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09/09/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Yano Walkoff Belt Wins for Hanshin; Kawasaki Hammered in Minors"
Yano Walkoff Blast in Ninth Edges Yokohama 4-3
Hanshin catcher Akihiro Yano belted a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday at Koshien Stadium to bring his team from a 3-2 deficit to a 4-3 victory against the Yokohama Bay Stars. Reliever Jerrod Riggan was credited with his third win of the season after a scoreless inning.
Daisuke Miura started for the Stars and tossed an eight inning blinder, limiting the Tigers to two runs, one earned, on five hits, only to have closer Eddie Gaillard cough up the game winner.
Tomoyuki Kubota started for the Tigers and also threw well, holding the opposition to three runs, only one earned, on six hits in six innings.
The pitching had this one firmly in control before it was unraveled somewhat in the fifth on a miscue by Hanshin first baseman George Arias. Shortstop Takuro Ishii leadoff with a walk and third baseman Shuichi Murata singled to right. They pulled the double steal successfully. One out later, Miura grounded to Arias, who went home trying to nail the runner, but he threw it to the backstop and both runners scored before the ball could be retrieved for a 2-0 Yokohama advantage. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo grounded out to first to move the Miura over and then second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled to left for the RBI to make it 3-0.
The Tigers came back for a run in the sixth by exploiting a Yokohama mistake, as centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi rolled one up the middle. Uchikawa got to it and threw it away to allow Akahoshi to get to second. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto singled to right to redeem his teammate and it was 3-1 Yokohama.
In the eighth, second baseman Yoshinori Okihara ignited a brief rally for Hanshin with a one out singled to center. One out later, Akahoshi singled to center and Kanemoto collected another RBI by going back through the middle to make it 3-2 Yokohama.
So Gaillard came on for the ninth and retired Arias on a popup to first, but rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama singled to right. Yano then got a 1-1 fastball on the outer half of the plate and unloaded a nine iron through the teeth of the wind, which was blowing right to left, and into the centerfield bleachers as the home crowd went bananas, Hanshin's magic number now reduced to six.
As long as Yano has been around, it is surprising that was his first ever sayonara roundtripper. He had a sayonara triple this past June 17th, so this was his second final at bat decider of the campaign. This was also Yokohama's eighth sayonara loss this season and third to the Tigers. Hanshin has racked up six sayonara wins in 2003.
The Stars also clinched last place, meaning that this will be the first time they have finished in the cellar for conseuctive seasons since 1976-1977, when they were the Taiyo Whales.
For Hanshin, Arias was 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .269.
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 1-3 and is at .254.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Miura IP 8.0 BF 31 PC 131 H 5 HR 0 K 11 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 3.98
Gaillard (L, 2-3) IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 8 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.60
Hanshin:
Kubota IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 94 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 3 ER 1 ERA 3.27
Ishige IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.73
Riggan (W, 3-0) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.80
E: Uchikawa, Arias
SB: T. Ishii, S. Murata
HR: A. Yano (13)
RBI: Uchikawa, Miura, Kanemoto 2, A. Yano 2
LOB: Yokohama 4, Hanshin 5
Season Series: Yokohama 5, Hanshin 21
Game Time: 2:50
Attendance: 50,000
Umpires: Kittaka (HP), Kasahara (1B), T. Kobayashi (2B), Sasaki (3B)
Davey Throws Complete Game Five Hitter 2-1
Tom Davey spun another complete game Friday at Tokyo Dome, as he suffocated the Yomiuri Giants on five hits and a run to improve his record to 4-1. Kimiyasu Kudoh set a record while going eight innings of two run, ten hit ball, but emerged with his his fifth defeat.
Hiroshima took an early lead, as second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to center with one out and centerfielder Koichi Ogata singled to right. Shortstop Andy Sheets walked to load the bases. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda flied out to right and Kimura tagged up and hustled in to make it 1-0.
The Carp put two men on in the third, fourth, but got nowhere. However, in the fifth, Kimura singled to left and stole second. Kudoh struckout the next two men, but Maeda wacked a hanging breaking ball right to for a single to usher Kimura home and it was 2-0 Hiroshima.
From there, Kimura put it in cruise control and Hiroshima's offense wasn't heard from the remainder of the match. In the meantime, Davey had permitted just one infield hit through the first seven innings before Koji Goto singled to center with two outs and shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to right. Mototsugu Kawanaka, though, grounded to second and Davey's shutout bid was still intact.
But in the ninth, Yomiuri rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi creamed a fastball into the centerfield seats to make it 2-1. Leftfielder Roberto Petagine walked to put the tying run on. Two force plays later, third baseman Takayuki Saito singled to left and the winning run was on. However, pinch hitter Akira Etoh flied out to center for the game's final out to conclude the Carp victory.
This was Kudoh's fourth double digit strikeout extravaganza since he turned 40, which broke the previous Japanese record of three by Choji Murata. Kudoh is fourth all time in ten whiff or more performances with 52. The record is 103 by Kokutetsu Swallows and Giants great Masaichi Kaneda. Hideo Nomo is second with 70.
It may surprise a lot of people to know that Yomiuri has the best second half record this season, 23-15, while Hanshin is a game or so behind in second. Hiroshima is third. Yomiuri is 19-18 in one run games.
For Yomiuri, centerfielder Chris Latham was 0-3 with a walk and is at .253.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 0-3 with a walk and is at .318.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Davey (W, 4-1) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 108 H 5 HR 1 K 2 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.76
Yomiuri:
Kudoh (L, 6-5) IP 8.0 BF 35 PC 113 H 10 HR 0 K 10 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.82
Bailey IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
SB: T. Kimura
HR: Y. Takahashi (24)
RBI: Y. Takahashi, T. Maeda 2
SF: T. Maeda
LOB: Hiroshima 9, Yomiuri 7
Season Series: Hiroshima 10, Yomiuri 13
Game Time: 2:28
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Kiuchi (1B), Nishimoto (2B), Manabe (3B)
Hodges Wins First in a Long Time 5-3
Knowing that he is going to be released after the season is over, Kevin Hodges, who has had a really disappointing 2003, went out Friday night at Nagoya Dome and five hit the Chunichi Dragons for six innings to gain his fifth shiroboshi of the year in a 5-3 Swallows victory.
Yakult lent Hodges instant run support in the first, as they lit up Dragons starter Shigeki Noguchi for a four spot on a leadoff walk to centerfielder Tetsuya Iida, an infield hit from shortstop Shinya Miyamoto, a sac bunt, a walk to leftfielder Alex Ramirez that loaded the bases, a two out free pass to catcher Atsuya Furuta that forced Iida in, a two run single by rigthfielder Ryuji Miyade, and an error on a throw to second by catcher Yuichi Yanagisawa when Miyade tried to go to second on the relay home that allowed Furuta to cross.
The Dragons had a major threat in the second, when third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right and centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to center. The runners moved up on a groundout to first. Hodges plunked first baseman Omar Linares to pack the sacks. But Yanagisawa grounded to Noriyuki Shiroishi, who flipped to Miyamoto, who gunned it to first for the rally killing double play.
In the fifth, Yakult went back on the chain gang, as Miyamoto doubled down the rightfield line and, one out later, Ramirez singled to right. First baseman Ken Suzuki flied out to center and Miyamoto tagged up and ran in to widen it to 5-0 Swallows.
Chunichi finally got to Hodges in the sixth, as shortstop Hirokazu Ibata walked and second baseman Masahiro Araki doubled into the leftcenter alley. Hodges threw a wild pitch and Ibata scored. Araki then crossed on a one out groundout to first by Tatsunami to make it 5-2.
In the ninth, Dragons rightfielder Fukudome leaned into a Shingo Takatsu delivery and buried it in the rightcenterfield seats and it was 5-3. One out later, Ochoa singled to left and leftfielder Takayuki Onishi singled to right to put the tying run aboard. One out later, Motonobu Tanishige walked to juice the bags. But pinch hitter Koichi Sekikawa grounded to second to turn out the lights.
Miyade, the tallest Japanese player in either league at 6'3", registered the first three hits game of his career to elevate his average to .325.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-3 with a walk and is at .323.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 3-4 and is at .283. Linares was 0-2 with an HBP and is at .232.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Hodges (W, 5-3) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 89 H 5 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.93
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.07
H. Ishii IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.60
Takatsu (S, 29) IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 30 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.86
Chunichi:
S. Noguchi (L, 8-10) IP 5.0 BF 24 PC 97 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 6 R 5 ER 4 ERA 4.78
Shotsu IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 13.50
Hisamoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.01
M. Valdes IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.66
S. Okamoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.57
E: Yanagisawa
SB: Ibata
2B: S. Miyamoto, M. Araki
HR: Fukudome (24)
RBI: K. Suzuki, Furuta, Miyade 2, M. Araki, Fukudome, Tatsunami
SF: K. Suzuki
WP: Hodges
HBP: Linares (Hodges)
GIDP: Fukudome (6-3), Iwamura (4-6-3), Yanagisawa (4-6-3), Shiroishi (4-3)
LOB: Yakult 6, Chunichi 6
Season Series: Yakult 11, Chunichi 13
Game Time: 3:05
Attendance: 29,000
Umpires: Shikita (HP), Nemoto (1B), Suginaga (2B), Tani (3B)
Motoyanagi Shutout Puts Kintetsu on the Ropes
If this wasn't Orix' best game of a bleak season, it was certainly Kazuya Motoyanagi's, as he racked up his first pro shutout Friday at Kobe Green Stadium 11-0. Leftfielder Roosevelt Brown and second baseman Jose Ortiz each drove in three runs to assure Motoyanagi that he would pick up his second victory.
It was a scoreless battle until the fourth, when shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to left off of Buffs starter Hisashi Iwakuma and went to second on a sacrifice. Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani singled to center for a 1-0 lead. Brown doubled down the rightfield line to get Tani in and it was 2-0 Orix.
In the fifth, Orix catcher Takeshi Hidaka homered to right to make it 3-0.
Ortiz then applied the killing blow to Iwakuma in the sixth, as, after Brown singled to center and first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani walked, he crushed an Iwakuma offering into the rightcenterfield seats to make it 6-0. Kazuhiko Maekawa assumed mound duties for Kintetsu and, two outs later, Ryota Aikawa singled to left and Goto tripled off the rightfield wall. Third baseman Koichi Oshima doubled into the rightfield corner. Tani reached on an infield hit. Brown singled to center to see Oshima in. Shiotani singled to center to send Tani across and it was 10-0 Blue Wave.
Motoyanagi didn't permit more than one hit in any inning and he was helped out by Kintetsu centerfielder Naoyuki Omura being thrown out twice trying to steal. The Buffs went down in order in the ninth to bring down the curtain.
Their 19 hits was a season high for Orix. This was also the first complete game by an Orix hurler in their last 52 faceoffs.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-4 and is at .272.
For Orix, Brown was 3-5 with three RBIs and is at .314. Ortiz was 2-5 with three RBIs and is at .252.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma (L, 14-8) IP 5.0 BF 24 PC 99 H 10 HR 2 K 2 BB 1 R 6 ER 6 ERA 3.24
Maekawa IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 25 H 5 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.94
Misawa IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.41
Fujisaki IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 26 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.93
Orix:
Motoyanagi (W, 2-1) IP 9.0 BF 31 PC 131 H 5 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.90
E: Rhodes
SB: Isobe
2B: Brown, K. Oshima
3B: M.T. Goto
HR: Hidaka (8), Ortiz (21)
RBI: M.T. Goto, K. Oshima, Tani, Brown 3, Shiotani, Ortiz 3, Hidaka
GIDP: R. Tsuji (4-6-3)
LOB: Kintetsu 4, Orix 7
Season Series: Kintetsu 15, Orix 9
Game Time: 3:15
Attendance: 12,000
Umpires: Maeda (HP), Tamba (1B), Sato (2B), Kodera (3B)
Lotte Trounces Nippon Ham 13-4
Catcher Tomoya Satozaki homered and drove in four runs while shortstop Makoto Kosaka and third baseman Jose Fernandez contributed three RBIs apiece in the Chiba Lotte Marines 13-4 bulldozing of the Nippon Ham Fighters Friday at Chiba Marine Stadium. Lotte starter Naoyuki Shimizu wasn't that great himself, surrendering four runs, two earned, on eight hits in six innings, but he was presented with his tenth victory anyway thanks to the offensive downpour.
Nippon Ham had an opportunity to pin Shimizu's ears back in the first, as centerfielder Tatsuya Ide singled to center with one away and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara and leftfielder Angel Echevarria each walked to load the bases. However, first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto struckout and Yukio Tanaka grounded out.
Lotte then began to hammer away at Fighters starter Carlos Mirabal, as DH Koichi Hori leadoff the second with a double to leftcenter and completed the circuit on a singled to center by Fernandez. Leftfielder Rick Short pounded a shot off the leftfield wall for an RBI double and went to third on a sacrifice. Satozaki flied out to right and Short tagged up and crossed for a 3-0 Lotte advantage.
In the third, Lotte first baseman Kazuya Fukuura walked and went to second on a groundout. Hori singled to right. Fernandez carromed one off the leftfield fence to score Fukuura on the double. Short grounded to short and it was fumbled for an error, Hori toeing the dish to make it 5-0.
Next time up, Satozaki mashed a hot into the rightcenterfield bleachers and it was 6-0 Lotte.
Takeshi Itoh was dispatched to the mound by Nippon Ham skipper Trey Hillman and centerfielder Jun Inoue got aboard on an infield single. Hori singled to right. Fernandez singled to left for the RBI.One out later, the runners moved up on a groundout. Satozaki singled to left for another pair and a 9-0 Lotte lead.
Shimizu then couldn't get anyone out in the seventh, though it would ultimately matter little. DH Yukio and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka each singled to right. Shortstop Makoto Kaneko singled to left to load the bases. Catcher Kazunari Sanematsu singled to left to drive in two. Another run came in on an error by reserve leftfielder Shiro Teramoto on that play and it was 9-3. Rightfielder Yoshinori Ueda singled to center for an RBI to make it 9-4. Hiroshi Tobe was waved in from the pen and he struckout Ide and induced a groundout from reserve third baseman Oda to terminate the uprising.
Remarkably, the normally unproductive Lotte offense got them all back in the home half against Takehito Nomura, as Teramoto singled to left, rightfielder Saburo Omura singled to center and Satozaki smacked one off the centerfield fence for a long single to pack the sacks. One out later, Kosaka ripped a bases clearing triple up the rightcenterfield gap. Fukuura singled to center to convert Kosaka and it was 13-4 Lotte. Nippon Ham was one hit the final two innings and Lotte had its triumph.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 1-2 with a walk and is at .271.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 3-4 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .290. Short was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .295.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal (L, 15-9) IP 4.0 BF 20 PC 75 H 6 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 6 ER 5 ERA 4.81
Tak. Itoh IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 26 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 15.00
T. Nomura IP 1.2 BF 11 PC 33 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 11.81
Tat. Kato IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 27 H 0 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (W, 10-10) IP 6.0 BF 28 PC 108 H 8 HR 0 K 5 BB 2 R 4 ER 2 ERA 3.34
Tobe IP 1.0 BF 2 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.62
Funaki IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.19
R. Tanaka IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.75
E: Kaneko 2, Sanematsu, Teramoto
SB: Harai, M. Watanabe
2B: Hori, Short, Fernandez
3B: Kosaka
HR: Satozaki (5)
RBI: Y. Ueda, Sanematsu 2, Kosaka 3, Fukuura, Fernandez 3, Short 2, Satozaki 4
SF: Satozaki
WP: N. Shimizu
PB: Sanematsu
LOB: Nippon Ham 7, Lotte 6
Season Series: Nippon Ham 13, Lotte 7
Game Time: 3:17
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Yamamoto (HP), Nakamura (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Akimura (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri To take responsibility for the failures of the team's pitching staff, pitching coach Masaaki Saito resigned, which be effective at the end of the season. In addition to Saito, infield defense coach Yasutomo Suzuki is also going to be let go. Former Giants infielder Kazunori Shinozuka is rumored to be in line for their minor league manager's job.
Chunichi Righthander Kenjiro Kawasaki got hammered in his minor league rehab start Friday, giving up four runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings. He was clocked at 85mph. It is unlikely now, though not impossible, that he will appear in regular season game for the Dragons this year.
Seibu A Lions spokesman came out today and endorsed Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe's idea of a new pact with MLB that would allow trades between teams in both leagues. Of course, this actually comes from Seibu owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi. Hochi Sports, when reporting on this, took the angle that this may involve a deal including ace Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is known to be interested in playing in MLB. However, how this will all sit with the MLB players' union is a big question. One would think that players would have to have the right of denial or approval before such an agreement could be concluded between the leagues.
Orix The Blue Wave front office is looking at going to the industrial leagues for some lefthanded pitching help during this November's draft. Among their top targets is Tatsuo Kato, a 25 year old Nara Prefecture native who has an 89mph fastball, a screwball, a curve, a slider, and a changeup. He currently plays for Yamaha. Orix is hopeful that they can draft players who can step up to the big club level as soon as next season in attempting to extract themselves from their awful. last place finishes of 2002-3.
In the News
Is the Japanese Media Rooting for Baldelli to Win Rookie of the Year?
That's what this piece insists: St. Petersburg Times Article
Tadano: Summer of a Second Chance
I've been pleased so far with now the media has handled this issue. Thanks to Jim Callis at Baseball America for tipping me off to it. See story at: Cleveland Plain Dealer Article
Baseball Blossoms Worldwide
See story at: Birmingham News Article
Daiei Parent Has its Hand Out Again
See story at: Japan Times Article
Today's Pictures
Kosuke Fukudome Homers in Ninth Inning Friday
