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05/21/2003 Archived Entry: "Japan Baseball News: Rhodes Hits 18th HR; Hanshin Leads By 7 Games in CL"
Japan Baseball News: Rhodes Hits 18th HR; Hanshin Leads By 7 Games in CL
by Robert Kiyoshi Shadlow
Sources: Japan Times (May 22, 2033); Mainichi Daily (May 22, 2003)
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 6 - Nippon Ham Fighters 4:
Hiroshi Shibahara and Nobuhiko Matsunaka both had solo home runs to beat the Fighters at Tokyo Dome.
Brandon Knight notched the win yielding three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 11 - Seibu Lions 3:
Koichi Isobe blasted a fifth inning grand slam and Tuffy Rhodes hit his 18th home run in the first inning to help trounce the Lions at Osaka Dome.
Orix BlueWave 10 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3:
The BlueWave drove in five runs in the second inning including Scott Sheldon's solo home run to drown the Marines in Kobe.
Home runs by Takashi Miwa, Ikuro Katsuragi, Roosevelt Brown, and another solo shot by Sheldon further flooded Lotte.
Hanshin Tigers 7 - Hiroshima Carp 1:
Akihiro Yano drove in four runs to lead the Tigers over the Carp at Koshien Stadium. Atsushi Kataoka also blasted a second inning two run homer.
Keiichi Yabu gave up only one and four hits in seven innings to earn the victory.
Yomiuri Giants 2 - Yakult Swallows 1:
Yoshinobu Takahashi hit a game winning home run in the sixth inning to slip past the Swallows at Fukuoka Dome.
Hisanori Takahashi pitched a five hit complete game for the win.
Giants outfielder Chris Latham duplicated Red Sox Trot Nixon's unusual play by tossing Ken Suzuki's pop fly ball into the stands with only two outs in the sixth inning. Shinya Miyamoto scored from second base for the Swallows tieng run.
It must be difficult to count to three.
Yokohama BayStars 11 - Chunichi Dragons 6:
Tyrone Woods and Takanori Suzuki both connected with two run homers to crush the Dragons in Yokohama.
Nippon Professional Baseball
May 22, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
29 14 1 .674 Hanshin Tigers
21 20 1 .512 7.0 Yomiuri Giants
22 22 0 .500 7.5 Chunichi Dragons
19 19 0 .500 7.5 Hiroshima Carp
22 22 0 .500 7.5 Yakult Swallows
13 29 0 .310 15.5 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
27 16 1 .628 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
25 18 0 .581 2.0 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
23 20 1 .535 4.0 Seibu Lions
19 23 0 .452 7.5 Chiba Lotte Marines
16 24 2 .400 9.5 Nippon Ham Fighters
14 23 2 .378 10.0 Orix BlueWave
Current NPB All-Star Voting Site can be found at:
http://allstar.sanyo.co.jp/result/index_e.html
Here is the site to vote for the Japanese All-Star Team:
http://allstar.sanyo.co.jp/vote/index_e.html
