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04/04/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Mori Asks to be Posted; Wada Hammered in Debut"
Kuwata Shuts Out Yokohama 5-0
Yomiuri Giants righthander Masumi Kuwata toyed with the Yokohama Bay Stars Tuesday at Tokyo Dome, going seven outstanding innings of four hit shutout ball while being supported by circuit clouts from rightfielder Roberto Petagine and catcher Shinnosuke Abe. Yokohama third baseman Katsuaki Furuki got some help from a fan in the leftfield bleachers, but that ultimately went for nought. More about that later.
Chris Holt continues to have ineffectiveness problems for the Stars, permitting four runs on 13 hits in six innings to accept blame for the defeat. If something similar happens in his next outing, he is likely bound for the minors if Steve Cox is ready to return.
Yokohama mounted a brief threat in the first inning, as shortstop Takuro Ishii walked and, one out later, leftfielder Takanori Suzuki hammered a double into the leftcenter alley. Ishii kicked third and made for the plate. Yomiuri leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu relayed that ball to shortstop Tomohiro Nioka, who gunned it to Abe, who applied the tag for the out in a bang bang play. Stars boss Daisuke Yamashita came out and really aired the umpire out and was lucky he didn't get tossed. Ishii suffered a shoulder bruise and left the game.
The Giants would then make some noise of their own, only there's was successful, in the home portion. Shimizu leadoff with a single to right. Nioka bunted what was supposed to be a sacrifice, but had good accidental placement and beat it out. Both men moved up on a groundout to first. Centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked to load the bases. Petagine lofted a fly ball to left and it was deep enough so that Shimizu could tag up and score for a 1-0 lead.
The Stars then attempted to counter in the second when Furuki belted 1 3-0 delivery deep to left. Shimizu went back to the wall and made a silly leap concidering how high the wall is. A fan reached over the fence and snared the ball, which would have carromed about a foot from the top. The third base umpire ruled correctly that it was a ground rule double. Yamashita came out and pleaded his case, but that was futile as well. By the way, that was Furuki's first knock of the year and a memorable one it was. Second baseman Shuichi Murata singled to left to put men on first and third. Catcher Satoshi Nakajima grounded hard to first, Takayuki Saito holding Furuki before stepping on the bag for the out. That brought Holt up and he grounded out to third to terminate the uprising and Yokohama wouldn't even get another hit until Furuki began the ninth with a single.
In the fourth, Giants second baseman Toshihisa Nishi bopped a one out single to center and went to second on a sac bunt. Shimizu laced a double into the rightfield corner and Nishi wheeled on in to enlarge the Yomiuri lead to 2-0.
Holt was touched for a pair of singles in the fifth, but extricated himself out of that dilemma by inducing a twin killing. He wouldn't find any such safe harbor in the sixth, though. Abe, who has a natural home run swing, socked the daylights out of a fastball way up into the rightfield seats and it was 3-0. One out later, Kuwata singled to right and Shimizu singled to center. Nioka singled to right and Kuwata held at third to pack the sacks. Saito grounded slowly to short and the only play was to first to redeem Kuwata and the gap with Yokohama was now 4-0.
Hisaki Tomioka came on for Yokohama to pitch the sixth and was greeted by Roberto Petagine imposing heavy manners on a ball down in the zone to manufacture a souvenir for the folks in the rightfield bleachers and make it 5-0.
Following Furuki's single in the ninth, closer Junichi Kawahara struckout the side to put this one to rest, Yomiuri's 800th victory against the Stars all time.
Kuwata turned 35 Tuesday and he and wife Maki and their two children went out to a Tokyo area restaurant to celebrate after the game.
This marked the first time in Giants history that the team has reached double figures in hits in its first four games. Their ten homers are also the most ever after four times out.
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 0-3 with two strikeouts and a walk and is at .214.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 2-2 with two RBIs and a walk and is at .286.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Holt (L, 0-1) IP 6.0 BF 31 PC 115 H 13 HR 1 K 4 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.00
Tomioka IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 35 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Yomiuri:
Kuwata (W, 1-0) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 108 H 4 HR 0 K 6 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Okajima IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
J. Kawahara IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
2B: T. Suzuki, K. Furuki, T. Shimizu
HR: S. Abe (3), Petagine (3)
RBI: T. Shimizu, Takayuki Saito, Petagine 2, S. Abe
SF: Petagine
GIDP: Motoki 2, Nioka
LOB: Yokohama 9, Yomiuri 11
Season Series: Yokohama 0, Yomiuri 1
Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Arisumi (1B), Kittaka (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)
Wada Error in Debut is a Loser for Daiei 5-3
Daiei Hawks number one draft choice Tsuyoshi Wada admitted to reporters that he was tense before making this, his first pro regular season start and it cost him big in the first inning, as he was victimized by an error that kept the first inning alive for the Kintetsu Buffaloes and then got taken downtown by first baseman Yuji Yoshioka for a blow that the birds of prey were unable to recover from in a 5-3 loss.
Hiroshi Takamura started for Kintetsu and was solid, going six innngs of two run ball on six hits, though it took him 107 pitches to do it.
In that pivotal initial stanza, centerfielder Naoyuki Omura walked on four pitches. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi laid down a sac bunt. Wada got to it and flipped to first, where it was dropped by Tadahito Iguchi, who had drifted over from second to take the throw on the play. Wada struckout the next two men, but with DH Fumitoshi Takano at the plate, Omura stole third on the fifth pitch in the sequence and was then plated on a single to center. Yoshioka dug in and saw an 84mph fastball that was up in the zone and mortared it into the centerfield bleachers for a big 4-0 lead.
From that point on, Wada found a nice groove and assembled five perfect innings. His teammates in the batting order, after going quietly the first three innings, woke up in the fourth. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki singled to center and leftfielder Pedro Valdez singled to right. Catcher Kenji Johjima lined one up the rightcenter gap and Kawasaki was in to make it 4-1 Kintetsu.
Valdez shrunk the disparity even further in the sixth when he crushed one over the centerfield wall and it was 4-2.
But in the seventh, Takano walked and, one out later, rightfielder Koichi Isobe scorched one into the rightcenter alley and Takano ran for his life to the promised land for a three run margin at 5-2 Kintetsu.
Buffs reliever Hideo Koike plunked first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka leading off the eighth. Ken Kadokura came in from the bullpen and Johjima whizzed a double to rightcenter to bring Iguchi to the plate. Iguchi could have knotted it with one swing, but he flew out to center, Matsunaka tagging and scoring to make it 5-3. Pinch hitter Mitsuru Honma walked and the tying run was on. However, third baseman Bryant Nelson struckout and pinch hitter Kazuyuki Takahashi flied out and the Hawks went down in order in the ninth to close it out.
The Buffs have now won five in a row right out of the chute for the first time in club history.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-4 and is at .429.
For Daiei, Valdez was 1-5 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .263. Nelson was 0-4 with three strikeouts and is at .235.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
T. Wada (L, 0-1) IP 6.2 BF 27 PC 122 H 3 HR 1 K 5 BB 4 R 5 ER 1 ERA 1.35
S. Yoshida IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 8 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K. Okamoto IP 0.2 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 10.80
Kintetsu:
Takamura (W, 1-0) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 107 H 6 HR 1 K 5 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.00
Misawa IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Koike IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Kadokura IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
A. Okamoto IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Iguchi
SB: Iguchi, N. Omura
2B: Isobe, Johjima 2
3B: Muramatsu
HR: Yoshioka (2), Matsunaka (2)
RBI: Matsunaka, Johjima, Iguchi, Takano, Yoshioka 3, Isobe
SF: Iguchi
HBP: Matsunaka (H. Koike)
GIDP: N. Nakamura
LOB: Daiei 9, Kintetsu 2
Season Series: Daiei 0, Kintetsu 2
Game Time: 3:25
Attendance: 15,000
Umpires: Yoshikawa (HP), Maeda (1B), Kodera (2B), Yamamura (3B)
Ramirez' Two Homers, Betts Blast Puts Swallows Over Dragons 9-4
Yakult Swallows leftfielder Alex Ramirez has been off to a pitiful start and there was even a rumor in the Japanese press that he was going to be sent down to the minors, but Tuesday at Nagoya Dome, he smoked a pair of homers and first baseman Todd Betts added a two run jack as the team's offense finally gave Yataro Sakamoto some run support in a 9-4 victory. Sakamoto didn't have one of his better nights, as he went 5.2 innings and was shaken down for four runs, but he has long had a game like this coming.
The Dragons appeared as if they were going to clean Sakamoto's clock in the first, as he walked both rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata and third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to center to load the bases. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa, however, grounded into a 5-2-3 double play. First baseman Ivan Cruz grounded one between first and second to push Ibata in for a 1-0 lead. Sakamoto then got the next man and escaped cheaply enough.
Yakult overcame that in the third when shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to right. Betts yanked a changeup down and in into the rightfield bleachers to put his side up 2-1. Ramirez followed by unleashing a cruise missile into the centerfield seats and it was 3-1 Swallows.
Next time up, it was second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi doubling off the leftfield fence with one away to get things rolling. One out later, Chunichi catcher Motonobu Tanishige let one get by him for a passed ball and Shiroishi advanced to third. Atsunori Inaba legged out a roller toward short and Shiroishi registered the run to make it 4-1 Swallows.
Valdes was cuffed around again in the fifth, as Ramirez singled to left and third baseman Ken Suzuki singled to right. Catcher Atsuya Furuta, still gutting out that broken finger, flambed a double to rightcenter to plate Ramirez. Rightfielder Shinichi Sato flew out to center and Suzuki tagged up and scored. Shiroishi singled to left and Furuta was back on the bench with a 7-1 lead.
Against that backdrop, Dragons' leftfielder Kazuki Inoue flushed a slider into the rightfield stands in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-2 Yakult.
But Ramirez would do it again in the sixth, following a walk to Miyamoto by clobbering an offering from reliever Yuichi Hisamoto into the leftfield seats and it was 9-2 Swallows.
Chunichi would respond, but with too little, in their share of the frame when Ochoa slapped a slider between short and third for a single to left, Cruz walked and Tanishige doubled to leftcenter to drive Ochoa in. Tatsuki Yamamoto relieved Sakamoto. Takayuki Onishi, pinch hitting for Inoue, flied out to right and Cruz tagged and crossed to make it 9-4 Yakult. Yamamoto, Ryota Igarashi and Toshihide Narimoto fashioned three perfect innings the rest of the way and that was the ballgame.
Betts, who once had dreams of playing in the NHL, asserts that he's not a replacement for Roberto Petagine. He's just doing the best he can. He used one of Akinori Iwamura's red bats in this game. We'll have to see if this becomes a trend.
Dragons' starter Marc Valdes was getting his pitches up and got pummeled.
For Yakult, Betts was 1-5 with two RBIs and is at .294. Ramirez was 3-4 with three RBIs and is at .313.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 2-4 and is at .412. Cruz was 1-3 with a walk and an RBI and is at .313.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Sakamoto (W, 1-0) IP 5.1 BF 24 PC 100 H 8 HR 1 K 3 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.75
Tat. Yamamoto IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
R. Igarashi IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Chunichi:
M. Valdes (L, 0-1) IP 5.0 BF 28 PC 100 H 11 HR 2 K 4 BB 1 R 7 ER 6 ERA 10.80
Hisamoto IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 31 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 27.00
T. Ogasawara IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 56 H 2 HR 0 K 5 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Tatsunami
2B: Fukudome, Shiroishi, Furuta, M. Araki, Tanishige, Iida
HR: Betts (2), Ramirez 2 (2), K. Inoue (1)
RBI: Betts, Ramirez 3, Furuta, S. Sato, Shiroishi, Cruz, Tanishige, K. Inoue, Onishi
SF: S. Sato, Onishi
PB: Tanishige
GIDP: Ochoa, Tanishige
LOB: Yakult 11, Chunichi 5
Season Series: Yakult 1, Chunichi 0
Game Time: 3:33
Attendance: 35,000
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Kasahara (1B), Watada (2B), Sasaki (3B).
Hanshin Gets Nine Runs in Last Three Innings to Stomp Carp 10-5
Hiroshima starter Shinji Sasaoka was ahead 2-2 going into the seventh, but then the Hanshin Tigers sent four runs across in that inning and then gave closer Yasuhiro Oyamada a good kicking for five more in the ninth to pull away for a 10-5 triumph Tuesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. The game also marked the first time that former Carp outfielder has made a regular season appearance against his old team in Hiroshima and he was treated to warm reception from the fans there.
Keiichi Yabu fared much better this time out as compared with his initial outing, as he spun seven innings of two run ball on four hits to win it, though the six walks he passed out assured that he had at least one man on in every inning save the fourth and fifth.
Hanshin gave Sasaoka a bit of a hassle in the first when centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi took a one out pitch on the elbow and moved up on a single to center by Kanemoto off of an 87mph fastball on the inner half of the plate. One out later, first baseman Shinjiro Hiyama walked to load the bases. Third baseman George Arias grounded to short, however, and it remained scoreless after one complete.
But in the second, Tigers catcher Akihiro Yano lambasted a Sasaoka pitch into the leftfield seats to put Hanshin up 1-0.
Hiroshima got their ducks in a row (mixed metaphor acknowledged) in the third when shortstop Andy Sheets wacked one off the rightfield wall for a double and centerfielder Koichi Ogata walked. First baseman Takahiro Arai singled to left to invite Sheets home and leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to center and the Carp had a 2-1 lead.
Both teams' bats took a snooze and then Hanshin's lineup flexed some muscle in theseventh. With one out, Yano doubled to left and shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to center to pump Yano in and even it at 2-2. Yabu sacrificed the runners along. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka walked to juice the bags. Akahoshi got a breaking ball on the inner half of the plate and spanked it between first and second and into right for an RBI. It appears that somebody was thrown out at the plate as well. Kanemoto worked the count full and then fouled off several pitches and then walked on a fastball inside to reload the bases. Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka, hitless his previous 17 trips to the batter's box this season, dropped a cut fastball in front of Jimmy Hurst in right for a two run single. Hiyama singled to right for another and it was 6-2 Tigers.
Shinji Taninaka replaced Yabu to open the eighth and walked Ogata and Arai. Makoto Yoshino was put in Taninaka's place and he surrendered a single to center by Maeda to jam the basepaths. Lou Pote was waved in and induced a ground ball to Fujimoto, who booted it and Ogata scored. One out later, substitute rightfielder Shigeru Morikasa singled to center and Arai and Maeda were plated to make it 6-5. Second baseman Akihiro Higashide grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, though, to keep Hanshin in the lead.
Oyamada ascended the hill in the top of the ninth and the Tigers mauled him. Akahoshi tripled in front of the rightcenterfield wall. Kanemoto singled to right to bring him in. Hamanaka singled to center. One out later, Arias walked to pack the sacks. Yano grounded out to third to convert Kanemoto. The runners moved up on a passed ball. Fujimoto blooped a single to center to pick up another two RBIs and it was 10-5 Hanshin.
Pote worked a perfect ninth, striking out the last two men, and it was "game setto."
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-5 with two strikeouts and is at .067. Hurst was 0-1 with two walks and is at .200.
For Hanshin, Arias was 0-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .267.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Yabu (W, 1-0) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 120 H 4 HR 0 K 6 BB 5 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
Taninaka IP 0.0 BF 2 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Yoshino IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 1 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
Pote (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hiroshima:
Sasaoka (L, 0-1) IP 6.2 BF 31 PC 124 H 8 HR 1 K 7 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 8.10
Nishikawa IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 13.50
M. Hayashi IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Oyamada IP 1.0 BF 8 PC 31 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 36.00
E: Fujimoto
SB: Fujimoto
2B: Sheets, A. Yano
3B: Akahoshi
HR: A. Yano (1)
RBI: T. Arai, T. Maeda, Machida, Morikasa 2, Akahoshi, Kanemoto, Hamanaka 2,
Hiyama, Yano 2, Fujimoto 3
WP: Yabu, Taninaka
PB: S. Nishiyama, Ishihara
HBP: Akahoshi (Sasaoka)
GIDP: Hamanaka, Sheets, Higashide
LOB: Hanshin 8, Hiroshima 7
Season Series: Hanshin 1, Hiroshima 0
Game Time: 3:35
Attendance: 15,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Yoshimoto (1B), Mori (2B), Suginaga (3B)
Nippon Ham Wins Another From Lotte 5-2
Leftfielder Angel Echevarria slugged a two run sixth inning homer and Itsuki Shoda threw 5.1 shutout innings, as the Nippon Ham Fighters downed the Chiba Lotte Marines 5-2 at Chiba Marine Stadium. Kosuke Kato started for the losers and went 5.1 innings of three run ball in defeat.
Second baseman Hiroshi Narahara cracked a one out single to center in the third for the Fighters and centerfielder Hichori Morimoto walked. Shortstop Makoto Kaneko singled to center for the first run of the ballgame. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to right and Morimoto scampered across for a 2-0 lead.
Kato was superb for the next couple of innings, but in the sixth, he walked DH Yukio Tanaka and Echevarria poleaxed one into the leftfield bleachers to make it 4-0. This would prove to be a big factor in this game.
In the eighth, with T. Kawai on the mound for Lotte, Tanaka singled to right and Echevarria doubled down the leftfield line. First baseman Takaya Hayashi singled to center to cash Tanaka in and it was 5-0 Fighters.
Yukihiro Sakurai was hoping to keep the shutout intact, but oh well. Lotte third baseman Rick Short singled to left and Tetsuya Kakiuchi, pinch hitting for catcher Masaumi Shimizu, boomed one into the leftfield bleachers and there went the shutout at 5-2. Sakurai retired the next three men and it was goodnight.
Sumo yokozuna Asashoryu threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.
For Lotte, DH Derrick May was 0-3 with a walk and is at .111. Short was 2-4 and is at .188.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .211.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Shoda (W, 1-0) IP 5.1 BF 22 PC 88 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Iwamoto IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
N. Takahashi IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Y.H. Sakurai IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 22 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.91
Lotte:
K. Kato (L, 0-1) IP 5.1 BF 22 PC 81 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 4 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.06
H.Y. Kobayashi IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 25 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.08
T. Kawai IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 26 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Funaki IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 26 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Narahara 2
2B: Nishiura, Fukuura, Echevarria
HR: Echevarria (1), Kakiuchi (1)
RBI: Kaneko, M. Ogasawara, Echevarria 2, T. Hayashi
PB: K. Yamada
HBP: Hori (Shoda)
GIDP: Kaneko
LOB: Nippon Ham 8, Lotte 9
Season Series: Nippon Ham 2, Lotte 0
Game Time: 3:14
Attendance: 9,000
Umpires: Akimura (HP), Yamamoto (1B), Sakaemura (2B), Tachibana (3B)
Solo Jacks by Tani and Brown Gets Orix First Win of Season
Of all the people who could beat the Seibu Lions, mondo mediocrity Satoshi Tokumoto would be one of the last names that would come to mind. But every dog has its day and Tokumoto had his Tuesday for Orix at Kobe Green Stadium in a 3-2 victory thanks to a pair of solo roundtrippers from centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani and leftfielder Roosevelt Brown.
Takashi Ishii, who has largely stunk before this start, had a strong showing with 7.2 innings of three run ball on seven hits and 96 pitches for the Lions.
Tokumoto held the Seibu lineup to two runs on seven hits in eight innings for his first win of the year.
Both hurlers kept a lid on the opposition force until the fifth, when Orix got a break. Rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi leadoff with an infield hit and DH Kota Soejima singled to left, Katsuragi going all out to third and sliding in safely. Second baseman Keiichi Hirano laid down the squeeze and it was 1-0 Blue Wave.
The Lions restored equilibrium in the home half when centerfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji singled to left, Third baseman Scott McClain singled to right and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada singled to center to drive Miyaji in to make it 1-1.
However, with one away in the eighth, Tani pasted one into the leftfield seats to put Orix in front 2-1. One out later, Brown slammed an Ishii pitch into the rightfield stands and it was 3-1.
Tokumoto aimed to go all the way in the ninth and that was almost a miscalculation. Wada singled to right. Orix manager Hiromichi Ishige went to the bullpen for Jun Hagiwara. DH Hiroyuki Shibata walked. First baseman Kiroaki Ueda grounded to first baseman Scott Sheldon, who went to second for the force. Pinch hitter Hiroyuki Oshima struckout. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi ripped one down the leftfield line for an RBI double. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui was intentionally walked to load the bases. Rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki, who hit over .300 last season, was next, needing only a single to send the winning run in. But he grounded to first and Orix' four game losing streak this season and nine games going back to the end of the 2002 schedule, was at an end.
For Seibu, McClain was 1-3 with a walk and is at .333.
For Orix, Brown was 2-4 with an RBI and a steal and is at .294. Third baseman Jose Ortiz was 0-3 and is at .176. Sheldon was 1-4 and is at .300.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Takashi Ishii (L, 0-1)IP 7.2 BF 30 PC 96 H 7 HR 2 K 3 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.52
T. Hoshino IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Orix:
Tokumoto (W, 1-0) IP 8.0 BF 32 PC 106 H 7 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.25
J. Hagiwara (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Ortiz, Takashi Ishii
SB: Brown
2B: Miyaji, H. Takagi
HR: Tani (1), Brown (1)
RBI: H. Wada, H. Takagi, Tani, Brown, Hirano
IBB: K. Matsui (J. Hagiwara)
GIDP: Ortiz, H. Takagi, Hirano
LOB: Seibu 9, Orix 4
Season Series: Seibu 1, Orix 1
Game Time: 2:34
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Tamba (HP), Sato (1B), Kakigizono (2B), Higashi (3B)
Team Reports
Chunichi Makoto Kito made a minor league appearance and went three innings of two run ball on three hits. One of those runs was unearned.
Seibu Setup man Shinji Mori says that he wants to be posted, according to Hochi Sports. Mori is 28 and apparently wants to fulfill his dream of playing in MLB before he's 30. He told his ballclub this during contract negotiations. The Lions have indicated that they would have been positively disposed about posting Kazuo Matsui this offseason and even stated that they would post ace Daisuke Matsuzaka if he requested it. But for right now, they are non-commital on what to do with Mori. The righthander has a good forkball and a low 90's fastball, but he is also prone to hang that splitter. Nonetheless, he is better qualitatively than Takashi Saito, who drew some interest from St. Louis, Texas, and Boston, before money considerations ultimately kept Saito in Japan.
Koshien Tournament Vietnamese-Japanese lefthander Kwen Tran Phuoc An was in another marathon faceoff during the Koshien Spring High School Baseball Tournament, as he followed a 15 inning complete game thant ended up not counting due to it being a tie with a three inning relief performance that saw him and his Toyodai Himeiji High squad win it in the bottom of the tenth on a bases loaded wild pitch against Hanasaki Tokuei High School. They will now move into the semifinals for the first time in 25 years. An, who started at first base and made two errors that got his team behind but then redeemed himself with a game tying triple, threw a total of 234 pitches over two days to finally get this victory. Losing pitcher Masashi Fukumoto went all 25 innings in defeat for a total of 242 deliveries. An, in a great display of sportsmanship, said that he was sorry that the game ended the way it did.
Today's Pictures
Masumi Kuwata From a Batter's Perspective
Todd Betts Puts the Needle in the Red Zone
Another View of Betts' Homer Swing
