 double play and that rally stalled.
Seibu chipped another run off of their disadvantage in the fourth when Kazuhiro Wada singled to center. Two outs later, catcher Tsutomu Itoh walked. Pinch hitter Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to center and Wada traipsed around to pull within 3-2. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui outran an infield grounder to juice the bags. Ozeki, though, grounded to third and 3-2 it remained.
The Giants then chose to gamble and lost in the fifth. Saito scorched one into the rightfield corner for a double. Takahashi singled to center. Petagine grounded to Taketoshi Goto at first, who whipped it to the plate to get Saito. Abe then grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to kill the inning.
Jobe entered in the sixth and helped Seibu knot it up. He walked the leadoff man, Kazuhiko Miyaji, and then balked to get him over to second. Miyaji was sacrificed along. Pinch hitter Hiroyuki Shibata flew out to left and Miyaji tagged up and hustled for the dish and it was at equlibrium at 3-3.
But the Giants seems to have the Lions' number and so somebody they've probably never seen before burned them to decide it in the eighth. Reserve catcher Yoshinori Murata singled to left. Motoki pushed a sac bunt out toward the mound and reliever Kazuyuki Hoashi hurried his peg to first and threw it away, allowing both runners to get into scoring position. Yamada clocked a single to right to push them in and make it 5-3 Giants.
The Lions got two men aboard on a pair of one out walks in the eighth, but Nakajima grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to cancel that event. Takashi Kamoshida then retired three of the four men he faced in the ninth to finish it.
Takahashi says that he is seeing the ball real well right now. He should be. He's batting .514.
Kudo was clocked at 88mph.
The three hits racked up by Wada should be a good morale booster for him, as his failure to get even one hit during the Japan Series was partly responsible for the Lions being swept, seeming to put him in a mental tailspin that carried over to the NPB-MLB extravaganza as well as this spring. If he is going to get hot now, it's a good time with the regular season beginning in a week.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .400.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 1-2 with a walk and an RBI and is at .222.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kudoh IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 76 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
Jobe (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 33 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Nishiyama IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.80
Kamoshida (S, 2) IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.76
Seibu:
Hsu IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 104 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 4 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.06
Hoashi (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 12 PC 44 H 5 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 2.45
Y. Doi IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
E: K. Matsui
SB: K. Matsui, K. Wada
2B: Cabrera, Y. Takahashi, Takayuki Saito
HR: Nioka (2), Kawanaka (2)
RBI: Cabrera, Shibata, H. Nakajima, Kawanaka, Nioka, Petagine, Yamada 2
SF: Shibata
HBP: Kawanaka (Hsu), S. Nakajima (Jobe)
Balk: Jobe
GIDP: Motoki, S. Abe, H, Nakajima
LOB: Yomiuri 10, Seibu 10
Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Seibu 0
Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 47,000
Umpires: Sakaemura (HP), Uemoto (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Nako (3B)
Sugiuchi Looks Good in Rout of Yokohama
Toshiya Sugiuchi is making a statement that he belongs in the pro leagues, as he had another fine outing Friday at Yokohama Stadium against the Bay Stars, fashioning seven strong innings of one run ball on three hits and striking out nine, including third baseman Katsuaki Furuki three times, all on high fastballs. Furuki fanned a total of four times to win a lovely golden sombrero.
On the other hand, Yokohama starter Yuji Yoshimi looked terrible again, as he was rolled int he dirt for seven runs on nine hits, two of those becoming souvenirs for the folks in the outfield bleachers, to take his second loss and inflate his ERA to 5.87.
The Hawks positioned themselves positively in the first, as second baseman Tadahito Iguchi cleaned and jerked a slow curve out beyond the leftfield fence to make it 1-0.
Sugiuchi made his only mistake, however, when shortstop Takuro Ishii aired one out into the rightfield stands to even it at 1-1. The Stars offense then went off on holiday.
In the third, Yoshimi walked rightfielder Takeshi Tsuji and that opened the flood gates. Third baseman Ryo Yoshimoto doubled to the wall in rightcenter. Centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu lined one down the rightfield line for a two run double to put his side in the driver's seat at 3-1. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki singled to right to bring Muramatsu in. Kawasaki stole second and went to third on Iguchi's deep drive to right. Catcher Kenji Johjima grounded to short and Kawasaki crossed to expand the lead to 5-1.
Fast forward two innings and Yoshimoto bopped one into the leftfield seats for his first homer of the spring and it was 6-1 Hawks. Two outs later, Iguchi singled to center, Johjima singled to left and first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to center for another run to make it 7-1.
Sidearmer Atsushi Kizuka came on for the seventh for Yokohama and was cuffed around, too. With one away, Iguchi singled to center and went to third on a double to leftcenter from backup catcher Masanori Taguchi. Matsunaka lashed a shot up the leftcenter alley as well to cash both men in. Leftfielder Pedro Valdez singed a ball up the rightcenter gap for an RBI double and it was 10-1 Daiei.
Yokohama had men on second and third with nobody out in the ninth, but two strikeouts and a popout sunk that uprising and it was "game setto."
Despite being atomized for 12 runs in his last two appearances, Stars boss Daisuke Yamashita still plans to use Yoshimi as his opening day starter.
For Yokohama, rightfielder Tyrone Woods was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .275.
For Daiei, Valdez was 2-3 with an RBI and a walk and is at .225.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
Sugiuchi (W, 2-0) IP 7.0 BF 23 PC 95 H 3 HR 1 K 9 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.69
A. Yamada IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 28 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.30
Shinohara IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 10.38
Yokohama:
Yoshimi (L, 1-2) IP 6.0 BF 28 PC 97 H 9 HR 2 K 6 BB 2 R 7 ER 7 ERA 5.87
Kizuka IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 26 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.38
Inamine IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.20
Fukumori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 7 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.80
SB: M. Kawasaki, Kinjo
2B: Yoshimoto, Muramatsu, Taguchi, Matsunaka, P. Valdez, S. Kimura
HR: Iguchi (2), T. Ishii (1), Yoshimoto (1)
RBI: Muramatasu 2, M. Kawasaki, Iguchi, Johjima, Matsunaka 3, P. Valdez,
Yoshimoto, T. Ishii
WP: Sugiuchi
GIDP: T. Suzuki, Deguchi, K.Y. Takahashi
LOB: Daiei 4, Yokohama 4
Season Series: Daiei 1, Yokohama 0
Game Time: 2:44
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: T. Kobayashi (HP), Tachibana (1B), Fukuya (2B), Yanagida (3B)
Bases Clearing Onishi Double a Winner for Dragons
A three run double by Takayuki Onishi in the eighth inning dissolved a 2-2 deadlock and goosed the Chunichi Dragons to a 6-2 triumph against the Nippon Ham Fighters Friday at Tokyo Dome. First baseman Ivan Cruz clouted a sixth inning solo homer in the sixth for the victors, his seventh of the spring, the same number he unloaded when he was with Hanshin in the spring of 2001.
The Fighters seized the upper hand in the second when DH Angel Echevarria singled to left and first baseman D.T. Cromer kaboomed one off of Dragons starter Kenshin Kawakami into the leftcenterfield seats to go up 2-0.
Cruz checked in with two outs in the sixth and murdered a 1-1 86mph fastball an estimated 490 feet, the ball striking a billboard above the seats in rightcenter to make it 2-1 Fighters.
Nippon Ham returned in the bottom of the frame to put men on second and third with two outs against reliever Hitoki Iwase, but leftfielder Kazuteru Shimada struckout to short circuit that revolt.
The Nagoya contingent caught up with Nippon Ham in the seventh, as second baseman Masahiro Araki walked and then motored to third on a single to left by reserve first baseman Mitsunobu Takahashi. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome flew out to right and Araki tagged up and scored the tying run and it was 2-2.
Takehito Nomura made his debut in a Nippon Ham uniform in the eighth and he showed why I thiknk his signing is a bad idea. With one down, catcher Motonobu Tanishige walked and leftfielder Kazuki Inoue singled to center. One out later, Araki singled to center and the basepaths were hammed. Masashi Date replaced Nomura. Sub centerfielder Onishi whistled one up the leftcenter alley and everybody got it in gear for the promised land for a 5-2 Dragons lead. Date thre a wild pitch to get Onishi to third. Fukudome singled to left to hail Onishi in to make it 6-2, the final margin of victory, as Dragons relievers Eddie Gaillard and Shigetoshi Yamakita put Nippon Ham away from there.
Fukudome now has an eight game hitting streak.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 1-4 and is at .200 Cromer was 1-3 with two RBIs and is at .405.
For Chunichi, Cruz was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .444. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .300.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
Kawakami IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 79 H 5 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.06
Iwase (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 33 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Gaillard IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yamakita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nippon Ham:
Sekine IP 5.0 BF 19 PC 78 H 3 HR 0 K 8 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.36
Takeda IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Ko. Yamaguchi IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 12 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
H. Nakamura IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
T. Nomura (L, 0-1) IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 40.50
Date IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 10 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.18
Tateishi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.18
2B: Y. Ueda, Onishi
HR: Cromer (2), Cruz (7)
RBI: Fukudome 2, Cruz, Onishi 3, Cromer 2
SF: Fukudome
WP: Date
GIDP: Kaneko, Echevarria
LOB: Chunichi 9, Nippon Ham 6
Season Series: Chunichi 3, Nippon Ham 1
Game Time: 3:10
Attendance: 17,000
Umpires: T. Yamamoto (HP), Kasahara (1B), Tsugawa (2B), Shikita (3B)
Rhodes Drives Buffaloes Past Lotte 4-3 A two run bomb to straightaway centerfield by Kintetsu leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was the big blow in a 4-3 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines Friday at Chiba Marine Stadium. Koichi Misawa cadged his initial spring victory in relief while Yasushi Sakai was saddled with the loss. Kintetsu drew first blood off of Koji Takagi in the second, as first baseman Yuji Yoshioka ripped a one out double down the leftfield line and rightfielder Shinji Shimoyama singled to right and shortstop Yusuke Takasu grounded out to third to get Yoshioka in for the 1-0 lead. But two hitters in for Lotte in the home portion, DH Derrick May went mideaval on a pitch from Hisashi Iwakuma and boosted it into the centerfield seats to lock it back up at 1-1. Second baseman Koichi Hori doubled to rightcenter. One out later, catcher Masaumi Shimizu doubled to leftcenter and Hori reported for a 2-1 Lotte advantage. Takagi struckout the side in the third and then fanned another two during a perfect fourth. In the fifth, though, the Buffs pressed Takagi. Shimoyama singled to right and Takasu walked. Both men were advanced on a sac bunt. But centerfielder Akihito Moritani went down on strikes and second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi grounded out to short to cut that chance off at the knees. Hansin refugee SatoshiFunaki came out for his second inning of work for Lotte in the seventh and that was the beginning of the end for them. Yoshioka singled to left and, one out later, pinch hitter Kenshi Kawaguchi doubled off the leftfield wall. Pinch hitter Koichi Isobe flied out to left and Yoshioka tagged up and crossed to level it at 2-2. Koichi Misawa was tapped by manager Kintetsu Masataka Nashida to maintain the staus quo in the bottom of the stanza and he failed. Hori and backup catcher Takusu Hashimoto singled to right. Substitute first baseman Takenori Daita walked to load the bases. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka grounded to Mizuguchi, who was playing in, and Mizuguchi gired to the plate for the force on Hori. Rightfielder Jun Inoue flied out to centerfield and it was deep enough for Hashimoto to tag and score to make it 3-2 Lotte. Sakai mosied in from the bullpen and nailed the first hitter he saw, centerfielder Naoyuki Omura. Sakai then ran a slider up to the plate and Rhodes punished it to the deepest part of the centerfield seats for a "gyakuten (come from behind) two run" and a 4-3 Buffs edge. Lotte couldn't mjster anything and Motoyuki Akahori put it in the refrigerator in the ninth. For Lotte, third baseman Rick Short was 0-4 and is at .194. May was 1-4 and is at .286. For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-4 with two RBIs and two strikeouts and is at .303. Pitching Lines: Kintetsu: Iwakuma IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 82 H 5 HR 1 K 4 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00 Lotte: K. Takagi IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 88 H 3 HR 0 K 7 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.64 E: K. Hori, Short Season Series: Kintetsu 2, Lotte 0 Game Time: 2:54 Furuta Fractures Finger as Yakult Shells Suzuki 7-2 Makoto Suzuki is now facing a possible demotion to the minor leagues, as the Yakult Swallows ate him alive for seven runs, all earned, on seven hits in three innings, in their 7-2 win over the Orix Blue Wave Friday at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Hard throwing Ryota Igarashi, who is normally a middle reliever, made the start for Yakult in his first action since going down with a nearly severed finger tendon over a month ago and was given the victory. Yakult jumped all over Suzuki in the first, as centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka leadoff with a single to left. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto laid down a sac bunt, but Suzuki opted to go for the force at second instead and his throw over to second was late. First baseman Todd Betts then returned Manaka home with a single to left to make it 1-0. Suzuki plunked leftfielder Alex Ramirez. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura singled to center and Miyamoto eased on in. Catcher Atsuya Furuta bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, Betts scoring on the play. Rightfielder Atsunori Inaba banged a single to right and Ramirez toed the dish for a 4-0 Swallows lead. What was remarkble, though, about Furuta even getting up to the plate was that he broke the ring finger on his throwing hand on a foul pop by the first hitter of the game, but the pain was becoming too much and he left after the third and was taken to hospital for x rays. In the third, Ramirez played a rendition of "Long Stick Goes Boom" for the folks in the centerfield bleachers, his first dinger of the spring, to ratchet the Yakult advantage up to 5-0. Iwamura walked, stole second and went to third on a groundout before scoring on a wild pitch. Inaba doubled into the leftfield corner and went to third on a groundout. Third baseman Ken Suzuki seared a two bagger down the rightfield line and it was 7-0 home team. Orix then struck for both of their runs in the sixth, as rightfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani singled to right off of reliever Toshihide Narimoto. DH Yuji Goshima belted one into the rightfield seats, his first hit in 15 at bats, to make it 7-2. Orix had a mild men on first and second,one out threat in the seventh, but couldn't get anything done and Ryu Kawabata shut her down in the ninth for the ballgame. For Orix, leftfielder Roosevelt Brown was 2-3 and is at .278. First baseman Scott Sheldon was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .194. Third baseman Jose Ortiz was 0-2 with a walk and is at .059. For Yakult, Betts was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .347. Ramirez was 2-3 with an RBI and an HBP and is at .250. Pitching Lines: Orix: M. Suzuki (L, 0-2) IP 3.0 BF 19 PC 72 H 7 HR 1 K 0 BB 2 R 7 ER 7 ERA 19.80 Yakult: R. Igarashi (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 45 H 1 HR 0 K 5 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00 SB: Katsuragi, Shiotani, Manaka, S. Miyamoto, Iwamura, Inaba 2 Season Series: Orix 0, Yakult 2 Game Time: 2:52 Team Reports Yomiuri Kazuhiro Kiyohara took 36 swings in batting practice and then took part in a baserunning drill Friday. The team's conditioning coach said that the slugger is looking the best he has this spring....Infielder Akira Etoh is in an 0-12 slump and is only 10-50 this spring (.200)....Yasaku Iriki threw in the bullpen for the first time in a month Friday, delivering 33 pitches. He is aiming to join the Giants first team in mid-April. Chunichi Akinori Otsuka was officially added to the Dragons roster today after being sold by Kintetsu. He said in a press conference that he hopes to join the big club in mid-April. Since Otsuka signed a one year deal with Chunichi, it is anticipated that he will be posted again after the end of the season. Hanshin Atsushi Kataoka went 0-3 in an instructional league game Friday. Yokohama Catcher Takeshi Nakamura, last year's starting backstop who had been bothered by a shoulder ailment this spring, has been put back on the big club roster. Seibu Daisuke Matsuzaka will make his fourth opening day start in a row, says manager Haruki Ihara....Seibu owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi met with the IOC Friday to make the case for continuing baseball as an olympic sport. The IOC reportedly reiterated that MLB players would have to be able to show up in order to maintain baseball's place in the games. In other words, baseball in the olympics is pretty much doomed. Hideki Matsui Matsui faced the Pirates Friday and went 0-3, breaking his bat and grounding out to second, striking out and lining to left. He was then replaced after the sixth....According to Chunichi Sports, Matsui is making two changes to his batting style: one, he is concentrating on not letting one hand come off the bat when he finishes his swing; two, he wants to lower his center of gravity so that he can apply more force to pitches down and away. Miscellaneous Hideo Nomo started against the Cardinals Friday, going five innings and permitting two runs on seven hits. So Taguchi entered that match as a defensive replacement in the seventh and went 0-1....Ichiro Suzuki cracked a trio of hits against the Padres Friday to raise his spring average to .407. He collected two singles to center and then legged out a grounder to first. Shigetoshi Hasegawa also got into the game and went two innings of one run ball on one hit, that being a solo homer....Tsuyoshi Shinjo entered a game against the Astros as a late inning sefensive replacement and went 0-1....The Koshien Spring High School Baseball Tournament begins Saturday, where 34 schools will fight it out for nationwide supremacy at historic Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. All of the games will be broadcast live across the land and will draw big ratings. So You Want to Play in Japan? Former Dodgers Greg Hansell, who spent three seasons with Hanshin, has some sage advice Here Today's Photos Nuclear Hot Yoshinobu Takahashi Doubles to Right Center Toshiya Sugiuchi Gets Ready to Deliver a Changeup Ivan Cruz Knows Textbook Leverage Kimiyasu Kudoh Delivers to the Plate Daisuke Matsuzaka Tunes Up for Saturday's Start Osamu Hamanaka's Bat Dies a Hero Trey Hillman Has Some Issues With the Umpire Condolences We at BaseballGuru.com would like to take this opportunity to send our condolences to the family of former Mainichi Orions (now the Chiba Lotte Marines) southpaw Shoichi Ono, who died at his home in Tokyo of stomach cancer at age 69 Wednesday. A native of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, Ono graduated from Iwaki High School and then caught on with with an industrial league club before he signed with Mainichi in 1956. After going 4-1 in 37 games with a 2.74 ERA his first year, he lead the league with seven shutouts while also winning 26 games in 1957 and posting a career best 1.73 ERA. He also set a PL record for consecutive wins with 13 that season. Three seasons later, he followed up a 22 victory 1959 campaign by winning 33 games with a 1.98 ERA, an astonishing 21 of those in relief, against 11 losses in 67 games and 304 innings with 5 shutouts for a pennant winning side, but they were beaten in the Japan Series by the Taiyo Whales. He was then selected to his only Best Nine team. According to Baseball Monthly stats honcho Aki-chan, Ono was ninth fastest in Japanese baseball history to 1000 strikeouts, doing it in 1185.1 innings. He ultimately ended up with 2244 whiffs in his 2909 total inning, 15 year career, 11th all time. His overall K/9 rate was 6.94 In 1965, he moved to the Whales for three miserable losing seasons and then headed to the Chunichi Dragons in 1968, with whom he won 13 games in 1969. In 1970, he went 7-10 with a 3.75 ERA and decided to hang up his spikes. Lifetime, Ono, a six time all star, was 184-155 with 105 complete games, 27 shutouts and a 2.80 ERA. He is 16th all time in total appearances with 671.
Misawa (W, 2-0) IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.70
H. Koike IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.60
Akahori (S, 1) IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Funaki IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.80
Y. Sakai (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 21 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
T.Kawai IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.80
2B: Yoshioka, K. Hori, M. Shimizu 2, May, K. Kawaguchi,
HR: Kakiuchi (1), Rhodes (2)
RBI: Rhodes 2, Takasu, Isobe, J. Inoue, Kakiuchi, M. Shimizu
SF: J. Inoue, Isobe
HBP: N. Omura (Sakai)
GIDP: Kitagawa
LOB: Kintetsu 5, Lotte 6
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Shinya (HP), Nakamura (1B), Akimura (3B), Yamazaki (3B)
M. Doi IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 33 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.00
H. Kobayashi IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 51 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Takatsu IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.36
Tat. Yamamoto IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 42 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.35
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.06
H. Maeda IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
2B: Inaba, K. Suzuki, K.Ono, Katsuragi
HR: Goshima (1), Ramirez (1)
RBI: Goshima 2, Betts, Ramirez, Iwamura, Inaba, K. Suzuki
WP: M. Suzuki, Yamamoto
HBP: Ramirez (M. Suzuki), Ortiz (Igarashi), Manaka (M. Suzuki)
GIDP: Furuta
LOB: Orix 12, Yakult 8
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Sato (1B), Sasaki (2B), Higashi (3B)
