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09/03/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Mirabal Weaves Shutout"
Hanshin Hammers Yakult 9-3
First baseman George Arias and catcher Akihiro Yano each drove in two runs and Tomoyuki Kubota was clocked at 94mph while spinning 7.2 tough innings of three run ball on nine hits, as the Hanshin Tigers whipped the Yakult Swallows 9-3 Saturday at Koshien Stadium. The Tigers magic number is now 12.
Kevin Hodges started for Yakult and was gone after three innings of three run baseball in which he surrendered six hits, one of them disappearing into the great wide open, to absorb his ninth loss. Hideki Sato then came in and got shelled for five more runs to take Yakult completely out if it.
Hanshin got an early lead more with a whimper than a bang, as second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to right to open the first and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi beat out a little ground ball toward third. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto walked to load the bases. One out later, Arias grounded out to short to bring Imaoka home for a 1-0 advantage.
Then in the second, rightfielder Kenichiro Hayakawa belted a Hodges third pitch changeup on the outer half of the plate into the centerfield bleachers. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto outran a ground ball to second. Fujimoto was advanced on a sac bunt and then cashed in on "automatic" Imaoka's double to leftcenter to widen it to 3-0 Tigers.
Yakult answered with a tally in the fourth, as third baseman Ken Suzuzki singled to center and, one out later, first baseman Todd Betts singled to right. The runners moved up on a wild pitch. Second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi grounded out to second and
Suzuki toed the dish to make it 3-1 Hanshin.
Hanshin quickly retorted in the home phase of the frame when Yano applied heavy manners to a Sato forkball that hung up in the middle of the strike zone and deposited it in the leftcenterfield bleachers, Hanshin 4, Yakult 1 after four complete. That was Yano's first roundtripper in 82 at bats.
Hanshin then applied the finishing touches to this affair in the fifth, as Akahoshi tripled off the rightfield fence and scored on Kanemoto's infield hit. Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka pinged a shot off the centerfield fence for an RBI double. Arias dented the leftfield wall for another RBI and cruised into second. Yano rocked one off the rightfield fence for a triple to redeem Arias and it was 8-1 Tigers.
Kubota tired in the eighth and Yakult exerted some pressure on him as a result, as Suzuki drew a two out walk and catcher Atsuya Furuta singled to right, Suzuki beating a path to third. Betts hit a little ground ball and legged it out while Suzuki hustled home. Shiroishi torched a screamer down the rightfield line to recall Furuta. Tigers boss Senichi Hoshino summoned Jerrod Riggan from the bullpen and he induced a groundout to second to keep it at 8-3. Riggan then worked a perfect ninth to lock it up.
The Tigers' order scored and average of 2.6 runs on the roadtrip, but have thus far totaled up 33 runs during the four games of this homestand. They now have more wins this season than they did during their 1985 championship campaign.
Hanshin has prevailed in the last 18 games in which Yano has gone to the downs dating back to 2002.
For Hanshin, Arias was 3-4 with two RBIs and is at .265.
For Yakult, Betts was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .287. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .326.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Hodges (L, 4-9) IP 3.0 BF 14 PC 51 H 6 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 6.12
H. Sato IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 48 H 7 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 5 ER 4 ERA 4.34
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 1.P BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.05
T. Honma IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 21 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.40
Yamabe IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.30
Hanshin:
Kubota (W, 5-5) IP 7.2 BF 35 PC 145 H 9 HR 0 K 11 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.40
Riggan IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.17
E: Iwamura
2B: Imaoka, Kataoka, Arias, Shiroishi
3B: Akahoshi, A. Yano, Fujimoto
HR: Hayakawa (2), A. Yano (12)
RBI: Betts, Shiroishi 2, Imaoka, Kanemoto, Arias 2, A. Yano 2, Hayakawa, Y.
Nakamura
WP: Hodges, Kubota
GIDP: Fujimoto (6-3)
LOB: Yakult 9, Hanshin 6
Season Series: Yakult 9, Hanshin 14
Game Time: 3:16
Attendance: 53,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Kasahara (1B), Tomoyose (2B), Tani (3B)
Sugiuchi Unbeatable 6-2
Toshiya Sugiuchi continued his domination of the Chiba Lotte Marines Saturday at Chiba Marine Stadium, as he limited them to two runs on six hits in seven innings to grab his eighth victory and fifth in a row for the Daiei Hawks in a 6-2 triumph. Seven of Sugiuchi's ten pro shiroboshi are against the Lotte nine.
Naoyuki Shimizu started for Lotte and got pounded in the third inning as the Hawks peppered him for a total of five runs on eight hits while accepting six bases on balls from him.
Shimizu free passed two to begin the game, but tempted DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka into a 4-6-3 double play ball to avert disaster. He walked leftfielder Pedro Valdes with one out in the second, but got first baseman Julio Zuleta to ground into a 6-4-3 twin killing. He wouldn't be let off the so easily in the third, though.
Centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi leadoff with a single to center and, one out later, rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara singled to left. Third baseman Munenori Kawasaki flamed a triple into the rightfield corner to make it 2-0. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi walked. Matsunaka laced a shot up the rightcenter gap and Iguchi raced around the basepaths to enlarge the Hawks hegemony to 4-0.
Lotte got off the shnide when DH Koichi Hori tattooed one into the rightfield seats to make it 4-1 Daiei commencing the fourth.
In the sixth, Hawks catcher Kenji Johjima walked. Valdes pancaked one off the leftfield wall and Johjima went full throttle to the plate to go back up by four at 5-1.
Lotte got that back in the seventh, as leftfielder Rick Short creamed one into the centerfield stands and it was 5-2 Hawks.
Daiei replied with a run in the eighth, as Matsunaka doubled to leftcenter and went to third on a single to left from Johjima. Valdes flied out to left and Matsunaka tagged up and lumbered in to put it at 6-2 Hawks.
The last six Lotte batters went down without a sound against Takayuki Shinohara to put it in the refrigerator for the birds of prey.
For Lotte, Short was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .287. Third baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-4 and is at .269.
For Daiei, Valdes was 1-2 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .310. Zuleta was 1-4 and is at .278.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
Sugiuchi (W, 8-7) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 106 H 6 HR 2 K 3 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.06
Shinohara IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.82
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (L, 9-10) IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 113 H 8 HR 0 K 2 BB 6 R 5 ER 5 ERA 3.35
T. Kawai IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.91
Tobe IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.64
S. Fujita IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.59
SB: Iguchi
2B: Matsunaka 2, M. Watanabe, P. Valdes
3B: M. Kawasaki
HR: Hori (16), Short (9)
RBI: M. Kawasaki 2, Matsunaka 2, P. Valdes 2, Hori, Short
SF: P. Valdes
GIDP: Matsunaka (4-6-3), Zuleta (6-4-3), Shibahara (6-3), Fernandez (5-4-3), M.
Kawasaki (6-3)
LOB: Daiei 6, Lotte 4
Season Series: Daiei 17, Lotte 7
Game Time: 3:05
Attendance: 35,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Akimura (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Hsu Pitches Seibu Past Orix 2-1
Orix Blue Wave starter Hidetaka Kawagoe was excellent during his 6.2 inning stint, as he stifled the Seibu Lions to two runs on three hits Saturday at Seibu Dome, but Lions starter Hsu Ming-chieh hung tough while lots of runners got on against him, keeping Orix from acquiring the big hits and so, thanks to a big error behind him, Kawagoe remains winless and thus is one away form tying a Pacific League record with his 15 consecutive defeat.
Orix loaded the bases with two gone in the third on a walk and a pair of singles, only to have Hsu blow leftfielder Roosevelt Brown away to extinguish the fire.
Seibu then broke the scoreless deadlock in their ups, as third baseman Scott McClain walked, went to second on a sacrifice and, one out later, shortstop Kazuo Matsui scalded a forkball down the rightfield line to send McClain in for a 1-0 lead.
Orix evened it in the fifth when shortstop Mitsutaka Goto legged out a dribbler up the first base line and rightfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani singled to right. There was an out in this sequence, though, and I would bet that Goto was out trying to go to third. Third baseman Koichi Oshima lined a double to right. Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani flied out to center and Shiotani tagged up and ran in to make it 1-1.
Seibu then went back on top in the seventh as backup centerfielderFumikazu Takanami reached on an error by Goto with two outs and McClain walked. Hiroyuki Nakajima, pinch hitting for catcher Koji Tahara, singled to left and Takanami made the left turn homeward for a 2-1 Lions advantage. Reliever Shinji Mori and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda kept things quiet from there on in to secure Hsu's 30th lifetime victory.
With the loss, Orix tied a club record for most games under .500 with 37.
The PL record holder for extended futility at the center of the diamond was Takao Kajimoto' of the Hankyu Braves, Orix' previous incarnation, who was afflicted with 16 straight kuroboshi between 1966-1967
For Orix, Brown was 1-4 andis at .313. Second baseman Jose Ortiz was 0-4 and is at .251.
For Seibu, McClain was 0-1 with two walks and is at .237. First baseman Alex Cabrera was 1-4 and is at .330.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Kawagoe (L, 0-3) IP 6.2 BF 27 PC 100 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 3 R 2 ER 1 ERA 4.76
D. Kato IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Seibu:
Hsu (W, 4-2) IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 125 H 9 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.62
S. Mori IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Toyoda (S, 34) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.93
E: M.T. Goto
SB: K. Oshima, Katsuragi, Takanami
2B: K. Matsui, Cabrera, K. Oshima
RBI: Tani, K. Matsui, H.Y. Nakajima
SF: Tani
HBP: T. Yamasahi (Hsu)
LOB: Orix 9, Seibu 5
Season Series: Orix 5, Seibu 16 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:48
Attendance: 29,000
Umpires: Kawaguchi (HP), Higashi (2B), Yanagita (2B), Sakaeumra (3B)
Mirabal Shuts Out Kintetsu and Their Pennant Dreams
The Kintetsu Buffaloes just can't get any real traction in endeavoring to elevate their standing in the PL pennant race and Saturday they were handed a shutout loss by Carlos Mirabal and the Nippon Ham Fighters 6-0. Buffs starter Ken Kadokura boarded the bus for the minor leagues after this outing, where he was buffeted for four runs and seven hits in 1.1 innings to fall to 6-4.
Nippon Ham amassed their forces and deposed of Kadokura in the second, as DH Angel Echevarria singled to right, first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto doubled down the leftfield line and centerfielder Tatsuya Ide singled through the hole betwen third and short on a forkball to drive the runners in. Light hitting second baseman Kensuke Tanaka went midieval on a forkball and the folks in the rightfield seats had a souvenir and the Fighters were in front 4-0. Reliever Katsuhiko Maekawa then wriggled out of a bases loaded, two out jam to hold things right there.
Nippon Ham tacked another one on in the fourth, as rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi, a Comeback Player of the Year candidate with a .352 average, walked and stole second and, one out later, third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to center to make it 5-0 Fighters.
While Mirabal was throwing strikes like they were going out of style, Ogasawara walked with one out in the seventh to get another brief rally underway. Echevarria singled to left. Ide beat out an infield grounder to pack the sacks. Hisashi Aikyo plunked Tanaka to force Ogasawara in and it was 6-0 Fighters.
Mirabal allowed only one baserunner the final three innings and struckout DH Norihiro Nakamura in the ninth to put an exclamation point on his first whitewash of 2003.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .273.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-4 with a walk and is at .269.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal (W, 15-8) IP 9.0 BF 31 PC 122 H 5 HR 0 K 6 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.65
Kintetsu:
Kadokura (L, 6-4) IP 1.1 BF 9 PC 38 H 7 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.13
Maekawa IP 3.2 BF 16 PC 72 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.21
Arime IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 38 H 1 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.87
Aikyo IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.57
Misawa IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.47
SB: Tsuboi
2B: Kimoto, N. Nakamura
HR: Kensuka Tanaka (1)
RBI: M. Ogasawara, Ide 2, Kensuke Tanaka 3
HBP: Kensuke Tanaka (Aikyo)
GIDP: M. Ogasawara (4-6-3), N. Omura (4-6-3), Yoshioka (4-6-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 9, Kintetsu 4
Season Series: Nippon Ham 10, Kintetsu 16
Game Time: 3:24
Attendance: 23,000
Umpires: Maeda (HP), Nagami (1B), Sato (2B), Kakigizono (3B)
Woods Slams 30th Homer in 6-3 Yokohama Victory
First baseman Tyrone Woods registered his 30th jack of the season and shortstop Takuro Ishii chipped in two RBIs to boost the Yokohama Bay Stars past the Chunichi Dragons Saturday at Nagoya Dome 6-3. The Stars have now won consecutive games for the first time in three months.
Takeshi Tsutsumiuchi started for Yokohama and was pulled afteronly four innings and change due to wildness, so the victory went to reliever Takeharu Kato, who permitted a run on two hits in just short of three innings for his third win.
Shinya Okamoto started for Chunichi and was pureed for all six Stats runs on five hits in five innings to fall to 2-6.
The Nagoya contingent exploited one of Tsutsumiuchi's free passes to take a lead, as Takayuki Onishi walked with one down in the second and, one out later, second baseman Masahiro Araki crshed a shot off the centerfield wall, Onishi sprinting to the plate to make it 1-0. Chunichi centerfielder Alex Ochoa's woes with runners in scoring position continued, as, following a single to right by Okamoto that put men on first and third, he hit a ball real hard, but right at Takanori Suzuki in left for the third out.
Woods then changed things drastically in the fourth when, with Kazunori Tanaka on third on a double to left and a wild pitch, he got a hanging 3-2 breaking ball and destroyed it, leaving the remains deep in the centerfield seats to pull the Stars ahead 2-1.
Chunichi would knot it, though, as rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome tripled off the centerfield wall with a man down and, after walks to third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and catcher Motonobu Tanishige that jam the basepaths, Onishi grounded to first to elbow Fukudome across.
However, Yokohama centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo homered leading off the sixth to rightcenter to put his side in front once again. Tanaka outran an infield grounder. Third baseman Katsuaki Furuki singled to right. Woods walked to pack the sacks. Masataka Endo replaced Okamoto and got second baseman Hitoshi Taneda to foul out to Tanishige. But End then struck Takahiro Saeki with a delivery and it was 4-2. Ishii singled to center to hail Furuki and Woods home for a 6-2 Yokohama lead.
Masahiko Morino cleaned and jerked one out to rightcenter in the bottom of the sixth and that would be as close as the Dragons would come, as they flubbed a string of scoring chances in the seventh, eighth, and ninth before Stars closer Eddie Gaillard got Onishi to ground into a game ending double play in the ninth.
For Yokohama, Woods was 1-2 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .257.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 0-4 and is at .273. First baseman Ivan Cruz 0-3 and is at .222.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Tsutsumiuchi IP 4.1 BF 23 PC 92 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 5 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.40
T.H. Kato (W, 3-1)IP 2.2 BF 11 PC 50 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.95
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.22
Gaillard (S, 18) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.18
Chunichi:
S. Okamoto (L, 2-6) IP 5.0 BF 22 PC 93 H 5 HR 2 K 7 BB 1 R 6 ER 6 ERA 3.62
Endo IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.81
Hisamoto IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 24 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.91
Ochiai IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.01
E: Tatsunami
SB: Onishi
2B: Araki 2, Tatsunami, K.N. Tanaka
3B: Fukudome
HR: Woods (30), Kinjo (15), Morino (5)
RBI: Kinjo, Woods 2, Saeki, T. Ishii 2, Onishi, Araki
WP: Tsutsumiuchi, Okamoto
HBP: Saeki (Endo), Tanishige (Kato)
GIDP: K.N. Tanaka (6-4-3), Onishi (4-3-6)
LOB: Yokohama 5, Chunichi 12
Season Series: Yokohama 8, Chunichi 13
Game Time: 3:33
Attendance: 34,000
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Nishimoto (1B), Tsuchiyama (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara needs 40 more hits for 2000 and only one more longball to move into a tie for ninth place on the all time list. He currently has 473....The Giants' front office is contemplating making its own disabled list. NPB has no formal MLB-style DL. Yomiuri officials are afraid that players, especially those who have games played clauses in their contracts, tend to try to come back too fast and end up reinjuring themselves. Consequently, they may give the authority to the team trainer to keep an eye on players and those who aren't ready enough in his opinion will be held off the roster. Ironically, though, this is while Kiyohara, whose hamstrings are in bad shape, will be allowed to try to start every game of the remainder of the schedule. Incidently, the Japanese word for "hypocrisy" is "gizen."
Hanshin Former Tigers third baseman Masayuki Kakefu, who counted among his fans one Hideki Matsui when Godzilla was but a pup, has a son, Keigo, who is playing baseball at Osaka Gakuin University, is wearing his dad's old number from his Hanshin days, 31.
Chunichi Ivan Cruz was demoted to the minors and will indeed be released at the end of the schedule. Cruz' wife has returned to the U.S., according to Sports Nippon.
Seibu Rookie Hiroyuki Nakajima, projected as Kazuo Matsui's replacement next season, did pretty well down on the farm in 2002, batting .299 with 11 homers and 47 RBIs. Amazingly, the 5'11" 165 pounds infielder was still around in the fifth round to be picked in the 2001 draft.
Today's Pictures
Carlos Mirabal Shows How You Paint a Whitewash
Kenta Abe Could Use Some Beefing Up
Replies: 1 Comment
hio poo head
Posted by poo @ 09/04/2003 09:19 PM EST
