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04/09/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: May Spearheads Drubbing of Kintetsu 11-3"
May Homer, Three RBIs Whips Beirne, Kintetsu 11-3
If you were a Kintetsu Buffaloes pitcher Monday at Chiba Marine Stadium, you just flat out got hurt, as Kevin Beirne was abused for four runs in five innings on eight hits and relievers Hideo Koike and Tomokazu Teramaura saw another seven cross the plate
against them in an 11-3 cakewalk by Lotte. Shingo Ono started for the home team and notched his first victory of the season with six innings of one run ball on five hits to put Lotte back at .500 for the first time since September of 2001.
Kintetsu had its only lead of the game in the first, as second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi and leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes single to left and third baseman Norihiro Nakamura work a walk that loaded the bases. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe flied out to center and Mizuguchi tagged up and scored to make it 1-0 Buffs.
Lotte evened it in the bottom of the inning when centerfielder Saburo Omura singled to left and went to second. One out later, DH Derrick May singled to center and Omura was plated to make it 1-1. Lotte then loaded the bases, but third baseman Rick Short grounded out to end it.
Ono pitched out of jams in the second and third and then got some more run support when Lotte took its turn. With one away, May walked and Beirne plunked second baseman Koichi Hori. One out later, Short singled to right to usher May in for a 2-1 Lotte advantage.
Then in the fourth, Lotte shortstop Makoto Kosaka walked and stole second. He was advanced on sac bunt and leftfielder Jun Inoue redeemed him with a double to right. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura whistled a shot down the rightfield line to cash Inoue in and expand the gap between the two sides to 4-1.
Two innings later, Lotte put it way out of reach when Yukihiko Sato, pinch hitting for Inoue, and Fukuura both walked with one out off of Koike. Takenori Daita was dispatched to pinch run for Sato. May singled to right to see Daita in. Hori singled Fukuura in. Teramura was summoned from the pen. The runners moved up on a groundout. Short singled to left for an RBI. Catcher Masaumi Shimizu walked to pack the sacks. Kosaka also wheedled a freebie to force Hori in. Omura singled to center and Shimizu and Short scooted across and it was now out of hand at 10-1 Lotte.
May got a cookie in the seventh and deposited the crumbs in the rightfield bleachers and it was 11-1 Lotte.
Kintetsu pushed a pair across in the ninth against reliever Satoshi Funaki when DH Kenshi Kawaguchi got aboard on a Fukuura error and shortstop Tadatoki Maeda singled to center. One out later, pinch hitter Shimoyama walked to jam the basepaths. Reserve second baseman Yusuke Takasu drilled a double into the leftfield corner for the two runs to cut it to 11-3. But Funaki then fanned Rhodes and Nakamura to put it to bed.
For Lotte, May was 3-4 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .258. Short was 2-5 with two RBIs and is at .286.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-3 with two walks and two strikeouts and is at .359.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Beirne (L, 1-1) IP 5.0 BF 27 PC 114 H 8 HR 0 K 4 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.38
H. Koike IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 15.43
Teramura IP 2.2 BF 15 PC 59 H 5 HR 1 K 2 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 7.71
Lotte:
S. Ono (W, 1-1) IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 123 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 5 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
S. Fujita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Funaki IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 44 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 1.50
E: Fukuura, N. Nakamura, Beirne
SB: Kosaka
2B: J. Inoue, Fukuura, Takasu
HR: May (2)
RBI: Takasu 2, Isobe, S. Omura 2, J. Inoue, Fukuura, May 3, Hori, Short 2, Kosaka
SF: Isobe
WP: S. Ono
HBP: Hori (Beirne)
GIDP: Yoshioka, S. Omura
LOB: Kintetsu 10, Lotte 11
Season Series: Kintetsu 0, Lotte 1
Game Time: 3:41
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Yamazaki (HP), Shinya (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Tachibana (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Sports Nippon is saying that Akira Etoh, who is 0-13 so far this season and 0-29 if you go back into the exhibition season, is definitely headed to the minors, probably on Friday....The Giants minor league pitchers are getting bombed bigtime and the Yomiuri farm club has lost five in a row.
Yakult Jason Beverlin will make his first Japan start on the 13th against Yokohama, according to Hochi Sports. Monday, he threw 63 pitches in the bullpen, using all of his pitches. Manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu commented after the session, "He has a nice curve and good control. He's suited to Japan." Coaches indicated that Beverlin may get some relief assignments before being given a shot at a rotation slot. The Ohio native told a reporter from Sankei Sports that he had talked to Dan Gladden and Bill Gullickson about what it's like to play in Japan. Furthermore, he likes sushi and he will be bringing his three year old son to Japan in the coming weeks....Yataro Sakamoto, who is scheduled to start against Yomiuri Tuesday, says that he wants to use his cutter to bore in on Roberto Petagine in hopes of sawing him off. Last season, catcher Atsuya Furuta ordered the youngster to study Kenshin Kawakami's cutter and acquire it for his own....Shugo Fujii is looking into options other than elbow surgery that will keep him out of action for at least a year and they are talking that it might actually result in a two year blank careerwise for him. If there is that much damage, however, Fujii will have little choice but to undergo the knife.
Chunichi Manager Hisashi Yamada says that Akinori Otsuka will be used in middle relief while Eddie Gaillard will still be the closer. Between Gaillard and Otsuka, that's 220 saves lifetime....Rookie Yoshimi Sakurai's shore shoulder was diagnosed as an inflammation. He won't throw for another week in order to rest it, but he will still participate in workouts....Kenjiro Kawasaki threw 47 pitches in batting practice Monday, all fastballs. He said that he's at 80-90% physically, but that his control was off. He is hoping to throw at least once ever ten days or so, meaning that he is rather unlikely to see any action until late in the season, if that.
Hanshin Yasuhiro Nakamura has been sent to the minors and Kyuji Fujikawa elevated in his place....Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto says that the Chunichi Dragons' relief corps is "scary" and he hops his team can beat up on the starters before the manager Hisashi Yamada can summon somebody from the pen. Chunichi leads the Central League in scoring after its nine games at 6.11 per, so Kanemoto had also better hope that his own starting staff can hold the opposition in check....Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto is looking forward to an upcoming game with the Chunichi Dragons, as he hit .311 against them last season with six homers, according to Sports Nippon.
Hiroshima First baseman Takahiro Arai is hitless in his last 18 at bats, and so he took special hitting practice Monday. Coaches say that Arai's swing has gotten long and he's getting out on his front foot a bit, so they worked on correcting those faults.
Yokohama Manager Daisuke Yamashita spent the morning visiting his late father's grave site in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. A company that Yamashita's family runs has bought up 1000 tickets for a game in Shizuoka and handed them out to workers and clients.
Seibu Rookie Shuichi Osada spent his Monday tuning up for his start Wednesday by throwing 40 pitches in the bullpen. When the team got into the airport the previous night, a fan shouted out at him as if his last name was "Nagata, which is one of three ways that one can read the characters for his name. They can also be read as "Ozata."
Nippon Ham Manager Trey Hillman spent his Monday night at a beer garden in Sapporo getting to know the locals. He told a reporter for Sankei Sports that until his family comes back to Japan, he wants to spend as much time as possible with the fans. Before that, he had an autograph session. After Tuesday's game, he will head to Asahikawa to press more flesh....The team also spent more than $35,000 for a special seating area behind the plate for advance scouts to observe the action. Before, they had to view the action from higher up, making it harder to see.
Lotte Jose Fernandez took batting practice with this new team Monday. With the former Angel and Cub's addition, Rick Short may be moved to the outfield while Fernandez would be installed at third.
Hideki Matsui According to Baseball.com, Matsui is the first Yankees player to hit in his first sxi major league games since Joe Lefebvre in 1980.
Miscellaneous For those of you who remember ex-major league outfielder George Hendrick, his son Brian has played the last few years for both Isuzu Motors and Toyota Motors in the Japanese pro baseketball league as a 6'7" center.
Today's Pictures
Akira Etoh Trying to Save His Job
Trey Hillman Shows Off His Ability with Chopsticks While Eating Shabu Shabu
Rick Short Smacks One of His Two Hits on the Night
Matsui a Marketing Bonanza
See story at: Stamford Advocate Article
Matsui to Make Yankee Stadium Debut Tuesday
See story at: Atlanta Journal-Constitution Article
Ma Hae-yeong Belts Two Homers to Beat Doosan
See story at: Korea Times Article
