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09/06/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Lenn Sakata May be New Lotte Skipper; Yomiuri to Hold Tryouts"
Daiei Charges Back from Seven Run Deficit to Beat Fighters 12-9
Well, if Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman wasn't bald before he might be now from tearing his hair out after the club had a 7-0 lead after five and then saw his bullpen obliterated by the Hawks offense to blow it by the final margin of 12-9. You gotta love the lower level of the Pacific League, no?
Brandon Knight started for Daiei and was rocked for five runs in a tad over four innings, so he was fortunate to not figure in the decision.
Itsuki Shoda started for Nippon Ham and lasted for 5.1 innings, though he needed 100 pitches to do it, as he kept the Hawks to three runs on seven hits. Not exactly good, but compared to the likes of Akio Shimizu, Hiroshi Shibakusa and Naoyuki Tateishi, who were collectively wailed on for nine runs on ten hits and four walks, all of the free passes in this instance by Tateishi, he was Pedro Martinez.
Daiei saw rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara leadoff the game with a single to center and third baseman Munenori Kawasaki beat out an infield roller. But second baseman Tadahito Iguchi struckout and Fighters catcher Shinji Takahashi threw to third to nail Shibahara, who had taken off on a steal attempt. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka then grounded out and a promising inning went down the tubes.
In the second, Nippon Ham broke the scoreless deadlock when first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto swatted one into the leftfield bleachers for a 1-0 lead.
After surrendering a single in the fourth, Knight struckout the side. But in the fifth, it was a completely different result. With one out, rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi singled to left and second baseman Hiroshi Narahara outran a bleeder toward short. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to right to recall Tsuboi. Angel Echevarria laced a double up the leftcenter alley to easily drive in Narahara. Hirokazu Watanabe replaced Knight. One out later, DH Kazuteru Shimada walked to load the bases. Takahashi seared a shot into the rightfield corner for a bases clearing triple to double the lead to 6-0. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide doubled off the centerfield fence for an RBI and the Fighters thought this one was in the bag at 7-0.
Daiei took a chunk out of that disadvantage in the sixth when Iguchi singled to left and, one out later, catcher Kenji Johjima walked and leftfielder Pedro Valdes cleaned and jerked one into the rightfield stands to make it 7-3 Fighters.
Then the Hawks would climb over Nippon Ham and get in front in the eighth. With one away, Matsunaka doubled to leftcenter. Johjima singled to left. Valdes grounded to short and Matsunaka crossed. DH Noriyoshi Omichi singled to right. Backup third baseman Mizuki Tanaka singled to center for an RBI. Centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi singled to right to load the bases. Shibahara scorched one up the rightcenter gap and everybody went home while Shibahara cruised into second with a double and it was 8-7 Daiei. Iguchi singled to left to hail Shibahara in and it was 9-7.
Nippon Ham would struggle to equalize it in the bottom of the stanza off of Takayuki Shinohara, as pinch hitter Kensuke Tanaka walked with one out and Tsuboi singled to center. One out later, Ogasawara carromed a shot off the centerfield wall for a two run triple for the 9-9 tie. Echevarria was intentionally walked. Kimoto then struckout and it remained gridlocked.
In the the tenth, though, Daiei went back on the chain gang when Shibahara doubled to leftcenter and was sacrificed to third. Iguchi and Matsunaka both walked to juice the bags. Johjima grounded to short and Shibahara toed the dish with a 10-9 lead. Valdes was intentionally walked to reload the bases. Omichi doubled against the leftfield wall to guide a pair in and it was 12-9 Hawks.
Shinohara spun a 1-2-3 bottom of the tenth and this one was in the books for his first victory in two years and to lower his team's magic number to 16.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 1-4 with a walk and an RBI and is at .270.
For Daiei, Valdes was 3-4 with two walks and four RBIs and is at .313. Julio Zuleta was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .271.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
Knight: IP 4.1 BF 22 PC 86 H 8 HR 1 K 7 BB 0 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.48
H.K. Watanabe IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.96
Yoshitake IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 15 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.80
M. Sato IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 32 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.18
K. Okamoto IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.48
Shinohara (W, 1-1) IP 2.2 BF 11 PC 41 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.80
Nippon Ham:
Shoda IP 5.1 BF 24 PC 100 H 7 HR 1 K 5 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.32
Y. Sakurai IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.93
A. Shimizu IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 12 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.94
Shibakusa IP 0.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.51
Tateishi (L, 0-2) IP 2.0 BF 16 PC 57 H 5 HR 0 K 0 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.20
T. Kato IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Torigoe, Kimoto
2B: Echevarria, Ide, Kimoto, Matsunaka, Shibahara 2, Omichi
3B: S. Takahashi, M. Ogasawara
HR: Kimoto (9), P. Valdes (20)
RBI: Shibahara 3, Iguchi, Johjima, P. Valdes 4, Omichi 2, Tanaka, M. Ogasawara 3,
Echevarria, Kimoto, S. Takahashi 3, Ide
IBB: Echevarria (Shinohara)
WP: Shoda 2
GIDP: M. Kawasaki (4-6-3)
LOB: Daiei 11, Nippon Ham 8
Season Series: Daiei 14, Nippon Ham 8 2 Ties
Game Time: 4:23
Attendance: 22,000
Umpires: Sakemura (HP), Yanagita (1B), Nakamura (2B), Tsugawa (3B)
Ogata Two Run Homer Enables Carp to Whip Hot Hanshin 4-1
The Hiroshima Carp overcame a 1-0 disadvantage in the sixth when centerfielder Koichi Ogata slugged a two run homer and then tacked on another pair in the eighth to halt the Hanshin Tigers' seven game winning streak Thursday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium by a 4-1 score. Chris Brock racked up his seventh victory while Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi, who pitched pretty well and gave the bullpen another night off with a complete game outing, fell to 9-5.
Brock, though, was just too much for the big cats to handle, as, after a minor scrape in the first, he totally shut the big cats down until the seventh inning, permitting only a Toshihiro Noguchi homer , which came on a fastball he left on the outer half of the plate, in the second that put Hanshin up 1-0.
In the sixth, the fate would turn Brock's way when he walked, went to second on a sacrifice, stole third with a headfirst slide, and eased on home when Ogata mortared a Shimoyanagi pitch into the leftfield bleachers to make it 2-1 Carp.
Brock's only crisis was in the aforementioned seventh, when third baseman Atsushi Kataoka doubled into the leftfield corner and first baseman George Arias walked. Brock then plunked Noguchi to jam the basepaths. Pitching coach Manabu Kitabeppu went out to the mound to calm Brock down and Brock proceeded to retire pinch hitter Akihiro Yano on a popup in foul teritory near first and induce a 4-6-3 double play from pinch hitter Katsumi Hirosawa to put the kabosh on the rally.
Hiroshima had a man on third with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara grounded out to end the inning.
Ogata was then at the center of the next Hiroshima scoring opportunity, as rightfielder Toyo Asayama walked with one out in the eighth and, one out later, Ogata slapped a ball up the middle. Second baseman Yoshinori Okihara gloved it and hurriedly threw to first, but threw it away and Asayama sprinted all the way around to the plate. Shortstop Andy Sheets singled to left and Ogata journeyed to the promised land and it was 4-1 Carp.
Rookie closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa made the home folks nervous in the ninth, as, after striking Kataoaka and Arias out, Noguchi and Okihara singled to left. Rightfielder Yutaka Nakamura singled to right and the tying run was on. However, Hiroshi Yagi, pinch hitting for Shimoyanagi, whiffed and it was "game setto."
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .321. Brock was 0-1 with a walk.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-3 with a walk and is at .271.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Shimoyanagi (L, 9-5) IP 8.0 BF 31 PC 97 H 6 HR 1 K 6 BB 2 R 4 ER 2 ERA 3.67
Hiroshima:
Brock (W, 7-6) IP 8.0 BF 30 PC 109 H 5 HR 1 K 3 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.18
Nagakawa (S, 22) IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 19 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.13
E: Okihara
SB: Akahoshi, Fukuchi, Brock
2B: Kataoka, T. Arai
HR: T. Noguchi (1), Ogata (23)
RBI: T. Noguchi, Ogata 2, Sheets
HBP: T. Noguchi (Brock)
PB: Ishihara
GIDP: T. Noguchi (4-6-3), Hirosawa (4-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 8, Hiroshima 3
Season Series: Hanshin 14, Hiroshima 8
Game Time: 2:43
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Uemoto (1B), Tani (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)
Miyade Two Run Homer Good Enough in 3-1 Yakult Victory
A two run fourth inning homer by Ryuji Miyade, who was converted from a pitcher a couple of years back, broke a 1-1 tie and Masanori Ishikawa and relievers Ryota Igarashi and Shingo Takatsu were able to defend that lead the rest of the way in a 3-1 Yakult Swallows victory over the Yokohama Bay Stars Thurday at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Takatsu also set a new league record, but more about that later.
Yukiya Yokoyama made his first start in four years for the Stars and he didn't do that badly, being charged for all three runs on six hits in six innings, but it got him the loss.
Ishikawa was in for 6.2 innings and didn't walk anyone while surrendering eight hits in weighting down the Stars attack to a lone tally to improve his record to 9-10.
Yakult siezed a 1-0 lead in the first when Akinori Iwamura crushed one into the centerfield seats. They would then load the bases on a double from leftfielder Alex Ramirez, a single to right by Ken Suzuki and a walk to catcher Atsuya Furuta. Miyade ripped a liner that would have dropped into leftcenter if not for the intervention of shortstop Takuro Ishii for the third out.
Yokohama, though, evened it in the third, as Seiichi Uchikawa thundered one into the leftfield stands to make it 1-1.
But Yokoyama, who had trouble with the command of his breaking pitches, would nail Furuta with one out in the fourth. Miyade then took Yokohama on a tour of Shinjuku Ward through the leftcenter exit and it was 3-1 Yakult.
Yokohama wouldn't muster really much at all, manufacturing one hit in the last three innings to go quietly liked a condemned prisoner.
Takatsu is the first in CL history and fourth overall to four straight 30 save point (saves + relief wins) seasons. The other three are Motoyuki Akahori (Kintetsu), Rodney Pedraza (formerly of Daiei), and Kiyoshi Toyoda (Seibu).
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 0-4 and is at .254.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .323.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Yokoyama (L, 0-1) IP 6.0 BF 26 PC 95 H 6 HR 2 K 3 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 7.50
T.H. Kato IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 32 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.81
Yakult:
Masanori Ishikawa (W, 9-10) IP 6.2 BF 28 PC 109 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.08
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.1 BF 3 PC 21 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.22
Takatsu (S, 28) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.67
E: T. Ishii, Manaka
2B: Uchikawa, Ramirez, Kinjo, T.N. Suzuki
HR: Iwamura (8), Uchikawa (3), Miyade (4)
RBI: Iwamura, Miyade 2, Uchikawa
HBP: Furuta (Yokoyama)
GIDP: S. Murata (1-4-3)
LOB: Yokohama 7, Yakult 6
Season Series: Yokohama 7, Yakult 17
Game Time: 2:53
Attendance: 14,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Honda (1B), Sasaki (2B), Kittaka (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri There is a saying in Japan that when the Giants aren't strong Japanese baseball isn't very interesting. Well, that has certainly been reflected in recent tv ratings, as they registered their lowest ever tv rating for a recent tilt with Hiroshima and followed that up with a wan 10.6% figure for Wednesday's contest. Hurting Yomiuri's numbers and perhaps an ominous portent of things to come, was a soccer match featuring Real Madrid that drew a 16.9% audience share during the same time period....Thanks in some part to a plague ofinjuries, but also being saddled with a bullpen that has been problematic for some time now, head coach Yoshitaka Katori will resign effective at season's end due to take responsibility for how the team fared this season. Of course, none of that was Katori's fault, but he was apparently made the fall guy in order to take some of the heat off of manager Tatsunori Hara and the club's front office....Yomiuri's scouting department has its eye on 6'1" 158 pound Teikyo University righthander Kenju Yamamoto. He is reported to be consistently in the high 80's and top out at 92mph with a slider as his main breaking pitch. They believe that the Yokosuke native has instincts similar to Masumi Kuwata's....The Giants will conduct a tryout at Giants Stadium in Tokyo (not to be confused with Tokyo Dome) on September 21st, according to Yomiuri-owned Hochi Sports. They are looking for players 18-22 who will finish either their high school or university obligations by next year. They must be able to run 50 meters in 6.3 seconds or less and be able to throw a baseball over 95 meters (312 feet). Send your information by postcard, which should include your name, address, date of birth, home phone number, height, weight, and position to: Yomiuri Giants Baseball Club [Shinjin Test-Kakari], Nishiki-machi 3-3, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo-to, Japan 101-8462. You must have it on the Giants' desk at least the day before the tryout.
Hanshin Sports Nippon noted the so-called "curse of the colonel" Thursday with an article on the 113th birthday of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Harland Sanders. Back in 1985, delirious Hanshin fans tossed a statue of the chicken magnate into the Dotonbori River after winning the Central League pennant and the Tigers haven't won a thing since until this season. A spokesman for KFC's Japan branch said that they share the joy of Hanshin fans at the club's newly found good fortune and have passed along their congratulations....Speaking of the Hanshin clincher, with their magic number at seven, the Yakult Swallows have beefed up security at Meiji Jingu Stadium for an upcoming series with the Tigers in case the Osaka nine locks up the flag at that ballpark. They will have 300 security on hand to quell any disturbances by the lively Tigers faithful....One thing that has improved Hanshin's standing this season is that they are first in fewest homers given up, according to Sankei Sports. Tigers hurlers have been taken deep 107 times through Thursday while Chunichi has seen 116 off the bats of the opposition disappear into the great wide open, Yomiuri 140, Yakult 144, Hiroshima 147 and Yokohama 160....Trey Moore is still on the farm rehabbing a biceps injury. He will make a minor league start Saturday. He appeared in a minor league game August 26th and went three scoreless innings on three hits and then started on the 30th, surrendering two runs on three hits in six innings. You can probably expect him to be called back up to the big club by the middle of the month.
Chunichi The Dragons front office has targeted Yugakukan southpaw Tatsuya Kojima for its number one draft slot, according to Sports Nippon. Their main emphasis in November will be players who can rise up to the pro ranks quickly, which also hints that there will be drastic personnel changes over the next couple of years in Nagoya....Chukyo High School slugger Hirotaka Nakagawa, a 5'10" 162 pound righthand hitting third baseman who drilled 46 homers as a schoolboy, says that he wants to play for Chunichi and the team may end up drafting him, according to Chunichi Sports. Despite his light weight, he reportedly has a lot of pop the other way and is said to resemble Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka toolswise. He is said to read breaking pitches well and can turn on heaters on the inner half of the plate. A scout for Orix offered that Nakagawa has the potential to be a good one for a long time and may even win a batting title someday. In addition to his power, he can fly, going 50 meters in a Kazuo Matsui-like 5.8 seconds....Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada grumbled the other day that rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome was focusing too much on attempting to slam the ball out of the park, so Thursday, coaches worked with Fukudome on his approach during a tee batting session. However, the 2002 CL batting champ is also hampered by a back problem right now. With them being completely out of the pennant race, it would thus seem to behoove them to rest Fukudome, but that isn't going to happen.
Yokohama Starter Takashi Saito is out for the season after being diagnosed with an unspecified injury to his upper shoulder after an MRI at a Yokohama hospital. The malady will take a month to heal.
Kintetsu Hiroshi Takamura, who went on the shelf with shoulder discomfort, will rejoin the Buffs on the 8th, in time for a series with Daiei.
Lotte After rumors had circulated that the team was making overtures to former skipper Bobby Valentine, a report from Sports Nippon claims that former Baltimore Orioles infielder Lenn Sakata, who has coached and managed in the minors for Lotte, is the leading candidate to get the manager's job with the big club for next season. Sakata was the first Japanese-American to play in the major leagues. Team officials are looking for "a radical change in direction" and Sakata, currently a roving instructor for the San Francisco Giants who has also managed in the U.S. minors, may become the spearhead in that effort. His name had been bandied about as far back as 1996 for the team's field boss position.
Orix After its previous team president was canned due to the club's dire past two seasons, new president Takashi Koizumi formally assumed the reigns Thursday. Koizumi still plays baseball himself in an adult league.
In the News
Jayson Stark Jumps on No Rookie of the Year Awards for Japanese Bandwagon
Although he also makes an argument that what Ichiro did in Japan should be considered when he is eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. That's a first and it will be interesting to see how other pundits hem and haw around that. See story at: ESPN Article
Who is Kazuo Matsui?
See story at: ESPN Article
Today's Pictures
Chris Brock Shows Determination as He Goes to the Plate
Sinkerballing Closer Shingo Takatsu Racks Up Another Save
Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi Nearly Gets Topped by Liner Back Through the Box
