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09/17/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Cabrera Brings Out The Tape Measure; Goodbye Wakamatsu-kantoku"
Noguchi Tosses Six Hitter to Beat Hanshin 2-1
Chunichi Dragons ace Shigeki Noguchi's outpitch is normally his slider, but in this outing against the Hanshin Tigers Friday at Nagoya Dome, he was much more fastball-centric and it must have crossed the opposition up, since he went 6.2 shutout innings on three hits while striking out eight. However, he also walked five and hit a batter to enable the Tigers to make a couple of major threats before he called it a night. He had been 1-3 this year with a 7.23 ERA when facing Hanshin, but emerged with his ninth shiroboshi of the campaign. Noguchi was clocked at 90mph.
Tomoyuki Kubota started for Hanshin and tossed four shutout innings before hurting his knee while delivering a pitch to first baseman So Tsutsui in the fifth and leaving the game.
The Tigers took advantage of Noguchi's early wildness to concoct a promising uprising in the second, as rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama walked and, one out later, pinch hitter Hiroshi Yagi was plunked. Catcher Akihiro Yano also walked and the bases were loaded with only one out. But with the infield up, shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto grounded to shortstop Masahiko Morino, who went to the plate for the force. Kubota was next and Noguchi blew him away to end the inning.
So it was a scoreless tie until the fifth, when, after Kubota left, Tsutsui singled to right off of Hiroshi Ishige and was sacrificed to second. One out later, Makoto Yoshino was summoned from the bullpen and Morino singled to right to plate Tsutsui and it was 1-0 Dragons.
Each team exchanged minor scoring chances in the sixth and went nowhere in the seventh. But in the eighth, Dragons rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome whomped a first pitch slider that was on the outer half of the plate from Jeff Williams into the rightcenterfield stands to make it 2-0 Chunichi.
Hanshin's most converted revolt would come in the ninth against closer Akinori Otsuka, as reserve rightfielder Toshihiro Noguchi doubled to leftcenter and headed in on a single to center from Yano. Yano was sacrificed to second. First baseman Katsumi Hirosawa singled to center, Yano choosing not to test centerfielder Alex Ochoa's cannon. One out later, centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi walked to pack the sacks. Now late season terror Tomoaki Kanemoto was up looking to change the complexion of the match. Unfortunately, he popped up in foul territory near third and that was the ballgame.
Morino had his first career four hit night.
Fukudome has now homered four games in a row, a lifetime first.
For Hanshin, third baseman George Arias wore the golden sombrero, fanning four times in four plate appearances, and is at .269.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 1-3 with a walk and is at .280.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Kubota IP 4.0 BF 15 PC 65 H 4 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.12
Ishige (L, 1-1) IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 8 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.60
Yoshino IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.52
Yabu IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 19 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.59
Williams IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 8 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.66
Kanazawa IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.68
Chunichi:
S. Noguchi (W, 9-10) IP 6.2 BF 28 PC 133 H 3 HR 0 K 8 BB 6 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.53
Iwase IP 1,1 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.13
A.N. Otsuka (S, 12) IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 33 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.34
SB: Kanemoto
2B: T. Noguchi
HR: Fukudome (28)
RBI: A. Yano, Morino, Fukudome
HBP: Yagi (S. Noguchi)
GIDP: Iwase (4-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 11, Chunichi 8
Season Series: Hanshin 13, Chunichi 12
Game Time: 3:47
Attendance: 40,500
Umpires: Uemoto (HP), Tomoyose (1B), Manabe (2B), Suginaga (3B)
Seibu Outhomered, But Slides by Fighters Anyway 10-7
The Seibu Lions were outhomered 4-3 Friday at Seibu Dome against the Nippon Ham Fighters, but the Tokorzawa side had a little more offensive consistency and ultimately prevailed 10-7. Yukihiro Sakurai made his first start of the season and was tagged for five runs on five hits in four innings to accept blame for the defeat.
Fumiya Nishiguchi started for Seibu and he had a less than ideal time, too, as he permitted five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 4.2 and thus didn't figure in the decision. Instead, Koji Mitsui snagged his tenth win of the year after 1.1 innings on the mound.
The Lions jumped out to an early lead, as shortstop Kazuo Matsui ripped a shot up the rightcenter gap opening the bottom of the first and sprinted around for a triple. One out later, leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada hit a slow roller toward short and beat it out while Matsui scored to make it 1-0.
But Nippon Ham evened it in the second when DH Angel Echevarria grounded to Hiroyuki Nakajima at third, who booted it. One out later, leftfielder Kazuteru Shimada singled to right. Catcher Shinji Takahashi singled to left to juice the bags. Second baseman Kensuke Tanaka flew out to center and Echevarria tagged up and crossed for a 1-1 deadlock.
Seibu, though, would really cuff Sakurai around in the home portion, as centerfielder Shogo Akada walked and, one out later, after Akada advanced on a wild pitch, second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi wacked a double off the rightfield wall to drive Akada in. Matsui was intentionally walked. Rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki socked one into the rightfield bleachers and it was 5-1 Lions.
Nishiguchi would almost fritter that away in the top of the third, when centerfielder Tatsuya Ide singled to right and was then erased on a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara doubled down the right field line and trotted home on an Echevarria roundtripper to left. First baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto dug and and got real gone, too, to left to shrink the Seibu lead down to 5-4.
The Fighters rallied once more in the fifth, as Kimoto walked with two away and Shimada singled to center. Takahashi singled to left to usher Kimoto in to make it 5-5 and depose Nishiguchi.
The Lions rebelled against that, however, when they had their turn in the inning, as Wada legged out another infield hit and first baseman Alex Cabrera singled to left. Backup third baseman Scott McClain then bigtimed one into the leftfield seats for an 8-5 Seibu advantage.
Then in the seventh, Cabrera did his atom smasher imitation, crashing a first pitch fastball from Chris Seelbach off the centerfield scoreboard at the very back of the stadium, a journey estimated at over 520 feet, and it was 9-5 Lions.
Matsui doubled to rightcenter with one out in the eighth to get the Lions motor running again and went to third on a wild pitch. Ozeki was hit by a pitch. Wada flew out to center and Matsui tagged up and scored to make it 10-5.
Yoshihiro Doi would endeavored to finish this one off, but suffered a bit for it. With one out, Echevarria cracked his second homer of the game, which exited to rightcenter. Katsuhiro Nishiura, pinch hitting for Kimoto, then took Doi over the leftfield wall. One out later, Takahashi singled to right and substitute second baseman Hiroshi Narahara singled to center. Manager Haruki Ihara had to actually call in closer Kiyoshi Toyoda, who induced a groundout from Yoshinori Ueda to put it in the books. Nippon Ham has now dropped their last three.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .277.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 2-4 with a walk and an RBI and is at .328. He now has 148 homers for his first three Japanese seasons, tying Sadaharu Oh's record for most over a three year period. McClain was 1-2 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .236.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Y. Sukurai IP 4.0 BF 20 PC 78 H 5 HR 1 K 0 BB 3 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.40
S. Itoh (L, 0-1)IP 0.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 24.00
Tat. Kato IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Seelbach IP 2.0 BF 12 PC 44 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.33
Seibu:
Nishiguchi IP 4.2 BF 25 PC 104 H 8 HR 2 K 2 BB 3 R 5 ER 4 ERA 6.84
Mitsui (W, 10-5) IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.69
T. Shiozaki IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.75
Hoashi IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.40
Y. Doi IP 0.2 BF 6 PC 40 H 4 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.35
Toyoda (S, 36) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.01
E: H.Y. Nakajima,
2B: H. Takagi, M. Ogasawara, K. Matsui
3B: K. Matsui
HR: Ozeki (1), Echevarria 2 (30), Kimoto (10), McClain (25), Cabrera (44), Nishiura
(5)
RBI: Echevarria 3, Kimoto, Nishiura, S. Takahashi, Kensuke Tanaka, Ozeki 3, K.
Wada 2, Cabrera, McClain 3, H. Takagi
SF: Kensuke Tanaka, K. Wada
IBB: K. Matsui
WP: Y. Sakurai, Seelbach
HBP: Echevarria (T. Shiozaki), Ozeki (Seelbach)
GIDP: Tsuboi 2 (4-6-3, 3-6), M. Ogasawara (4-6-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 11, Seibu 7
Season Series: Nippon Ham 12, Seibu 13
Game Time: 3:53
Attendance: 16,000
Umpires: Sakaemura (HP), Kawaguchi (1B), Yanagita (2B), Yamamoto (3B)
Rhodes Two Run Homer Ties Foreign Record in 6-2 Loss
Kintetsu Buffaloes leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes is now alongside Leron Lee among all foreigners who've trod Japanese diamonds, as he mortared his 283rd dinger for the Osaka outfit in a 6-2 loss to the Chiba Lotte Marines Friday at Osaka Dome. Naoyuki Shimizu was credited with his 11th victory after eight solid innings of two run ball on seven hits.
Shinichi Kato started for Kintetsu after missing the last three weeks due to shoulder pain and was mediocre, going six innings of three run ball on nine hits and was hung with a kuroboshi.
Lotte drew first blood in the second, as third baseman Jose Fernandez got a hanging slider and punished it into the leftcenterfield bleachers for a 1-0 lead.
They tacked on another in the third when first baseman Kazuya Fukuura doubled off the leftfield wall and, one out later, DH Koichi Hori singled to center to make it 2-0 Lotte.
Fernandez catalyzed a rally in the sixth, as he singled to left and, one out later, rightfielder Saburo Omura doubled down the leftfield line. Catcher Tomoya Satozaki singled to right to redeem Fernandez shile Omura was meat at the plate on the relay home for a 3-0 Lotte advantage.
Two innings onward, Lotte leftfielder Rick Short singled to center with one out and Omura rocketed one into the leftfield stands to make it 5-0.
Kintetsu finally made its presence known in the bottom segment when second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi singled to right with two outs and Rhodes slammed the bejesus out of a slider way into the rightfield bleachers and the scoreboard read Lotte 5, Kintetsu 2 after eight complete.
Katsuhiko Maekawa, who came on to obtain the final out in the eighth, walked both Hori and Fernandez to commence the stanza and centerfielder Takashi Kita singled to right to enlarge the Lotte lead to 6-2. Soichi Fujita then put together a 1-2-3 ninth to bring down the curtain.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .277. The former Cub rang up his 283 in 1067 games while Lee did it in 1315. He is 31st on the all time Japanese homer list. He is on pace for 52 circuit clouts in 2003.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 2-3 with an RBI and two walks and is at .283. Short was 1-4 and is at .306.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (W, 11-10) IP 8.0 BF 31 PC 133 H 7 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.29
S. Fujita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.73
Kintetsu:
S. Kato (L, 6-6)IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 101 H 9 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.28
H. Koike IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.15
Aikyo IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 24 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.18
Maekawa IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 31 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.81
E: Rhodes
2B: Fukuura, Kosaka, S. Omura
HR: Fernandez (25), S. Omura (6), Rhodes (46)
RBI: Hori, Fernandez, Kita, S. Omura 2, Satozaki, Rhodes 2
PB: Matoyama
LOB: Lotte 10, Kintetsu 5
Season Series: Lotte 12, Kintetsu 11 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:14
Attendance: 14,000
Umpires: Tamba (HP), Yoshikawa (1B), Yamamura (2B), Kakigizono (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri The Giants will train in Guam for seven days starting February 1st, 2004. The site is reportedly a good distance away from any entertainment areas, so the players will be concentrating on little more than getting ready for the upcoming season....Yomiuri is also settling its coaching situation for next season, as it will hire former Giants second baseman Yutaka Sudo as its head coach and Kojiro Ikegaya as its pitching coach. Both men are presently working as baseball commentators. Sudo batted .230 over 13 seasons after first coming up with the Mainichi Orions in 1956. Ikegaya went 103-84 during his 12 seasons with the Hiroshima Carp, posting a 4.13 ERA in 1622.1 total innings.
Yakult According to Sports Nippon, catcher Atsuya Furuta's taking over the managerial reigns starting in 2005 is pretty much a fait accompli, meaning that present skipper Tsutomu Wakamatsu will get the heave ho no matter how the club fares next year in the name of "a generational change." Actually, this seems little more than team president Yoshikazu Tagiku making a change either out of hope of justifying his existence on the payroll or making a change for change's sake. Furuta might be a popular choice, but Wakamatsu has lead the Swallows to a Japan Series championship and he has kept them above .500 despite the pitching staff being devastated by injuries and losing slugger Roberto Petagine to Yomiuri. And pro yakyu officials wonder why people often have a difficult time taking them seriously.
Hanshin According to Sankei Sports, Waseda University shortstop Takashi Toritani will accept an offer to play for the Hanshin Tigers for up to the next ten years. He discussed the matter with his head coach at college and apparently decided to go with the Tigers. Hanshin manager Senichi Hoshino had said that if they were able to acquire Toritani, their shortstop situation would be settled for the next decade. In contrast, Yomiuri, which already has a star shortstop, wasn't willing to give anymore than the chance for Toritani to compete with Nioka and had hoped that Toritani would be well disposed to perhaps moving to third. Toritani stated that the team he would select had to allow him to play short. Toritani, a 5'10" 180 pound lefthanded hitting Tokyo native, is an alumnus of Seibu Gakuen High School, for whom he played in a Koshien Tournament his senior year. He went on to win a Triple Crown at Waseda as a sophomore and, overall, batted .325 with 11 homers and 66 RBIs during his collegiate career. Yomiuri Giants scout Tadashi Matsumoto, who is handling the team's negotiations for Toritani, said that he heard there hasn't been any decision yet, so the Giants intend to keep on pressing Toritani to join up with them. Both the Seibu Lions and the Yokohama Bay Stars are taking similar stances. However, Hochi Sports, a Yomiuri owned daily, believes that Toritani is indeed leaning toward migrating to Osaka.
Daiei The Hawks scheduled game was rained out, so catcher Kenji Johjima did some work on his batting with some direct guidance from manager Sadaharu Oh. Over the last ten games, the normally hard hitting backstop posted a weak .121 average (4-33) with two RBIs. His most recent homer was 12 games ago against Seibu. Oh believes that Johjima is overthinking at the plate, attempting to inside out balls he should pull. Johjima is also aiming to become the first catcher to play every inning of every game in a season since Katsuya Nomura did it in 1963.
Orix Since the Chunichi Dragons are going to punt on manager Hisashi Yamada, his name is now coming up as a candidate for the Orix job, according to Sankei Sports. The Blue Wave's minor league boss, Eiji Kato, is also up for consideration....According to the Kyodo News Service, almost 1,000 guests will be invited to attend the wedding of centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani and judo superstar Ryoko "Yawara" Tamura.
In the News
Japanese Players Take Lessons Home
See story at: International Herald Tribune Article
Matsui Pimpin'
See story at: Middletown Record Article
Ripplewood, Lehman Brothers Make Formal Bids for Fukuoka Dome
See story at: Reuters Article
See related story at: International Herald Tribune Article
Guam Celebrates Return of Yomiuri Giants
See story at: Agana Pacific Daily News Article
See related story at: Kuam TV Article
Yawara-chan Beats Idol for World Championship
See story at: UK Telegraph Article
Today's Pictures
Tuffy Rhodes Blasts Another Homer
