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08/20/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Kubo Throws Gem for Giants; Fukudome Dials REAL Long Distance"
Kubo Recovers Form and Seven Hits Hanshin 6-1; Abe on DL
Rookie righthander Yuya Kubo, who has been getting hit around in relief recently, was given a spot start and excelled, as he went eight strong innings of seven hit, one run ball and struckout ten in a 6-1 Yomiuri Giants victory over the Hanshin Tigers Sunday at Tokyo Dome. Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi couldn't keep his breaking balls down and ended up permitting three runs on seven hits in only 3.2 innings to shower early in his third consecutive outing.
Giants shortstop Tomohiro Nioka matched his season total from last year when he lead off the bottom of the first with a big jack deep into the leftfield seats for an instant 1-0 Yomiuri advantage. Masahiro Kawai singled to left. One out later, Shimoyanagi plunked leftfielder Roberto Petagine. First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara singled to left to load the bases. Rightfielder Chris Latham grounded out to short to send Kawai across and make it 2-0.
Hanshin wasted a two on, one out opportunity in the second and Kubo cruised from there up until the eighth. Meanwhile, in the fourth, Yomiuri got a single to center from centerfielder Takayuki Shimizu, a groundout and a sac bunt that moved him to third, and a single to center by Nioka to convert his teammate and widen the Yomiuri hegemony to 3-0.
Hanshin averted the shutout in the eighth, as second baseman Makoto Imaoka, 0-12 up to that point in the series, singled to right. One out later, Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto doubled down the rightfield line. Imaoka then scored on a wild pitch from Kubo to shrink the deficit to 3-1. Hiroshi Yagi walked to put the tying run aboard. But first baseman George Arias whiffed on a forkball and pinch runner Shuta Tanaka, who replaced Yagi, decded to try to steal second and was gunned down by catcher Yoshinori Murata for the third out.
For such insolence, there was retaliation in the home portion, as Kiyohara singled to left off of Jerrod Riggan with one down and was pinch run for by Takahiro Suzuki. One out later, Shimizu walked. Murata seared one into the leftcenter alley and both runners sprinted to the plate. Koji Goto, pinch hitting for Kubo, mashed a shot off the leftfield wall to plate Murata and it was 6-1 Giants.
Julio Santana then retired three of the four Tigers hitters he faced in the ninth to save it.
Yomiuri first string catcher Shinnosuke Abe was put on the disabled list with a shoulder inflammation as the cavalcade of Giants injuries rolls on.
The 78kg (that's 173 pounds) Kubo lost a reported 18 pounds until recently basically force feeding himself to get his weight back up to 167.
Shimizu, who had a 192 hit 2003, was demoted to seventh in the batting order due to his anemic .242 average. Are they really serious about making him the regular in centerfield next season? Shimizu used to have an undeeserved reputation as a horrible outfielder, though that sort of talk hasn't been heard in a couple of years. But centerfield may be more than he can handle.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-4 and is at .251.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 0-3 with an RBI and is at .197. Petagine was 1-3 with an HBP and is at .295.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Shimoyanagi (L, 7-4) IP 3.2 BF 19 PC 67 H 7 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.31
Kanazawa IP 2.1 BF 8 PC 30 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.77
Ishige IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yoshino IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.84
Riggan IP 0.2 BF 6 PC 16 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.20
Yomiuri:
Kubo (W, 5-4) IP 8.0 BF 32 PC 120 H 7 HR 0 K 10 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.04
Santana IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.42
E: Riggan
2B: Akahoshi, Kubo, Kanemoto, Y. Murata, K. Goto
HR: Nioka (24)
RBI: Nioka 2, Latham, Y. Murata 2, K. Goto
WP: Kubo, Shimoyanagi
HBP: Petagine (Shimoyanagi)
LOB: Hanshin 8, Yomiuri 7
Season Series: Hanshin 14, Yomiuri 6 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:03
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Manabe (1B), T. Kobayashi (2B), Shikita (3B)
Fukudome Homers Twice in 5-0 Dragons Victory over Yakult
Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome homered twice and Kazuhiro Hiramatsu tossed 5.2 outstanding innings for the Chunichi Dragons Sunday at Nagoya Dome and then two relievers took it the rest of the way to down the Yakult Swallows 5-0. Diminutive Swallows lefty Masanori Ishikawa also threw fairly well, but just not good enough to emerge with the W to end up 0-4 in his last five starts.
Chunichi obtained the sole run they would need in the first when shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to center and, one out later, went to third on a single to center by Fukudome. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami flied out to right and the speedy Ibata tagged up and hustled home to make it 1-0.
The Dragons blew a man on third, one out chance in the third when Ishikawa induced a groundout to second with the infield up and another groundout to escape any damage. Then it was Yakult's turn to be inefficient, as they had men on secon and third with one out and then the bases loaded with two gone, but those were neutralized by a comebacker to Hiramatsu and a weak ground ball to third respectively.
That was the way it stayed until the sixth, when leftfielder Takayuki Onishi walked and Fukudome blistered a fastball on the inner half of the plate off the facing of the fifth level in right 455 feet away to expand the Dragons lead to 3-0.
Two innings later and with righthanded fireballer Ryota Igarashi on the hill, Ibata beat out a dribbler, went to second on a sacrifice and loped home when Fukudome crushed a hanging forkball 425 feet into the rightcenterfield stands for the final 5-0 margin of victory.
For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .332.
For Chunichi, centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 0-3 and is at .280. Omar Linaares was 0-1 in a pinch hit role and is at .252.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Masanori Ishikawa (L, 7-9) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 103 H 5 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.99
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 16 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.36
Chunichi:
K. Hiramatsu (W, 2-2) IP 5.2 BF 21 PC 72 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
Ochiai IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 23 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.12
M. Valdes (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 33 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.26
2B: Ibata, Ramirez
HR: Fukudome 2 (21)
RBI: Fukudome 4, Tatsunami
SF: Tatsunami
HBP: S. Miyamoto (M. Valdes)
LOB: Yakult 6, Chunichi 3
Season Series: Yakult 8, Chunichi 12
Game Time: 2:41
Attendance: 34,000
Umpires: Tani (HP), Kittaka (1B), Uemoto (2B), Sasaki (3B)
A Tie With Daiei is as Good as a Loss to Kintetsu 4-4
The Daiei Hawks let a two run lead get away in the bottom of the ninth to even the game at 4-4, but it didn't do the Kintetsu Buffaloes any good, as it ended in a 12 inning deadlock and takes one more contest off the schedule which they might use to catch the birds of prey in the PL pennant race.
Rookie lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada was aiming for his 13th win and limited the Buffs to two runs on seven hits while striking out eight in eight innings, but Takayuki Shinohara couldn't defend the two run advantage he had going in.
Hisashi Iwakuma had nothing to be ashamed of, either, fashioning seven innings of three run ball on six hits lutimatley for nought.
Hawks second baseman Tadahito Iguchi, 0-7 against Iwakuma this season before the game, came up with the game's first run in the fourth, as he applied heavy manners to an Iwakuma slider and propelled it into the leftcenterfield bleachers to make it 1-0.
Daiei added to that in the sixth when third baseman Munenori Kawasaki singled to right, Iguchi singled to center and DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka walked to pack the sacks. Catcher Kenji Johjima singled to left for a pair of RBIs to increase that to 3-0. Leftfielder Pedro Valdes walked to reload the bases. But first baseman Noriyoshi Omichi grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to stanch any further homeward incursions.
In the eighth, Daiei padded their lead even more, as Iguchi singled to left with one away and stole second. One out later, Johjima was intentionally walked. Valdes singled to left to push Iguchi across and it was 4-0 Hawks.
Wada would allow Kintetsu to get back into it, though, in the home half when DH Norihiro Nakamura hammered his first second half homer into the rightfield bleachers with two outs. Yuji Yoshioka, making a rare start at third, followed with a roundtripper into the rightcenterfield stands to put the Buffs within a bloop and a blast of a tie, 4-2.
Shinohara retired the first Kintetsu batter he faced in the ninth, but Shinji Shimoyama clobbered one off the centerfield seats. Nagaike struckout, but centerfielder Naoyuki Omura doubled to leftcenter to put the tying run in scoring position. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi singled to left to drive in Omura to make it 4-4. Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes fanned, so Shinohara struckout the side but now it was a new ballgame.
Daiei appeared that they would comeback to win it in the tenth, as Matsunaka and Johjima each singled with one out, but Julio Zuleta, pinch hitting for backup leftfielder Motoi Okoshi, popped out and reserve first baseman Mitsuru Honma grounded out to kill the rally. Two more innings passed with almost no action and it finished with Rhodes striking out again in the bottom of the 12th to turn out the lights.
Iguchi finished 3-6 to boost his average to .349. He currently as a superb OBP of .442 and a 1.040 OPS.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 0-6 with three strikeouts and is at .265.
For Daiei, Valdes was 1-2 with an RBI and two walks and is at .303. Zuleta was 0-1 and is at .288.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
T. Wada IP 8.0 BF 33 PC 130 H 7 HR 2 K 8 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.95
Shinohara IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 31 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.55
Yoshitake IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.49
K. Okamoto IP 2.2 BF 8 PC 43 H 0 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.23
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma IP 7.0 BF 28 PC 104 H 6 HR 1 K 4 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.01
T. Yoshida IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.01
Takamura IP 2.1 BF 10 PC 40 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.41
H. Koike IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.98
A. Okamoto IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.45
SB: Iguchi
2B: Shimoyama, N. Omura
HR: Iguchi (21), N. Nakamura (17), Yoshioka (12)
RBI: Iguchi, Johjima 2, P. Valdes, N. Omura, Mizuguchi, N. Nakamura, Yoshioka
HBP: Johjima (T. Yoshida)
GIDP: Johjima (4-6-3), Omichi (4-6-3)
LOB: Daiei 9, Kintetsu 8
Season Series: Daiei 11, Kintetsu 9 1 Tie
Game Time: 4:59
Attendance: 46,000
Umpires: Kakigizono (HP), Tamba (1B), Hayashi (2B), Akimura (3B)
Matsui, Two Wada Homers Punishes Orix 8-2
Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui went deep to center and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada mortared a pair over the fences against Orix Sunday at Kobe Green Stadium while starter Fumiya Nishiguchi had his slider doing what it was supposed to slap the Orix Blue Wave 8-2. Orix starter Rui Makino was tagged for four runs, two earned, to fall to 2-2.
Seibu went right on the attack when Matsui beat out a slow ground ball to second and was sacrificed along. Wada then took Makino on a tour of the leftfield bleachers for a quick 2-0 lead.
Orix clawed back to ameliorate that somewhat in the bottom of the frame when first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani singled to center and third baseman Koichi Oshima laced a double up the leftcenterfield gap, Shiotani galloping home to make it 2-1 Lions.
In the fourth, Wada singled to left and Seibu was back in business. Alex Cabrera singled to left. Leftfielder Roosevelt Brown allowed the ball to get by him and Wada kept on running until he scored while Cabrera also moved up. DH Hiroyuki Oshima singed a double into the rightcenterfield alley to send Cabrera in for a 4-1 Lions advantage.
Orix stayed alive during their up when Brown leadoff with a single to center and second baseman Jose Ortiz beat out a ground ball toward third. Two outs later, catcher Takeshi Miwa singled to left and Brown registered at the plate to make it 4-2 Seibu.
Matsui posted some insurance in the eighth, as he went the long way home on a drive to center for his 25th dinger. One out later, Wada copycatted Matsui's central excursion and the Tokorozawa outfit had things well in hand at 6-2.
Centerfielder Tomoaki Sato then kicked off a ninth inning binge for the Lions with a single to center off of Jun Hagiwara, who then walked both third baseman Scott McClain and catcher Koji Tahara. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi grounded into a 3-2 force play. Matsui nearly declared grand salami time when he pinged a shot off the rightfield wall and another two runs were savored by Seibu and that was your final, 8-2.
This was the fourth time that Matsui had homered three games in a row and it was his 12th game with three hits or more this season.
For Orix, Brown was 1-4 and is at .325. Ortiz was 2-4 and is at .248.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 2-4 and is at .327. McClain was 0-3 with a walk and is at .240.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Nishiguchi (W, 5-3) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 113 H 7 HR 0 K 6 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 6.23
S. Mori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.10
Hoashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.42
Orix:
Makino (L, 2-2) IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 69 H 5 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 4 ER 2 ERA 3.92
Motoyanagi IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.48
D. Kato IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 21 H 3 HR 2 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.19
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 31 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.26
E: K. Wada, Brown
2B: H.Y. Oshima, K. Oshima, Ortiz, Cabrera, K. Matsui
HR: K. Matsui (25), K. Wada 2 (26)
RBI: K. Matsui 3, K. Wada 3, H.Y. Oshima, Miwa
GIDP: Tahara (6-3)
LOB: Seibu (4), Orix 7
Season Series: Seibu 14, Orix 5 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:51
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Yoshikawa (HP), Maeda (1B), Higashi (2B), Kodera (3B)
Ogata, Sheets Roundtrippers Edge Yokohama 3-0
Hiroshima Carp centerfielder Koichi Ogata and shortstop Andy Sheets each homered and combined for all three runs that were tallied in this game, a 3-0 victory over the Yokohama Bay Stars Sunday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Hiroki Kuroda displayed his finest stuff of the season with a fastball clocked at 94mph and excellent command of his breaking pitches for his first shutout of the campaign and his 50th career win.
Takashi Saito started for Yokohama and, except for the two mistakes that he was well penalized for, was fairly solid, going six innings of three run ball for the kuroboshi and to drop his record to 5-5.
Nobody had reached base yet when Ogata dug in with two outs in the second and beat the daylights out of a slider, leaving it beyond the centerfield fence to make it 1-0 Carp. He would be the only base runner until two outs in the fourth, when Yokohama leftfielder Takanori Suzuki ran out a scratch hit by the mound.
Hiroshima finally displayed some life in the fifth. when leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to center. There would be another hit and a walk in the stanza, but those were wrapped around a double play ball and then Kuroda himself grounded to short for the third out.
But in the sixth, they did a little better, as first baseman Itsuki Asai clocked a two out single to center and Sheets lowered the boom on a fastball down and in and nine ironed it into the centerfield bleachers for a 3-0 Hiroshima advantage.
Yokohama got singles from third baseman Katsuaki Furuki and second baseman Hitoshi Taneda to begin the eighth, only to watch that turn into zippo due to a 1-6-3 double play ball from pinch hitter Hirofumi Ogawa and a strikeout by pinch hitter Takashi Manei. Yokohama managed a two out single to center by shortstop Takuro Ishii with two outs in the ninth, but that was all and in spite of the low score, the Stars were really never in it.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-3 with two RBIs and is at .322.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Takashi Saito (W, 5-5) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 96 H 5 HR 2 K 5 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.65
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.62
Gaillard IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.68
Hiroshima:
Kuroda (W, 7-11) IP 9.0 BF 30 PC 109 H 5 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.47
HR: Ogata (21), Sheets (20)
RBI: Ogata, Sheets 2
WP: Tomori
GIDP: Taneda (3-6-3), Ogata (6-4-3), Ogawa (1-6-3)
LOB: Yokohama 3, Hiroshima 3
Season Series: Yokohama 7, Hiroshima 11
Game Times: 2:21
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Fukatani (1B), Watamari (2B), Ino (3B)
Nippon Ham Finally Gets a Game in and Win 5-2
Maybe they can change their name to the Rain Men, but the Nippon Ham Fighters finally got a game in in the wake of a pair of rainouts and made it worthwhile, downing the Chiba Lotte Marines 5-2 Sunday at Chiba Marine Stadium. Satoru Kanemura permitted 11 baserunners in a tense 5.1 innings of two run ball in improving to 8-5 while Naoyuki Shimizu was touched for four runs, three earned, on nine hits in just under seven innings to get hung with the defeat. The Fighters have taken their last three while Lotte is on a five game skid.
Nippon Ham drew first blood in the third, as shortstop Shigeyuki Furuki singled to center, went to second on a one out single to left by centerfielder Tsutomu Ishimoto and then came around when first baseman Kazuya Fukuura threw away a double play ground ball to make it 1-0 Fighters.
Little Lotte shortstop Makoto Kosaka evened things, though, in the bottom of the inning, as he pumped one into the rightfield bleachers through the wind for a 1-1 tie. Lotte then loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, but DH Jose Fernandez rolled into the first of his two 5-4-3 double plays of the night to stop that rally dead in its tracks.
In the fifth, Nippon Ham collected its second run, though what happened after Furuki's single is rather vague, but ultimately he later crossed on a groundout to first by Ishimoto and it was 2-1 Fighters.
They then amassed for a more cohesive attack in the sixth, as third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara doubled into the leftfield corner and wheeled around on a single to right by leftfielder Angel Echevarria. One out later, DH Kazuteru Shimada thumped one off the centerfield fence and Echevarria was able to find his way to the dish from first to put it at 4-1 Nippon Ham.
Kanemura, though, wouldn't see out the bottom of the frame. He nailed catcher Tomoya Satozaki with a pitch. One out later, leftfielder Rick Short singled to right. Second baseman Koichi Hori singled to center to cash Satozaki in and make it 4-2 Nippon Ham.
Ogasawara doubled down the leftfield line beginning the eighth and almost immediately was sent packing to the promised land by Echevarria, who whistled a liner off the rightfield wall and it was 5-2 Fighters.
Yoshinori Tateyama came on to close it out for Nippon Ham in the ninth, giving up a single to center to leadoff hitter Hori, but two groundouts and a flyout later, this one was in the bag.
For Lotte, Short was 1-3 with a walk and is at .272. Fernandez was 0-4 and is at .260.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 3-4 with an RBI and is at .253. Maybe Angel, who is a very good ballplayer, is finally acclimating himself to Japan? A big September from him and Nippon Ham could very well finish over .500.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Kanemura (W, 8-5) IP 5.1 BF 26 PC 88 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.55
A. Shimizu IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.73
Shibakusa IP 0.2 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.46
Date IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.62
Tateyama (S, 13) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.42
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (L, 9-8) IP 6.2 BF 28 PC 97 H 9 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 4 ER 3 ERA 3.12
T.H. Hashimoto IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 6 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
S. Watanabe IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 23 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.04
E: Fukuura
2B: M. Ogasawara 2, K. Shimada, Narahara, Echevarria
HR: Kosaka (2)
RBI Echevarria, K. Shimada 2, Hori, Kosaka
HBP: Satozaki (Kanemura)
GIDP: M. Ogasawara (1-6-3), Fernandez 2 (5-4-3), (6-4-3) Short (6-4-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 5, Lotte 9
Season Series: Nippon Ham 13, Lotte 6 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Yamamoto (HP), Yanagita (1B), Sakaemura (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Team Reports
Koshien Tournament All scheduled games were cancelled due to rain.
Today's Pictures
Yuya Kubo Throws a Breaking Ball to the Plate
Makoto Imaoka's Bats Gets Turned into Toothpicks
Kazuyoshi Tatsunami Lifts Sacrifice Fly
