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09/23/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Swallows Get Lost in the Woods"
Woods' Two Homers Leads Yokohama Over Yakult 5-1
Yokohama Bay Stars first baseman Tyrone Woods clubbed a solo homer in the second and then added a two run shot in the third to power the Stars past the Yakult Swallows Tuesday at Yokohama Stadium 5-1. Takeo Kawamura won his first game in four months with eight shutout innings while Swallows starter Shohei Tachiyama was an arsonist, giving up five runs on 11 hits in six innings to go to 0-2.
It was scoreless until Woods announced his presence with authority by carroming one off a sign at the back of the centerfield seats for a 1-0 lead. Third baseman Shuichi Murata singled to left. Shortstop Takuro Ishii doubled down the rightfield line. But the next three men all made outs while the runners loitered.
But they would fix that in the third. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo got on on an infield hit and was sacrificed to second. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki singled to left to drive Kinjo in. Woods yanked one into the leftfield stands and it was 4-0 Yokohama.
In the sixth, Yokohama catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to right with one out and was sacrificed to second. Kinjo slapped a sinker into center for the RBI to make it 5-0 Stars.
Eddie Gaillard claimed the hill for the ninth and following a couple of infield outs, saw one of his pitches become a screamer into the centerfield seats off the bat of leftfielder Alex Ramirez. Third baseman Ken Suzuki lined out to center and this one was a memory.
Woods now leads the cl in homers with 36. He wants to play again in Japan next season, but that is still up in the air due to Yokohama's fondness for Steve Cox. He has four homers in his last two games against Yakult.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .325. Yuichi Matsumoto was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .333. As for trying to help A-Ram to win the homer crown by pitching around Woods, manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu and pitching coach Itoh said that just because Ramirez is fighting for the homer crown doesn't mean that they will stop pitching to Woods. Good for them. Btw, Ramirez leads the league in hits with 166.
For Yokohama, Woods was 3-3 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .265.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Tachiyama (L, 0-2) IP 6.0 BF 28 PC 94 H 11 HR 2 K 4 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 4.96
Yamabe IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.23
H. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.61
Yokohama:
Kawamura (W, 4-7) IP 8.0 BF 28 PC 101 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.26
Gaillard IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.45
2B: T. Ishii, Ryoji Aikawa
HR: Woods 2 (36), Ramirez (34)
RBI: Ramirez, Kinjo, T.N. Suzuki, Woods 3
HBP: Manaka (Kawamura)
GIDP: Furuta (6-4-3), Watarai (6-4-3)
LOB: Yakult 4, Yokohama 7
Season Series: Yakult 17, Yokohama 9
Game Time: 2:30
Attendance: 11,000
Umpires: Yoshimoto (HP), Honda (1B), Suginaga (2B), Fukatani (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin To nobody's surprise, Kei Igawa will start in game one of the Japan Series against Daiei. Hideki Irabu is then likely to be the game two starter. He has gone 4-5 in his last ten games....First baseman Katsumi Hirosawa, second baseman Makoto Imaoka and pinch hitting specialist Hiroshi Yagi have been taken off the roster. They are unlikely to see anymore action with the top club until the Japan Series, accroding to Sports Nippon.
Yokohama According to Sports Nippon, the Bay Stars are interested in drafting 21 year old Mitsubishi Fuso Kawasaki lefthander Daisuke Mori. Mori features a 92mph fastball, but he has also had a recent elbow injury, so his durability may be a question.
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