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09/02/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Daiei Absorbs Big Loss From Lotte; Uehara Complete for Seven"
Hanshin Not Bluffing About Four Deuces and Pennant Drive 8-0
Four players drove in two runs apiece and starter Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi tossed his first shutout in more than two years in an 8-0 Hanshin Tigers victory over the Yakult Swallows Friday at Koshien Stadium. The Osaka favorite sons have now won three in a row to reduce their magic number to 13.
Southpaw Masanori Ishikawa started for the Swallows and wasn't of much use at all, as he surrendered six runs, four earned, on eight hits in four innings while also being victimized by a rare defensive miscue by batterymate Atsuya Furuta to absorb his tenth defeat.
Hanshin flew off the launching pad in the first, as first baseman Katsumi Hirosawa walked and third baseman George Arias put the bomp into an Ishikawa delivery and deposited it deep into the centerfield bleachers for a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Tigers leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto ripped a double down the rightfield line with one out and, one out later, Arias spanked a screwball into centerfield for the RBI. Furuta accepted the tardy relay home and then gunned it to second, where Arias was trying to sneak in, but the peg was well wide of the mark and while it was being chased down, Arias circled the bases to double the Hanshin advantage to 4-0.
The Tigers then got more separation in the fifth thanks to another Swallows error, as rightfielder Kenichiro Hayakawa (more about him later) leadoff with a single through the hole between third and short. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto grounded to normally surehanded third baseman Akinori Iwamura, who, in his haste to try to turn two, fumbled it. Both runners were sacrificed along. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka, who is hitting well over .400 with runners in scoring position, redeemed his teammates with a single to left to widen the Hanshin hegemony to 6-0.
Shimoyanagi had the Yakult lineup hypnotized through five, as the Swallows eeked out an infield hit and that was it. Hanshin's juggernaut then put this one away in that frame. With two outs, catcher Akihiro Yano walked and Hayakawa leaned into a fastball that was belt high and on the outer half of the plate and drilled it into the centerfield seats to make it 8-0 Tigers.
The Swallows mustered a single to center by backup catcher Kosei Ono and an infield pinch hit by Yoshiyuki Noguchi and that was all, as Shimoyanagi toyed with the Tokyo nine the rest of the way, striking out leftfielder Alex Ramirez and first baseman Hirobumi Watarai on three pitches each to turn out the lights. Yakult has now lost seven in a row against Hanshin at Koshien.
Nobody reached second base in this one against Shimoyanagi. In each of the three starts previous, he had been knocked out early, so he really righted himself.
Hayakawa was released after last season by the Chiba Lotte Marines. He was picked up by Hanshin after a tryout and tore it up in the minors to the tune of a .451 average and six homers before being called up. This was the first three hit game of his career. He dedicated the homer to an ex-teammate on Nissan Motors' industrial league team, Hiroaki Osawa, who died in July at age 24 of a myocardial infarction (basically a heart attack).
Arias reached an interesting milestone, becoming the first Tiger to accumulate 60 homers over the course of two seasons since Randy Bass did it in 1985-1986. He has six dingers in his last six games. In addition, the ex-Padre and wife Rachel will also be parents for the third time in mid-September.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts and is at .329.
For Hanshin, Arias was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .260.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Masanori Ishikawa (L, 8-10)IP 4.0 BF 21 PC 65 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 6 ER 4 ERA 4.20
T. Honma IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 20 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.75
Y. Sakamoto IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 37 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.12
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.43
Hanshin:
Shimoyanagi (W, 9-4) IP 9.0 BF 32 PC 114 H 3 HR 0 K 11 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.77
E: Iwamura
2B: Kanemoto, Akahoshi
HR: Arias (28), Hayakawa (1)
RBI: Imaoka 2, Arias 3, Hayakawa 2
LOB: Yakult 5, Hanshin 5
Season Series: Yakult 9, Hanshin 13
Game Time: 2:48
Attendance: 53,000
Umpires: Uemoto (HP), Tomoyose (1B), Tani (2B), Mori (3B)
Lotte Helps Out Seibu, Kintetsu by Felling Hawks 10-4
The Chiba Lotte Marines did the Seibu Lions and the Kintetsu Buffaloes a huge favor by knocking off the Daiei Hawks Friday at Chiba Marine Stadium 10-4. Submarining righty Shunsuke Watanabe had his second consecutive fine start in a row, limiting the birds of prey to two runs on eight hits over seven innings.
Daiei starter Hayato Terahara had his worst ever start in his short two season career, as he was yanked after 1.1 innings of four run ball on five hits. In his last six starts, he is 1-4 with a 6.41 ERA and is looking at being demoted to the minors.
Daiei had an opportunity to dispose of Watanabe in the second, as first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to right and, one out later, leftfielder Pedro Valdez doubled to leftcenter. But with the infield up, DH Julio Zuleta grounded to second, the runners holding. Centerfielder Masashi Matsuda walked to load the bases. Shortstop Yusuke Torigoe struckout and that was that.
Then third baseman Jose Fernandez leadoff the home portion with a belt into the rightcenterfield stands to give Lotte a 1-0 lead. Leftfielder Rick Short singled to left. Rightfielder Saburo Omura pumped one into the leftfield bleachers and it was 3-0. One out later, second baseman Masato Watanabe walked. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka singled to right. Centerfielder Jun Inoue walked. Shinji Kurano replaced Terahara and promptly walked first baseman Kazuya Fukuura to force Watanabe in for a 4-0 advantage. DH Koichi Hori bounced into a 5-2-3 double play to sabotage any further scoring, but the Hawks now had a four run deficit to deal with.
In the fourth, Inoue singled to center with two away and Fukuura mortared one beyond the centerfield wall to make it 6-0 Lotte.And the hits kept on coming. Hori singled to left, Fernandez singled to right and Short doubled to left to recall Hori and that was expanded to 7-0 Lotte.
Daiei finally countered this bombardment when Matsunaka took Watanabe deep to right and it was 7-1 Lotte. The Hawks then got a pair of two out singles, but Matsuda grounded out to shortcircuit the uprising.
The Fukuoka side scratched another one out in the seventh when pinch hitter Kazuyuki Takahashi singled to right and, one out later, third baseman Munenori Kawasaki singled to right, the speedy Takahashi motoring to third. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi grounded out to second to drive Takahashi in to make it 7-2 Lotte.
Lotte broke it open in the eighth against reliever Hirokazu Watanabe, as Masato Watanabe walked and Kosaka pinged one off the rightfield wall for a double. The infield came up and neither man crossed on two subsequent groundouts to first, but Hori solved that with a bomb into the leftfield bleachers and it was no contest at 10-2.
Brian Sikorsky got hurt in the ninth, but not enough to make a difference. Reserve third baseman Mitsuru Honma beat out a dribbler for an infield hit. Takahashi singled to leftcenter, substitute centerfielder Akira Otsuka letting the ball get behind him so that Honma could go home and Takahashi could get into wheel into third. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara grounded out to short and Takahashi toed the dish, but following a walk to Kawasaki, Iguchi flied out and Matsunaka grounded out and this one was a memory.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 2-5 with an RBI and is at .272. Short was 4-4 with an RBI and is at .285.
For Daiei, Zuleta was 1-3 with an HBP and is at .278. Valdes was 2-3 with a walk and is at .309.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
Terahara (L, 7-4) IP 1.1 BF 11 PC 46 H 5 HR 2 K 1 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.68
Kurano IP 4.2 BF 21 PC 79 H 7 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.66
M. Sato IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.42
H.K. Watanabe IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 20 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.01
Lotte:
S. Watanabe (W, 5-3) IP 7.0 BF 31 PC 115 H 8 HR 1 K 5 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.84
Sikorsky IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 35 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 0 ERA 3.42
E: A.N. Otsuka
SB: Kosaka, J. Inoue
2B: P. Valdes, Short, Kosaka
HR: Fernandez (22), S. Omura (3), Fukuura (14), Matsunaka (22), Hori (15)
RBI: Shibahara, Iguchi, Matsunaka, Fukuura 3, Hori 3, Fernandez, Short, S. Omura 2
HBP: Zuleta (S. Watanabe)
GIDP: Hori (5-2-3)
LOB: Daiei 9, Lotte 7
Season Series: Daiei 16, Lotte 7
Game Time: 3:19
Attendance: 29,000
Umpires: Kodera (HP), Nakamura (1B), Tsugawa (2B), Yamamoto (3B)
Toriyabe Spot Start a Success for Seibu 7-3
Kenichi Toriyabe's six year career has been hindered by injury, even requiring elbow surgery at one point. So after so long, he finally got to make his first pro start and it was a winner, two hitting the Orix Blue Wave for five shutout innings (though he walked four and hit a batter, resulting in an elevated pitch count) as the Lions crawled closer to the frontrunning Daiei Hawks in the Pacific League pennant race.
Orix starter Rui Makino was around for just three innings. 'Nuff said.
Seibu got rolling in the first, as shortstop Kazuo Matsui singled to right and went to second on a sac bunt. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada got a fastball right down Broadway and doubled near the leftfield line and Matsui scampered home to make it 1-0.
They added to that in the second, as Matsui singled to left with two outs, rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki walked and Wada singled to center for the RBI and a 2-0 Lions advantage.
In the third, Seibu centerfielder Tomoaki Sato walked and went to third on a single to left by third baseman Scott McClain. Catcher Koji Tahara grounded to second to invite Sato in and it was 3-0 Lions.
Seibu had a man on third with one out and wasted that chance when the next two men fanned.
Orix got off the shnide in the seventh, as reliever Koji Mitsui struckout catcher Takeshi Hidaka, the ball going by Tahara for a wild pitch as Hidaka ran to first. But shortstop Tatsuya Shindo grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing. First baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani walked. Third baseman Koichi Oshima singled to center. Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani singled tocenter as well and Shiotani set the controls for the heart of home plate to make it 3-1 Lions.
That was too close for the Tokorozawa contingent and they came loaded for bear in the bottom of the frame. Wada singled to center. First baseman Alex Cabrera singled to right, Wada hustling to third. DH Hiroyuki Oshima flied out to center and Wada tagged up and crossed. Sato got a fastball on the inner half of the plate and butchered it into the leftfield seats and it was 6-1. McClain clobbered one into the centerfield stands to push that up to 7-1 Lions.
Orix fought back in the ninth against Seibu reliever Kazuyuki Maeda when Shiotani doubled to rightcenter and Koichi Oshima walked. Tani moved them up with a grounder to first. Leftfielder Roosevelt Brown grounded to second to bring Shiotani in. Second baseman Jose Ortiz singled to right and Oshima was home. Backup first baseman Takeshi Yamasaki singled to center. Reserve rightfielder Kota Soejima walked to load the bases. Lions manager Haruki Ihara actually now felt compelled to go to his closer, Kiyoshi Toyoda, who threw one pitch and substitute catcher Takeshi Miwa grounded out to short to seal the victory.
Toyoda was credited with a save, the 100th of his career. He is the 15th in history to that mark.
The 6'3" 193 pound Toriyabe, who wears the number of ex-Lions ace Hisanobu Watanabe, had once contemplated retirement, but his outlook has brightened after acquiring a forkball. He was clocked at 89mph.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-3 with a walk and is at .331. McClain was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .237.
For Orix, Brown was 0-4 with a walk and is at .313. Ortiz was 1-5 with an RBI and is at .254.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Makino (L, 2-4) IP 3.0 BF 18 PC 59 H 6 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.57
Motoyanagi IP 3.0 BF 11 PC 54 H 2 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.74
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 25 H 4 HR 2 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 7.74
Kitagawa IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Seibu:
Toriyabe (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 22 PC 95 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 4 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Mitsui IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 29 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.65
Y. Doi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.99
K. Maeda IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 22 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.03
Toyoda (S, 33) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.95
E: Katsuragi
SB: Tani, K. Matsui
2B: K. Wada, T. Yamasaki, Shiotani
3B: Ozeki
HR: T. Sato (2), McClain (23)
RBI: Tani, Brown, Ortiz, K. Wada 2, H. Oshima, T. Sato 2, McClain, Tahara
SF: H. Oshima
WP: Toriyabe, Mitsui
HBP: Hidaka (Toriyabe)
GIDP: Shindo (4-6-3)
LOB: Orix 14, Seibu 8
Season Series: Orix 5, Seibu 15 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:21
Attendance: 21,000
Umpires: Tachibana (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Higashi (2B), Yanagita (3B)
Iwakuma Keeps Kintetsu Comeback Attempt Alive 8-3
Hisashi Iwakuma is now a 14 game winner and he kept the Kintetsu Buffaloes in contention Friday, as he went seven innings of three hit, one run ball while his teammates in the batting order teed off on Nippon Ham moundsman Itsuki Shoda for six runs, four earned, in just under three innings in an 8-3 Buffs victory. Shoda fell to 5-11.
Kintetsu popped out on top in the second, as DH Norihiro Nakamura lined a 3-2 85mph fastball on the outer half into the first row of the rightfield seats to make it 1-0. Third baseman Yuji Yoshioka singled to center. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa walked. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe beat out a bleeder for an infield hit to pack the sacks. Shortstop Masahiro Abe walked to force Yoshioka in. Catcher Akihito Fujii singled to right and it was 4-0 Buffaloes. Any further scoring was stanched when centerfielder Naoyuki Omura flied out to right and second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
In the third, Yoshioka doubled down the rightfield line and Shoda walked Kitagawa and Isobe to jam the basepaths. Shoda threw a pitch that catcher Kazunari Sanematsu couldn't handle and Yoshioka ran in on the passed ball. Abe walked to reload the bases. Fujii grounded to Michihiro Ogasawara at third and he booted it, Kitagawa crossing the plate to make it 6-0 Buffs.
Nippon Ham ended the shutout in the fourth when leftfielder Angel Echevarria singled to left with one out and first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto doubled to left. DH Yukio Tanaka grounded to second and Echevarria toed the dish, the scoreboard reading 6-1.
But Kintetsu bashed its way to two more runs in the sixth, as Yoshioka singled to center and, one out later, Isobe got a pitch down in the zone and lifted it into the rightfield bleachers and the gap between the two sides was 8-1 Buffs.
Kanehisa Arime came on to begin the ninth on the hill for Kintetsu and pinch hitter Kazuteru Shimada exited to leftcenter with two outs and Tanaka walloped one into the centerfield seats for back to back jacks. After shortstop Makoto Kaneko walked and Hisashi Aikyo was summoned to replace Arime, pinch hitter Tatsuya Ide struckout for the final out and Nippon Ham's attempt to reach .500 was stymied again.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-5 and is at .273.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-4 and is at .266.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Shoda (L, 5-11) IP 2.2 BF 17 PC 69 H 5 HR 1 K 1 BB 5 R 6 ER 4 ERA 5.33
Y. Sakurai IP 2.1 BF 12 PC 45 H 3 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.36
T.H. Kato IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 29 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Tateishi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.80
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma (W, 14-7) IP 7.0 BF 26 PC 105 H 3 HR 0 K 7 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.03
H. Koike IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Arime IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 15 H 2 HR 2 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.02
Aikyo IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.87
E: M. Ogasawara
SB: Kaneko, Ishimoto
2B: Yoshioka, Kimoto, M. Abe
HR: N. Nakamura (21), Isobe (12), K. Shimada (9), Y. Tanaka (8)
RBI: K. Shimada, Y. Tanaka, N. Nakamura, Isobe 2, M. Abe, A. Fujii
HBP: A. Fujii (Sakurai)
PB: Sanematsu
GIDP: Y. Tanaka (6-4-3), Mizuguchi (6-4-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 5, Kintetsu 5
Season Series: Nippon Ham 9, Kintetsu 16
Game Time: 3:00
Attendance: 18,000
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Sato (1B), Maeda (2B), Nagami (3B)
Uehara Completely in a Groove 5-2
Koji Uehara continued his amazing complete games streak, as he ran it to seven with a 5-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp Friday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium 5-2. He is the first Yomiuri pitcher with that kind of skein since Masaaki Saito in 1990 and he did it by spotting his pitches at will and holding the Carp to seven hits while striking out nine and walking none (he did hit a batter) for his 13th win.
Tom Davey started for the Carp and had an off night, surrendering four runs on eight hits to take his first loss since coming to Japan.
Yomiuri grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second when leftfielder Roberto Petagine singled to left and, one out later, centerfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled to center. Third baseman Takayuki Saito walked. Catcher Yoshinori Murata flied out to center and Petagine tagged up and crossed. Uehara singled to right to exploit Shimizu for the second run.
Uehara got through a one out, man on third pinch in the bottom of the frame and cruised through five. Meanwhile, Yomiuri scored another run in the top of the fifth, as second baseman Mototsugu Kawanaka doubled down the rightfield line and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi beat out a tapper toward third. Petagine singled to left for the RBI and it was 3-0 Giants.
Murata then dug in with two outs in the top of the sixth and buried a Davey delivery in the leftfield bleachers to give the Giants a 4-0 margin.
In the home portion, Uehara plunked centerfielder Koichi Ogata with two outs and shortstop Andy Sheets doubled down the leftfield line to bring up leftfielder Tomonori Maeda as the tying run. But the he flew out to right and Uehara bought himself a couple more innings of peace.
First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara lent Uehara some more support in the eighth, as he drove one to the opposite field and into the rightfield stands and it was 5-0 Giants.
With one out in the ninth, Uehara had a bit of a lapse, as Maeda singled to center and first baseman Takahiro Arai lowered the boom on a hanging forkball and powered it into the centerfield seats to make it 5-2. Uehara then stepped it up and retired third baseman Kenjiro Nomura on a popout to second and pinch hitter Itsuki Asai struckout and it was time to go home.
Uehara is 4-0 against the Carp this season and has won eight in a row against them dating back to last year. It is the first time in his career that he has won five games in a month.
For Yomiuri, Chris Latham was 1-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .262. Petagine was 3-4 with an RBI and is at .309. He also chipped in with a fine sliding catch of a foul fly in the third.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-4 and is at .323.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Uehara (W, 13-3) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 112 H 7 HR 1 K 9 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.05
Hiroshima:
Davey (L, 3-1) IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 92 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 1.93
Amano IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 21 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.38
Oyamada IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 21 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.24
2B: Morikasa, Kawanaka, Sheets, Latham
3B: T. Maeda
HR: Y. Murata (1), Kiyohara (19), T. Arai (10)
RBI: Petagine, Kiyohara, Y. Murata 2, Uehara, T. Arai 2
SF: Y. Murata
HBP: Ogata (Uehara)
LOB: Yomiuri 8, Hiroshima 6
Season Series: Yomiuri 13, Hiroshima 8
Game Time: 2:25
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Nako (1B), Sasaki (2B), Kittaka (3B)
Miura Wins Again For Yokohama 4-2
While this year is a lost cause, Yokohama Bay Stars manager Daisuke Yamashita has to be encouraged about what he sees from Daisuke Miura, who has been the staff ace the last few years, as he has apparently come all the way back from the elbow problem that dogged him in 2002 and posted his second outstanding performance in a row, going seven innings of two runs ball in a 4-2 victory over the Chunichi Dragons Friday at Nagoya Dome. Dragons starter Shigeki Noguchi permitted five hits in five innings while being tagged for all four Stars runs to get hung with the defeat.
The Stars touched Noguchi for a run in the first, as leftfielder Kazunori Tanaka got aboard on an infield hit, stole second, then rode first baseman Tyrone Woods' two out double on a 3-1 fastball to leftcenter to the plate for a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, Woods walked, second baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to center, the runners moved up on a sac bunt and shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to right to convert both men and make it 3-0 Stars.
However, the Dragons then returned serve with a run in the fourth, as second baseman Masahiro Araki doubled down the leftfield line and then tagged up and hustled to third on a fly ball to center. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami flied out to center and Araki tagged up again and set sail for home to contract the Yokohama advantage to 3-1.
But Yokohama responded in the fifth with centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo putting a whippin' on a slider and landing it in the leftfield stands to make it 4-1 Stars.
The Dragons returned with another tally in the sixth when shortstop Hirokazu Ibata doubled down the rightfield line and, two outs later, Tatsunami singled to center to get him in and it was 4-2 Yokohama.
Chunichi relievers Eiji Ochiai and Shigetoshi Yamakita extricated themselves from a one out, bases loaded jam in the eighth to keep it tight. Unfortunately, their team's attack was suffocated by Denny Tomori and Eddie Gaillard and that was your ballgame and the end of a three game Stars losing streak.
This was Gaillard's first trip back to Nagoya since he joined the Yokohama boys and he was greeted with a round of boos.
For Yokohama, Woods was 2-3 with a walk and an RBI and is at .255.
For Chunichi, centerfielder Alex Ochoa is 0-4 and is at .276. I wish he was doing better, especially with runners in scoring position (.180), since Alex gives you an honest day's work for an honest day's pay effortwise. First baseman Omar Linares was 0-3 with a walk and is at .237. Ivan Cruz was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .225.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Miura (W, 5-4) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 102 H 5 HR 0 K 6 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.30
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.31
Gaillard (S, 17) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.33
Chunichi:
S. Noguchi (L, 8-9) IP 5.0 BF 22 PC 81 H 5 HR 1 K 6 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.68
M. Valdes IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 26 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.63
Hisamoto IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.07
Ochiai IP 0.0 BF 2 PC 3 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.05
Yamakita IP 1.2 BF 8 PC 32 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.23
SB: Kinjo, K.N. Tanaka, Taneda
2B: Woods, M. Araki, Ibata
HR: Kinjo (14)
RBI: Kinjo, Woods, T. Ishii 2, Tatsunami 2
SF: Tatsunami
IBB: Ogawa (Yamakita)
LOB: Yokohama 9, Chunichi 4
Season Series: Yokohama 7, Chunichi 13
Game Time: 3:01
Attendance: 31,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), T. Kobayashi (2B), Manabe (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin Outfielder Shinjiro Hiyama, who is recovering from an oblique muscle problem, took 47 swings in batting practice Friday. He hopes to make a minor league start either Monday or Tuesday. The Tigers coaches would like to see Hiyama back in action as soon as possible so that he will be ready for the Japan Series....With a little over a month to go in the season, Hanshin has already surpassed last season's attendance total and their 2,697,000 is already the fourth highest mark in club history and are on pace for a record 3.2 million. The Tigers have never drawn three million.
Today's Pictures
Kenichiro Hayakawa Back in the Saddle With Some Yardwork
Daisuke Miura Enjoying Himself on the Mound
