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10/04/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Santana Wastes Three Run Advantage; Tigers Headed Your Way Australia"
Yomiuri Blows Three Run Lead in 5-5 Tie
An RBI single to center by Itsuki Asai and a two run single to right by Hiroshima Carp second baseman Takuya Kimura off of Julio Santana brought their squad from what had been 5-2 deficit in the bottom of the ninth into a 5-5 tie with the Yomiuri Giants Monday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium before one of the smallest crowds of the year. First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara also cracked his 150th dinger as a kyojin in this one.
Following a recent string of disappointing outings, rookie starter Masanori Hayashi had his forkball working again, as he struckout nine in a fine seven inning, two run (one earned) stint only to ultimately get a no decision when Santana couldn't hold the line.
Tom Davey started for Hiroshima and got hurt early in being charged with five runs on eight hits in seven innings in his worst showing since he came to Japan.
Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka catalyzed the Giants first inning rally, as he reached on a one out infield hit and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi singled to right. One out later, Kiyohara socked a shot into the leftfield bleachers and it was 3-0 visitors.
But in the second, Carp first baseman Takahiro Arai blasted one into the leftfield stands to make it 3-1.
The Giants, though, got a two out double down the leftfield line from Takahashi in the third and a single to left from Roberto Petagine for another run and a 4-1 Yomiuri lead.
Hayashi struckout the side in the bottom of the inning, but ran into some difficulty in the fourth. Kimura hit a little ground ball that Hayashi fielded and then fumbled. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata whistled a double down the rightfield line. Shortstop Andy Sheets walked to pack the sacks. Rightfielder Kojiro Machida grounded into a 5-2 force. But Arai flew out to right and it was deep enough for Kimura to tag up and toe the dish to make it 4-2 Yomiuri.
The Giants then dented Davey once more in the seventh, as centerfielder Chris Latham singled to center with two gone, stole second, and then cruised home on a double off the rightfield fence from Takahashi to widen it to 5-2 Yomiuri.
The first two men Hayashi faced in the home portion singled, but they were planted there when Hayashi induced a popout to the catcher and a pair of whiffs to cap off his night.
Arai, however, would haunt the Giants in the ninth, as he ignited that revolt with a one out double down the rightfield line and, one out later, Asai plated him with a knock to center. Catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura singled to right, Asai going to third. Kazunori Okagami was dispatched to pinch run for Kimura and he stole second. Pinch hitter Shigeru Morikasa walked to jam the basepaths. Takuya Kimura spanked a single to right and Okagami and Asai reported to level it at five all. Ogata, with a chance for the sayonara victory, flied out to center to terminate the frame.
They would return endeavoring to decide it in the 10th, as Sheets singled to center and, one out later, Arai singled to left. But a popout and a strikeout put the kabosh on that.
The Carp had one last gasp in the 12th, as leftfielder Masafumi Suenaga walked and stole second. Arai was, understandably, intentionally walked. Third baseman Kenta Kurihara bounced out to the pitcher. There was then another out in this sequence, but the game log doesn't say what it is. Maybe a failed squeeze. Asai struckout and that was the ballgame.
Takahashi went 4-6 and elevated his average to .325. He has a .954 OPS.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 1-3 and is at .228. Petagine was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .325.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-4 with two walks and is at .312.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
M. Hayashi IP 7.0 BF 28 PC 125 H 5 HR 1 K 9 BB 2 R 2 ER 1 ERA 3.41
Bailey IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.93
Santana IP 1.0 BF 8 PC 32 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.13
Y. Maeda IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 37 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.15
Kashiwada IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.87
Jobe IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 10.13
Sogawa IP 0.1 BF 0 PC 2 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.26
Hiroshima:
Davey IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 100 H 8 HR 1 K 7 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 2.44
Sakai IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 35 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.25
Yokoyama IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.57
Sasaoka IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.89
E: M. Hayashi 2
SB: Latham, Suenaga, Okagami
2B: Y. Takahashi, Ogata, Ishihara, Nioka, Nishi, T. Arai,
HR: Kiyohara (25), T. Arai (16)
RBI: Nioka, Petagine, Kiyohara 3, T. Kimura 2, T. Arai 2, I. Asai
SF: T. Arai
IBB: T. Arai (Jobe)
WP: Y. Maeda
GIDP: Machida (6-4-3)
LOB: Yomiuri 7, Hiroshima 12
Season Series: Yomiuri 15, Hiroshima 12 1 Tie
Game Time: 4:17
Attendance: 8,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Watada (1B), Nako (2B), Sasaki (3B)
Ortiz Homers Twice to Sink Lotte 11-5
Orix Blue Wave second baseman Jose Ortiz homered twice and drove in three runs while centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani added a trey himself, as the Kobe nine ended an 11 game losing skid at Chiba Marine Stadium Monday against the Chiba Lotte Marines 11-5. Ortiz now has 13 circuit clouts during September.
Kazuya Motoyanagi started for Orix and was cuffed around for five runs on nine hits in seven innings, but attained his fourth victory anyway.
Yasuhiko Yabuta started for Lotte and was blitzed for four runs on six hits in only 1.2 innings for his sixth defeat.
Ortiz put the Blue Wave in the lead in the second, as he opened the frame with a bomb into the leftfield stands. DH Takeshi Yamasaki carromed one off the centerfield wall for a double. Two outs later, catcher Takeshi Hidaka doubled down the leftfield line to cash Yamasaki in. Leftfielder Ryutaro Tsuji singled to center for an RBI. Shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to center. Third baseman Koichi Oshima singled to right to plate Tsuji and it was 4-0.
Lotte had a flash rally in the home set, as third baseman Jose Fernandez walked and, one out later, rightfielder Saburo Omura doubled into the leftfield corner. Catcher Tomoya Satozaki doubled to rightcenter to send Fernandez in. However, Omura must have thought that Tani had a chance to catch the ball, so he only made it to third. Second baseman Masato Watanabe struckout. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka popped out to third and it remained 4-1 Orix.
In the fifth, Orix lengthened that advantage when Oshima walked and, one out later, Ortiz played hammertime into the centerfield bleachers to make it 6-1 Blue Wave.
During their next time up, they posted three more on a single to right by rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi, a two out infield hit by Goto, a walk to Oshima that loaded the bases and Tani cleaned it all up by torching one down the leftfield line and it was 9-1 Orix.
Lotte mounted a concerted counterattack in the eighth, as Kosaka singled to center and came around on a double up the rightcenrter gap by first baseman Kazuya Fukuura. Inoue squirted one down the rightfield line to redeem Fukuura. DH Koichi Hori crushed one into the rightcenterfield seats to knock Motoyanagi out and make it 9-5. Reliever Jun Hagiwara restored order and Orix went back on chain gang in the ninth.
Yamasaki lit it off with a double to leftcenter. First baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani hit a flyball to center, which Inoue dropped and Yamasaki busted for the plate while Shiotani scampered all the way around to third. One out later, Hidaka grounded out to short and Shiotani crossed for an 11-5 Blue Wave advantage.
The first two men reached against Hagiwara in the bottom of the inning, but Kosaka struckout and Fukuura grounded into a game ending double play and that was that.
Fukuura broke a 1956 team record with his 47th double. That is third most all time
For Lotte, Fernandez was 1-3 with a walk and is at .295. Leftfielder Rick Short was 0-4 and is at .303.
For Orix, Ortiz was 2-5 with three RBIs and is at .258.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Motoyanagi (W, 4-1) IP 7.0 BF 31 PC 131 H 9 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 4.76
J. Hagiwara IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 31 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.95
Lotte:
Yabuta (L, 5-6) IP 1.2 BF 11 PC 39 H 6 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.23
Funaki IP 3.1 BF 13 PC 53 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.66
T. Kawai IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 27 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.59
R. Tanaki IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.88
S. Fujita IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 0 ERA 4.96
E: J. Inoue
2B: Fukuura 2, T. Yamasaki 2, Hidaka, S. Omura 2, Satozaki, Tani, J. Inoue
HR: Ortiz 2 (33), Hori (21)
RBI: K. Oshima, Tani 3, Ortiz 3, Hidaka 2, R. Tsuji, Fukuura, J. Inoue, Hori 2, Satozaki
HBP: Hidaka (R. Tanaka)
GIDP: Shiotani (5-4-3), S. Omura (4-6-3), Fukuura (4-6-3)
LOB: Orix 7, Lotte 6
Season Series: Orix 6, Lotte 19 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:15
Attendance: 5,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Yanagita (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Akimura (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri According to Sankei Sports, the Giants are going to make a run at Kintetsu Buffaloes leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes. However, when asked about it, new manager Tsuneo Horiuchi stated that he hasn't made any concrete plans and thus can't comment on future moves right now. According to rumors circulating around the slugger right now, Rhodes, who made $3 million this season, wants to go to a team in Tokyo for
undisclosed "family reasons." As to how this will affect Yomiuri defensively should Rhodes sign with the Giants, he would be installed in right while Yoshinobu Takahashi would be put in center, though Takahashi never appeared to be comfortable there this season. Roberto Petagine would then compete with Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who might be traded to Seibu, for the first base job....Yomiuri company officials are especially putting the full court press on to win the pennant next season due to lackluster tv ratings for Yomiuri, which plunged to a season average of 14.3%, a historic low since ratings started being tracked in 1965. That is down 1.9% from 2002. They cite Hanshin opening up such a huge lead in June as a reason for the audience slump....There was an interesting piece on the relationship between Horiuchi and Giants icon Shigeo Nagashima in Sankei Sports. It seems that the final year of Horiuchi's tenure as Nagashima's head coach, Horiuchi had vehement disagreements with the Hall of Fame third baseman and he resigned his position as a result. Their relationship is reportedly tense to this day. With Nagashima, normally considered by just about everybody to be a pretty warmhearted guy, still looming in the front office, it will be interesting to see how the pair relate in 2004.
Hanshin Second baseman Makoto Imaoka's shoulder is still bothering him, but he was brought back up to the big club Monday anyway. The MVP candidate hurt himself sliding head first into home on August 17th. He still hasn't been able to take batting practice since going down....The Tigers will visit Australia's Gold Coast on their victory vacation. One has to believe that the selection of that spot was motivated, at least in part, to manager Senichi Hoshino having a condo there. They will leave from Japan on December 10th and will stay for a week. Hanshin's travel subsidiary is taking reservations for fans who want to go on the trip, which will cost 155,000 yen. If you speak Japanese, you can phone for info at: 06-6347-6196. There is also a number for Tokyo residents: 03-3563-5700.
Yakult Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto will become eligible for free agency after next season and the Swallows are going to offer him a three year deal for a total of around $4 million to try to keep him in Tokyo. He is unlikely to draw MLB interest since he wouldn't hit enough in the big leagues to be viable there.
Chunichi Junichi Jinno, who has been used mostly in pinch hit duty, has retired. He was drafted onj the seventh round 1993. Over his 11 year career, he hit .239 with 12 homers and 78 RBIs in 383 games. He revealed that physically he is no longer up to carrying on as an active pro baseball player.
Yokohama The club's front office is looking to move righthander Takashi Saito, who went back into the rotation this year, but who saw groin and shoulder injuries limit him to six wins. It's not like Saito hasn't been injury prone in the past, though, so treating his health problems as some kind of surprise is at the very least disingenuous. Saito makes just short of $2 million a season and has another two years left on his current contract. In addition, Yokohama, which was really short on the pitching front this year, might also move Takashi Ishii.
Daiei Rookie southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada will be made available for a bullpen stint or two before the season ends, especially if the pennant is still on the line.
Lotte Former Orioles infielder Lenn Sakata is still in the running for the managerial position, according to Sports Nippon. Sankei Sports asserts, though, that Choji Murata is first in line for the job. Chunichi Sports insists that Bobby Valentine's name is still coming up in relation to all this. We'll see.
Orix The Blue Wave front office is investigating acquiring both Tetsuro Kawajiri and Keiichi Yabu to bolster its Japan worst pitching staff. Both Kawajiri and Yabu aren't in the Tigers plans for next season.
Miscellaneous The composition of the team that will represent Japan in an olympic qualifying tournament has been announced. They are the following: Pitchers: Koji Uehara (Yomiuri), Hiroshi Kisanuki (Yomiuri), Hirotoshi Ishii (Yakult), Hitoki Iwase (Chunichi), Yuya Ando (Hanshin), Hiroki Kuroda (Hiroshima), Daisuke Matsuzaka (Seibu), Tsuyoshi Wada (Daiei), Masahide Kobayashi (Lotte). Catchers: Motonobu Tanishige (Chunichi), Kenji Johjima (Daiei). Infielders: Tomohiro Nioka (Yomiuri), Shinya Miyamoto (Yakult), Hirokazu Ibata (Chunichi), Kazuo Matsui (Seibu), Michihiro Ogasawara (Nippon Ham). Outfielders: Yoshinobu Takahashi (Yomiuri), Kosuke Fukudome (Chunichi), Norihiro Akahoshi (Hanshin), Takuya Kimura (Hiroshima), Kazuhiro Wada (Seibu), Yoshitomo Tani (Orix).
