Archived Weblog Entry - 08/20/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Buffaloes Trample Fighters 19-6; Orix Pitching is Batting Practice"

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08/20/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Buffaloes Trample Fighters 19-6; Orix Pitching is Batting Practice"

Fighters Nuked by Kintetsu in Record Fusillade 19-4

The Kintetsu Buffaloes cracked a team record 26 hits Monday at Sapporo Dome, as rightfielder Koichi Isobe drove in five runs and both DH Norihiro Nakamura and third baseman Yuji Yoshioka racked up four on the way to pounding the Nippon Ham Fighters into submission 19-6. And in a frustrating oddity for Buffs starter Kevin Beirne, he had to leave at the end of the third due to discomfort in his throwing arm after having trouble with the footing on the mound, so Katsuhiko Maekawa ended up earning credit for the victory, his first since March 30.

Carlos Mirabal started for Nippon Ham and was rocked for six runs, five earned, on ten hits in 4.2 innings to get hung with the blame for the defeat.

So go to the fridge for a cold one and maybe a sandwich before you start in on reading the game account, because it is going to be long (this massacre lasted nearly five hours, after all).

Things started out sedately enough, with both sides rapping out a hit each through the first couple of innings. However, with one out in the third, Kintetsu caught fire. Catcher Akihito Fujii walked and centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to center. Second baseman Osamu Hoshino singled to right to load the bases. Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes singled to right to redeem Fujii and Omura. Nakamura walked to repack the sacks. Yoshioka grounded to second and Hoshino crossed for a 3-0 lead. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa popped out to end the rally.

Then in the fourth, Nippon Ham charged back when first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto beat out a tapper near first base. Leftfielder Ueda singled to center. Catcher Shinji Takahashi walked to juice the bags. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide ripped a shot down the rightfield line for a pair of RBIs. One out later, second baseman Hiroshi Narahara flew out to center and Takahashi tagged up and hustled in to level it at 3-3.

But in the fifth, Mirabal would be deposed when the Buffs stampeded once more. With one away, Rhodes wacked a pitch off the leftfield wall for a long single. Nakamura laced one up the leftcenter gap and all the way to the wall, which allowed Rhodes a chance to turn on the afterburners and arrive at home on the double. Yoshioka singled to right. One out later, Isobe singled to left to exploit Nakamura. Shortstop Masahiro Abe singled to center to drive in Yoshioka and Kintetsu was back up by three at 6-3 and send Mirabal to the showers.

Kintetsu then brought out the howitzers for the sixth. Pinch hitter Eiji Mizuguchi singled to center with one out off of reliever Kazuyuki Atsuzawa. Rhodes singled to right. Naoyuki Tateishi was summoned from the bullpen. Nakamura got a slider and buried it in the leftfield seats. Yoshioka rocketed one beyond the leftcenterfield wall and now it was getting to be a rout at 10-3.

Next time up, Kintetsu trampled the Fighters again with a leadoff infield hit by Omura off of Hiroyuki Sekine and a walk to Mizuguchi, who spelled Hoshino at second. Rhodes singled to right to push Omura in and was pinch run for by Shinji Shimoyama. Nakamura and Yoshioka smacked RBI singles to left. Daisuke Masuda jogged in to run for Nakamura. One out later, Isobe singled to center to convert Masuda. Abe flamed a double to leftcenter and Yoshioka made the left turn home for a gigantic 15-3 Buffs advantage.

The Osaka nine finally wound up their abuse of the Fighters in the eighth, when Masuda doubled down the leftfield line for a two out double. Yoshioka singled to center to plate Masuda. Reserve third baseman Yasuo Nagaike singled to left. Isobe connected for a three run jack to make it a joke at 19-3.

Nippon Ham pushed a run across in the bottom of the eighth on a one out walk to shortstop Shigeyuki Furuki and a two out triple up the rightcenter alley by substitute second baseman Kensuke Tanaka to make it 19-4.

In the ninth, Nippon Ham backup first baseman Yukio Tanaka singled to right and, one out later, reserve catcher Kazunari Sanematsu smashed a shot into the rightfield seats and, aside from a two out single, that was the last of what the Fighters had to offer for a 19-6 final.

The previous single game high for Kintetsu was 23, set on September 5, 2000. The record is 32 by Daiei, set this season against Orix. It's been three years since the Buffs last posted 19 runs.

Two players had four hits and four others had three for Kintetsu while six others had one.

Rhodes made a nice recovery on the heels of his 0-13 performance in the last series against Daiei.

Beirne said that the discomfort in his arm isn't any big deal, but manager Masataka Nashida is going to be careful about scheduling the former Dodgers' next outing.

In a negative omen for their impending move to Sapporo next season, Nippon Ham has lost its last seven contests there.

Pitching Lines:

Kintetsu:

Beirne IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 68 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.38
Maekawa (W, 2-2) IP 4.0 BF 22 PC 91 H 7 HR 0 K 4 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 9.31
Arime IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 8.68
Yoshikawa IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 26 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.35

Nippon Ham:

Mirabal (L, 14-8) IP 4.2 BF 26 PC 94 H 10 HR 0 K 3 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 4.91
Atsuzawa IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 27.00
Tateishi IP 0.2 BF 6 PC 19 H 3 HR 2 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.92
Sekine IP 1.0 BF 10 PC 40 H 6 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.83
N. Takahashi IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 24 H 4 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.04
Shibakusa IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 27 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.40

E: S. Furuki
SB: N. Omura, S. Takahashi
2B: Kitagawa, Ide, N. Nakamura, M. Abe, Masuda
3B: Kensuke Tanaka
HR: N. Nakamura (18), Yoshioka (13), Isobe (10), Sanematsu (3)
RBI: Rhodes 3, N. Nakamura 4, Yoshioka 4, Isobe 5, M. Abe 2, Narahara, Kensuke
Tanaka, Sanematsu 2, Ide 2
SF: Narahara
HBP: Shimoyama (Shibakusa)
GIDP: Echevarria (5-6-3)
LOB: Kintetsu 13, Nippon Ham 13

Season Series: Kintetsu 14, Nippon Ham 8

Game Time: 4:48
Attendance: 17,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Tachibana (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Sakaemura (3B)

Hawks Easily Handle Orix 9-4

The Daiei Hawks used four longballs and a solid outing from second year pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi to paste the Orix Blue Wave Monday at Kobe Green Stadium 9-4. Hidetaka Kawagoe absorbed the brunt of the Hawks onslaught, surrendering seven runs on nine hits in five innings to lose his second and remain winless thus far in 2003.

Sugiuchi stuck around for five innings of two run, three hit ball to grab the win and then the bullpen stunbled its way to the end without any damage significant to the outcome of the game being incurred, and that's about all you can say about it. Manager Sadaharu Oh couldn't have been pleased. The reason Sugiuchi was removed was minor shoulder discomfort, accroding to reports.

Orix had an ephemral lead in the first when third baseman Koichi Oshima walked with one gone and, one out later, leftfielder Roosevelt Brown whizzed one up the leftcenter alley to bring Oshima in with the1-0 advantage.

Daiei used a fielding miscue to return the favor in their ups, as centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu singled to left and stole second. Third baseman Munenori Kawasaki grounded to Jose Ortiz at second, who kicked it for his 18th error. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi grounded out to third, the fleet footed Muramatsu running on contact to cross the plate safely while Oshima went to first for the out to knot it at 1-1.

From there, the Hawks spanked a deuce up on the big board in the second, as leftfielder Pedro Valdes walked and DH Julio Zuleta singled to center. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara beat out a bleeder toward short to load the bases. Shortstop Yusuke Torigoe grounded to second to get the run in and Muramatsu flew out to center, Zuleta tagging up and toeing the dish to open a 3-1 lead.

Daiei first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka then gave Kawagoe a near case of whiplash when he turned a high fastball around and went upper tank with it to right to raise that to 4-1.

Orix stayed within striking distance, though, when, in the fifth, catcher Takeshi Miwa doinked one off the rightfield wall and, one out later, lit out for the plate on a single to center by first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani to make the score 4-2 Hawks.

That rebellion inspired an even bigger response by Daiei in the bottom of the frame, as Iguchi doubled down the leftfield line and came around on a two bagger up the leftcenter gap by Matsunaka. Catcher Kenji Johjima singled to right, but the sore kneed Matsunaka thought it would be better to hold up at third. Valdes then socked a Kawagoe offering into the rightfield stands and this one was effectively over at 7-2.

Orix countered with a quick run in the sixth when centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani doubled to rightcenter and went to third on a groundout. Ortiz jackhammered one off the leftfield wall and was out at second on a strong relay by Valdes, but it went for an RBI single and made it 7-3.

Once they had chewed up Kawagoe, Daiei went after reliever Kazuya Motoyanagi. In the seventh, Iguchi played hammertime and the folks in the leftcenterfield bleachers had a souvenir. One out later, Johjima got a hold of one and deposited it in similar territory and the Hawks only now had to wait for the bullpen to finish the job.

Akira Matsumoto was called on to pitch the ninth and DH Takeshi Yamasaki beat out a ground ball for an infield hit. Matsumoto plunked pinch hitter Ryutaro Tsuji. Two fly ball outs later, Matsumoto's control went to have a cigarette again, as he walked Shiotani to fill the bases and then walked Oshima to force in a run and now Tani was at the plate looking to wreak some havoc. Oh waved in Takayuki Shinohara and he fanned Tani to put it in the books. The Hawks magic number to clinch the pennant is 29.

Daiei split their 14 first half games with the Kobe crew, but have now prevailed in six of their last seven faceoffs.

Orix has now lost six in a row for the third time this season. In their last 21 games, they have given up an average of 8.5 runs a game. They're Coors Field without the altitude.

With his 20th homer, Matsunaka is now the only player since the Hawks were bought by Daiei to have five straight 20 clout campaigns.

For Orix, Brown was 1-3 with an HBP and an RBI and is at .325. Ortiz was 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .249.

For Daiei, Valdes was 2-3 with three RBIs and is at .307. Zuleta was 1-4 and is at .287.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Kawagoe (L, 0-2) IP 5.0 BF 25 PC 101 H 9 HR 2 K 3 BB 1 R 7 ER 7 ERA 7.52
Motoyanagi IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 37 H 2 HR 2 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.60
Imamura IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.04

Daiei:

Sugiuchi (W, 6-7) IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 85 H 3 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.18
Yoshitake IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 22 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.60
H.K. Watanabe IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 23 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.41
A. Matsumoto IP 0.2 BF 6 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 13.50
Shinohara (S, 5) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.50

E: Ortiz
SB:Shindo, Muramatsu
2B: Brown, Miwa, Iguchi, Matsunaka, Tani
HR: Matsunaka (20), P. Valdes (18), Iguchi (22), Johjima (26)
RBI: Shiotani, K. Oshima, Brown Ortiz, Muramatsu, Iguchi 2, Matsunaka, Johjima, P.
Valdes 3, Torigoe
SF: Muramatsu
HBP: Brown (H.K. Watanabe), R. Tsuji (Matsumoto)
LOB: Orix 8, Daiei 6

Season Series: Orix 8, Daiei 13

Game Time: 3:13
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Nagami (HP), Hayashi (1B), Yamamura (2B), Tamba (3B)

Team Reports

Yomiuri According to Giants mouthpiece Hochi Sports, Yomiuri is considering asking the Guinness Book of World Records to add infielder Masahiro Kawai's record for sacrifice bunts when he breaks Eddie Collins' mark of 511, with which he is currently tied.

Yakult Manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu will be back for next season. Team executives lauded the former outfield great fo rbeing able to keep the team above .500 despite losing Shugo Fujii for the season and the wrist injury to third baseman Akinori Iwamura. In addition, he has brought along youngsters Tachiyama and Yuhei Takai well, in their judgement. However, plans to send players to workout at the Cleveland Indians minor league camp this fall have been cancelled. Instead, they will hold two fall camps, during which they intend to work the players hard. Wakamatsu has gone 332-307-13 with one Japan Series championship to date in his four and half seasons helming the Swallows.

Hanshin Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka has gone on the disabled list with discomfort in his hamstring. However, there is good news for the Tigers. Catcher Akihiro Yano will be back in action Tuesday....According to Sports Nippon, manager Senichi Hoshino has demanded that his scouts lock up Waseda University lefthand hitting shortstop Takashi Toritani. "If we acquire him, shortstop will be stable for the next ten years," said team president Nozaki. Toritani is reportedly also favorably disposed to Seibu, who may not need him with their crop of promising youngsters, Yomiuri, and Yokohama. In any event, where adding Toritani would leave Kentaro Sekimoto and Atsushi Fujimoto, who has emerged as a force this season, is left unstated. The youngster's condition for signing is reportedly that he would be given plenty of playing time and at shortstop. Yomiuri sees him as a third baseman. However, it would almost certainly be the end of veteran infielder Yoshinori Okihara's career....Righthander Keiichi Yabu went on the disabled list with elbow discomfort. There is also no timetable on the return of Trey Moore, who has a bicep injury. As a result, number one draft choice Naohisa Sugiyama will get a spot start against Yokohama on the 24th. He is 4-1 with a 4.08 ERA in the minors this season. Another rookie, southpaw Hiroshi Santo, will also be inserted into the rotation this coming week, as he scheduled to go against Chunichi on the 20th. He was a sixth rounder out of the industrial leagues....To bolster the pitching staff further, the team is strongly looking at Aichi Gakuin lefty Kazuya Tsutsui, according to Sankei Sports.

Chunichi Ivan Cruz will be released at the end of the season. After winning a AAA homer title last season, he tried his hand again in Japan, but didn't produce the sock the team was expecting (11 homers .229 and was demoted to the minors late last month. However, Marc Valdes will be asked back, as will sparingly used pitcher Martin Vargas. The Dragons are now looking for another foreign infielder. Alex Ochoa's and Omar Linares' futures with the squad will be determined by how they finish up the remainder of the schedule.... According to Chunichi Sports, a mouthpiece for the Dragons, Yomiuri is reportedly interested in signing reliever Eiji Ochiai, who is a free agent at the end of the season. They say that Cory Bailey will be let go and Ochiai will fill his spot. For their part, the Nagoya outfit's front office said that it intends to re-sign Ochiai.

Hiroshima The Carp will be conducting tryouts on September 21st at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium at 9:30 a.m. If it rains, it will be held at 11:00 a.m. at Hiroshima's Ono indoor practice facility. Candidates must be between the ages of 17-24 and taller than 5'9". Application should be made by a "kansei" postcard and you should list your name, address, phone number, date of birth, your most recent academic work (high school grad, etc), height, weight, and position, and what hands with shich you bat and throw. Then mail the whole mess to: Nyuudan Test-kakari, Hiroshima Toyo Carp Company, Hiroshima, Japan 730-8508.

Daiei According to Sankei Sports, the Hawks are already receiving inquiries about Japan Series tickets for the games at Fukuoka Dome, a lot of the m from Hanshin fans. However, Daiei season ticket holders get first shot at series tickets. It will be interesting to track secondary series ticket prices given the rarity with which Hanshin wins the pennant....Outfielder Chen Wen-pin has gone back to Taiwan to have a right elbow injury treated. He is supposed to be back with the Hawks on the 29th. He has spent almost the whole season in the minors after starring in the Taiwanese leagues....In retaliation for using manager Sadaharu Oh's face in a bathroom humor sketch in one of its programs, the Daiei front office has banned its players from appearing on the network's shows for the foreseeable future.

Orix Masato Yoshii had an MRI done on an ankle and may end up having season-ending surgery. According to informatiion provided on the Japanese Baseball.com website, Yoshii may retire and accept a coaching position next season. At 37, he doesn't have much left in his tank and has been mostly awful this year....Infielder Makoto Shiozaki had surgery on a ring finger to repair a torn ligament Monday and will be out at least a month.

Miscellaneous According to Chunichi Sports, the Meikyukai (Famous Players Association) may make as one of its criteria to admittance to that club a total of 200 wins combined between Japan and MLB. Right now, the criteria concern solely those numbers run up in the Japanese leagues. This is to take into account players who go overseas and excel. Ichiro isn't too far off 2,000 hits, so he should be in there soon if these new rules are passed. Hideo Nomo just picked up his 190th combined win against the Cubs, so he may be able to join the Meikyukai as soon as next season. And was he really throwing up to 93mph Monday, as the paper claims? He hasn't displayed that kind of velocity since befor he came down with tendinitis while with Kintetsu.

Koshien Tournament Joso Gakuin High School upset Chiben Wakayama High School Monday 6-3. Joso took an early lead 2-0 on an RBI single to right by outfielder Akifumi Yoshiwara and an ensuing bad relay throw by the rightfielder. Chiben, though, charged back to tie with a pair in the fourth, only to see ace Takiya allow two more to come home on his own throwing error on a routine comebacker. Reliever Hideaki Iijima then limited Chiben to one run the rest of the way to wrap up the victory. Chiben head coach said that he couldn't really blame his players for the loss, citing his own mistake in not making a pitching change early enough. He also complimented the Joso nine: "they stepped it up their game and we didn't"....Tohoku High School righty ace Yu Darvish, who is the subject of MLB interest even though he is only a junior, tossed a complete game 127 pitch ten hitter in a 3-1 victory over Omi High School. The 6'4" 180 pound half-Iranian, half-Japanese hurler was clocked at 91mph despite the fact that he is still bothered by a left oblique strain. "I was feeling some pain in the early part of the game, but then I was able to forget about it the rest of it," averred the lanky 17 year old. On a personal note, his grandmother, Hisako Higashimoto, yelled at him the day after his first outing, when he left after the second inning due to the injury. "If you're a man, don't say, 'it hurts.' If you don't do your best in the next one, I won't approve." Darvish's reaction to that was to get mad and he allowed that "she was pretty scary. But it woke me up." That kind of attitude is pretty common in Japan, especially among the older generation. I've seen it in action personally and is one cultural difference between Americans and Japanese ....In a battle of heavyweight high school baseball powers, Heian High School edged Meitoku Gijuku High School 2-1. Heian ace Daisuke Hattori went all the way in a tense seven hit, 141 pitch outing, escaping a two out, bases loaded jam in the eighth. "My attitude was that if I was going to get hit, then just try to hit it!" revealed the aggressive lefty. Meitoku then put runners on first and second with one away in the ninth, but team captain Hiroyuki Okita bounced into a 4-6-3 twin killing to put his side's hopes of repeating as Koshien champs at an end....Team captain Shinji Ichinomiya smacked an RBI double that scored the runner from first with one out in the top of the ninth inning to break a two all tie and put Shizuoka High School into the next round with a 3-2 triumph over Yazu High School. Shizuoka number two starter Tatsuya Masui fashioned a complete game five hitter to best a tenacious Yazu nine. Shizuoka wasn't very efficient, leaving 14 men on base.

In the News

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