[Previous entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Daiei Ends PL Pennant Race; Singleton to Seibu?"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Kazuo Matsui Reportedly Picks Tellem as His Agent"]
10/05/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Watanabe Keeps Winning Underhandedly; Matsui Ignites Seibu Win"
Watanabe Now a Nuclear Submariner in 5-1 Victory Over Daiei
Submarining Lotte righthander Shunsuke Watanabe is nuclear hot right now, as he went all the way for his eighth victory Wednesday at Chiba Marine Stadium by holding down the greatest offense in Japanese baseball history to five hits in a 5-1 victory. Third baseman Jose Fernandez, whose bat is smoking, too, and rightfielder Saburo Omura each plated two runners to enable Watanabe to continue to be one of the biggest surprises of the year.
Kazumi Saito was originally slated to start for Daiei, but he hurt his neck while sleeping and so Junji Hoshino was put in his place. Hoshino didn't perform all that great, but he at least went the distance to save a little wear and tear on the Hawks mediocre pen.
Daiei had men on first and second with one out in the first, but DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka drilled a shot right at Kazuya Fukuura, who stepped on the bag to double rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara off to end the inning. Daiei wouldn't have more than one man on in any other inning until the ninth.
In the home segment, shortstop Makoto Kosaka ripped a ball into the rightcenter gap for his second trip in as many days, but he tried to go home on Fukuura's grounder to Matsunaka and was dead meat.
But in the second, Lotte began to assert itself. Fernandez opened the frame with a single to right and Omura crushed a curve ball into the leftfield seats and it was 2-0. One out later, centerfielder Toshio Haru doubled to leftcenter and second baseman Masato Watanabe brought him in with a single to right to make it 3-0.
In the eighth, Fukuura singled with one out and leftfielder Jun Inoue singled to right. After they moved up on a groundout, Fernandez pounded one off the leftfield wall to chase them in for a long single and Lotte had a 5-0 advantage.
Daiei averted the shutout only due to Watanabe's wildness in the ninth as he tired. After striking out backup rightfielder Motoi Okoshi, he plunked Matsunaka. Catcher Kenji Johjima walked. Third baseman Mitsuru Honma singled to center to plate Okoshi. Masanori Taguchi, pinch hitting for first baseman Yudai Deguchi, walked to load the bases. But centerfielder Masashi Matsuda popped up to short for the final out and that was that.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .300.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
J. Hoshino (L, 0-1) IP 8.0 BF 33 PC 126 H 10 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 5 ER 5 ERA 6.97
Lotte:
S. Watanabe (W, 8-3) IP 9.0 BF 35 PC 133 H 5 HR 0 K 6 BB 4 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.80
E: Fernandez
SB: M. Tanaka, Shibahara, Johjima, M. Honma
2B: M. Tanaka, Haru
3B: Kosaka
HR: S. Omura (10)
RBI: Fernandez 2, S. Omura 2, M. Watanabe, M. Honma
GIDP: Fernandez (4-6-3)
LOB: Daiei 7, Lotte 4
Season Series: Daiei 18, Lotte 9
Game Time: 2:27
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Yamamoto (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Yanagita (2B), Tachibana (3B)
Kuroda Wins Career Best 12th Against Chunichi 5-4
Hiroshima Carp catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura wacked a bases clearing triple in the sixth to prop up starter Hiroki Kuroda, who notched his 12th victory 5-4 to end his team's six game losing streak. Chunichi starter Masahiro Yamamoto came back down to earth when he surrendered five runs on 11 hits in just slightly over five innings to perhaps cost him the ERA title.
The Dragons grabbed the first lead of the game when centerfielder Alex Ochoa buried a Kuroda pitch in the rightcenterfield seats at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium to make it 1-0.
But Hiroshima caught up with Yamamoto in the fourth, as second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to left and, one out later, went to third on shortstop Andy Sheets' double down the leftfield line. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to center and it was 1-1. Yamamoto then got first baseman Takahiro Arai to ground into a double play to maintain the tie.
In the fifth, the Carp would surge ahead when third baseman Kenta Kurihara reached on an infield hit and went to second on a sacrifice. Rightfielder Kojiro Machida doubled to leftcenter to usher Kurihara in and it was 2-1 Hiroshima.
An inning later, Carp centerfielder Koichi Ogata singled to right and Sheets outran a little grounder toward short. The runners were sacrificed over. Arai was intentionally walked to load the bases. Kazuyoshi Kimura worked the count to 2-0 and then torched a fastball on the outer half into the rightcenterfield gap that rectified the traffic jam on the basepaths and put Hiroshima up 5-1.
But Chunichi third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami launched his third homer in two games with a rocket to rightcenter in the top of the seventh to bring his side within 5-2.
In the eighth, shortstop Masahiko Morino singled to center with one out for the Dragons and went to second on a groundout. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome singled to right and Morino made the left turn homeward to make it 5-3 Hiroshima.
Shinji Sasaoka was assigned the closer's role for this one and retired the first two men he faced in short order, but catcher Motonobu Tanishige walloped one into the rightfield stands and it was 5-4. Sasaoka, though, struckout first baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe to banish the Dragons 5-4.
Chunichi is 10-3-1 since Hisashi Yamada stepped down as manager.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 3-4 and is at .314.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .293.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
Hiroshima:
Kuroda (W, 12-8) IP 8.0 BF 31 PC 118 H 7 HR 2 K 4 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.24
Sasaoka (S, 4) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 10 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.93
Chunichi:
M. Yamamoto (L, 9-6) IP 5.1 BF 25 PC 88 H 11 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 3.27
M. Valdes IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.45
S. Okamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.43
2B: Kurihara, Sheets, Machida
3B: K. Kimura
HR: Ochoa (19), Tatsunami (13), Tanishige (16)
RBI: Fukudome, Tatsunami, Ochoa, Tanishige, Machida, T. Maeda, K. Kimura 3
IBB: T. Arai
GIDP: T. Maeda (1-6-3), T. Arai (6-4-3)
LOB: Chunichi 4, Hiroshima 5
Season Series: Chunichi 12, Hiroshima 16
Game Time: 2:52
Attendance: 8,000
Umpires: Yoshimoto (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), Suginaga (2B), Tomoyose (3B)
Matsui Homer Begins Downfall of Orix 6-1
A two run third inning homer by shortstop Kazuo Matsui brought the Seibu Lions from a 1-0 disadvantage to a 2-1 lead and they added two more in that stanza and then two more in the ninth for good measure in a 6-1 victory by the Tokorozawa contingent. The much sought after infielder has now gone yeard 32 times in 2003.
Rui Makino started for Orix and was cuffed around for four runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings to accept the loss.
Mitsutaka Goto started for Seibu and is now a ten game winner after tossing eight innings of one run ball on seven hits while striking out eight and walking none.
Orix first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani dissolved a scoreless deadlock in the second when he thundered a changeup on the outer half of the plate into the rightcenterfield seats for a 1-0 lead.
That was quickly answered in the third by the Lions, as second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi singled to right with one out and Matsui belted his 149th career dinger into the leftcenterfield bleachers to make it 2-1 Seibu. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ozeki singled to left and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada walked. One out later, third baseman Scott McClain walked to load the bases. Hiroyuki Oshima singled to center and Ozeki and Wada put it in fourth for home for a 4-1 advantage.
Orix had a man on third with one out in the sixth, but couldn't do home delivery. They also had two on and one out in the eighth, but a double play ball erased that opportunity.
Matsui singled in the ninth and the Lions were back in business. Ozeki reached on an error by Orix shortstop Mitsutaka Goto (no relation to the Lions hurler). Wada walked to load the bases. First baseman Alex Cabrera singled to center to plate Matsui. Hiroaki Ueda walked to force Ozeki in and it was 6-1. Orix then went down without a peep in the bottom of the inning and this one was a memory.
For Orix, second baseman Jose Ortiz was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .256.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-5 with an RBI and is at .325. McClain was 0-3 with a walk and is at .229.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
M. Goto (W, 10-7) IP 8.0 BF 30 PC 109 H 7 HR 1 K 8 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.81
Hoshino IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.92
Orix:
Makino (L, 2-6) IP 6.2 BF 29 PC 115 H 8 HR 1 K 7 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.03
A. Kubota IP 1.2 BF 8 PC 29 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 0 ERA 7.04
Iwashita IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.91
Tokumoto IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.72
E: M.T. Goto
SB: H.Y. Oshima, T. Nakamura, Ozeki
2B: Tani, K. Wada 2, M.T. Goto
HR: Shiotani (8), K. Matsui (32)
RBI: K. Matsui 2, Cabrera, H. Ueda, H.Y. Oshima 2, Shiotani
GIDP: Tani (1-6-3), H.Y. Oshima (6-3)
LOB: Seibu 9, Orix 5
Season Series: Seibu 21, Orix 6 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:14
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Shirai (HP), Iizuka (1B), Maeda (2B), Yamamura (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri The Giants are going to invite soon to be former Chiba Lotte Marines manager Koji Yamamoto to be either a batting instructor or their minor league skipper. Yamamoto says that he hasn't heard anything about this.
Yakult The Swallows are reportedly interested in Marlins AAA farmhand Robert Stratton, a 6'2" 250 pound righthand hitting outfielder. The only thing is that Stratton, who has no major league experience, has struckout 175 times in just 110 games while batting .212. He has gone deep 32 times, but since Japan is considered to be a slightly higher league, where 2002 U.S. minor league homer champ Ivan Cruz was a complete washout with the Chunichi Dragons, one isn't every hopeful that Stratton can help them.
Hanshin George Arias is back in Japan after going back to the states to meet his newborn son Nicholas. According to Hochi Sports, Arias hit .345 against Daiei in 2001 with ten homers and 25 RBIs when he was with Orix. Moreover, at Fukuoka Dome, he batted .375 with five homers and 14 RBIs. However, the makeup of the rotation in Fukuoka is rather different from the one he saw. The bullpen, though, will look familiar to him.
Chunichi Team management has reportedly cooled to the idea of having former Dragons manager Morimichi Takagi come back for a curtain call in that position and are now focusing more and more on Hiromitsu Ochiai and Katsuya Nomura. Ochai would be the more exciting choice between the two because he was such an iconoclast as a player. Nomura has the stench of those three last place finishes with Hanshin on him.
Yokohama Infielder Shunichi Murata suffered a fracture in an area near his right wrist after being hit by a pitch from Yakult's Katsutoshi Ishido and is out for the rest of the season.
Daiei Katsuya Nomura managed the Hanshin Tigers and he is a former Hawks catcher, so pitching coach Takao Obana phoned the irrascible hall of famer up to pump him for scouting info on Tigers players. Of course, Nomura lead Hanshin to three straight last place finishes after winning a couple of Japan Series titles with Yakult, so we'll see how effective his advice actually is....And here is something for Hanshin baserunners to think about: Daiei catcher Kenji Johjima nailed 40.7% of the runners who tried to steal off of him this season.
Kintetsu Utilityman Akihito Igarashi is going to hang it up after the schedule ends. Last season, he became only the sixth man in Japanese history to have homered out of every slot in the order during his career. He is also the first man to have done that plus having played every position on the field during his career. He has spent almost the entirety of this campaign in the minors....Jeremy Powell has returned to the U.S. He will be back in Osaka for spring training....The Buffs plan to send 50 players to the Dodgers fall camp in Vero Beach, according to Sports Nippon.
Orix Leftfielder Roosevelt Brown has returned to the U.S. to have his thumb looked at.
Today's Pictures
Kazuo Matsui Yanks #32 into the Seats
Shunsuke Watanabe Coming from Down Under
