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08/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Hoshino Apoplectic Over Wtanabe Comment as Hanshin Ends Losing Streak"
Hanshin Ends Five Game Loss Streak 8-0
The Hanshin Tigers ended their worst losing skid of the season Saturday at Yokohama Stadium, as Tsuyoshi Shimyanagi and three relievers shut the Yokohama Bay Stars out on seven hits while the team's lagging offense provided a relative bonanza of production to prevail 8-0. Takeshi Tsutsumiuchi started for Yokohama and bore the brunt of the Hanshin offensive breakout by surrendering five runs on five hits in 1.2 innings to take his first pro loss.
With one down in the first, Hanshin centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi reached on an infield hit. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto unloaded on a 2-2 fastball that was right down the pipe and buried it in the rightfield seats for an immeidate 2-0 lead. Hanshin then had men on second and third with two outs later in the frame, but rightfielder Shuta Tanaka grounded out to leave the Tigers with a two run advantage.
They would dispose of Tsutsumiuchi in the second, as shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka legged out an infield hit near third, Fujimoto sliding into third without a play. Akahoshi flied out to center and Fujimoto tagged up and crossed. Kanemoto walked. First baseman Katsumi Hirosawa doubled up the leftcenter alley and both Imaoka and Kanemoto blazed around the basepaths to expand it to 5-0.
In the sixth, Akahoshi got aboard on another infield hit and Kanemoto singled to center. One out later, third baseman George Arias bashed a shot off the rightfield wall to plate Akahoshi on the double. Catcher Toshihiro Noguchi flied out to right and Kanemoto tagged up and scored to make it 7-0 Hanshin.
For whatever reason, Tigers helmsman Senichi Hoshino pulled Shimoyanagi with two outs and nobody on and put Jerrod Riggan in his place. Riggan walked the first man he saw and then retired the the next four men before giving way to Jeff Williams.
The Tigers tacked another one on in the eighth when Arias clobbered a pitch from Fukumori into the leftfield bleachers and enlarged the Hanshin advantage to 8-0.
Yokohama managed just two hits the last two innings, shortstop Seiichi Uchikawa grounding to second for the final out of the game. Hanshin's magic number is now 18.
This was the 20th game that Hanshin has won against Yokohama this season, only the third time in team history that they have done one opposing squad for that many victories. The last time they attained that was against Yakult in 1970.
The 14 hits the Tigers collected in this game is the most they've had since the all star break.
For Hanshin, Arias was 2-5 with two RBIs and is at .251.
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 1-4 and is at .253.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Shimoyanagi (W, 8-4) IP 5.2 BF 20 PC 73 H 5 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.08
Riggan IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.93
Williams IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 9 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.47
Ando IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.16
Yokohama:
Tsutsumiuchi (L, 1-1) IP 1.2 BF 12 PC 44 H 5 HR 1 K 0 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.91
Tazaki IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 28 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.35
H. Yamada IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 53 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.05
Tomioka IP 2.0 BF 11 PC 44 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.60
Fukumori IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.44
Morinaka IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.00
SB: Tamura
2B: T. Noguchi, Hirosawa, Ryoji Aikawa, Arias, K.A. Furuki
HR: Kanemoto (16), Arias (25)
RBI: Akahoshi, Kanemoto 2, Hirosawa 2, Arias 2, T. Noguchi
SF: Akahoshi, T. Noguchi
HBP: Y. Nakamura (H. Yamada), Fujimoto (Yamada), Akahoshi (Tomioka), Ryoji
Aikawa (Williams)
GIDP: T.N. Suzuki (1-6-3), Manei (1-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 13, Yokohama 6
Season Series: Hanshin 20, Yokohama 4
Game Time: 3:33
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), Tomoyose (1B), Watamari (2B), Mori (3B)
Toyoda Blows Save in 6-5 Seibu Loss to Nippon Ham
Seibu Lions closer Kiyoshi Toyoda has been absolute death this season, but even in the greatest years a pitcher will have occasional breakdowns and that is what happened to the man with the devastating forkball, as he was lit up for a pair of runs by the Nippon Ham Fighters Saturday at Sapporo Dome in the bottom of the ninth to lose it 6-5.
Benefiting by Toyoda's blown save was Hiroshi Shibakusa, who recorded his second shiroboshi of the season.
Carlos Mirabal started for Nippon Ham and his command was off, as he walked shortstop Kazuo Matsui to kick off the game and saw him go to second on a sac bunt. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada powered a shot off the centerfield fence to easily cash Matsui in. One out later, rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima singled to center to convert Wada and put the Lions up 2-0.
Nippon Ham chipped a tally off of Seibu starter Koji Mitsui when second baseman Hiroshi Narahara walked and stole second. Two outs later, leftfielder Angel Echevarria singled to center to propel Narahara home and make it 2-1 Lions.
Seibu then abused Mirabal some more, as catcher Koji Tahara outran a slow roller toward short with one away and, one out later, Matsui did likewise. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ozeki singled to center to bring Tahara in and Matsui also crossed when the ball got by centerfielder Tatsuya Ide, who was charged with an error on the play, and it was 4-1 Lions.
Nippon Ham responded in the fourth, when Ide walked with one down and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara torched a double into the rightfield corner. Echevarria grounded out to short and Ide toed the dish to make it 4-2 Seibu.
Ide then compensated for his earlier miscue, as he opened the fifth with a big fly into the leftcenterfield seats off of reliever Tetsuya Shiozaki to make it a one run ballgame at 4-3. Ogasawara doubled to rightcenter, but he was stranded when Shiozaki induced a groundout and two flyouts.
They then crept their way through the sixth to knot it up, as pinch hitter Yoshinori Ueda walked and was forced out at second on a grounder back to reliever Hoashi off the bat of shortstop Makoto Kaneko. Catcher Shinji Takahashi then beat out a ground ball toward short and the runners moved up on a groundout. Ide then welcomed Kaneko in on an infield hit to even it at 4-4.
But Seibu surged in front once more in the eighth when third baseman Scott McClain and Tahara both singled to center off of Akio Shimizu. Tomoaki Sato was sent in to pinch run for McClain. Hiroshi Shibakusa entered from the bullpen. Backup second baseman
Ueda grounded to Shibakusa, who went to third for the force. Matsui torqued a double down the leftfield line to drive in Tahara with the 5-4 lead.
Toyoda mosied out to the mound and Ogasawara lined one of his pitches up the leftcenter alley for his third double of the contest. Echevarria singled to left and it was 5-5. Echevarria moved to second on a sac bunt. First baseman Yukio Tanaka singled to center, Echevarria stopping at third. Ueda was intentionally walked to set up the double play. Kaneko, whose alma mater had won the Koshien Tournament (see story below) that afternoon, bonked a first pitch fastball up the middle for the sayonara single to win it 6-5.
For Seibu, first baseman Alex Cabrera was 0-4 and is at .329. McClain was 1-3 with a walk and is at .239.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 3-5 with three RBIs and is at .258.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Mitsui IP 3.2 BF 18 PC 80 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 5 R 2 ER 1 ERA 5.71
T. Shiozaki IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 20 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.31
Hoashi IP 2.1 BF 11 PC 56 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.38
Osada IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.67
S. Mori IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.15
Toyoda (L, 0-2) IP 0.1 BF 6 PC 19 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 0.78
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal IP 5.0 BF 27 PC 112 H 8 HR 0 K 3 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.93
A. Shimizu IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 26 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.70
Shibakusa (W, 2-1) IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 31 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.20
E. Tahara, K.A. Furuki, Ide
SB: Narahara
2B: K. Wada, M. Ogasawara 3, K. Matsui, Kaneko
HR: Ide (4)
RBI: K. Matsui, Ozeki 2, K. Wada, H.Y. Oshima, Ide 2, Echevarria 3, Kaneko
IBB: Y. Ueda
WP: Mirabal, Mori
GIDP: K. Shimada (6-4-3)
LOB: Seibu 11, Nippon Ham 13
Season Series: Seibu 12, Nippon Ham 11
Game Time: 4:13
Attendance: 22,000
Umpires: Nakamura (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Tachibana (2B), Tsugawa (3B)
Daiei Loses Game and Muramatsu
Well, will wonders never cease. Shunsuke Watanabe, a submarining righthander who has largely bombed as a start, gets another start and manages to hold the Daiei Hawks, the hardest hitting team in Japanese pro ball, to three runs on five hits in eight innings in a 5-3 Chiba Lotte Marines victory. He also beat a guy in Brandon Knight who has more sheer stuff, as Knight was responsible for all of the Lotte scores in evening his record to 4-4.
For Daiei, though, this was a double loss and the game wasn't the biggest of the two. Centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu, who is hitting .324 and was tops in the league in runs scored and second in steals, will be out for the season after fracturing his shoulder attempting to make a diving catch in the third inning. Now they need to find a leadoff hitter.
Anyway, getting on to the game, Daiei stepped to the head of the line in the second when catcher Kenji Johjima doubled to leftcenter and leftfielder Pedro Valdes walked. Knight unleashed a wild pitch and the runners moved up. First baseman Noriyoshi Omichi grounded out to second and it was1-0 Hawks.
Lotte surmounted that problem and raised them a couple in the third, as rightfielder Takashi Kita beat out atapper toward third and first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to right. DH Jose Fernandez walked to pack the sacks. Second baseman Koichi Hori slashed a shot into the leftcenter alley. Muramatsu lunged for it and missed it. While he writhed on the ground, all three runners chugged to the plate while Hori was into to second by the time Valdes chased the ball down and got it back to the infield to make it 3-1 Lotte.
While Watanabe was stacking up outs, Lotte went back on the offensive in the sixth when Hori singled to right and leftfielder Rick Short made it to first on an infield hit and then the runners each advanced when Knight made an errant throw. Catcher Tasuku Hashimoto flew out to right and Hori tagged up and scored. One out later, shortstop Makoto Kosaka singled to center to get Short in for a 5-1 Lotte advantage.
Watanabe sought to go nine, but third baseman Munenori Kawasaki leadoff with an infield hit out near second and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi doubled to rightcenter. Lotte manager Koji Yamamoto went to the bullpen for closer Masahide Kobayashi. DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka doubled to leftcenter for two RBIs and now every batter coming up to the plate represented the tying run. Johjima grounded out to third. Valdes grounded out to short. Omichi flied out to center and the fans went home disappointed due to Lotte's 5-3 triumph.
Muramatsu doesn't have much pop, but he doeshave 29 doubles and 13 triples to accompany 32 steals and an OBP of .372. He has also struckout only 67 times in 510 plate appearances. That is a lot to go without.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 1-2 with two walks and is at .267. Short was 2-4 and is at .276.
For Daiei, Valdes was0-3 and is at .303.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
S. Watanabe (W, 4-3) IP 8.0 BF 30 PC 121 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.96
M.H. Kobayashi (S, 21) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.16
Daiei:
Knight (L, 4-4) IP 5.2 BF 28 PC 101 H 9 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.13
H.K. Watanabe IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.40
M. Sato IP 2.2 BF 9 PC 34 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.91
E: Fernandez, Knight
SB: J. Inoue, Johjima
2B: Johjima, Hori, Iguchi, Matsunaka
RBI: Hori 3, M. Shimizu, Kosaka, Matsunaka 2, Omichi
SF: Hashimoto
WP: Knight 2
GIDP: Kosaka (4-6-3), Matsuda (3-6-3)
LOB: Lotte 7, Daiei 4
Season Series: Lotte 6, Daiei 15
Game Time: 3:07
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Kakigizono (HP), Tamba (1B), Hayashi (2B), Sato (3B)
Yakult Bombs Kisanuki 8-4
If the Yakult Swallows were in first place, catcher Atsuya Furuta would be looking at a possible MVP award, as his mental and physical toughness at the age of 38 and his leadership of an injury-soaked pitching staff that has had to put great loads on 19 year old lefty Yuhei Takai and another youngster, the little scroogie artist Masanori Ishikawa, has kept the birds over .500. Furuta has also experienced a rebirth at the plate, as he put good wood on a Hiroshi Kisanuki pitch for a three run homer and drove in four total in Yakult's 8-4 victory over the Yomiuri Giants Saturday at Meiji Jingu Stadium.
Kisanuki is going through some growing pains right now, as this is the third consecutive game in which he has been knocked out early after leading the Central League in ERA for a while.
Yomiuri had a brief 1-0 lead in the second, as first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara singled to right and third baseman Akira Etoh walked. Centerfielder Chris Latham, who has been big for the kyojin lately, hit a little ground ball to short that enabled Kiyohara to make it to third, from where he scored on a sacrifice fly to center by catcher Yoshinori Murata.
But in the bottom of the second, Yakult leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to center and Ken Suzuki singled to right. Furuta was next and clubbed a forkball into the leftfield bleachers and it was 3-1 Swallows.
Then in the third, third baseman Akinori Iwamura followed Furuta's example by parking a 91mph fastball in the leftfield seats as well to make it 4-1 Swallows.
Swallows starter Ishikawa wouldn't be able to hold it, though, as pinch hitter Toshihisa Nishi singled to right to leadoff the fourth and shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to center. They both moved up on a groundout to the right side. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi cleared one for takeoff and landed it in the rightfield bleachers to equal it at 4-4.
Yakult would went back to work in the fifth, as Iwamura singled to right with two outs. Reliever Yasuyuki Kawamoto struckout Ramirez, but the ball got through Murata for a passed ball and Ramirez beat a hasty path to first. first baseman Ken Suzuki singled to right to plate Iwamura. Furuta singled to center to send Ramirez in and it was 6-4 Swallows.
Ishikawa got through the bottom of the fifth and Hirotoshi Ishii applied some heat afterward, as he tossed two innings of one hit ball. The Swallows offensive engine then turned over again in the eighth, when Atsunori Inaba socked one into the rightfield seats off of Takashi Kamoshida. Second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi, who is having his best second half in years, doubled to leftcenter. He was sacrificed to third. Shinichi Sato tripled to left and Dobashi was in to make it 8-4 Swallows.
Ryota Igarashi then brought more smoke to bear in the ninth to retire three of four Giants hitters and lock it up for Yakult.
Congratulations to the Kiyohara family, whose first child, Shogo, turned one year old. Papa is said to be spoiling him silly.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 2-4 and is at .269. Leftfielder Roberto Petagine was 1-4 and is at .302.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-4 and is at .331. He continues to be a great presence in both the clubhouse and on the field and would have gotten some MVP votes as well if the Swallows were contenders.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kisanuki IP 4.0 BF 18 PC 58 H 7 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.15
Kawamoto (L, 1-5) IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 24 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 0 ERA 7.00
Bailey IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 44 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.57
Kamoshida IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 7 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 11.70
Sogawa IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 6 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yakult:
Masanori Ishikawa (W, 8-9) IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 103 H 8 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.07
H. Ishii IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.92
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 8 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.51
2B: Dobashi
3B: S. Sato
HR: Furuta (19), Iwamura (6), Y. Takahashi (21), Inaba (11)
RBI: Y. Takahashi 3, Y. Murata, S. Sato, Iwamura, K. Suzuki, Furuta 4, Inaba
SF: Y. Murata
PB: Y. Murata
GIDP: Inaba (5-6-3)
LOB: Yomiuri 7, Yakilt 6
Season Series: Yomiuri 12, Yakult 10 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:04
Attendance: 45,000
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Yoshimoto (1B), T. Kobayashi (2B), K. Kobayashi (3B).
Nakamura's 13th Career Slam Fends Off Orix 11-7
Still hobbled by a bad knee, Kintetsu DH Norihiro Nakamura blasted a grand slam homer, the 13th of his career to move into a third place tie on the all time list in that department to spearhead the Kintetsu Buffaloes past the Orix Blue Wave at Osaka Dome Saturday 11-7. Tuffy Rhodes, who is battling a heel problem, also went deep for the winners, his 41st.
Hisashi Iwamkuma started for the Buffs and was good enough and little more, as he was shaken down for nine hits and four runs in seven innings for his 13th shiroboshi.
Rui Makino started for Orix and was back on the bench to stay after just two innings after being rocked for four runs on three hits, one of them the Rhodes roundtripper.
But the real goat in this one was Makoto Suzuki. Kintetsu basically ate his lunch, as he ultimately permitted five runs to cross the plate on six hits in 2.2 innings to elevate his ERA to 8.10. I would say that his pro basebal career is over, unless somebody in Italy or Holland is dumb enough to sign him.
Makino skated through the first inning on one hit, but his control went south in the second and the Buffs took advantage. With one out, rightfielder Koichi Isobe walked, as did shortstop Masahiro Abe. One out later, catcher Akihito Fujii singled to center and Isobe galloped across for a 1-0 lead.
Orix retaliated against Iwakuma in the top of the third when first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani walked with one out and came around on third baseman Koichi Oshima's double up the leftcenter gap. One out later, leftfielder Roosevelt Brown doubled to left to push Oshima in and it was 2-1 Blue Wave.
Makino, though, would completely fall on his face in the third. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi walked and Rhodes got a fastball over the middle of the plate and clouted it into the third deck in rightcenter, a mighty 450 foot plus power exhibition, and Kintetsu was back in front 3-2. Nakamura walked. Orix boss Leon Lee had seen enough and selected Kazuya Motoyanagi from the bullpen. First baseman Yuji Yoshioka lined one into the leftcenter alley for a double. Isobe singled to center to usher them in for a 5-2 Buffs lead.
In the fourth, centerfielder Naoyuki Omura walked. One out later, Rhodes singled to right. After Nakamura whiffed, Yoshioka zipped one down into the leftfield corner and Omura got the wheels rolling to the plate to inflate the Kintetsu lead to 6-2.
Orix still kept it close, however, in the fifth, when shortstop Mitsutaka Goto doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a groundout. Oshima singled to right to drive Goto in and it was 6-3 Kintetsu.
Suzuki entered the game in the bottom of the fifth and was touched for two hits and a walk in his intial two innings, but otherwise didn't get scored upon.
Meanwhile, Orix ratcheted up the tension in the sixth, as Goto and Shiotani both singled to right with one out and Oshima spanked a shot down the leftfield line to convert Goto and make it 6-4 Kintetsu.
Suzuki couldn't keep it there and the Buffs put this one out of reach during the home ups. With one down, Fujii singled to center and stole second. One out later, Mizuguchi singled to right. Rhodes walked to jam the basepaths. Nakamura, 0-16 before this plate appearance, got a hanging full count splitter and went upper deck to left with it to put it in cruise control for Kintetsu at 10-4. Yoshioka singled to left. Lee gave Suzuki the hook and resorted to Fumiaki Imamura. Isobe singled to left and Abe singled to center for an RBI and it was 11-4 Buffs.
Naoya Shimada replaced Iwakuma to begin the eighth and he walked centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani. Brown grounded into a 4-6 force play. Second baseman Jose Ortiz then connected for his 20th homer to make it 11-6.
Orix scored one more run in the ninth on a Daisuke Maeda pinch hit single, a stolen base and a two out single to left by Oshima, who had four RBIs on the night, but couldn't do anything more and Kanehisa Arime struckout Ikuro Katsuragi to end it.
Nakamura is tied with former Yomiuri and Yokohama first baseman Norihiro Komada and is one away from Yasuo Fujii and two from Sadaharu Oh to become Japan's number one "manrui otoko (bases loaded guy)."
Rhodes is now all alone in second for most homers by a foreign player, needing just six more to get by former Lotte great Leron Lee's standard. Yes, that is Leon's older brother.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 2-4 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .276.
For Orix, Brown was 1-3 with a steal and an RBI and is at .325. Ortiz was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .256.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Makino (L, 2-3) IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 55 H 3 HR 1 K 1 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.36
Motoyanagi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.27
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 7.30
M. Suzuki IP 2.2 BF 16 PC 73 H 6 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 8.10
Imamura IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 15 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.75
Tokumoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.29
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma (W, 13-7) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 111 H 9 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.10
N. Shimada IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 17 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 21.60
Arime IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 28 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 8.18
SB: D. Maeda, Brown, O. Hoshino, A. Fujii
2B: Tani, K. Oshima 2, Brown, Yoshioka 2, M.T. Goto, Isobe, N. Omura
HR: Rhodes (41), N. Nakamura (19), Ortiz (20)
RBI: K. Oshima 4, Brown, Ortiz 2, Rhodes 2, N. Nakamura 4, Yoshioka, Isobe 2, S.
Abe, A. Fujii
GIDP: R. Tsuji (4-3-6), T. Tamaki (5-6-3)
LOB: Orix 5, Kintetsu 13
Season Series: Orix 8, Kintetsu 14
Game Time: 4:08
Attendance: 18,000
Umpires: Maeda (HP), Yanagita (1B), Higashi (2B), Nagami (3B)
Kuroda Tosses Eight Hitter to Down Chunichi 2-1
Hiroshima Carp starter Hiroki Kuroda was clocked at 94mph, as he improved to 5-1 in the second half of the schedule with a complete game eight hitter to eek by the Chunichi Dragons 2-1.
First baseman Takahiro Arai staked Kuroda to a 1-0 lead when he mortared a pitch by Dragons starter Shinya Okamoto into the leftfield seats with one out in the second inning.
Hiroshima then had another chance to post a run in the fourth when shortstop Andy Sheets and doubled off the leftfield wall and went to third on a groundout. But Arai struckout and third baseman Kenjiro Nomura lined out to first to squelch that opportunity.
The Dragons then left one slip through their fingers in the fifth when they had men on first and third with two outs but couldn't get the game tying hit.
Hiroshima then became efficient in the sixth, as second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to left and went to second on a sac bunt. Sheets singled to left and Kimura was back in the dugout and the Carp had a 2-0 lead.
The Dragons squandered another incipient rally in the eighth, but then spoiled the shutout in the ninth. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to center and, two outs later, catcher Motonobu Tanishige walked. Second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to left to invite Tatsunami home. Now with the tying run in scoring position, the pesky leftfielder Takayuki Onishi flied out to right and the Carp had the W in pocket.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 2-4 with an RBI and is .320.
For Chunichi, centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 1-4 and is at .279. First baseman Ivan Cruz was 1-4 and is at .229.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Kuroda (W, 8-8) IP 9.0 BF 36 PC 136 H 8 HR 0 K 7 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.32
Chunichi:
S. Okamoto (L, 2-5) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 96 H 6 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.10
Endo IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 24 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
M. Valdes IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.09
Hisamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.27
2B: T. Kimura, M. Araki, Sheets, Cruz
HR: T. Arai (9)
RBI: Sheets, T. Arai, M. Araki
PB: Ishihara
GIDP: Tanishige (5-4-3)
LOB: Hiroshima 6, Chunichi 8
Season Series: Hiroshima 14, Chunichi 8
Game Time: 3:05
Attendance: 34,000
Umpires: Tani (HP), Nemoto (1B), Uemoto (2B), Sasaki (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin As perhaps could be expected, Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino was angered by a statement that Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe made Friday concering allowing Waseda University shortstop Takashi Toritani to go to the Yankees in "three or four years" is Toritani wishes to do so. "Isn't there a problem with that statement? Isn't it a violation of the rules?" Hoshino grumbled. According to Sankei Sports, there is a provision in the NPB rules that forbid a team from drafting a player and then moving ceding his contract to another team. However, Yomiuri wouldn't be able to do that since it would violate the agreement between MLB and NPB, so Yomiuri would first have to release Toritani before he could be signed by New York. Even so, there is a possibility that Watanabe would be seen as violating the spirit of that rule even if legally he doesn't. But the tart tounged septagenerian is used to getting his way, so even if the other owners criticize Watanabe for such a move, they won't do anything about it.
Chunichi Kenjiro Kawasaki made another minor league start Saturday and got hammered for five runs on six hits in three innings. There is no strong doubt about the 2001 free agent signing ever appearing in a game for the Dragons this season....The Dragons are also reportedly putting off the possibility of signiing Chris Holt, as manager Hisashi Yamada revealed that the team is seeking "new players." Indeed, it's hard to see how Holt would be much of an improvement over who they have on their staff now, though maybe playing in a slightly bigger ballpark would help his ERA out a bit. One can only imagine that their top priority, since they are already going to hold on to Marc Valdes, is somebody who can provide middle of the lineup pop since Ivan Cruz washed out in that regard and Omar Linares should probably retire.
Seibu Shortstop Kazuo Matsui becomes eligible for free agency Sunday. Gentlemen, start your checkbooks! The Angels already have.
Koshien Tournament In front of 52,000, Joso Gakuin High School became the 2003 Koshien Summer High School Baseball Tournament champions by besting Tohoku High School 4-2. Tohoku tallied a pair in the bottom of the second when first baseman Yokota doubled to center, leftfielder Yotaro Kataoka doubled to right and third baseman Masayoshi Kato doubled to left. However, ace Yu Darvish, still feeling some pain in one of his shins, couldn't sustain the lead, as Joso mounted a three run rally in the fourth on an infield hit by leftfielder Naoki Hirano, a one out doubl to left by shortstop Katsuhiko Saka, an RBI groundout to third by first baseman Yasunori Matsubayashi, an RBI double to left by rightfielder Akifumi Yoshiwara and an RBI triple to right from catcher Daijiro Ozaki to go up 3-2. They tacked on another run in the eighth when Saka singled to left and went to second on a wild pitch, Matsubayashi singled to right and Saka hustled home when the rightfielder let the ball get by him for, as the Japanese say, a "timely error." Righthander Hideaki Iijima got the win with seven innings of four hit relief. Darvish went all the way, throwing 124 pitches and giving up 12 hits while striking out three and walking three. He was clocked at 88mph. Congratulations to head coach Yukio Kiuchi for capping off a more than half century long career guiding high school baseball teams with a Koshien Tournament crown.
In the News
Mike Gulan Leaves Baseball for College
He worked his butt off in Japan, but it didn't happen for him. Good luck, Mike. See story at: Nashville Tennesseean Article
Daiei Pressed for More Debt Payment
See story at: Financial Times Article
Japan Little League Coach Doesn't Want to Repeat Losing Series
See story at: San Jose Mercury News Article
Little Leaguers Grow Up
See story at: Orlando Sentinel Article
Today's Pictures
Kazuo Matsui Breaks Out of the Box
