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03/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Abe Miscues Lead to 4-4 Tie With Lotte"
May Slugs Two Run Homer in Ninth to Get 4-4 Tie With Giants
Chiba Lotte Marines DH Derrick May Belted a two run homer with one out in the ninth off of the Yomiuri Giants' Takashi Kashiwada Monday at Chiba Marine Stadium to even the game 4-4. When Lotte couldn't push the winning run across, it ended as a nine inning tie.
Yuya Kubo started for Yomiuri and threw three pretty good innings, displaying a great deal of tenacity in permitting just one unearned run on four hits. He was followed by second year man Hiroki Sanada, who twirled two perfect innings, then on to another rookie, Hiroshi Kisanuki, who was clocked at 92mph during his two innings of one unearned run ball.
Shingo Ono started for Lotte and was rocked for three runs in the third and another in the fourth during his six inning stint, though he did have a nice pitch count. Nevertheless, this spring he has exhibited a good deal of inconsistency and doesn't look as if he is going to be a plus contributor this season.
In that third inning, Koji Goto leadoff with a double to rightcenter and leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu brought him in with a single to center. Mototsugu Kawanaka moved Shimizu up with a sac bunt. DH Takayuki Saito grounded out to first to advance Shimizu to third. Centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi thwacked a cutter off the rightfield wall for an RBI double. Rightfielder Roberto Petagine singled to center on a first pitch curve ball to usher Takahashi in and make it 3-0 Yomiuri.
Lotte got one of those back in the home portion when third baseman Rick Short legged out an infield hit and catcher Masaumi Shimizu singled to right. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka was ruled to have been interfered with by catcher Shinnosuke Abe on a swing and the bases were loaded. Second baseman Koichi Hori flew out to left and Short tagged up and hustled in to reduce the deficit to 3-1.
Then in the fifth, Shimizu singled to left and gave way to pinch runner Takahiro Suzuki, who stole second. One out later, Saito singled to right and Suzuki beat it for the plate for a 4-1 Yomiuri advantage.
Lotte fought back again in the sixth when Hori singled to left and then went to second on a passed ball by Abe. He advanced on a ground ball to short and then loped home on a grounder to second by rightfielder Takashi Tachikawa to make it 4-2 Giants.
Lotte didn't get anywhere after that until the ninth, when Tachikawa outran an infield bleeder with one out. May then got an 85mph fastball in his happy zone and parked it in the rightfield seats to level it at four all. Pinch hitter Yukihiko Sato struckout and pinch hitter Kiyoshi Hatsushiba grounded out to short and it was over.
Sanada was clocked at 88mph and has won the sixth spot in the rotation. Kubo will be in middle relief.
Injured first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara will make a minor league start on the 29th. A trainer said that the slugger is in good shape, but whether he can appear in all the upcoming games that week is "fluid."
Lotte manager Koji Yamamoto likes rookie righthander Yoshihide's Kanda's control and he has made it onto the opening day roster.
For Yomiuri, Petagine went 2-2 with an RBI and a walk and is at .286.
For Lotte, Short was 1-3 and is at .174. May was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .310.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kubo IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 33 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 2.80
Sanada IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.00
Kisanuki IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.50
Y. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.50
Kashiwada IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.15
Lotte:
S. Ono IP 6.0 BF 26 PC 77 H 8 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 2.40
Kanda IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.40
H.Y. Kobayashi IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.74
Sikorsky IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: S. Abe
SB: T.H. Suzuki, S. Yamada
2B: Tachikawa, K. Goto, Y. Takahashi, Y. Murata
HR: May (4)
RBI: T. Shimizu, Takayuki Saito, Y. Takahashi, Petagine, Hori, Tachikawa, May 2
SF: Hori
PB: S. Abe
Catcher's Interference: S. Abe
GIDP: Haru, Nishi, Sawai
LOB: Yomiuri 6, Lotte 2
Season Series: Yomiuri 0, Lotte 0 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:42
Attendance: 23,000
Umpires: Akimura (HP), Nishimoto (1B), Sakaemura (2B), Arisumi (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Akira Etoh has lost his starting third base job to Takayuki Saito. He missed practice Monday due to a cold....Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka sasy that he is still feeling some discomfort from being hit on the bicep by Kevin Hodges, but that he can still swing the bat and will be ready to go opening day....The Giants have a schedule day off Tuesday.
Yakult Lefthander Shugo Fujii made an instructional league start Monday and went three innings of scoreless baseball on two hits. He was clocked in the high 80's and experienced no pain in his elbow. He's also working on a slider that has some sink on it....Number one draft choice Yuhei Takai will make a minor league start on the 29th. In his last two instructional league starts, he has gone a combined eight innings and allowed one run while striking out 14....Atsuya Furuta will not be on the opening day roster, according to Sports Nippon, in the wake of suffering a fractured ring finger this past weekend.
Chunichi Akinori Otsuka will pitch in a minor league intrasquad game Tuesday. Monday, he threw 44 pitches in the bullpen. He will then make an appearance in a Western League contest on Wednesday. He is expected to join the Dragons first team in mid-April.
Hanshin Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka wants to imporve his average with runners in scoring position this coming regular season. In 2002, he hit .253 in such situations. He has set a goal of 25 homers, but said that he will focus more on getting runners home than clobbering the ball out of the ballpark. Monday, he spent an hour batting against a pitching machine.
Hiroshima The Carp will distribute 2500 Takahiro Arai bobblehead dolls to the first 2500 fans who enter Hiroshima Municpal Stadium for the team's home opener on April 1st.
Seibu Alex Cabrera said that he is willing to let bygones be bygones with Nippon Ham starter Carlos Mirabal and prays that Mirabal will throw him strikes. Last season, Mirabal hit the big Venezuelan with a pitch, nearly leading to a brawl....So that fans can watch batting practice, Seibu Dome may open 2.5 hours before game time rather than the current two. That plan is still in the discussion stage.
Daiei Keisaburo Tanoue, Hirokazu Watanabe and Katsunori Okamoto all appeared in an instructional league game Monday. Watanabe and Okamoto both threw scoreless innings, but Tanoue coughed up two runs in three innings. All three are due to rejoin the big club on the 25th.
Kintetsu After cracking seight homers in intrasquad and exhibition games and then falling into a deep slump, it has been decided to have Yamashita begin the regular schedule in the minors. They will keep an eye on him and if he can help them later in the year, he will be promoted....Osamu Hoshino will be platooned at short against righties while Yusuke Takasu will face lefthanders. Manager Masataka Nashida said he will carry nine pitchers and 17 position players.
Nippon Ham Multiple Gold Glove winning first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara will open the season at third base. Yukio Tanaka will be the regular third sacker, but he is out with a sore elbow. Versatile Kuniyuki Kimoto is also out with an injury, a groin pull.
Lotte As an addendum to an item below, new addition Jose Fernandez, who was once Anaheim's Minor League Player of the Year before they offloaded him to the Cubbies, will make $350,000 this season. He is expected to jon the team around April 15th.
Orix Manager Hiromichi Ishige, team president Urazoe and the club's players went to a Kobe area temple Monday to pray for a winning season....Makoto Suzuki will make an instructional league start Wednesday and his fate as far as opening the season on the big club roster hangs in the balance. A Blue Wave itching coach says that Suzuki's arm action has been "dull" and thus his fastball has had no life, leading to him being lit up like a Christmas tree.
Hideki Matsui Matsui went 0-2 with a walk in three trips up against Detroit Monday while making his second consecutive start in center....
Koshien Tournament Yokohama High School, exploited six errors made by Morioka Dai High School, enabling them to turn eight hits into ten runs in a 10-0 laugher. MLB and NPB fans might want to note: game time was 1:47. This was Morioka's first ever Koshien experience....Chukyo High School beat Nobeoka Gakuen High School 8-5. It was the first Koshien victory by Nobeoka in 22 years....Koryo High School whipped Asahikawa Jitsugyou High School 8-1. It was the 50th Koshien triumph for Koryo in the school's history....All the other games were rained out....Yakult Swallows scout Yoshihito Oda said he liked Chukyo outfielder Ryuma Kidokoro a lot. He has a strong arm, some speed and good natural strength despite being only 5'9" and 150 pounds. However, Oda also indicated that Kidokoro needs to make better use of his legs when he swings the bat and that despite his natural gifts he is still rather raw and will need time to develop.
Miscellaneous Tsuyoshi Shinjo wacked two doubles and a pair of singles during a 4-4 against the Expos Monday to raise his average to .415. All four hits came with two strikes on him....Pete Rose refused an invitation send to him by the mayor of Cincinnati to attend the opening of the Reds new ballpark. What's up with that?.... Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi, who may make the opening day roster, had an infield hit his one time up Monday against the Dodgers....Ichiro Suzuki went 0-3 Monday against Anaheim, including a strikeout. Shigetoshi Hasegawa also got into the game and tossed a scoreless inning on one hit.
Today's Pictures
Hiroki Sanada Displays the Form That Got Him a Rotation Spot
Roberto Petagine Racks Up an RBI
Yomiuri Giants Great Shigeo Nagashima Strikes Out
Japanese Umpires Won't Strike Lotte Signs Former Angel Fernandez
See story at: Japan Times Article
Rosenthal: Mariners-Yankees Series in Japan in 2004 Won't Happen
See story at: Sporting News Article
Mariners, A's Gutless for Cancellation Says Boxing Writer
See story at: Max Boxing Article
Hillman Hopes to Outlast Valentine
See story at: Associated Press Article
Sasaki's Shoulder Flares Up Again
See story at: KOMO-TV Article
