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09/19/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Daiei Sets Record With 20 Run Destruction of Orix; Rhodes King of Gaijin"
Orix Gives Up Another 20 Runs in Wild Homer Exhibition With Daiei
The Orix Blue Wave and the Daiei Hawks combined for nine homers Sunday at Kobe Green Stadium, as the Hawks came back from a 6-0 deficit and went nuclear on the Blue Wave for a record setting 20-11 victory. Makoto Suzuki started for the losers and once again got lit up like a Christmas tree. He may want to start planning for life as a civilian, since his ERA is a repulsive 8.27.
Akio Mizuta started for Daiei and was so pathetic that he couldn't obtain the win even with double digit run support. Keisaburo Tanoue didn't pitch well, either, but nevertheless picked up his first shiroboshi of the year.
So grab a cold one and maybe pack a lunch, this is going to be a long one.
Orix was all over Mizuta like ants on a picnic in the first, as third baseman Koichi Oshima walked with one out and centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani doubled to rightcenter, Oshima sprinting around from first to make it 1-0. One out later, second baseman Jose Ortiz belted one into the leftfield bleachers for two more. Rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi singled to left. DH Takeshi Yamasaki walked. Catcher Takeshi Hidaka leaned into a Mizuta delivery and buried it in the rightfield seats and it was 6-0.
However, Daiei leftfielder Pedro Valdes fired a warning shot into the leftcenterfield stands with one out in the second to cut the Orix lead to 6-1.
Orix got that back in the bottom of the inning when first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani singled to right and hustled to third on a single to right from Oshima. Tani grounded out to short to plate Shiotani and the Blue Wave were up 7-1.
But Suzuki has been surrendering runs like France surrenders to Germany this season and he was pureed in the fourth. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi got aboard on an infield hit and first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka walked. Catcher Kenji Johjima singled to left to push Iguchi across. Valdes singled to left, too, and Matsunaka set the controls for the heart of home plate. DH Julio Zuleta walked to load the bases. One out later, shortstop Yusuke Torigoe singled to left for an RBI. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara carromed a shot off the centerfield wall to unburden the basepaths and knot it at 7-7. Masahiro Doi replaced Suzuki. Third baseman Munenori Kawasaki singled to center to redeem Shibahara and the Hawks had an 8-7 edge. Doi then walked the next two men, but Johjima bounced into a 5-4-3 double play to stifle any further scoring.
Orix would tie it in the bottom segment when Tanoue walked Oshima, Tani and leftfielder Roosevelt Brown to pack the sacks. Ortiz flied out and Oshima tagged up and crossed to make it 8-8. And that was the last time that Orix would be even with Daiei, as Katsuragi flied out to shallow left and Yamasaki grounded out to third to end the uprising.
The Hawks then picked Orix reliever Tomonori Kitagawa apart in the fifth. Valdes singled to center and Zuleta performed his rendering of Krokus' "Long Stick Goes Boom" for the folks in the rightfield bleachers. Centerfielder Yudai Deguchi piggybacked on that with a copycat shot. Torigoe mashed one into the leftfield seats, too for his first 2003 roundtripper to make it back to back to back jacks, the second time that Daiei had done that this season, to expand their hegemony to 12-8. Shuichi Iwashita was summoned from the bullpen. Backup centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi grounded to
shortstop Mitsutaka Goto, who booted it. Kawasaki laid down a sac bunt and Iwashita fumbled that for an error. Iguchi got a third pitch fastball and poleaxed it beyond the centerfield fence for a 15-8 lead.
Orix rebelled inadequately in the sixth, as Oshima reached on an infield hit and Tani bonked one into the leftfield seats for his career high 15th homer and it was 15-10 Daiei.
Both sides may have been exhausted and took the seventh and eighth off before Daiei got back in the cockpit and bombed Orix some more in the top of the ninth. Deguchi, now stationed in right, walked and went to second on a sacrifice. Takahashi singled to center to drive Deguchi in. Kawasaki crashed a double off the rightfield wall. Iguchi singled to center to bring them in. One out later, Johjima mortared a pitch from Satoshi Tokumoto into the leftcenterfield seats to widen it to 20-10.
Katsuragi leadoff the Orix at bat in the frame with a single to right against reliever Shintaro Yoshitake. Two outs later, pinch hitter Ryota Aikawa doubled into the rightfield corner and Katsuragi motored in from first. That was pretty much a futile gesture, though, as Shiotani struckout to mercifully bring down the curtain on this fireworks exhibition. Daiei's magic number is now nine.
There are two things that are remarkable about this contest: first, it makes it four times that the Hawks have totaled up 20 runs this year, eclipsing the old mark of three by the 1951 Yomiuri Giants (once against the Kokutetsu Swallows and twice against the Hiroshima Carp, both in their second year of existence). Furthermore, all four of these extravaganzas have been against Orix, passing the 1950 Tokyu Flyers (now Nippon Ham), who saw their opposition ring up 20 against them three times. And Daiei sets a new record for most 20 run efforts against one team in a campaign. The 218 runs they have ripped Orix for is also the most by any team against one opponent this season. They are batting .352 against the Kobe outfit this year as well. Orix has also set an all time worst with 720 earned runs permitted in a season.
Everyone in the Hawks lineup scored at least one run and had at least one knock.
Johjima's dinger was his first in 14 games.
Tanoue earned his first win since last September.
Iguchi now has 100 RBIs, his first time attaining that figure. He also has an outside chance at a rare .300-30-30.
For Orix, Brown was 0-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .309. Ortiz was 1-4 with three RBIs and is at .254.
For Daiei, Valdes was 3-5 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .322. Zuleta was 1-4 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .267.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
A. Mizuta IP 3.0 BF 19 PC 87 H 7 HR 2 K 3 BB 2 R 7 ER 7 ERA 7.27
Tanoue (W, 1-0) IP 4.0 BF 17 PC 67 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.40
K. Okamoto IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.26
Yoshitake IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 29 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.92
Orix:
M. Suzuki IP 3.1 BF 19 PC 78 H 7 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 8 ER 6 ERA 8.27
M. Doi IP 0.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 9.87
T. Kitagawa (L, 0-1) IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 15 H 4 HR 3 K 0 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 9.90
Iwashita IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 48 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 3 ER 1 ERA 5.00
Tokumoto IP 2.0 BF 12 PC 46 H 4 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 6.82
E: Matsunaka, M.T. Goto, Brown, Iwashita
SB: Katsuragi
2B: Tani, Shibahara, M. Kawasaki, Ryota Aikawa
HR: Ortiz (26), Hidaka (9), P. Valdes (25), Zuleta (12), Deguchi (2), Torigoe (1), Iguchi (25), Tani (14), Johjima (29)
RBI: Shibahara 3, K.Y. Takahashi, Iguchi 5, M. Kawasaki, Johjima 2, P. Valdes 2, Zuleta 2, Deguchi, Torigoe 2, Tani 4, Ortiz 3, Hidaka 3, Ryota Aikawa
SF: Ortiz
WP: M. Suzuki 2
GIDP: Johjima 2 (5-4-3)
LOB: Daiei 4, Orix 8
Season Series: Daiei 16, Orix 9
Game Time: 4:03
Attendance: 32,000
Umpires: Higashi (HP), Hayashi (1B), Maeda (2B), Sato (3B)
Shimada RBI Single in Tenth Puts Lions on the Ropes
The Seibu Lions can't afford to lose any more games, but they did against a club they should stick it to with authority Sunday at Seibu Dome, as they couldn't hold on to a 9-7 lead and then lost it in ten 10-9. Nippon Ham's losing streak ended at four.
Itsuki Shoda started for Nippon Ham and was roughed up for five runs, three earned, in another dubious performance by last season's Rookie of the Year.
Chang Chia-chiah started for the Lions and has suddenly turned into fellow country man Hsu Ming-chieh in that you now can't count on him for a sound night on the hill. He went 6.2 innings of eight run (six earned) ball on ten hits, causing his ERA to knock at 5.00.
The Fighters broke it out big in the first, as rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi doubled to rightcenter with one out and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara walked. DH Angel
Echevarria singled to right to hail Tsuboi in. One out later, first baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto homered to left and it was 4-0 Nippon Ham.
Seibu halved that disparity in the bottom of the stanza, as shortstop Kazuo Matsui doubled to leftcenter and went to third when Shoda muffed rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki's sac bunt. One out later, first baseman Alex Cabrera walked to juice the bags. Following another out, centerfielder Shogo Akada singled to right to drive Matsui and Ozeki in and make it 4-2 Fighters.
But in the second, Tanaka walked and, two outs later, Tsuboi singled to right. Tanaka made the turn for third. Ozeki gunned it over, but by third baseman Scott McClain and Tanaka crossed the plate for a 5-2 Fighters lead.
The Lions answered with a run of their own during their ups, as catcher Toru Hosokawa doubled down the rightfield line and went to third on a groundout. One out later, Ozeki singled to left to put it at 5-3 Nippon Ham.
The Fighters rebounded in the third, as Ogasawara singled to center and Matsui misplayed a ground ball off the bat of Echevarria. Two outs later, catcher Shinji Takahashi singled to left to plate Ogasawara. Tanaka singled to right to usher Echevarria in for a 7-3 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, though, McClain walked and Akada doubled to rightcenter. One out later, Hosokawa walked. Following another out, Matsui cracked a single to left to plate two runners and make it 7-5 Fighters.
Cabrera then got the Lions within a run in the fourth when he socked a fastball on the inner half of the plate into the rightcenterfield stands and it was 7-6 Nippon Ham, his fifth match in a row where he has transgressed the friendly confines.
Hosokawa rocketed one off of Tsuyoshi Itoh into the leftcenterfield bleachers to open the bottom of the fifth and it was deadlocked at 7-7. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi jumped on the first pitch he saw and cascaded it into the rightcenterfield gap and to the wall for a triple. Matsui flew out to right and Takagi tagged up and scored for Seibu's first lead of the contest. Ozeki walked. Naoyuki Tateishi was inserted from the pen. One out later, Cabrera laced a double to rightcenter and Ozeki sped to the plate for a 9-7 Lions advantage.
Chang appeared as if he would cough that lead up in the sixth when catcher Shinji Takahashi singled to left and, one out later, shortstop Makoto Kaneko doubled down the leftfield line. But Chang struckout the next two batters to wriggle out of the jam.
However, in the seventh, Ogasawara cleaned and jerked his 150th lifetime homer, a shot to rightcenter, to commence the frame. Two outs later, Kazuyuki Hoashi replaced Chang and he struckout Kimoto, but the pitch was wild and Kimoto made it to first. Takahashi singled to right, Kimoto wheeling to third. Hiroshi Narahara, pinch hitting for Tanaka, beat out a roller toward short to level it at 9-9.
Nippon Ham had a bases loaded opportunity with two outs in the eighth, but pinch hitter Katsuhiro Nishura struckout to put the kabosh on that.
Thus, it went into the tenth and, with closer Kiyoshi Toyoda on the hill, Ogasawara walked. Echevarria singled to left. Leftfielder Kazuteru Shimada singled to left and Ogasawara busted for home to make it 10-9 Fighters. Yoshinori Tateyama fashioned a perfect ninth and this one was a memory.
For Seibu, McClain was 0-3 with two walks and is at .235. Cabrera was 2-4 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .331. The homer was the 150th of his Japanese career, making him the fastest ever to that mark at a mere 380 games. The previous recordholder, former Kintetsu DH Ralph Bryant, did it in 424 tilts. He is the 126th to 150 in Japanese history. He has now gone yard in six of his last seven contests. Of his 46 circuit clouts, 32 were against righthanders and 14 against lefties. Coaches attribute the former Diamondback's success to adapting his approach according to the count and improving his reading of pitches.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-5 with a walk, an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .278.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Shoda IP 2.2 BF 19 PC 71 H 7 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 5 ER 3 ERA 5.41
Tsuyoshi Itoh IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 21 H 2 HR 2 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 20.77
Tat. Kato IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.69
Tateishi IP 2.2 BF 10 PC 35 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.12
Tateyama (W, 2-1) IP 3.0 BF 9 PC 33 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.27
Seibu:
Chang IP 6.2 BF 32 PC 126 H 10 HR 2 K 8 BB 2 R 8 ER 6 ERA 4.98
Hoashi IP 1.1 BF 10 PC 37 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.08
S. Mori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.18
Toyoda (L, 2-3) IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 29 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.14
E: S. Takahashi, K. Matsui, H. Takagi
SB: Kensuke Tanaka, Ozeki
2B: Tsuboi, K. Matsui, Hosokawa, Akada, Cabrera, Kaneko
3B: H. Takagi
HR: Kimoto (11), Cabrera (46), Hosokawa (5), M. Ogasawara (29)
RBI: Tsuboi, M. Ogasawara, Echevarria, K. Shimada, Kimoto 3, S. Takahashi,
Kensuke Tanaka, Narahara, K. Matsui 3, Ozeki, Cabrera 2, Akada 2, Hosokawa
SF: K. Matsui
WP: Shoda, Hoashi
HBP: Echevarria (Hoashi)
GIDP: Kaneko (6-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 11, Seibu 9
Season Series: Nippon Ham 13, Seibu 14
Game Time: 4:26
Attendance: 29,000
Umpires: Kawaguchi (HP), Tachibana (1B), Tsugawa (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Hanshin Shuttered on Four Hits 5-0 by Dragons
The Hanshin Tigers have had an up and down last six weeks and this one was on the negative side of that, as they are now 0-5-1 in their last six games thanks to a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Chunichi Dragons Sunday at Nagoya Dome. It also assured that the Dragons would not lose the season series to the Tigers, the only club to do that.
Hiramatsu started for Chunichi and was sailing along on one hit when he had to leave the game with one out in the sixth due to a leg cramp, but his team's bullpen permitted just three hits the rest of the way and he was bestowed his fifth victory.
Shinobu Fukuhara started for Hanshin and had a 12 inning scoreless string going, but he had a rocky first inning, partially thanks to catcher Akihiro Yano's passed ball, and absorbed the loss, his first against two wins.
In that first inning, Fukuhara walked leadoff hitter Masahiko Morino on four straight pitches and he then took off on a hit and run play. Leftfielder Koichi Sekikawa slapped a single to left and Morino stopped in at third. With rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome at the plate, Yano had a concentration lapse and a third pitch heater hit him in the shoulder and careened toward the first base dugout, allowing Morino to toe the dish and Sekikawa to get all the way to third. Fukudome struckout. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami grounded out to short and Sekikawa was in to make it 2-0. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to left and catcher Motonobu Tanishige walked to keep things going, but second baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe grounded out to keep it at 2-0.
Morino then got to Fukuhara again in the fourth, as he singled to right with two outs and scored from first on a double to left by Sekikawa for a 3-0 Dragons advantage.
Hanshin then messed up on the basepaths in the sixth to take itself out of a promising inning. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto singled to center and went to second on a groundout. Second baseman Yoshinori Okihara singled to right. Fukudome gathered it in and fired a one hopper to Tanishige, who gloved it on a shorthop and made the tag on Fujimoto for Fukudome's 14th outfield assist, tops in the league and matching last year's total. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi reached on an infield hit. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto walked to load the bases. But rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama flew out to center and that rally went by the wayside. Three runs down and they decided to run on Fukudome? That's just dumb.
Shinji Taninaka was dispatched to the mound to begin the sixth and Chunichi celebrated with more runs, as first baseman So Tsutsui singled to left with one out, Kanemoto allowing the ball to get behind him for an error and Tsutsui advanced to second. Tigers skipper Senichi Hoshino brought in Makoto Yoshino from the pen. pinch hitter Takayuki Onishi singled to left and Tsutsui made the left turn for home. One out later, Yoshino hit Sekikawa with a pitch. Fukudome singled to right to recall Onishi and it was 5-0 Dragons.
Okihara walked with one out in the eighth, but apparently forgetting how many outs there were, he took off like mad and was almost at third when Sekikawa caught Akahoshi's routine flyout and was easily doubled off. Hoshino rightly referred to the blunder as a "bonehead play."
Masataka Endo retired three of the four men he faced in the ninth and that was your ballgame.
Hanshin 4-7-1 in September after finishing one game under .500 in August.
For Hanshin, first baseman George Arias was 1-4 and is at .273.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 3-4 and is at .284.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Fukuhara (L, 2-1) IP 5.0 BF 24 PC 100 H 6 HR 0 K 6 BB 3 R 3 ER 1 ERA 0.53
Taninaka IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 9 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 5.64
Yoshino IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 19 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.95
Fujikawa IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 38 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.07
Chunichi:
Hiramatsu (W, 5-3) IP 5.1 BF 18 PC 74 H 1 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.45
Hisamoto IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 16 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.68
M. Valdes IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.67
Ochiai IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.80
Endo IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.83
E: Kanemoto
SB: Tanishige
2B: Sekikawa, Ochoa, Fukudome
RBI: Sekikawa, Fukudome, Tatsunami, Onishi
WP: Fujikawa
HBP: Sekikawa (Yoshino)
PB: A. Yano
LOB: Hanshin 6, Chunichi 11
Season Series: Chunichi 14, Hanshin 13
Game Time: 3:13
Attendance: 40,500
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Uemoto (1B), K. Kobayashi (2B), Tomoyose (3B)
Ishido, Yakult Survive Two Petagine Homers in 7-6 Victory
The Yomiuri Giants got behind 4-0 in the fourth inning Sunday at Tokyo Dome, but leftfielder Roberto Petagine attempted to lead a comeback that would untimately fall short with two homers, as the Yakult Swallows white knuckled a 7-6 victory. Rookie Katsutoshi Ishido scooped up his second consecutive win with five innings of two run ball while Kimiyasu Kudoh had another bad outing, as he was roasted for six runs on 11 hits in 6.1 innings to even his record at 6-6.
Both Kudoh and Ishido had blunted the opposition's offense before Yakult rampaged in the top of the fourth on third baseman Akinori Iwamura's single to center, leftfielder Alex Ramirez' double to right, a walk to first baseman Ken Suzuki that loaded the bases and a two run double to leftcenter from catcher Atsuya Furuta. Rightfielder Ryuji Miyade singled to left to convert Suzuki and second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi lifted a sac fly to right for a 4-0 lead. One out later, centerfielder Munehiro Shida singled to left and shortstop Shinya Miyamoto walked to load the bases. But Iwamura struckout and 4-0 it was.
In the bottom of the frame, Yomiuri rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked and Petagine drilled one into the rightfield seats to make it 4-2 Swallows.
The Giants loaded the bases in the fifth on two singles and a walk with two outs, but Takahashi flied out to left for the third out.
Petagine then tightened it up further in the sixth when he clobbered one into the leftcenterfield seats for the 80,000th homer in Japanese history and it was 4-3 Yakult.
The Swallows would get a little more separation in the seventh, though, as Iwamura singled to center and Ramirez singled to left. One out later, Furuta played jai lai with the leftfield wall for a two RBI double. Miyade tripled off the centerfield fence to plate Furuta to open a 7-3 Yakult advantage.
But reliever Ryota Igarashi would give most of that away. Petagine walked with one out and first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara doubled off the rightfield wall. Centerfielder Takayuki Saito beat out a little ground ball toward second and Petagine crossed. pinch hitter Akira Etoh flied out to left and Kiyohara tagged up and ran in to make it 7-5.
Shingo Takatsu can't seem to get through pitching to the Giants without being taken deep by somebody in the ninth and it happened again, as second baseman Toshihisa Nishi
went yard to rightcenter with two outs before Takahashi grounded out to second for "game setto." Yakult has won a season best eight in a row. Yomiuri is going the other way, seven consecutive defeats.
Its been since 1979 that the Giants have been in fifth place this late in the season.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-5 with two strikeouts and is at .327. Brazilian-Japanese pinch hitter Yuichi Matsumoto struckout in his appearance and is at .000.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 2-2 with two walks and three RBIs and is at .323.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Ishido (W, 2-0) IP 5.0 BF 21 PC 76 H 3 HR 1 K 5 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.60
Yamabe IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.26
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.57
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.78
Takatsu (S, 32) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 13 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.79
Yomiuri:
Kudoh (L, 6-6) IP 6.1 BF 32 PC 138 H 11 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 6 ER 6 ERA 4.11
Bailey IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 14 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.11
Kashiwada IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.38
E: Petagine
2B: Ramirez, Furuta 2, Kiyohara
3B: Miyade
HR: Petagine 2 (32), Nishi (8)
RBI: Furuta 4, Miyade 2, Shiroishi, Nishi, Petagine 3, Takayuki Saito, Etoh
SF: Shiroishi, Etoh
HBP: Kawanaka (Ryo. Igarashi)
GIDP: Nioka (6-4-3)
LOB: Yakult 8, Yomiuri 6
Season Series: Yakult 12, Yomiuri 13 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:28
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Nishimoto (HP), T. Kobayashi (1B), Yoshimoto (2B), Tani (3B)
Rookie Abe Completely on in 5-1 Kintetsu Win
Rookie Kenta Abe keeps the fine pitching performances coming, as he survived a bit of wildness in the second to go all the way on five hits and a run while leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes slugged a three run homer in a 5-1 Kintetsu Buffaloes triumph over the Chiba Lotte Marines Sunday at Osaka Dome. Yasuhiko Yabuta started for Lotte and lasted just 2.2 innings before manager Koji Yamamoto went to Takashi Kawai.
Abe had his worst inning in the second, when leftfielder Rick Short walked with two outs and rightfielder Saburo Omura grounded to third and reached on Osamu Hoshino's
error. Catcher Tomoya Satozaki walked to pack the sacks. But second baseman Masato Watanabe struckout to kill the incipient rally.
In the third, Kintetsu obtained all the offense they needed, as centerfielder Naoyuki Omura singled to right and second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi walked. One out later, Rhodes slaughtered a 3-2 forkball up into the third deck in rightcenter more than 455 feet away. First baseman Yuji Yoshioka homered to left and it was 4-0 Buffs.
Lotte had men on first and second in the fourth with two outs, but let that go by the boards.
In the sixth, Kintetsu shortstop Masahiro Abe doubled down the rightfield line and was sacrificed to third. One out later, Omura doubled into the leftfield corner to make it 5-0.
Lotte grabbed its sole run in the eighth, as pinch hitter Takashi Kita outran a dribbler toward short and went to second on a wild pitch. One out later, first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center and it was 5-1 Kintetsu.
Abe cruised through the ninth to put it in the refrigerator. The last time a rookie right out of high school had a complete game for Kintetsu was in 1984 by Yoshikazu Ono, who is now the team's minor league pitching instructor.
Rhodes passed Leron Lee on the all time foreign homer list with his 284th in his 1069th game. Rhodes first homer was on 4/4/1996 against Orix at Fujiidera Stadium.
For Lotte, third baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-4 and is at .279. Short was 0-3 with a walk and is at .303.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-3 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .275.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
Yabuta (L, 5-5) IP 2.2 BF 15 PC 83 H 6 HR 2 K 2 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.80
T. Kawai IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 59 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.39
Tobe IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.54
S. Fujita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.40
Funaki IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.86
Kintetsu:
K. Abe (W, 2-0) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 145 H 5 HR 0 K 8 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.52
E: Fernandez, O. Hoshino
2B: K. Kawaguchi, M. Abe, N. Omura
HR: Rhodes (47), Yoshioka (16)
RBI: Fukuura, N. Omura, Rhodes 3, Yoshioka
WP: K. Abe
LOB: Lotte 7, Kintetsu 6
Season Series: Lotte 13, Kintetsu 12 1 Tie
Game Time: 17,000
Attendance: 3:12
Umpires: Yoshikawa (HP), Nagami (1B), Tamba (2B), Yamamura (3B)
Davey Six Hits Yokohama in 4-2 Triumph
Hiroshima Carp starter Tom Davey keeps on keepin' on in Japan, twirling seven solid innings of two run ball to best Yokohama Bay Stars ace Daisuke Miura to snatch off his fifth win of the season 4-2. As a bonus, Shinji Sasaoka saved it in the ninth to become the sixth man ever to 100 wins and an equal number of saves.
After Hiroshima misfired on a couple of earlier scoring opportunities, Yokohama stuck something on the big board in the fourth, as rightfielder Hitoshi Tamura singled to left and, two outs later, third baseman Shuichi Murata, a good high fastball hitter, got one of those on a 3-2 count and crushed it into the leftfield seats for a 2-0 lead.
Hiroshima blew a two on, nobody out revolt in the fifth and Yokohama did something similar in the sixth. The Carp then finally sent Miura reeling in the sixth. Rightfielder Shigeru Morikasa was nailed by a Miura delivery and second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to right. First baseman Itsuki Asai singled to center to package Morikasa to the plate and Kimura to third. Shortstop Andy Sheets grounded to the rightside for an RBI and the tying run. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to right to propel Asai across and they had a 3-2 advantage.
In the seventh, pinch hitter Masafumi Suenaga walked with one down and Morikasa singled to right, Suenaga blazing around to third. Kimura beat out a ground ball toward third and Suenaga crossed to pump the Carp lead up to 4-2.
Rookie reliever Katsuhiro Nagakawa tossed a perfect eighth in his first time back since being sat down with back pain. He was clocked at 92mph.
Sasaoka walked Murata to start the ninth, but a groundout and two strikeouts later, this one was history. Yokohama has surpassed their 2002 loss total with their 87th.
Murata is the 16th man in history to slug 20 homers in his rookie campaign. The last one to do it was Hiroo Ishii of Kintetsu in 1990.
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 1-4 and is at .258.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .314.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
D. Miura (L, 5-5) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 85 H 7 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.02
Tazaki IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.65
Hiroshima:
Davey (W, 5-1) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 118 H 6 HR 1 K 7 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.86
Nagakawa IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.20
Sasaoka (S, 3) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.13
SB: Tamura, Okagami
2B: Ishihara
HR: S. Murata (20)
RBI: S. Murata 2, T. Kimura, I. Asai, Sheets, T. Maeda
WP: Davey
HBP: Morikasa (D. Miura)
GIDP: Ogata (4-6-3)
LOB: Yokohama 7, Hiroshima 7
Season Series: Yokohama 7, Hiroshima 16
Game Time: 2:42
Attendance: 15,000
Umpires: Nako (HP), Sasaki (1B), Kittaka (2B), Ino (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin To prevent any widespread disorder, Hyogo Prefecture police will roll out an extra 2000 men, including riot police, around Koshien Stadium in the event the Tigers clinch the pennant there. In addition, the ballpark will have an extra 150 security on hand to deal with overexuberant fans.
Daiei Rookie southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada has been taken off the roster to rest him since he is fatigued. He has to miss at least ten days.
Miscellaneous Top draft pick Takashi Toritani went 2-4 with an RBI and two steals Sunday against Tokyo University to help Waseda trounce Tokyo University 15-0.
