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08/25/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Yomiuri Owner to Circumvent Rules to Move Player to Yankees; Uehara Still Hot"
Matsuzaka Throws Four Hit Masterpiece 1-0
Seibu Lions righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka was fighting himself somewhat over the first three innings, throwing 67 pitches during that phase of the game Friday against Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome. However, he righted himself and cruised through the next four frames, allowing the Fighters just a hit before Lions manager Haruki Ihara went to the bullpen, which preserved a 1-0 victory.
Matsuzaka walked men in both the first and second, but one was stranded and the other was erased on a double play. But in the third, shortstop Makoto Kaneko reached on an infield hit, rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi singled to left and the runners were advanced on a sac bunt. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara was pitched around and he walked to load the bases. But then "the monster" found a groove and fanned the next two men and Nippon Ham didn't have a chance afterward.
Satoru Kanemura started for Nippon Ham and was rock solid over his 6.1 innings, as he permitted a run on five hits, but it wouldn't get the job done this night and Seibu ended a string of four consecutive losses engendered when Kanemura opened on the mound against them.
Seibu didn't muster anything at all against Kanemura until the sixth, when shortstop Kazuo Matsui walked and was sacrificed to second. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada walked. First baseman Alex Cabrera was now up and he wacked a single to right. Matsui rounded third and headed home, only to find the ball waiting for him at the plate on a strong throw from Tsuboi. DH Taketoshi Goto grounded to third and that was that.
In the seventh, though, Lions rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima leadoff with a single to right and went to second on a sacrifice. Catcher Tsutomu Itoh laced a fastball to left and Oshima sprinted to the promised land to make it 1-0 Seibu. Fighters skipper Trey Hillman went to the pen for Akio Shimizu, who was touced for a single but wriggled out of any further damage.
After Matsuzaka left, reliever Shinji Mori and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda retired all of the six batters that stepped in against them and that was the ballgame.
Kanemura's personal five game winning streak ended with the defeat while Seibu's winning streak now stands at six.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-4 and is at .332.
For Nippon Ham, leftfielder Angel Echevarria was 1-4 with three strikeouts and is at
.253.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Matsuzaka (W, 15-4) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 112 H 4 HR 0 K 8 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.20
S. Mori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.17
Toyoda (S, 31) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.39
Nippon Ham:
Kanemura (L, 8-6) IP 6.1 BF 26 PC 110 H 5 HR 0 K 5 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.35
A. Shimizu IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.57
Shibakusa IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.31
Date IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.60
N. Takahashi IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.96
SB: Takanami
RBI: T. Itoh
WP: Kanemura
GIDP: M. Ogasawara (4-6-3)
LOB: Seibu 9, Nippon Ham 6
Season Series: Seibu 12, Nippon Ham 10
Game Time:3:26
Attendance: 21,000
Umpires: Kawaguchi (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Sakaemura (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Hanshin Loses Fifth in a Row 10-4
The Hanshin Tigers attainted the nadir of their otherwise sparkling season Friday at Yokohama Stadium, as they were throughly thrashed by the hapless Yokohama Bay Stars 10-4. Southpaw ace Kei Igawa was surprisingly listless, as he was tattooed for a personal worst seven runs, six earned (also a personal worst), on seven hits in a mere two innings to absorb his fifth loss of the year.
Righthander Daisuke Miura, making his first second half start, looked like his old self, as he limited the Hanshin attack to two runs on four hits while striking out seven to earn his fourth triumph of the campaign.
Yokohama jumped on top in the first inning and never looked back. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo walked on four stright pitches to commence the stanza. Shortstop Takuro Ishii bunted a ball down the third base line. Third baseman George Arias gloved it and then threw it away and the runners were standing on second and third before the ball was retrieved. Rightfielder Hitoshi Tamura grounded to third and the runners held for one out, but Stars first baseman Tyrone Woods whistled a shot into the leftfield corner to plate Kinjo and Ishii on the double. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki singled to center. Second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled to right to recall Woods. Rookie third baseman Shuichi Murata then took Igawa on a tour of the leftcenterfield bleachers for his first roundtripper since May 28th, good for three runs, and it was 6-0 home team.
Arias partially redeemed himself for his miscue by thundering one into the centerfield seats with two down in the second to make it 6-1 Yokohama.
Yokohama grabbed that back, though, in the bottom portion when Ishii singled to left with one out, backup rightfielder Hitoshi Taneda singled to right and Woods singled to left to get Ishii in for a 7-1 Stars advantage.
Hanshin had a brief rally in the third, when pinch hitter Toshihiro Noguchi tripled off the rightfield wall and second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to left to shrink the deficit to 7-2.
Again, Yokohama answered with a one out jack into the rightfield bleachers from catcher Ryoji Aikawa off of reliever Kanazawa to restore the six run lead at 8-2.
Kanazawa was then victimized again, this time in the fourth, when Ishii crushed one into the rightcenterfield stands to widen it to 9-2 Yokohama.
With Hanshin rookie Hiroshi Santo on the hill in the eighth, Yokohama hit double figures when Murata and Aikawa walked, were sacrificed along (with a seven run lead?) and Kinjo lifted a sacrifice fly to right and it was 10-2 Yokohama.
Takeharu Kato ascended the hill in the ninth to close it out and he got hit around, a fusillade that was halted only because of a really dumb baserunning errors. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto doubled up the leftcenter alley. First baseman Hiroshi Yagi pinged a shot off the rightfield fence for a double, but Kanemoto apparently wasn't sure that it wouldn't be caught and only made it to third. Catcher Ryo Asai grounded to Murata, who booted it and Kanemoto crossed, Yagi holding at second. Arias singled to right. The slow footed Yagi, despite being down by seven, attempted to score and was meat at the plate. Asai scored on a groundout to third for the second out. Shortstop Teruyoshi Kuji struckout and the Hanshin comeback fizzled for a 10-4 final.
The first run of the game has been scored by the oppposition nine times this month and Hanshin has lost all of them. they are 5-11 in August and 3-10 on this roadtrip.
For Yokohama, Woods was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .253.
For Hanshin, Arias was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .249.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Igawa (L, 15-5) IP 2.0 BF 15 PC 46 H 7 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 7 ER 6 ERA 3.03
Kanazawa IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 48 H 2 HR 2 K 5 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.99
Yoshino IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.54
Santo IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.18
Yokohama:
Miura (W, 4-4) IP 7.0 BF 26 PC 102 H 4 HR 1 K 7 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.48
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.51
T.H. Kato IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 32 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 1 ERA 2.12
E: Santo, Arias, Fujimoto, S. Murata
SB: Akahoshi
2B: Woods, Kanemoto, Yagi
3B: T. Noguchi
HR: S. Murata (15), Arias (24), Ryoji Aikawa (5), T. Ishii (5)
RBI: Imaoka, I. Asai, Arias, S. Tanaka, Kinjo, T. Ishii, Woods 3, Uchikawa, S. Murata
3, Ryoji Aikawa
SF: Kinjo
HBP: Kinjo (Yoshino)
GIDP: Imaoka (4-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 4, Yokohama 4
Season Series: Hanshin 19, Yokohama 4
Game Time: 2:50
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Suginaga (HP), Watamari (1B), Mori (2B), Arisumi (3B)
Terahara Gets First Second Half Victory 5-2
Daiei Hawks second year righthander Hayato Terahara appeared as if he was going to have his clock cleaned again, but after going exclusively out of the stretch from the second inning on, he still permitted runners to get on, but kept them from the plate and worked his way to his first victory for the second half 5-2 over the Chiba Lotte Marines. Nate Minchey started for Lotte and accepted blame for the defeat with six innings of four run (three earned), four hit ball.
Lotte had an initial lead in the first when Terahara walked leadoff hitter Akira Otsuka and, one out later, free passed first baseman Kazuya Fukuura. DH Jose Fernandez singled to left and Otsuka ran in to make it 1-0.
In the third, they doubled that when centerfielder Jun Inoue seared one down the leftfield line for a two bagger and, after going to third on a groundout, trotted in on a single to left by Fernandez for a 2-0 advantage.
The next inning, Lotte had men on second and third with two outs, but Otsuka grounded out to snuff the threat.
Minchey had a one hitter going through five, but in the sixth, he went to pot. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara singled to left and, one out later, he left a pitch up in the strike zone and centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu tripled up the leftcenter gap to drive Shibahara in. Third baseman Munenori Kawasaki grounded to second baseman Koichi Hori, who fumbled it and Muramatsu registered the tying run. Kawasaki stole second. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi walked. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka ripped a fastball on the outer half of the plate up the leftcenter alley and the two speedsters on the basepaths put it in fourth to wheel on home to put the Hawks in the driver's seat 4-2.
Terahara fashioned a perfect seventh. The Hawks hitters then applauded his effort with another run in the home segment, as Shibahara beat out a dribbler, but was forced out 1-6 on a comebacker off the bat of pinch hitter Mitsuru Honma. Muramatsu singled to center and Honma slid into third safely. Manager Sadaharu Oh ordered up a squeeze and Kawasaki laid it down to make it 5-2 Daiei.
Lotte had an opportunity ro really hurt Terahara in the eighth when Fukuura got aboard on a one out error by Kawasaki, who had moved over to short when starter Yusuke Torigoe was pinch hit for. Fernandez singled to center. Oh dialed local for Takayuki Shinohara and he struckout Hori. Third baseman Rick Short singled to left and the sacks were packed. But Saburo Omura flied out to right for the third out. Shinohara then got rid of three of the four men he encountered in the ninth and it was "game setto."
Lotte has now lost seven consecutive games while the Hawks are a season high 26 games over .500.
Kawasaki's theft was Daiei's 120th, which is number one in the Pacific League.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 3-4 with two RBIs and is at .266. Short was 2-4 and is at .273.
For Daiei, leftfielder Pedro Valdes was 0-4 and is at .305.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
Minchey (L, 10-7) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 101 H 4 HR 0 K 3 BB 3 R 4 ER 3 ERA 4.10
T. Kawai IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 35 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.30
Daiei:
Terahara (W, 7-3) IP 7.1 BF 31 PC 120 H 7 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.35
Shinohara (S, 7) IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 22 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.21
E: Hori, M. Kawasaki
SB: M. Kawasaki
2B: J. Inoue, Matsunaka, A. Otsuka
3B: Muramatsu
RBI: Fernandez 2, Muramatsu, M. Kawasaki 2, Matsunaka 2
HBP: Johjima (Minchey)
GIDP: Hori (4-6-3), Fukuura (3-6-1), Omichi (6-4-3)
LOB: Lotte 9, Daiei 5
Season Series: Lotte 5, Daiei 15
Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 47,000
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Sato (1B), Tamba (2B), Kakigizono (3B)
Uehara Tosses Sixth Straight Complete Game Victory 9-1
Yakult's three game winning streak was terminated Friday at Meiji Jingu Stadium, when they ran into a buzzsaw named Koji Uehara, who posted his sixth straight complete game victory for the Yomiuri Giants 9-1. Centerfielder Chris Latham and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi each drove in two runs to pace the Yomiuri offense.
Rookie Shohei Tachiyama made his third pro start and got through the first three innings unscathed, butin the fourth, Yomiuri dented him when they used walks to Takahashi and leftfielder Roberto Petagine and a two out double down the rightfield line by Latham to take a 1-0 lead.
In the sixth, Takahashi belted one into the rightfield seats to make it 2-0 Yomiuri. Two outs later, third baseman Koji Goto doubled into the leftfield corner. Rather than deal with Latham, he was intentionally walked to get to catcher Yoshinori Murata, who flied out to center to keep the Swallows within two.
Tadashi Honma was inserted in the seventh and the Giants liked what he was dealing, as Uehara singled to left and, one out later, Mototsugu Kawanaka, who had started at second but moved to third later in the game, singled to left. Futoshi Yamabe replaced Honma and Takahashi flambed one down the rightfield line to usher Uehara in. Petagine was intentionally walked to juice the bags. Backup second baseman Toshihisa Nishi grounded to Akinori Iwamura at third, who couldn't handle it and it for an error and it was 4-0 Yomiuri. Pinch hitter Akira Etoh grounded into a 3-2 force, but Latham tapped slow ground ball toward short for an infield hit and an RBI. Murata walked to force in a run and the kyojin had the birds by the beak 6-0.
The Giants raked Yataro Sakamoto for three more tallies in the ninth when Etoh leadoff with a blast into the leftfield seats, Latham singled to center. Murata walked and Uehara spanked one off the glove of Sakamoto for an error to load the bases. Shortstop Masahiro Kawai grounded into a 4-6-3 double play while Latham crossed. Kawanaka singled to right to slingshot Murata to the plate for a 9-0 Yomiuri advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth, Swallows first baseman Ken Suzuki leadoff with a homer to center to avert the shutout. Two outs later, catcher Kosei Ono beat out a bleeder toward second. Shortstop Noriyuki Shiroishi thwacked a double down the leftfield line. Uehara finally wrapped it up, though, when rightfielder Mitsuru Manaka flied out to center and that was all she wrote.
Uehara's streak is the first six straight complete game skein by a Giants pitcher since 1990, when Masumi Kuwata did it. This was also his 14th lifetime game where he didn't walk anyone, passing up Kuwata among active hurlers. He's won eight in a row when Murata has been his batterymate.
For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .329. Todd Betts was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .289.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 3-4 with two RBIs and is at .257. Petagine was 0-2 with two walks and is at .303.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Uehara (W, 12-3) IP 9.0 BF 37 PC 128 H 11 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.11
Yakult:
Tachiyama (L, 0-1) IP 6.0 BF 26 PC 106 H 5 HR 1 K 7 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.51
T. Honma IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 6 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 1 ERA 27.00
Yamabe IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 37 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 2 ER 0 ERA 1.14
Y. Sakamoto IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 49 H 5 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 3 ER 1 ERA 6.65
E: Iwamura, Y. Sakamoto
2B: Y. Takahashi 2, K. Goto 2, Latham, Manaka, Shiroishi
HR: Y. Takahashi (20), Etoh (15), K. Suzuki (16)
RBI: K. Suzuki, Kawanaka, Y. Takahashi 2, Etoh, Latham 2, Y. Murata
IBB: Petagine (Yamabe), Yano (Sakamoto)
GIDP: M. Kawai (4-6-3)
LOB: Yomiuri 13, Yakult 9
Season Series: Yomiuri 12, Yakult 9 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:24
Attendance: 40,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), T. Kobayashi (1B), K. Kobayashi (2B), Kasahara (3B)
Brown Homers Twice, But Orix Still Falls Short 6-5
What was the old joke about former Spanshi dictator Francisco Franco on Saturday Night Live almost three decades ago? He was still dead. And so are the Orix Blue Wave, who saw starter Jason Phillips get his brains beat in for five runs in the fifth inning in a 6-5 loss to the Kintetsu Buffaloes Friday at Osaka Dome. Orix leftfielder Roosevelt Brown went deep twice, but they were ultimately for nought.
Daisuke Kato started for Kintetsu, but some shoulder discomfort resulted in his getting the hook in the second in favor of Katsuhiko Maekawa, who went 4.1 innings of three hit shutout ball to pick up his third shiroboshi.
Brown gave Orix a 1-0 lead in the second when he boomed one into the rightcenterfield stands. Two outs later, second baseman Tatsuya Shindo singled to right. Catcher Takeshi Miwa then homered to left and it was 3-0 in favor of the party from Kobe.
Kintetsu got off the shnide in the third, as third baseman Osamu Hoshino walked, went to second on a sac bunt, and crossed the plate on a single to center by centerfielder Naoyuki Omura.
The Buffs then herded some more offense against Phillips in the fifth, when rightfielder Koichi Isobe made it to first on an infield hit and shortstop Masahiro Abe and Hoshino each singled to right to load the bases. Catcher Akihito Fujii walked to force Isobe in. Omura flied out to center and Abe tagged up and took the tying run home. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi screamed a triple up the rightcenter gap for two RBIs. Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes flew out to right and Mizuguchi tagged up and crossed to make it 6-3 Kintetsu.
Brown injected some tension into this game when, following a walk to centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani, he buried an Akira Okamoto delivery in the rightfield stands to draw Orix to within 6-5. Orix continued to rally with singles to left from DH Takeshi Yamasaki and backup second baseman Jose Ortiz, but Shindo slapped a comebacker to Okamoto and Miwa grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing to sabotage the uprising.
Orix kept making a game of it. In the ninth, reserve shortstop Daisuke Maeda leadoff with a single to right and went to second on a sacrifice. However, third baseman Koichi Oshima flied out to left and Tani grounded to short and this baby was history. Orix has won just once in their last ten games.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 0-1 with two walks, a steal and an RBI and is at .274.
For Orix, Brown was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .325. Ortiz was 2-2 and is at .253.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Phillips (L, 2-3) IP 4.1 BF 20 PC 84 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 6.98
Motoyanagi IP 2.2 BF 8 PC 28 H 0 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.22
Kato IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 21 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.49
Kintetsu:
Kato IP 1.2 BF 8 PC 29 H 4 HR 2 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.26
Maekawa (W, 3-2) IP 4.1 BF 17 PC 69 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.61
Misawa IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 29 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.71
H. Koike IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 3 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.10
A. Okamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 12 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.02
T. Yoshida IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.97
Takamura (S, 8) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.39
SB: M.T. Goto, K. Oshima, Rhodes
2B: Ortiz
3B: Mizuguchi
HR: Brown 2 (24), Miwa (7)
RBI: Brown 3, Miwa 2, N. Omura 2, Mizuguchi 2, Rhodes, A. Fujii
SF: N. Omura, Rhodes
GIDP: Tani (6-4-3), S. Abe (3-6-3), Miwa (6-4-3)
LOB: Orix 7, Kintetsu 2
Season Series: Orix 8, Kintetsu 13
Game Time: 3:26
Attendance: 16,000
Umpires: Kodera (HP), Nagami (1B), Yanagita (2B), Maeda (3B)
Davey Three Hits Chunichi 1-0
Hiroshima Carp hurler Tom Davey had his second outstading outing in a row Friday at Nagoya Dome, as he improved to 3-0 with eight innings of three hit shutout ball in a 1-0 victory over the Chunichi Dragons. Shigeki Noguchi had one of his best performances of 2003 starting for the Dragons with eight innings of 11 strikeout, one run ball on six hits, but went down to defeat anyway.
Noguchi had extracted himself from a couple of minor revolts in matching Davey goose egg for goose egg, but then he had a colstly moment of weakness in the eighth. With two outs, shortstop Andy Sheets walked and leftfielder powdered a slider off the rightfield wall for an RBI triple to make it 1-0 Carp.
Davey told manager Koji Yamamoto that he was done after seven, but Yamamoto compelled him to throw one more inning and he put down three of the four men he faced in that stanza to finish his assignment with the lead intact. Rookie of the Year candidate Katsuhiro Nagakawa , who had his nasty forkball working and coaxked two groundouts and a strikeout out of the Dragons lineup to assure the victory.
For Chunichi, first baseman Omar Linares went 0-4 and is at .248. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 0-4 and is at .279.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-2 with two walks and is at .318. Davey was 1-2 and is at .143.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Davey (W, 3-0) IP 8.0 BF 29 PC 120 H 3 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.25
Nagakawa (S, 21) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.06
Chunichi:
S. Noguchi (8-8) IP 8.0 BF 33 PC 123 H 6 HR 0 K 11 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.57
M. Valdes IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.13
E: Sheets
SB: M. Araki
2B: Sheets, Ogata
3B: T. Maeda
RBI: T. Maeda
LOB: Hiroshima 8, Chunichi 5
Season Series: Hiroshima 13, Chunichi 8
Game Time: 2:42
Attendance: 31,000
Umpires: Kiuchi (HP), Uemoto (1B), Sasaki (2B), Tani (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin Manager Senichi Hoshino tore into his coaching staff for missing breakfast at the team's dormitory, saying that it was a bad example to the players. Guess there just isn't enough to complain about for this guy....Injured outfielder Osamu Hamanaka and his wife have divorced, according to an unnamed Japanese weekly magazine. When asked about it, Hanshin's public relations person said that he didn't know anything about it, but since it is a personal matter, he wouldn't ask what the reason for the split was.
Yokohama Pitcher phris Holt has been put on waivers as a preliminary to giving him his release, according to Hochi Sports. He leaves the Stars with a record of 5-14 and a 4.59 ERA in 2003 and an 11-24 mark for his two campaigns. After a game in July, unhappy with some sloppy defense, he broke some team property. His general dissatisfaction with the weak fielding in back of him was said to have played a role in letting him go early. However, the Chunichi Dragons immediately expressed interest and Holt's agent and the Nagoya club are already in preliminary negotiations. Chunichi plans to wait until the former Rockie clears waivers before signing him, should they decide to do so.
Koshien Tournament With ace Yu Darvish injured, Tohoku High School went with the tandem of Kozo Uneo and Kenshu Makabe, who limited Gonokawa High School to one run on four hits to move into the tournament final by a 6-1 score. Tohoku went out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but Gonokawa came back to knot it at one all in the fifth. However, in the sixth, Tohoku first baseman Yokota drilled a homer to left to make it 2-1 and then catcher Kosuke Sato added a solo roundtripper in the seventh for some insurance before they broke it open with a three spot in the eighth....For the first time in 16 years, Joso Gakuijn High School will be playing to the Koshien title, as they beat Kiryu Number One High School 6-2. The two sides traded single runs in both the first and second to make it 2-2 before Joso struck for a pair in the fourth when second baseman Shota Inoue hammered a slider down in the zone off the rightfield fence for an RBI triple and then came home on a sacrifice fly. They then used two singles and a triple for two runs in the fourth to stretch that lead to 6-2. Hideaki Iijima went five innings of relief to get credit for the win. Head coach Yukio Kiuchi, 72, will get to retire after bringing his charges to the final. He is third on the all time Koshien Tournament list with 39 wins.
Yankees, Yomiuri Playing Dirty With Toritani MLB Move?
As if what could be a controversy over Kazuo Matsui's impending free agency isn't enough, Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe really put his foot in it Friday when he indicated that he might arrange a backroom deal for Waseda University shortstop Takashi Toritani, a Tokyo Big Six University League Triple Crown winner, to go to the New York Yankees after "3-4 years" with the Tokyo ballclub.
Watanabe, who hates the present posting system, comparing it to "buying and selling prostitutes," stated that, "if the Yankees want him, I'll give him to them and we'll get something in return," according to Sports Nippon.
Toritani is currently the object of a bidding war between Yomiuri, Hanshin, Yokohama and Seibu and it is well known that he wants to play in the big leagues someday. Theoretically, Yomiuri, who would have Toritani's rights for ten years if he signs with them under Japan's peculiar draft system, could one day release Toritani with the not so tacit understanding that he would sign with the Yankees if they did, thereby bypassing the posting system since Toritani would theoretically be a free agent. The Yankees could then send Yomiuri players provided New York can get them through waivers.
Whether Watanabe is making this overture as a negotiating ploy with Toritani or not is hard to say. There is also no indication that the Yankees know about any of this. Hanshin is looking at him as next year's starter at short whereas the Giants have Tomohiro Nioka, who is having another high quality season with 25 homers, a record for Yomiuri shortstops. Toritani has alledgedly said that he only wants to go to a team that would give him the shortstop's job, which, again, would favor Hanshin, who aren't happy with the mental lapses of Atsushi Fujimoto. Hanshin has yet to show that they would permit Toritani to escape to MLB before he qualifies for free agency in 2014 at the earliest.
Yokohama shortstop and team leader Takuro Ishii has firmly denied any requests by the team to move to second base. Seibu has another promising infielder, Hiroyuki Nakajima, to install at short should they not obtain Toritani for next season, so they aren't quite so desperate to make concessions.
Today's Pictures
Daisuke Matsuzaka in Friday's Game
Daisuke Miura Raises His Arm to Deliver the Ball
