[Previous entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Tadayoshi Kajioka, Who Threw Second Postwar No Hitter, Dies"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Abe Miscues Lead to 4-4 Tie With Lotte"]
03/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Matsui Caps off Exhibition Campaign With Three Run Homer"
Matsui Three Run Homer Spearheads 8-3 Lions Victory
In his final exhibition game in Japan, Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui slugged a three run homer and teammate Kazuhiro Wada clouted a two run shot, as the Lions overwhelmed Nathan Minchey and the Chiba Lotte Marines 8-3 Sunday at Chiba Marine Stadium. Fumiya Nishiguchi struggled some, surrendering six hits and walking one in four innings, but held the opposition to a lone run for his first victory of the spring.
Workhorse Minchey went six innings and was tattooed for six runs on seven hits, two of them longballs, to absorb his initial defeat of the pre-season.
Lotte got off to an ephemeral lead in the bottom of the first, as centerfielder Takenori Daita walked to open the inning and was sacrificed to second. One out later, DH Tetsuya Kakiuchi smote one off the leftfield wall for a long RBI single to make it 1-0.
Then the Lions came armed for bear (is that a mixed metaphor?) in the top of the second. DH Masahide Kaizuka singled to center. Leftfielder Wada got a fastball on the inner half of the plate and rocketed it into the leftfield seats to make it 2-1 Seibu. Centerfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji singled to left. Following two popouts to catcher Masaumi Shimizu. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi walked. Matsui turned and burned on a Minchey delivery and landed it in the rightfield bleachers and it was now 5-1.
Nishiguchi was touched for three singles to right in the home turn at bat, but those were sandwiched around two popouts and a flyout, emblematic of just how punchless Lotte is and demonstrating that this team is in for another long year.
In the fifth, Kaizuka was struck by Minchey and Hiroyuki Shibata pinch ran for him. Wada laced one up the rightcenter alley, Shibata blazing all the way around from first to expand the Lions advantage to 6-1. Since Wada ended his slump, he is 8-19, a .421 clip.
Lotte retorted with a shot by Takashi Tachikawa into the leftcenterfield stands to make it 6-2.
But Seibu saw that one and raised them one in the seventh. With one away, rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki walked off of reliever Ken Yamasaki and was pinch run for by Shogo Akada, who stole second. Taketoshi Goto singled to right and Akada blazed in. Shibata doubled down the leftfield line. Wada grounded to first baseman Ryosuke Sawai, who booted it to load the bases. Satoshi Funaki was summoned from the bullpen and wild pitched Goto in and it was 8-2.
Daita catalyzed a rally for Lotte again with an infield hit, but, like the first time, it didn't go very far. Saito singled to left, Daita wheeling over to third. Koichi Hori lifted a fly ball to right and Daita tagged up and hustled in. But Shuichiro Osada tossed two scoreless frames afterward, striking out two of the three men he faced in the ninth, and that was the ballgame.
Goto hit .308 against righties and .375 against lefties this spring, earning him a starting berth in the everyday lineup at either DH or first. Hiroyuki Nakajima, who went 0-5 in this contest, will be the opening day third baseman after finishing the exhibtion schedule with a .294 average.
Fumiya Nishiguchi went to the bullpen after being taken out and threw 56 pitches.
Alex Cabrera felt a twinge in his back and begged off playing in this one.
For Lotte, third baseman Rick Short was 0-4 and is at .163.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Nishiguchi (W, 1-0 ) IP 4.0 BF 19 PC 66 H 6 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 7.71
Mitsui IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 39 H 5 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Osada IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Lotte:
Minchey (L, 0-1) IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 87 H 7 HR 2 K 0 BB 1 R 6 ER 6 ERA 4.85
K. Yamasaki IP 0.1 BF 5 PC 24 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 2.45
Funaki IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.59
Sikorsky IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 13 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Kobayashi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
E: H. Nakajima, T. Tsuji, Sawai
SB: Akada
2B: Hori, K. Wada, M. Shimizu, Shibata
HR: K. Wada (1), K. Matsui (4), Tachikawa (2)
RBI: K. Matsui 3, T. Goto, K. Wada 3, Hori, Kakiuchi, Tachikawa
SF: Hori
WP: Funaki
HBP: Kaizuka (Minchey)
Balk: Osada
GIDP: Short
LOB: Seibu 9, Lotte 9
Season Series: Seibu 1, Lotte 0
Game Time: 2:49
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Nakamura (2B), Kawaguchi (3B)
Homer Barrage Gets Brock First Japan Win
The Hiroshima Carp got a three run homer from leftfielder Toyo Asayama and a two run roundtripper from centerfielder Shigeru Morikasa in the eighth inning as part of a six run bonanza to put the finishing touches on what became an 11-0 cakewalk over the pathetic Orix Blue Wave Sunday at Fukuyama. Former Oriole Chris Brock made his debut for the fish and went four shutout innings on 44 pitches and three hits to snatch the shiroboshi.
Masato Yoshii had a weird outing for Orix, permitting five runs on seven hits in five innings, but he was undone by two errors, one of which was his own, to get the loss.
It was actually rightfielder Jimmy Hurst, though, who got the ball rolling for Hiroshima when he mortared a fastball down and in for his third homer in four games, a solo drive to left in the second inning that made it 1-0.
In the third, DH Itsuki Asai singled to right and was forced at second on a groundout by second baseman Kazuki Fukuchi, who then stole second. Shortstop Andy Sheets grounded to his opposite number, Tatsuya Shindo, who threw the ball down the first base line, Fukuchi scoring while Sheets went into second. One out later, first baseman Takahiro Arai singled to right and Sheets rambled in to make it 3-0 Carp.
The next inning, Hurst singled to center. Third baseman Kenjiro Nomura walked. The runners moved up on a groundout. Asai singled to right to waive Hurst in. Fukuchi singled to left to redeem Nomura and the Carp were in the catbird seat at 5-0.
In the eighth, Orix had its most formidable opportunity when leftfielder Manabu Satake singled to right and Shindo walked. Catcher Takeshi Hidaka singled to right to load the bases against rookie Katsuhiro Nagakawa, who then put the boot in and struckout
centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani, tempted second baseman Keiichi Hirano into flying out to shallow left and third baseman Jose Ortiz popped out to second to maintain the shutout.
Then the Carp lineup went nuts against Jun Hagiwara. Arai singled to center and was pinch run for by Akihiro Higashide. Tomonori Maeda singled to right and was pinch run for by Kojiro Machida. One out later, Higashide stole third. Ishihara beat out a ball near second and Higashide made for the plate. Asayama hammered one into the leftfield bleachers for a three run homer. Fukuchi beat out a dribbler toward third. Morikasa then checked in and got real gone to right and it was 11-0 and the rest of this game was little more than a formality.
For Orix, Ortiz was 1-4 and is at .083. First baseman Scott Sheldon was 1-4 with a stolen base and is at .205.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 0-3 and is at .296. Hurst was 2-3 with an RBI and is at .273.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Yoshii (L, 1-1) IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 86 H 7 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 5 ER 1 ERA 1.80
Tokano IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 24 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.53
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 9 PC 35 H 6 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 6 ER 6 ERA 9.00
Hiroshima:
Brock (W, 1-0) IP 4.0 BF 15 PC 44 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Newman IP 3.0 BF 9 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nagakawa IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Oyamada IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 21 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
E: Shindo, Yoshii
SB: Sheldon, Tani, Fukuchi, Higashide, T. Kimura
HR: Hurst (3), Asayama (4), Morikasa (1)
RBI: Fukuchi, Morikasa 2, T. Arai, Hurst, Ishihara, Asayama 3, I. Asai
WP: Nagakawa
GIDP: Ortiz
LOB: Orix 8, Hiroshima 4
Season Series: Orix 0, Hiroshima 4
Game Time: 2:28
Attendance: 7000
Umpires: Kittaka (HP), Yoshikawa (1B), Watamari (2B), Yamamura (3B)
Betts Drives in Three on Double, Triple to Banish Nippon Ham 6-1
Yakult Swallows first baseman Todd Betts laced a pair of RBI extra base hits Sunday at Meiji Jingu Stadium, as Hideki Sato and five relievers confined the Nippon Ham Fighters to one run on six hits in a 6-1 victory. Satoru Kanemura started for the Fighters and had a decent outing, surrendering two runs on five hits in six innings, but then Nippon Ham's relief corps, especially Takehito Nomura, proved inept and what had been a close battle turned into a fairly easy win for the birds.
Yakult had a couple of minor opportunities to hurt Kanemura early in the proceedings, but finally realized something in the third. Centerfielder Atsunori Inaba doubled down the rightfield line. One out later, Betts lined one up the rightcenter gap, the ball getting through centerfielder Hichori Morimoto, to drive Inaba in. It was ruled a triple. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez flied out to right and Betts tagged and hustled in and just like that, it was 2-0 Swallows.
Sato walked the first two men that came up against him in the fourth, but then wriggled out of the jam on a couple of fly balls and a groundout. In the fifth, though, Nippon Ham got off the schnide when catcher Katsuhiko Yamada crushed a hanging forkball into the leftfield seats to make it 2-1 Yakult.
And so it remained until the seventh, when Yukihiro Sakurai took the hill. With one down, second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi walked and stole second. One out later, Hillman called on Nomura and he walked third baseman Akinori Iwamura. Nomura then nailed Inaba with a pitch to jam the basepaths. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to right to recall both Shiroishi and Iwamura. Betts attempted to leave, the ball bounding off the centerfield wall, Miyamoto and Inaba both sprinting in on the double, and it became 6-1 Yakult.
Nippon Ham could only muster a hit in each of the two final innings until it was time to go home, Ryu Kawabata getting leftfielder Shimada to ground to second for the last out.
Inaba will be the number one hole hitter when the seaosn starts. He leads all batters in hits with 24 and he stole five bases.
Shingo Takatsu has been working on a changeup off of his sinker to give hitters another different look.
For Yakult, Betts was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .375. Ramirez was 0-2 with a walk and an RBI and is at .230.
For Nippon Ham, DH Angel Echevarria was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .170. First baseman D.T. Cromer was 0-5 and is at .388. Don't be surprised if Echevarria has a bad first month of the regular season and then starts does some real damage the rest of the way. He's too talented to keep going like he has thus far.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Kanemura (L, 0-2) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 95 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.64
Y.H. Sakurai IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.42
T. Nomura IP 0.1 BF 5 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 54.00
N. Takahashi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 19 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.70
Yakult:
H. Sato (W, 1-0) IP 4.0 BF 15 PC 69 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.69
R. Igarashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Takatsu IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.79
Tat. Yamamoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.17
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.26
Kawabata IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.06
SB: S. Sato, Shiroishi 2
2B: Inaba, Betts
3B: Betts
HR: K. Yamada (1)
RBI: K. Yamada, S. Miyamoto 2, Betts 3, Ramirez
SF: Ramirez
HBP: Inaba (T. Nomura)
GIDP: Iwamura, S. Miyamoto, Y. Ueda
LOB: Chunichi 5, Yakult 6
Season Series: Nippon Ham 0, Yakult 2
Game Time: 3:03
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), T. Yamamoto (1B), Hamano (2B), Shinya (3B)
Irabu Bounces Back in 6-4 Hanshin Triumph
Using no windup, Hideki Irabu had a much better showing Sunday at Osaka Dome against the Kintetsu Buffaloes than the debacle that was his last outing, as his velocity improved to 92mph in limiting the Buffs to a run on five hits in five innings while the Hanshin lineup used Kevin Beirne's fourth inning wildness against him to post a six spot in a 6-4 victory.
Kintetsu scored early off of Irabu, as centerfielder Naoyuki Omura beat out a roller toward short to leadoff the first and stole second. One out later, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura pounded a fastball on the outer half of the plate into the rightcenter alley and Omura headed home for a 1-0 advantage.
Beirne had stifled the Tigers one one hit through three, but the second time through the batting order, he took on large amounts of water and drowned. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to right and stole second. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto doubled to rightcenter and Akahoshi crossed. Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka singled to center. First baseman Shinjiro Hiyama grounded sharply to first, Hamanaka going to second, but Kanemoto holding at third. Third baseman George Arias walked to pack the sacks. Beirne plunked catcher Akihiro Yano to force Kanemoto in. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to center for two more. Irabu struckout. Beirne wild pitched the runners up 90 feet on a wild pitch while confronting second baseman Makoto Imaoka, who then single to right to convert them to heighten the Hanshin lead to 6-1. Akahoshi singled to right and Kanemoto walked to load the bases. Hamanaka, the 12th man to come up in the inning, grounded out to finally end the explosion.
The Buffs chipped one off the disparity in the sixth when leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano singled to center with two outs off of Trey Moore and Nakamura doubled into the leftfield corner to provide cover for Takano flying home to make it 6-2 Hanshin.
Kintetsu then pulled within striking range in the seventh when DH Yuji Yoshioka singled to right and moved to second on a groundout by first baseman Kenshi Kawaguchi. Both pinch hitters, Hirotoshi Kitagawa and Akihito Moritani, walked to juice the bags. Omura pinged a double off the rightfield wall and Kawaguchi and Kitagawa toed the dish to diminish the Tigers lead to 6-4. That would be all the offense for the duration, however, Lou Pote striking out two of the three batsman he faced in the ninth to seal it.
In banging two knocks against Irabu, Nakamura exhibited his growth as a hitter. When Irabu was with the Chiba Lotte Marines, Nakamura faced him a total of 20 times in 1995 and 1996 and went 3-20, a .150 average. Of course, Irabu no longer throws 97mph bullets either.
For Hanshin, Arias was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk and is at .229.
For Kintetsu, starting leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-2 and is at .270.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Irabu (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 18 PC 81 H 5 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.27
Moore IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 61 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.00
Pote (S, 3) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kintetsu:
Beirne (L, 0-2) IP 4.0 BF 22 PC 86 H 7 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 9.00
Shimada IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Misawa IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.72
T. Matsumoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.53
Akahori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Fujimoto, Akahoshi, N. Omura
2B: N. Nakamura 2, Kanemoto, N. Omura
RBI: Imaoka 2, Kanemoto, A. Yano, Fujimoto 2, N. Omura 2, N. Nakamura 2
WP: Beirne 2
HBP: A. Yano (Beirne)
GIDP: Isobe, Shimoyama
LOB: Hanshin 5, Kintetsu 5
Season Series: Hanshin 2, Kintetsu 1
Game Time: 3:03
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Shirai (1B), Manabe (2B), Iizuka (3B)
Four Run Giants Seventh Shoots Down Hawks 5-3
Yomiuri starter Masumi Kuwata, thanks for being able to thrown my pitch anytime for a strike, tossed a perfect three innings, including striking out the side in the second, but he got a no decision when Hideki Okajima couldn't defend a 1-0 lead. Fortunately for the Giants, though, they went on to slap Brandon Knight around for four runs in the seventh and held on to down the Daiei Hawks 5-3 Sunday at Tokyo Dome.
Tsuyoshi Wada started for Daiei and was rock solid, going five innings of one run ball on five hits, striking out six and walking one.
The Giants got two one out singles in the second with one out, but Wada induced a flyout and a groundout to get out of that dilemma.But he had his troubles in the third. DH Akira Etoh singled to center. One out later, first baseman Takayuki Saito doubled to rightcenter and the slow footed Etoh somehow managed to negotiate his way to the plate for a 1-0 Yomiuri edge. Centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked. Wada then sucked it up and tempted rightfielder Roberto Petagine into a 4-6-3 inning ending double play ball.
The Hawks would comeback to tie in the sixth, as rightfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi outran a dribbler and went to second on a passed ball. DH Ryo Yoshimoto grounded to first to move Takahashi to third. Centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu thunked one off the rightfield fence for an RBI double and it was 1-1.
Following a perfect sixth by Matt Skrmetta, Knight came on for the seventh and was greeted with singles to center from Abe and second baseman Toshihisa Nishi. DH Koji Goto singled to left to load the bases. Abe then scored on a passed ball. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled to right to usher in Nishi and Goto for a 4-1 lead. Shortstop Mototsugu Kawanaka grounded to first to get Shimizu to second. Saito singled to right to pickup Shimizu and when the smoke cleared, the Giants had it in hand 5-1.
The Hawks would rally in the ninth against Cory Bailey, but it was too little too late. Muramatsu leadoff with an infield hit, but was eliminated on a double play ball of the bat of shortstop Yusuke Torigoe. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi walked. Catcher Kenji Johjima monstered one to the opposite field and into the rightfield bleachers to make it 5-3, but Yudai Deguchi struckout and it was see you later.
Wada will take part in his graduation ceremony at Waseda University Tuesday. He was clocked in the high 80's.
Kuwata will start against Yokohama April 1st.
For Daiei, leftfielder Pedro Valdez was 0-3 and is at .191. Third baseman Bryant Nelson was 1-3 and is at .243.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 1-4 and is at .231.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
T. Wada IP 5.0 BF 21 PC 88 H 5 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.45
Skrmetta IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Knight (L, 1-2) IP 2.0 BF 12 PC 46 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 4 ER 2 ERA 5.79
Yomiuri:
Kuwata IP 3.0 BF 9 PC 34 H 0 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.81
H.N. Takahashi IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.81
Okajima (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 33 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
R. Kimura IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Bailey IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 30 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.63
2B: Takayuki Saito, Muramatsu
HR: Johjima (4)
RBI: Muramatsu, Johjima 2, T. Shimizu 2, Takayuki Saito 2
PB: S. Abe, Johjima
GIDP: Petagine, Torigoe
LOB: Daiei 2, Yomiuri 7
Season Series: Daiei 2, Yomiuri 2
Game Time: 2:34
Attendance: 19,000
Umpires: Sasaki (HP), Yanagida (1B), Ino (2B), Yamazaki (3B)
Noguchi's Two RBIs, Outstanding Pitching Edge Yokohama 3-2
Shigeki Noguchi helped his own cause with a two run fourth inning single Sunday at Nagoya Dome to give the Chunichi Dragons a 3-0 lead against the Yokohama Bay Stars, and five relievers barely made it stand up in a 3-2 triumph. Takashi Saito was charged with all three Dragons runs and accepted the defeat.
Noguchi had control problems in the second, loading the bases on two walk and an infield hit with two outs, but shortstop Takuro Ishii grounded out to monkey wrench the rally.
The Dragons then crawled their way to a run in the home portion, as centerfielder Alex Ochoa doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a groundout. Ishii then attempted to get tricky and went back to third on a ground balll to him hoping to catch Ochoa sleeping, but it didn't happen and everyone was safe. Leftfielder Kazuyuki Inoue then bounced one out in front of the plate and Ochoa slid in safely while the out was made at first for a 1-0 lead.
Noguchi slithered out of a two on, tow out predicament in the third while the Dragons blew a bases loaded, one out opportunity thanks to a twin killing hit into by Ochoa. Noguchi then worked a perfect inning in the fourth and celebrated it in the bottom of the stanza. First baseman Ivan Cruz kicked it off with a single to right. Two outs later, second baseman Masahiro Araki walked. Somehow, both runners moved up and Noguchi rammed one back up the middle to bring them in to make it 3-0.
The Stars played incremental ball in the top of the sixth when first baseman Tyrone Woods singled to left and then moved over to third on a pair of groundouts. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo beat out a bleeder toward short and Woods crossed to tighten it up at 3-1.
Ryuichi Kawahara jogged in from the pen to commence the sixth for Yokohama and was mugged for a one out triple up the rightcenter gap by catcher Motonobu Tanishige. Kawahara hit Inoue with a pitch. Manager Daisuke Yamashita dialed local for Fukumori, who got a groundout to third and a flyout to center to stanch the bleeding.
Then in the eighth, Yokohama hedged closer when reserve first baseman Takahiro Saeki grounded to Cruz, who booted it. Pinch hitter Shuichi Murata singled to left. One out later, Kinjo singled to left and Saeki travelled the basepaths to the plate to make it a one run game at 3-2. Pinch hitter Makoto Fukumoto grounded to third for the third out and now the Stars would have to put something together in the ninth. However, they didn't do so against Hitoki Iwase and this one was in the books.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 1-4 and is at .294. Cruz was 1-4 with an error and is at .429.
For Yokohama, Woods was 2-3 and is at .286.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Takashi Saito (L, 0-1) IP 5.0 BF 22 PC 87 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.00
R. Kawahara IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 7 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.72
Fukumori IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.69
Inamine IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.35
Tomori IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Whiteside IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.00
Chunichi:
S. Noguchi (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 21 PC 99 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 4 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.15
Hirai IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.38
Ochiai IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00
Hisamoto IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.80
Yamakita IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Iwase (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 9 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Cruz
SB: Woods, Taneda
2B: Ochoa, S. Noguchi
3B: Tanishige
RBI: K. Inoue, S. Noguchi, Kinjo 2
WP: Takashi Saito
HBP: Tatsunami (Takashi Saito), K. Inoue (R. Kawahara)
GIDP: Ochoa, T.N. Suzuki
LOB: Yokohama 9, Chunichi 7
Season Series: Yokohama 1, Chunichi 2
Game Time: 3:17
Attendance: 38,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Kiuchi (1B), Honda (2B), Nishimoto (3B)
.
Team Reports
Yomiuri Kazuhiro Kiyohara was able to participate in a baserunning drill Sunday and his hamstring is feeling better and better. He will begin the season in the minors while he finishes rehabbing it.
Chunichi Akinori Otsuka threw 50 pitches in the Nagoya Dome bullpen Sunday. A pitching coach remarked that the righthander's slider has so much depth of sink that it actually drops more than his forkball. In toehr words, it's flat out filthy.
Hideki Matsui Matsui had the day off Sunday, so he did some weight work for about an hour.
Koshien Tournament Urawa Gakuin High School senior southpaw Hideki Sunaga, 17, put on a show against Oki High School in Sunday's Koshien Spring High School Baseball Tournament, striking out 14 in seven innings. The 5'11" 156 pounder ultimately permitted four hits and a run during his stint in a 15-1 romp. He told reporters after the game that he was going for strikeouts when there was nobody on and that he was able to consistently keep his breaking stuff down to help him do that. Yakult scout Yoshihito Oda liked the youngster's sharp slider and believes that if handled right could have a future in the pros. Sunaga was clocked at 89mph....5'5" 127 pound righthanded ace Manabu Mima limited Kodai Tomakomai High School to one run on seven hitsSunday in Fujishiro High School's 2-1 triumph....Centerfielder Takamasa Nishino belted a solo homer to left to breakup a scoreless duel in the sixth for Heian High School in an eventual 4-0 win over Ube Kojo High School. Heian also got a 12 strikeout performance out of starter Hattori (the report didn't give his first name)....Tokushima Shogyo High ace righthander Masaki Hiraoka touched 92mph in a 2-1 complete game victory over Yanagawa High.
Miscellaneous Kazushisa threw four shutout innings of relief Sunday for the Dodgers against the Astros on two hits, but he walked five. However, he was mainly using the outing as a chance to refine the command of his new changeup....Ichiro Suzuki went 0-2 against the A's Sunday....Tsuyoshi Shinjo enteredmidway through a faceoff with Atlanta and went 1-1 with a sac bunt and threw a runner out trying to stretch a single into a double. The former Hanshin pretty boy is hitting .367 this spring....Kazuhiro Sasaki threw 41 pitches in the bullpen Sunday and enthused that he was getting great rotation on his pitches and that his shoulder felt fine. Monday will be a no throw day for Daimajin.
Today's Photos
Kazuhisa Ishii from the Batter's Perspective
Will We See Sunaga on the Pro Stage?
