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05/01/2003 Archived Entry: "Japan Baseball News: Tigers 1st Place Lead Widens, Carp in 2nd Place "
Japan Baseball News: Tigers 1st Place Lead Widens, Carp in 2nd Place
by Robert Kiyoshi Shadlow
Sources: Japan Times (May 2, 2003);Tacoma News Tribune (May 1, 2003)
Hanshin Tigers 3 - Yomiuri Giants 1:
The Tigers swept all three games from the Giants at the latest series at Koshien. Hanshin has won five games and tied one game with no losses this year to Yomiuri Kyogin.
Doubles by Tomoaki Kanemoto and Atsushi Kataoka drove in the go-ahead run and the winning run in
the fifth inning.
Keiichi Yabu (2-1) pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up one run and five hits to win the game.
Australian Jeff Williams picked up his eighth save of 2003 despite having allowed a hit and hitting a batter.
Matt Randel lost the game having yielded three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Hiroshima Carp 3 - Chunichi Dragons 2 (10 innings):
Shigeru Morikasa brought in the game-winning run with a 10th inning single to slip past Chunichi at Hiroshima Stadium.
The Carps' fourth "sayonara win" of 2003 lifted the team into second place in the Central League.
Yokohama BayStars 9 - Yakult Swallows 3:
Domingo Guzman (2-2) struck out 10 Swallows yielding two earned runs and eight hits in a complete game win at Jingu Stadium.
The Baystars' No. 1 draft pick Shuichi Murata hit a pair of two-run homers to for his eigth nd ninth home runs of 2003.
The Pacific League played no games on Thursday.
News:
After Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui met, there was a rumor that Kazuhiro Sasaki had a sign over his locker that read "I will not answer questions on Matsui."
Shigetoshi Hasegawa said, "They don't get anything right here," because the sign was over Shige's locker not Kazu's.
I think Hasegawa is carrying on the Mariner clubhouse "jokester" role that Jay Buhner and Tom Paciorek used to hold.
The April 29, 2003 MLB.com
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sea/news/sea_news.jsp?ymd=20030429&content_id=295105&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp
has an article on Kazuhiro Sasaki's rehabilition progress.
This article has a great picture of Sasaki and Ichiro with Shigeo Nagashima at Yankee Stadium.
Nippon Professional Baseball
May 2, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
18 10 1 .643 Hanshin Tigers
13 11 0 .542 3.0 Hiroshima Carp
15 13 0 .536 3.0 Yakult Swallows
13 12 1 .520 3.5 Yomiuri Giants
15 14 0 .517 3.5 Chunichi Dragons
6 20 0 .231 11.0 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
16 11 0 .593 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
14 13 0 .519 2.0 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
14 14 0 .500 2.5 Seibu Lions
12 13 0 .480 3.0 Chiba Lotte Marines
12 13 1 .480 3.0 Nippon Ham Fighters
10 14 1 .417 4.5 Orix Blue Wave
