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10/01/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Johjima, Sugiuchi Put Another Nail in Lions Coffin; Hawks Weak Against Lefties?"
Sugiuchi and Johjima Put Hawks Back in Control 2-1
The battery of Toshiya Sugiuchi and catcher Kenji Johjima combined Tuesday to put another skewer in the Seibu Lions pennant aspirations, as Johjima drove in both runs to back a seven inning, one run on four this effort by the second year Sugiuchi in slipping by the Seibu Lions at Fukuoka Dome 2-1.
Kenichi Toriyabe started for Seibu and went only 4.1 innings before being yanked in favor of Kazuyuki Hoashi, who ultimately got hung with the defeat.
Toriyabe pitched out of a two on, one out scrape in the first, but in the second, he got behind to Johjima and threw a fastball that was up and on the inner half of the plate and the all star backstop rammed it over the leftfield wall for a 1-0 Hawks lead. He then walked two men, who were sacrificed over to create a men on second and third, two out jam, but centerfielder Yudai Deguchi popped out to third to keep it close.
In the fourth, the Lions evened it when leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada socked a Sugiuchi pitch into the leftcenterfield seats to make it 1-1.
Daiei, though, kept on coming and put two men on with nobody out in the bottom of the frame. Unfortunately, rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara blew a sac bunt attempt and catcher Toru Hosokawa was all over it, going to third for the force. Shortstop Yusuke Torigoe then bounced one to the right of second base. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi grabbed it, tagged Shibahara and fired to first for the inning ending twin killing.
Daiei would be frustrated once more in the fifth, as third baseman Munenori Kawasaki singled to center with one out and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi doubled off the rightfield wall. Hoashi came in to spell Toriyabe and he walked first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka to load the bases. Johjima, however, grounded to Hiroyuki Nakajima near the third base bag. Nakajima tread across the base and then gunned it to first and the stanza was over.
Johjima would do a much better job of situational hitting the bottom of the seventh, as Deguchi singled to left and was sacrificed to second. Iguchi and Matsunaka each worked free passes to pack the sacks. Johjima lifted a fly ball to medium right and Deguchi tagged up and made a hasty attempt for home, which was successful, and it was 2-1 Hawks.
Takayuki Shinohara entered the match in the top of the eighth for Daiei and Lions rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki singled to center and, one out later, first baseman Alex Cabrera singled to left. But DH Taketoshi Goto tapped one to Iguchi, who flipped to Torigoe, who turned it over to Matsunaka and the Hawks advantage was still intact.
Seibu then killed itself with a baserunning play in the ninth. Centerfielder Fumikazu Takanami beat out a ground ball toward first and stole second. Nakajima lofted a little fly ball down the first base line in foul territory. Takanami, figuring that the defense challenged Matsunaka wouldn't be able to make the long throw accurately, tagged up and lit out for third. But Matsunaka did unleash a strong peg to Kawasaki, who applied the tag for the second out. Hosokawa whiffed and that was the ballgame. Daiei's magic number was reduced to three.
Johjima has now homered in three straight and leads all of Japanese baseball with 115 RBIs. His 32nd roundtripper is a single season career best and he has 149 lifetime.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-3 with a walk and is at .326. Scott McClain walked in a pinch hit appearance and is at .232.
For Daiei, leftfielder Pedro Valdes was 1-3 with a walk and is at .319. DH Julio Zuleta struckout three times and walked in his four times up and is at .259.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Toriyabe IP 4.1 BF 21 PC 93 H 6 HR 1 K 1 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.76
Hoashi (L, 4-6) IP 2.2 BF 12 PC 46 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.34
Mitsui IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.34
Daiei:
Sugiuchi (W, 10-8) IP 7.0 BF 28 PC 133 H 4 HR 1 K 7 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.11
Shinohara (S, 9) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 19 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.63
E: Matsunaka
SB: Ozeki, Takanami, Iguchi
2B: Iguchi
HR: Johjima (32), K. Wada (29)
RBI: K. Wada, Johjima 2
SF: Johjima
WP: Toriyabe
HBP: H.Y. Nakajima (Sugiuchi)
GIDP: Torigoe (4-3), Johjima (5-3), K. Wada (6-4-3), T.T. Goto (4-6-3)
LOB: Seibu 7, Daiei 10
Season Series: Seibu 12, Daiei 16
Game Time: 3:25
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Kakigizono (HP), Maeda (1B), Hayashi (2B), Higashi (3B)
Kisanuki Wins 10th in Over Hanshin 4-2
Yomiuri Giants righthander Hiroshi Kisanuki, who has had a rocky last couple of months, looked more like the man he was in the first half, as he was working on a shutout for eight innings before weakening and allowing a pair of Hanshin Tigers jacks in the ninth, but he recovered to wind it up for the complete game 4-2 victory Tuesday at Koshien Stadium for his tenth win. It was his first career triumph at Koshien.
Hideki Irabu started for Hanshin and he had another less than optimum performance, as he went five innings and permitted all four Giants runs on eight hits to get tagged with the kuroboshi.
Yomiuri pulled to an early lead, as leftfielder Roberto Petagine singled to center and Irabu plunked first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara. One out later, second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to center to plate Petagine and it was 1-0 Giants.
In the third, Giants shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to center with one out and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi doubled down the rightfield line. Petagine singled to center to convert both runners to make it 3-0 Yomiuri.
After going down in order each of the first three innings before Kisanuki, Hanshin finally displayed some resistance in the fourth, as leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto singled to right with two outs and rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama singled to center. But third baseman Atsushi Kataoka popped out to short and the first Tigers revolt of the night went by the boards.
The Tokyo squad then pulled a little further ahead in the fifth, when centerfielder Takayuki Shimizu doubled off the centerfield fence and went to third on a sac bunt. Takahashi walked. Petagine laced a shot back up the middle and Shimizu loped in for a 4-0 Giants advantage.
Kisanuki no hit the Tigers between the fifth and eighth. So he once again climbed the hill in the ninth seeking to send Hanshin into that good night. Koji Hirashita was dispatched to the plate to pinch hit for reliever Trey Moore and crashed a Kisanuki delivery off a seat beyond the centerfield wall. Hirashita only has three hits all season, each a pinch hit bomb. Two outs later, Kanemoto conked one into the centerfield bleachers and it was 4-2. Kisanuki then gathered himself and retired Hiyama on a fly ball to center for the Giants third straight victory over Hanshin and Kisanuki's seventh CG. He was clocked at 92mph.
The two runs Yomiuri gave up broke their 2001 record for most runs given up in a season, as they have surrendered 660 to date.
For Hanshin, first baseman George Arias was 0-4 and is at .268.
For Yomiuri, Petagine was 2-4 with three RBIs and is at .327.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kisanuki (W, 10-6) IP 9.0 BF 31 PC 136 H 4 HR 2 K 6 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.19
Hanshin:
Irabu (L, 13-8) IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 83 H 8 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.75
Moore IP 4.0 BF 13 PC 42 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.12
2B: Y. Takahashi, T. Shimizu
HR: Hirashita (3), Kanemoto (19)
RBI: Hirashita, Kanemoto, Petagine 3, Nishi
HBP: Kiyohara (Irabu)
GIDP: Etoh (6-4-3)
LOB: Yomiuri 5, Hanshin 2
Season Series: Yomiuri 9, Hanshin 17 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:26
Attendance: 53,000
Umpires: Tani (HP), Manabe (1B), Suginaga (2B), Kasahara (3B)
Rhodes' Three RBIs Not Enough in 8-6 Defeat by Lotte
Kintetsu Buffaloes leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes added three more to his season RBI total Tuesday at Osaka Dome, but it wasn't anywhere near enough to prevent the home contingent from dropping an 8-6 decision to the Chiba Lotte Marines. Nate Minchey went seven innings of five run ball, but emerged with a victory anyway while Kintetsu starter Hisashi Iwakuma's problems are still unceasing, as he was also cuffed around for a five spot for his tenth loss.
Kintetsu had a man on third with one out in the second and stranded him, but then broke out for a pair in the third, when second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi singled to center with one out and rightfielder Kenshi Kawaguchi doubled down the leftfield line. Rhodes wacked a single to right to cash them in and it was 2-0.
Lotte shrunk that disparity in the fourth, as rightfielder Saburo Omura singled to center with one away and sprinted home from first on a double into the leftfield corner by catcher Tomoya Satozaki to make it 2-1.
Then in the sixth, they got a handle on this one when first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to left and centerfielder Jun Inoue mortared an Iwakuma pitch into the centerfield seats to put Lotte in front 3-2. One out later, third baseman Jose Fernandez and leftfielder Rick Short each singled to center and Omura whistled one down the leftfield line for an RBI double. Satozaki walked to juice the bags. Second baseman Masato Watanabe flied out to center deep enough to allow Short to tag up and cross for a 5-2 Lotte advantage.
Next time up, Lotte enhanced that lead when DH Koichi Hori walked with two outs and Fernandez pumped a double into the leftfield corner, Hori motoring in to make it 6-2.
Minchey fashioned three perfect innings between the fourth and sixth, but was badly dented in the seventh. DH Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to right and centerfielder Naoyuki Omura doubled down the leftfield line. Shortstop Masahiro Abe grounded to short and Kitagawa strode home on the play. Norihiro Nakamura flied out to center and Omura tagged up and scored. Third baseman Osamu Hoshino singled to center. Mizuguchi beat out a bleeder toward third. Kawaguchi singled to right to plate Hoshino and it was 6-5 Lotte. Rhodes walked and the basepaths were jammed. But first baseman Yuji Yoshioka grounded out to second to halt the rampage.
Rookie Kenta Abe, who has been sparkling in a couple of recent starts, was inserted in relief and put away three of the four men he faced in the eighth, but in the ninth, Fukuura took him on an involuntary tour of the rightcenterfield seats and, one out later, Hori powdered his 19th dinger into the rightfield stands and it was 8-5 Lotte.
Lotte closer Masahide Kobayashi showed up in the bottom of the ninth and walked pinch hitter Masuda, who then stole second. Rhodes singled to center to bring Daisuke Masuda in. Yoshioka was now up as the tying run and he grounded out. Kitagawa flied out to center and it was lights out. Thus, it became Kobayashi's third straight 30 saves season, culling 100 in that time and 114 for his career.
It was Kintetsu's fan appreciation day. Oh well.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 3-5 with an RBI and is at .289. Short was 1-5 with two strikeouts and is at .308.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 2-4 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .276.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
Minchey (W, 13-8) IP 7.0 BF 32 PC 117 H 10 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 4.52
Tobe IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.22
M.H. Kobayashi (S, 30)IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 25 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.07
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma (L, 14-10) IP 5.1 BF 26 PC 88 H 10 HR 1 K 5 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 3.55
Misawa IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.15
H. Koike IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.83
Kadokura IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.21
K. Abe IP 1.1 BF 8 PC 34 H 4 HR 2 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.16
Aikyo IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.26
E: Fernandez
SB: Daita, Masuda
2B: Yoshioka, K. Kawaguchi, Satozaki 2, S. Omura, Fernandez, N. Omura
HR: J. Inoue (5), Fukuura (16), Hori (19)
RBI: Fukuura, J. Inoue 2, Hori, Fernandez, S. Omura, Satozaki, M. Watanabe, K. Kawaguchi, Rhodes 3, M. Abe, N. Nakamura
SF: M. Watanabe, N. Nakamura
WP: Kadokura
HBP: A. Fujii (Tobe)
PB: Matoyama
LOB: Lotte 9, Kintetsu 9
Season Series: Lotte 14, Kintetsu 12 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:28
Attendance: 33,000
Umpires: Sato (HP), Yamamura (1B), Yoshikawa (2B), Iizuka (3B)
Hirai's Career Revitalized With 10th Victory 3-2
At age 37 and having fought injuries for the better part of a decade, Chunichi Dragons starter Masafumi Hirai, mainly featuring his fastball, racked up his tenth victory Tuesday at Meiji Jingu Stadium, as he went 7.2 innings of two run, seven hit baseball to beat the Yakult Swallows 3-2.
Shohei Tachiyama started for Yakult and had a solid outing, going seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits, but was denied his first pro win due to Hirai's superior night.
The game was scoreless until one out in the bottom of the third, when second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi walloped a fastball on the inner half of the plate into the leftfield seats for a 1-0 lead.
Chunichi, though, contermanded that in the fifth, as centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to right and, one out later, catcher Motonobu Tanishige cranked an 87mph fastball for a homer to left to put the Dragons on top 2-1.
Yakult restored equilibrium in their ups, though, when centerfielder Ryuji Miyade boomed one into the leftfield bleachers to make it 2-2.
Chunichi responded with a double by shortstop Masahiko Morino, who went to third on a sac bunt, a walk to rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome and a sac fly to right by third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami to pull ahead 3-2.
The Nagoya party had chances to add insurance runs in the seventh when they had a man on third with one out and in the eighth when they had the bases loaded with one down, but fumbled them. Therefore, when Yakult put two aboard with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Hirai was lifted for Hitoki Iwase, who retired third baseman Akinori Iwamura on a popup to Tanishige.
Akinori Otsuka then did away with three of the four men he encountered in the ninth to seal it.
Fukudome's streak of ten games with at least one RBI ended.
For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 2-4 and is at .326.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 1-4 and is at .288.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
Hirai (W, 10-6) IP 7.2 BF 29 PC 96 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.32
Iwase IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.07
A.N. Otsuka (S, 14)IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.09
Yakult:
Tachiyama (L, 0-3) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 82 H 6 HR 1 K 5 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.76
Yamabe IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 21 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.19
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.42
2B: Morino, Onishi
HR: Shiroishi (5), Tanishige (14), Miyade (5)
RBI: Tatsunami, Tanishige 2, Miyade, Shiroishi
SF: Tatsunami
GIDP: K. Suzuki (4-6-3), Hirai (1-6-3)
LOB: Chunichi 6, Yakult 5
Season Series: Chunichi 14, Yakult 13
Game Time: 2:41
Attendance: 8,000
Umpires: Sasaki (HP), Arisumi (1B), Watada (2B), Nishimoto (3B)
Shimada Tenth Inning Single Edges Orix 4-3
Leftfielder Kazuteru Shimada's tenth inning two out bases loaded single in the bottom of the tenth Tuesday at Tokyo Dome dissolved a 3-3 tie and enabled the Nippon Ham Fighters to take a 4-3 squeaker against the Orix Blue Wave. Fighters reliever Hiroshi Shibakusa posted his third win while Orix closer Hisashi Ogura accepted blame for the kuroboshi, his 13th.
Carlos Mirabal started for Nippon Ham and he was behind as soon as the second, when leftfielder Roosevelt Brown blooped a double to left in the second and, two outs later, rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi pounded one off the centerfield fence for a run scoring double and a 1-0 Orix lead.
That didn't last long, however, as third baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto blistered a shot into the leftcenterfield seats opening their half of the inning to knot it at 1-1.
Mirabal would be on his heels again, though, when Orix shortstop Mitsutaka Goto doubled down the rightfield line and went to third when shortstop Makoto Kaneko couldn't find the handle on first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani's ground ball. Third baseman Koichi Oshima grounded to second and Goto was in with a 2-1 Blue Wave advantage.
In the fourth, Orix second baseman Jose Ortiz declared some hammertime and guided a Mirabal delivery into the leftcenterfield stands to expand the Blue Wave hegemony to 3-1.
Mirabal wriggled out of a bases loaded, one out predicament in the fifth and a two on, one out dilemma in the seventh and he was done. His teammates then finally did something with Orix starter Kazuya Motoyanagi in their part of that seventh. Motoyanagi nailed rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi and, one out later, Kimoto singled to right. Yoshinori Ueda jogged in to pinch run for Tsuboi. Shimada grounded to Motoyanagi, who threw to first for the out, the runners moving up. Yukio Tanaka lined a double up the rightcenter alley and both men galloped around to level it at 3-3.
In the ninth, Nippon Ham had the bases loaded with two outs, but Tomoyuki Oda struckout to send it into extra innings.
Kaneko singled to center to kick off the tenth for the Fighters and went to second on a sac bunt. Ueda singled to left. Angel Echevarria was intentionally walked to set up a double play opportunity. Kimoto struckout. But Shimada singled to right to usher Kaneko in for Nippon Ham's fourth sayonara of the campaign and Shimada's first ever walkoff knock.
For Orix, Brown was 1-4 with an HBP and is at .309. Ortiz was 1-3 with two walks and an RBI and is at .256.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 0-4 with a walk and is at .273.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Motoyanagi IP 8.1 BF 32 PC 112 H 6 HR 1 K 6 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.62
H. Ogura (L, 4-13) IP 1.1 BF 9 PC 31 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.79
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal IP 7.0 BF 34 PC 110 H 9 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.66
Tat. Kato IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Tateishi IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.37
A. Shimizu IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 2 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.89
Shibakusa (W, 3-2) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.02
E: Kaneko
2B: Brown, Katsuragi, M.T. Goto, Y. Tanaka
HR: Kimoto (13), Ortiz (29)
RBI: Katsuragi, Ortiz, Kimoto, K. Shimada, Y. Tanaka 2
IBB: Echevarria (H. Ogura)
WP: Mirabal
HBP: Brown (Mirabal), Tsuboi (Motoyanagi), S. Takahashi (H. Ogura)
GIDP: Echevarria (4-3)
LOB: Orix 10, Nippon Ham 8
Season Series: Orix 11, Nippon Ham 14 2 Ties
Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 17,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Yanagita (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Nakamura (3B)
Two Sheets Homers, Kimura Sayonara Single Tops Yokohama 5-4
The Hiroshima Carp are now a season best three over .500, as second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to right with two on in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium off of Yokohama Bay Stars reliever Hiroshi Yamada to pull off a 5-4 victory. Shinji Sasaoka was restored to .500 himself at 8-8 with a 1-2-3 top of the frame for the fish.
Daisuke Miura started for Yokohama and was burned by bad fourth inning, when he was tagged for all three runs he was charged with in his seven inning stint.
Tom Davey went only five innings and told the press after the game that he had a bad time, walking four and being shaken down for five hits while requring 109 pitches.
Miura was in some hot water in the first when, following a one out double to right by Kimura, he walked first baseman Itsuki Asai and, one out later, did the same with leftfielder Tomonori Maeda to load the bases. But centerfielder Koichi Ogata flied out to left and Miura escaped unscathed.
Davey then had two on and one out in the second before inducing a groundout and a flyout to maintain the scoreless standoff.
Davey then had a fit of wildness in the fourth, walking shortstop Takuro Ishii with one away, intentionally passing catcher Ryoji Aikawa with two outs to get to Miura, who also walked to fill the bases. Fortunately, centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo grounded out to make all that noise void.
Hiroshima shortstop Andy Sheets ended the deadlock in the fourth when he clanked one off of a seat in leftcenterfield. Maeda piggybacked on that with a big fly to right. One out later, third baseman Kenjiro Nomura beat out a tapper. Catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara singled to left, Nomura making it to third. Davey put down a squeeze bunt and it was 3-0 Carp.
Yokohama, however, transgressed the friendly confines in the fifth, when leftfielder Takanori Suzuki bopped one over the centerfield wall and, one out later, third baseman Shuichi Murata beat the daylights out of a slider on the outer half of the plate and sliced it into the rightfield stands to render the score 3-2 Hiroshima.
Masayuki Hasegawa replaced Davey and twirled a perfect sixth, but in the seventh, Yokohama second baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to right with one out and Suzuki put one in the rightfield bleachers and it was 4-3 Stars.
Sheets, though, ameliorated that in the eighth, driving an offering from Denny Tomori over the leftcenterfield wall in the bottom of the eighth to make it 4-4.
A Murata error would then help put Hiroshima in a winning posture in the ninth. With one out, pinch hitter Takahiro Arai walked and was pinch run for by Kazuki Fukuchi, who stole second Rightfielder Shigeru Morikasa grounded to Murata, who threw wide of first and everybody was safe. Kimura swung at the first pitch he saw and found some unoccupied real estate in right for his second sayonara hit of the year and a Carp victory that gives them a shot at finishing in the first division for the first time in six seasons.
Murata's homer was his ninth of the month in 15 games, tying Shigeo Nagashima's and Kazuhiro Kiyohara's rookie records. He is the first rookie in the CL to reach 24 homers since Takeshi Kuwata in 1959. He's done more weight training since being sent down to the minors earlier and has fixed a hitch in his swing, which has helped boost his production.
Davey is 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA in eight starts.
For Yokohama, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .263.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 2-4 with two RBIs and two strikeouts and is at .314.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Miura IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 114 H 8 HR 2 K 5 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.01
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.43
H. Yamada (L, 1-3) IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 0 ERA 3.65
Hiroshima:
Davey IP 5.0 BF 24 PC 109 H 5 HR 2 K 5 BB 4 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.00
Hasegawa IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 23 H 2 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
Kikuchihara IP 0.2 BF 2 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.31
K. Kobayashi IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sasaoka (W, 8-8) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.04
E: S. Murata
SB: T. Ishii, Fukuchi
2B: T. Kimura
HR: Sheets 2 (25), T. Maeda (20), T.N. Suzuki 2 (18), S. Murata (24)
RBI: T.N. Suzuki 3, S. Murata, T. Kimura, Sheets 2, T. Maeda, Davey
IBB: Ryoji Aikawa (Davey)
GIDP: K. Nomura (6-4-3)
LOB: Yokohama 7, Hiroshima 8
Season Series: Yokohama 7, Hiroshima 17
Game Time: 2:51
Attendance: 9,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Tomoyose (1B), Honda (2B), K. Kobayashi (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri There is apparently an internecine battle going on within the Yomiuri Group over who should succeed manager Tatsunori Hara if they indeed press the eject button on him. NTV, Yomiuri's television arm, wants former ace Suguru Egawa to take over, saying that he would be th emost popular choice and may hlep bolster the team's flagging audience ratings. But the newspaper side of the company wants another ex-ace, Tsuneo Horiuchi, for his experience as Shigeo Nagashima's former head coach. It would stretch the bounds of credibility to believe that autocratic owner Tsuneo Watanabe would pick the outspoken and star crossed Egawa, something of a black sheep, over Horiuchi, who, while cocky as all get out, will walk the corporate line. But then again, George Steinbrenner hired and fired Billy Martin multiple times, so who knows.
Hanshin In addition to its coup in scoring Waseda University shortstop Takashi Toritani, the Tigers have reportedly locked up 21 year old Aichi Gakuin University southpaw Kazuya Tsutsui, who had also been sought by several other clubs....According to Sankei Sports, when it holds its victory parade, the Tigers will set aside an area along the parade route where small children can easily view the procession.
Hiroshima Chris Brock will be re-signed by the Carp, but outfielder Jimmy Hurst, who has found CL pitching a complete mystery, and reliever Allan Newman will be seeking employment elsewhere, according to press reports.
Daiei According to Sports Nippon, the Hawks lineup has slugged 115 homers off of righthanders this season, but only 26 against lefties. So expect then to see a lot of Trey Moore in the Japan Series if Hideki Irabu falters. In addition, righthanded hitting catcher Kenji Johjima's 32 homers are all off of righties....After indicating Monday that he would accept a new two year offer to continue calling the shots from the dugout for the Hawks, Sadaharu Oh is now making noises about making 2004 his last. "Next year will be my tenth [as Daiei's manager] and I don't want to overdo it," he told Hochi Sports. "[Whether I keep going] after next season is still fluid." Team ownership has expressed their desire to have the former Yomiuri great carry on as long as he is physically able.
Seibu Their run at Takashi Toritani having produced no results, the Lions are now turning their attention to Kawasaki Kogyo High School righthander Tatsuya Uchi, a 6'0" 158 pound Kawasaki native whose fastball tops out at 90mph. Along with that heater, he throws two different kind of sliders and a shuuto....Third baseman Scott McClain will be let go at the end of the schedule, according to Hochi Sports, team officials citing his low batting average as the cause. He has also spent considerable time on the disabled list as well. McClain, for his part, says that he would like to reup with the Tokorozawa nine.
Kintetsu Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, who has a bad knee, wants to concentrate on rehabbing it in the offseason and thus will give the olympic Asian zone qualifying tournament a miss.
Nippon Ham The ballclub's front office is mulling a run at signing Tsuyoshi Shinjo. He might actually be able to help them, though not substantially, since Tatsuya Ide and Tsutomu Ishimoto haven't been all that hot at the plate and he is a pretty popular guy, though how much of his previous following has faded is a question after three failed MLB campaigns. But then again, Nippon Ham may have no shot since playing in Sapporo wouldn't be as "kakko ii (cool)" as playing with Yomiuri or even Yokohama.
Orix According to Hochi Sports, once the season is over, the team will name departing Lions skipper Haruki Ihara its new manager. Still no word on exactly what they will do with present manager Leon Lee, though it has been whispered that he will return to his previous batting instructor position.
Today's Pictures
Hiroshi Kisanuki Delivers Tuesday
Batting Instructor Gary Denbo Greets Kazuteru Shimada After the Latter's Sayonara Single
Side View of Trey Moore Making a Pitch
