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08/13/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Masahiro Kawai, Meet Eddie Collins; Hanshin Four Time Losers"
Sheets, Maeda Homers Extend Hanshin Losing Skein to Four 3-2
Sunday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, the phrase "shi no roodo (literally, "road of death," or more euphoniously, "death march"), when "shi" also meant "four," for the number of losses the Hanshin Tigers have suffered in a row, going down to defeat at the hands (fins?) of the Hiroshima Carp 3-1. Hanshin ace Kei Igawa, looking to tie a team record with 13 straight wins, accepted the loss to stanch the streak at 12, as he was bested by Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda improved to 6-8 by limiting the Osaka contingent to six hits over 7.2 innings, striking out six and walking three.
Igawa got behind right away, as in the bottom of the first, second baseman Takuya Kimura leadoff with a single to right and went to second on a sac bunt. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata spanked a changeup into left to usher Kimura in to make it 1-0 Carp.
Then in the fourth, Hiroshima leftfielder Tomonori Maeda put a beating on an 89mph fastball over the other half of the plate and deposited it into the packed centerfield bleachers to expand that hegemony to 2-0.
Hanshin replied in the top of the fifth when third baseman Atsushi Kataoka ripped a double into the leftfield corner and completed the circuit on two groundouts, rightfielder Yutaka Nakamura grabbing the RBI with a productive out to halve the home team's lead to 2-1.
Hiroshima had the bases loaded on a single and two walks with two gone, but let it slip through their fingers when Kimura flew out to right to end the inning.
Now who would have envisioned Andy Sheets as anyone's cleanup hitter before the season started? That's where he is now and he responded by burying a hanging breaking ball into the leftfield stands with two away and Hiroshima was back up by a pair at 3-1.
Tigers first baseman George Arias is in another monster slump and he foiled a rally in the eighth. Pinch hitter Yoshinori Okihara kicked off the frame with a single to center. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi failed to get down a sac bunt and ended up grounding into a 6-4-3 double play. Shortstop Teruyoshi Kuji walked. Rookie closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa was summoned from the bullpen. CL batting leader Makoto Imaoka singled to center. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto grounded to Sheets, who made an unspecified fielder's choice where the runner was in ahead of his throw to load the bases. But Arias bit on a filthy forkball for a strikeout and Nagakawa put away three of the four men he faced in the ninth to seal it and set a team rookie record with his 19th save.
Not only did Akahoshi blow the sac bunt, but he also was picked off in the third. Not good things to do when your boss is the hot tempered Senichi Hoshino.
Igawa's outpitch is his changeup and he also has a pretty good slider, but in this one, he revved his fastball up to 92mph, a personal best. Nevertheless, velocity isn't his game. He was inconsistent, delivering to the plate at least 20 times in each inning.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .327.
For Hanshin, Arias was 0-4 and is at .257.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Igawa (L, 14-4)IP 7.0 BF 32 PC 143 H 8 HR 2 K 8 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.83
Ando IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.26
Hiroshima:
Kuroda (W, 6-8) IP 7.2 BF 29 PC 112 H 6 HR 0 K 6 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.70
Nagakawa (S, 19) IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.24
E: Arias
2B: Kataoka
SB: Ogata, K. Nomura
HR: T. Maeda (17), Sheets (16)
RBI: Y. Nakamura, Ogata, T. Maeda, Sheets
IBB: Ishihara (Igawa)
GIDP: Imaoka, Akahoshi
Season Series: Hanshin 12, Hiroshima 7
Game Time: 3:30
Attendance: 28,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Uemoto (1B), Sasaki (2B), Tsuchiyama (3B)
Matsunaka, Muramatsu Combine for 7 RBIs to Bake Nippon Ham
On a steamy, rainy night when neither starter felt confortable with the mound at Fukushima's Azuma Stadium, Daiei Hawks rookie lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada earned his 12th win and possibly locked up the Rookie of the Year award by holding Nippon Ham to two runs on back to back solo homers in the seventh in a 13-2 trouncing of the Fighters. Carlos Mirabal was seeking his 15th win, but instead was rocked for seven runs, five earned, in just a touch over four innings to get hung with his seventh kuroboshi.
Mirabal was back on his heels from the outset, as centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to right for the first of his four hits to commence the first and third baseman Munenori Kawasaki walked. Mirabal plunked second baseman Tadahito Iguchi to pack the sacks. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka flied out to left and Muramatsu tagged up and hustled across with the contest's initital run, Kawasaki also tagging up and motoring to third. He then scored when a pitch got by catcher Shinji Takahashi for a passed ball. Catcher Kenji Johjima flied out to center and Iguchi tagged and blazed on in and the birds of prey had an opportunistic 3-0 lead.
Wada struckout the side in the second and another man in the third for a four whiff binge and was cruising. However, Mirabal was not.
In the fifth, shortstop Yusuke Torigoe ignited another Hawks revolt with a single to right and Muramatsu singled to center. Both men were advanced on a sac bunt. Iguchi singled to right to push Torigoe over. Matsunaka got real gone to right for three more and it was 7-0 Daiei. Manager Trey Hillman went to the pen and Mirabal's night was done.
Wada still had the Fighters eating out of his hand until the seventh, when he hung a changeup to DH Kazuteru Shimada, who mortared it into the leftcenterfield seats, and left a fastball over the middle of the plate to Takahashi, who jerked it into the leftfield bleachers to make it 7-2. That was the first time that Wada had permitted consecutive bombs in his short pro career.
The Fukuoka side's lineup went back to work and turned this into a laugher in the eighth, as leftfielder Pedro Valdes singled to center and went to second on a groundout. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara singled to left, Valdez holding at third. One out later, Muramatsu drilled a shot up the rightcenter alley and Valdez and the speed merchant Shibahara registered at the home depot to break it open at 9-2.
The following stanza, Matsunaka cracked a one out single to right and was pinch run for by Mitsuru Honma. One out later, Valdez did likewise. DH Julio Zuleta singled near the line in left and Honma strode in.Shibahara produced a carbon copy of Zuleta's knock and it was 11-2. Torigoe singled to center to recall Zuleta. Muramatsu singled to right and 13 became a lucky number for Daiei. Shintaro Yoshitake set the Fighters lineup down in order in the bottom of the inning and it was over.
Daiei is now a seaosn high 22 games over .500. They have scored in double figures 15 times during the campaign, second to Hanshin's 17. They have also manufactured ten or more hits in 13 of their last 15 games, so they are on an offensive roll.
Wada is the first Hawks rookie to win 12 games in 33 years. The great Tadashi Sugiura had the most team rookie victories with 27.
For Nippon Ham, leftfielder Angel Echevarria was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .242.
For Daiei, Valdes was 4-5 and is at .305. Zuleta, who will probably be asked back for 2004, was 1-4 with a walk and an RBI and is at .313.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
T. Wada (W, 12-3) IP 8.0 BF 31 PC 126 H 5 HR 2 K 9 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.99
Yoshitake IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.44
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal (L, 14-7) IP 4.1 BF 22 PC 66 H 6 HR 1 K 0 BB 3 R 7 ER 5 ERA 4.76
Tateishi IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 39 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.79
A. Shimizu IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.13
Shibakusa IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 32 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.60
Date IP 1.0 BF 9 PC 33 H 6 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 2.79
2B: Muramatsu
HR: Matsunaka (18), K. Shimada (7), S. Takahashi (9)
RBI: Muramatsu 3, Iguchi, Matsunaka 4, Johjima, Zuleta, Shibahara, Torigoe, K.
Shimada, S. Takahashi
SF: Matsunaka, Johjima
HBP: Iguchi (Mirabal)
PB: S. Takahashi
LOB: Daiei 7, Nippon Ham 5
Season Series: Daiei 13, Nippon Ham 8 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 13,000
Umpires: Akimura (HP), Kawaguchi (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Yomiuri Blows Four Run Lead in 11-11 Tie; Kawai Ties Collins
The Yomiuri Giants arson squad was back in action Sunday against Yakult at Tokyo Dome, as it squandered a four run lead in an eventual 11-11 12 inning tie. Rookie of the Year candidate Hiroshi Kisanuki received a good kicking from the Swallows batters, leaving after four innings upon surrendering six runs on eight hits and four walks.
But Yakult rookie Shohei Tateyama, making his first pro start, was equally ineffective, as he was tattooed for five runs on six hits, two of them homers, in 4.1 innings. Lucky him that his teammates were in a generous mood with the run support. And this was in the wake of being staked to a 5-0 early lead.
This little track meet got underway for real in the second inning when first baseman Ken Suzuki walked with one out and second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi thundered his second homer in less than a week into the leftfield stands to guide the Swallows to the head of the line 2-0.
Next time up, Yakult obtained what mush have felt like a more comfortable margin when leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to left with two away and third baseman Akinori Iwamura and catcher Atsuya Furuta both walked to load the bases. Suzuki cleared the logjam on the basepaths by shredding a Kisanuki delivery up the leftcenterfield gap to extend the Swallows lead to 5-0.
Yomiuri got one back in the home portion when Chris Latham, just called back up from the minors a couple of days ago, did his El Kabong imitation and powered one into the leftcenterfield bleachers and it was 5-1 Yakult.
The Giants; crosstown rivals retaliated in the top of the fourth when shortstop Shinya Miyamoto mashed a one out drive to rightcenter for a two bagger and centerfielder Atsunori Inaba steered one up through the middle for an RBI single to restore a five run advantage at 6-1.
Los Gigantes, though, stomped back in the fray during their ups, as leftfielder Roberto Petagine singled to center and catcher Shinnosuke Abe bigtimed one to straightaway center for a two run homer to make it 6-3 Swallows.
Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka, a clutch performer for sure, bit further into the Yakult lead in the fifth. Latham walked to open the inning and speedster Takahiro Suzuki, getting a rare chance to play second base, beat out a roller toward short. They were sacrificed along to bring up Nioka, who converted with a single to left to make it 6-5 Swallows and get Tateyama out of the game in favor of Futoshi Yamabe.
Yakult put together an Inaba single to left, an infield hit by Ramirez, a walk to Furuta that filled the bases, and, following a first to home forceout, a single to left from Dobashi and it was 7-5 Swallows.
Latham returned serve with a long distance runaround into the centerfield seats to leadoff the seventh off of Ryota Igarashi. One out later, third baseman Masahiro Kawai singled to right. Two hitters after that, Pinch hitter Akira Etoh walked. Hirotoshi Ishii was substituted for Igarashi. Backup second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to right to see Kawai in. Abe came up again and thumped it over the rightfield wall for a three run homer and an 11-7 Giants advantage. On this night, the so-called "Rocket Boys" were handing rockets out.
Yomiuri reliever Yukinaga Maeda, though, was no improvement. Inaba singled to right and Ramirez doubled down the leftfield line. One out later, Furuta grounded to short to score Inaba. Ken Suzuki sheared one down the rightfield line for two bases and an RBI. Julio Santana spelled Maeda. Dobashi doubled off the leftfield wall to welcome Suzuki in and the Yomiuri lead was almost history at 11-10.
Ryu Kawabata wriggled out of a two on, two out predicament in the bottom of the eighth to maintain the statsu quo. Shinichi Sato was then sent up to pinch hit for Kawabata in the top of the ninth and pounded his fourth pinch hit dinger of the season to rightcenter and Santana had a blown save and the Swallows had an 11-11 tie. Nobody could muster all that much the rest of the way and so it was written that everybody kissed their sisters and went back to the hotel.
With wife Hidemi and his four kids in the stands, Kawai was dispatched to pinch hit in the fifth and laid down a sacrifice bunt on the first pitch he saw, a slider that was running out of the strike zone, the 511th such bunt of his career, tying former Philadelphia A's second baseman Eddie Collins' pro world record. It is perhaps the only sac bunt that got a standing ovation in history. His first sac bunt was on June 13 1985. He also once owned the record for most sac bunts in a season when he tapped out 66 in 1991. In 1997, she was 47-47 in sac bunt attempts. So no doubt Kawai will be called Japan's God of Sacrifices.
The six runs Kisanuki gave up were the most he has been mugged for so far.
Tateyama, who had arthroscopic shoulder surgery his senior year in college, said that his pitches weren't doing much. Yeah, we noticed.
Between the two teams, they used 16 pitchers, which ties a CL record.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 4-7 and is at .340. Todd Betts was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .297.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 1-3 with a walk and is at .284. Latham was 2-5 with two RBIs, a walk and two strikeouts and is at .171.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Tateyama IP 4.1 BF 19 PC 69 H 6 HR 2 K 5 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 10.13
Yamabe IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.35
Ryo. Igarashi IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 21 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.27
H. Ishii IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 15 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.08
Kawabata IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 14 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.68
Y. Sakamoto IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.59
H. Sato IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.38
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.35
Yomiuri:
Kisanuki IP 4.0 BF 24 PC 98 H 8 HR 1 K 6 BB 4 R 6 ER 6 ERA 2.77
Kawamoto IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.36
Okajima IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 25 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.06
Kubo IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.89
Y. Maeda IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 28 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.83
Santana IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 19 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.28
Bailey IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 40 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.31
Kamoshida IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 11.00
2B: K. Suzuki 2, S. Miyamoto, Ramirez, Dobashi
HR: Dobashi (2), Latham 2 (3), S. Abe 2 (15), S. Sato (4)
RBI: S. Sato, Inaba, Furuta, K. Suzuki 4, Dobashi 4, Nioka 2, Nishi 2, S. Abe 5, Latham 2
IBB: Dobashi (Kisanuki)
WP: H.Ishii
HBP: Inaba (Santana)
PB: S. Abe
GIDP: Ramirez (6-4-3)
LOB: Yakult 14, Yomiuri 5
Season Series: Yakult 9, Yomiuri 11 1 Tie
Game Time: 5:26
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Nishimoto (1B), Yoshimoto(2B), Ino (3B)
Seibu Lineup Draws Four Deuces to Beat Lotte 11-5
The Seibu Lions got two RBIs apiece from shortstop Kazuo Matsui, leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada, third baseman Scott McClain and catcher Toru Hosokawa while Fumiya Nishiguchi grabbed his first win since May 12th as the beasts of Tokorozawa rolled to an 11-5 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines at Chiba Marine Stadium. Sidearming Lions reliever Tetsuya Shiozaki also became the 72nd hurler in Japanese pro history to appear in 500 games.
Naoyuki Shimziu, going for his tenth triumph for Lotte, was screwed, blued and tattooed for nine runs, eight earned, on ten hits in his worst outing of the season and fell to 9-7. But that's what happens when you leave a lot of pitches over the heart of the plate.
Matsui, who has been blast furnace hot with a .432 average in his last ten games, inaugurated the onslaght with an infield hit out toward second and then advanced on a sac bunt. Wada, who is nuclear hot over his last ten matches with a .550 mark, singled to right and before the seats are even warm, the visitors have the upper hand 1-0.
Then it was back on the chain gang again for Seibu in the second, as rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima walked, McClain singled to left and each were moved up 90 feet on a sac bunt. Hosokawa swung and missed at a pitch in the dirt for strike three, but the ball got behind catcher Tomoya Satozaki. In his haste to get the ball to first for the out, he threw it away and both runner scored to make it 3-0.
In the fourth, Hosokawa bashed a double into the leftcenter alley with two outs and second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi singled to right. Takagi somehow managed to get himself to second, though the game log doesn't indicate how. Matsui singled to center to redeem his teammates and expand the Lions lead to 5-0.
But Nishiguchi would find rough seas in the fifth. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka and leftfielder Rick Short each singled to right. Jose Fernandez destroyed a Nishiguchi offering and field the remnants in the leftfield stands and it was 5-3 Seibu.
However, the Lions rumbled back when their turn came. Wada singled to right. One out later, Shimizu hit rookie DH Taketoshi Goto with a pitch. One more out later, McClain tried to leave early to the righthand side, but pinged the ball off the wall instead for a pair of RBIs. Hosokawa then put a charge into one and launched it into the leftfield bleachers to put it in the bank for Seibu 9-3.
Lotte attempted to at least defend their honor in the seventh when first baseman Kazuya Fukuura caved one into the rightfield stands. Second baseman Koichi Hori singled to right. One out later, third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba doubled up the leftcenter gap and Hori put it in fourth for home to get within a granny at 9-5.
Seibu, though, rubbed it in some more in the top of the ninth, as Fumikazu Takanami zipped one into the leftfield corner for a standup double and Wada cashed him in with a double to rightcenter. One out later, Goto singled to center to pickup Wada and that was your final score, 11-5.
Nishiguchi, who was consistently clocked in the high 80's, was glad to get the victory, but he didn't particularly care for his performance, saying his command left a lot to be desired.
For Lotte, Short was 1-4 and is at .277. Fernandez was 1-4 with three RBIs and is at .267.
For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera was 1-4 and is at .328. McClain was 2-3 with two RBIs and is at .228.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Nishiguchi (W, 4-3) IP 6.2 BF 27 PC 110 H 6 HR 2 K 7 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 6.88
Mitsui IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.79
T. Shiozaki IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.93
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (L, 9-7) IP 5.0 BF 27 PC 98 H 10 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 9 ER 8 ERA 3.07
Yabuta IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 37 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.67
T.H. Hashimoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.75
E: Satozaki
2B: Hosokawa, McClain, K. Wada 2, Hatsushiba, Takanami
HR: Fernandez (19), Hosokawa (3), Fukuura (13)
RBI: K. Matsui 2, K. Wada 2, T.T. Goto, McClain 2, Hosokawa 2, Fernandez 3,
Fukuura, Hatsushiba
WP: N. Shimizu 2
HBP: T.T. Goto (N. Shimizu)
GIDP: T.T. Goto (3-6-1)
LOB: Seibu 5, Lotte 4
Season Series: Seibu 15, Lotte 6
Game Time: 3.13
Attendance: 31,000
Umpires: Yanagita (HP), Yamazaki (1B), Maeda (2B), Kakigizono (3B)
Orix Homer Barrage Costly for Kintetsu 10-6
The Orix Blue Wave rebounded from the pummeling they received from Kintetsu Saturday by Sunday punching the Buffs for six homers, two of them by leftfielder Roosevelt Brown, in a 10-6 victory at Kobe Green Stadium. Second year hurler Kazuya Motoyanagi now has a win under his belt after going 3.1 innings of one run relief. Meanwhile, Kanehisa Arime was saddled with the loss, his first of the year due to walking four in two innings, half of those coming home.
First baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani put Orix in front leading off the first, as he blasted a shot into the leftfield seats. Two outs later, Brown gave the folks in the rightfield bleachers some love with a roundtripper down that way for a 2-0 advantage. That was temporary, though.
In the top of the second, DH Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to left and first baseman Yuji Yoshioka sent a big fly into the leftfield stands to knot it at 2-2. One out later, shortstop Masahiro Abe legged out an infield hit near short. Catcher Akihito Fujii grounded to Shiotani, who booted it. Centerfielder Naoyuki Omura doubled into the rightfield corner for the RBI and a 3-2 Buffs advantage.Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi singled to left to plate another two and it was now 5-2 Kintetsu and Orix manager Leon Lee had to be thinking, "here we go again."
Well, not quite. Brown slugged his second homer of the night to dead center in the third to creep just a bit closer. Then in the fifth, rightfielder Ryutaro Tsuji doubled to leftcenter and jogged in when DH Takeshi Yamasaki socked it into the leftcenterfield seats and it was suddenly even at 5-5. Goodbye starter Nelio Rodriguez and hello Arime, who finished that inning and got through the fifth unscathed, But he lost whatever he had in the sixth. Tsuji singled to left and Yamasaki and catcher Takeshi Hidaka walked to jam the bases. Aikyo replaced Arime. Pinch hitter Tatsuya Shindo took a pitch on his body and an RBI (run bruised in?). Shiotani flied out to right and Yamasaki tagged and beat a path to the dish to make it 7-5 Orix.
Kintetsu continued to fight and, with One out, Kitagawa clubbed one off the leftfield wall for a long single. Yoshioka, a doubles machine the second half of 2002, rang up another with a drive to the leftcenterfield fence. Pinch hitter Koichi Isobe grounded out to first and Kitagawa busted home to squeeze Orix at 7-6. Isobe stayed in to play right.
Koichi Misawa came on for Kintetsu to open the seventh and second baseman Jose Ortiz found a tasty 3-0 porkchop and torched it into the leftcenterfield seats. Tsuji saw something fat and it wasn't Mama Cass, but a four bagger into the rightfield bleachers. Yamasaki blooped a double to right. Isobe misplayed it for a two base error and Yamasaki huffed and puffed his way home and it was 10-6 Orix. Hisashi Ogura and
Daisuke Kato retired the next six Kintetsu hitters in order to put it in the books.
Kintetsu third baseman Norihiro Nakamura is zero for his last 18 and he is homerless so far after the all star break. To date, he is hitting .243 with 16 homers and 50 RBIs and an .802 OPS.
For Orix, Brown was 2-5 with two RBIs and is at .331. Ortiz was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .239.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .276.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Rodriguez IP 3.0 BF 16 PC 72 H 6 HR 4 K 1 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.34
Arime (L, 0-1) IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 48 H 1 HR 0 K 4 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 10.50
Aikyo IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.19
H. Koike IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.26
Misawa IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 23 H 5 HR 2 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 2 ERA 3.55
Fujisaki IP 1.2 BF 4 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Orix:
Phillips IP 3.0 BF 19 PC 72 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 5 ER 4 ERA 5.40
Motoyanagi (W, 1-1) IP 3.1 BF 14 PC 81 H 4 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.05
H. Ogura IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.09
D. Kato IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.17
E: Shiotani, Isobe
SB: N. Omura, H. Kitagawa, M. Abe
2B: N. Omura 2, R. Tsuji, Yoshioka, T. Yamasaki
HR: M. Shiozaki (5), Brown 2 (21), Yoshioka (10), T. Yamasaki (11), Ortiz (18), R.
Tsuji (6)
RBI: N. Omura, Mizuguchi 2, Yoshioka 2, Isobe, Shiotani 2, Brown 2, Ortiz, R. Tsuji,
T. Yamasaki 2, Shindo
SF: Shiotani
HBP: Shindo (Aikyo)
GIDP: Shiotani (4-6-3)
LOB: Kintetsu 8, Orix 6
Season Series: Kintetsu 12, Orix 8
Game Time: 4:06
Attendance: 27,000
Umpires: Kodera (HP), Tamba (1B), Sato (2B), Hayashi (3B)
Saito, Gaillard Combine to Hold off Dragons 2-1
How few wins are the Yokoaham Bay Stars earning? So few that Takashi Saito now leads the club with five, as he had lots of men on in this one, but kept them from scoring to prevail 2-1 over the Chunichi Dragons Sunday at Yokohama Stadium. Eddie Gaillard, in his first game as a Stars member, dominated his former mates in the ninth for his 15th save.
Shinya Okamoto started for Chunichi and had his slider working, permitting two runs on four hits while striking out six to accept a frustrating fourth loss.
Dragons third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami passed Kihachi Enomoto on the all time doubles list with his 410th in the first, a screamer off of the centerfield fence, which ranks him sixth, and he only needs nine more to surpass Yomirui great Shigeo Nagashima for fifth.
Yokohama got its first run in the third, when centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo beat out a ground ball to short and went to third on a single to left by shortstop Takuro Ishii. Rightfielder Hitoshi Tamura grounded out to short and Kinjo was across to make it 1-0 Stars.
Chunichi deadlocked it in the fourth, though, as Linares and centerfielder Alex Ochoa both singled to left. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige, who has been punishing his ex-team after leaving them as a free agent, singled to right to invite Linares in and put the score at 1-1.
But in the sixth, Yokohama held a brief rally and that proved to be enough. With a man down, leftfielder Kazunori Tanaka singled to right and first baseman Tyrone Woods splatted one off the centerfield wall for a long single. Backup rightfielder Takahiro Saeki singled to right and Tanaki made tracks for the plate and it was 2-1.
Chunichi loaded the bases with two outs on a hit batsman, a single to left and a walk in the eighth, but second baseman Masahiko Morino flied out to left. Gaillard then struckout two and inducted a ground ball on 13 pitches to secure the triumph for Yokohama.
For Chunichi, Linares was 1-4 and is at .257. Ochoa was 2-4 and is at .275.
For Yokohama, Woods was 1-4 and is at .251.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
S. Okamoto (L, 2-4)IP 5.1 BF 22 PC 84 H 4 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.30
Ochiai IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.18
M. Valdes IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.91
A.N. Otsuka IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.32
Yokohama:
Takashi Saito (W, 5-4) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 103 H 9 HR 0 K 5 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.59
Takeshita IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Tomori IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.77
Gaillard (S, 15) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.88
SB: Tamura
2B: Tatsunami
RBI: Tanishige, Saeki, Tamura
HBP: Tamura (Okamoto), Tatsunami (Takeshita)
GIDP: Morino (4-6-3)
LOB: Chunichi 10, Yokohama 5
Season Series: Chunichi 13, Yokohama 6
Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Kasahara (1B), K. Kobayashi (2B), Kiuchi (3B)
