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10/10/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Kuroda Wins Eighth Straight; Rhodes, Buffs at Impasse; Koo to Yomiuri?"
Kuroda Finishing Season With Flourish For Hiroshima 7-1
Hiroshima Carp starter Hiroki Kuroda is finishing up another dubious Carp season with an exclamation point, as he cadged his career best 13th victory with a complete game seven hitter Wednesday at Meiji Jingu Stadium to shoot down the Yakult Swallows 7-1.
Yakult starter Yuhei Takai is still displaying how green he is and was sent to the minors in the wake of his performance in this one. 'Nuff said about that.
Hiroshima jumped on Takai after he plunked rightfielder Kazuki Fukuchi with one out in the first. Fukuchi stole second. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata singled to left for an instant 1-0 lead. Shortstop Andy Sheets walked. The runners moved up on a wild pitch. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda beat out a slo grounder between first and second to plate Ogata. First baseman Takahiro Arai walked and the bases were loaded. But further disaster was averted when third baseman Kenta Kurihara flew out to shallow right and catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara popped out to his opposite number to end the inning with the Carp up 2-0.
Kuroda got out of a minor two on, two out situation in the home portion. Hiroshima then added to its lead in the third, as Sheets walked and went to third on a single to right by Maeda. Arai grounded into a double play, but Sheets crossed and it was 3-0 Carp.
Yakult finally issued a response in their turn at bat, as centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka doubled down the leftfield line and, one out later, third baseman Akinori Iwamura beat out a slow ground ball. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to center to make it 3-1 Hiroshima.
In the fifth, Fukuchi singled to right and stole his second base of the match against reliever Ryu Kawabata. Ogata singled to center to usher Fukuchi in. Sheets walked. They advanced on a wild pitch. One out later, Arai wacked a shot up the leftcenter alley and both runners scampered in to widen it to 6-1 Carp.
They tacked on another in the eighth, when second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to left and Fukuchi legged out an infield hit. Kimura went to third while Ogata was bouncing into a twin killing and toed the dish on a single to center by Sheets and it was 7-1 Hiroshima.
Kuroda permitted just one Swallows knock between the fourth and the end of the game, closing it out by inducing a trio of ground balls in a perfect ninth to turn out the lights. He has now won eight in a row.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .332. Yuichi Matsumoto was 0-1 in a pinch hit role and is at .333.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-2 with three walks and an RBI and is at .316.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Kuroda (W, 13-8) IP 9.0 BF 33 PC 119 H 7 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.14
Yakult:
Takai (L, 5-6) IP 2.0 BF 14 PC 66 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.03
Kawabata IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 49 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.48
Narimoto IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 32 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.03
H. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 21 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.58
Ryo. Igarashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.89
E: Manaka
SB: Fukuchi 3
2B: Manaka, T. Arai
RBI: Ogata, Sheets, T. Maeda, T. Arai 2, Ramirez
IBB: Ishihara 2 (Kawabata and Narimoto)
WP: Takai, Kawabata, H. Maeda
HBP: Fukuchi (Takai)
GIDP: Shiroishi (1-6-3), T. Arai (4-3-6), Ogata (5-4-3)
LOB: Hiroshima 11, Yakult 5
Season Series: Hiroshima 10, Yakult 13 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:55
Attendance: 8,000
Umpires: Nako (HP), K. Kobayashi (1B), Arisumi (2B), Watada (3B)
Minchey Has Strong Last Start for 14th Win 5-2
For all the publicity that both Daisuke Matsuzaka and Koji Uehara receive, not many people realize that when it comes to total victories, Natham Minchey compares very favorably with those three, as the big workhorse notched his 14th shiroboshi Wednesday against the Orix Blue Wave at Kobe Green Stadium 5-2. Minchey went six innings of two run (one earned) ball on seven hits for the fourth place Lotte squad, which is now silently creeping toward a .500 finish.
Rui Makino started for Orix and it was just more of the same for him, as he walked first baseman Kazuya Fukuura with two outs in the first and wild pitched him to second. DH Koichi Hori singled to left to chash Fukuura in for a 1-0 lead.
Orix rallied to overcome that in the second, as second baseman Jose Ortiz walked and DH Takeshi Yamasaki torqued one off the centerfield wall for a double. First baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani grounded to shortstop Masato Watanabe, who threw it away, enabling both runners to reach home for a 2-1 advantage.
But Watanabe compensated for the miscue in the bottom of the frame, homering to left to deadlock it at 2-2. Centerfielder Takenori Daita singled to center and managed to get to second when Orix centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani misplayed it for an error. Daita went to third on a groundout. Fukuura flied out to right and Daita tagged up and ran in to return Lotte to the heqad of the line at 3-2.
Orix banged out three hits, including a double, with one out in the third, but somehow were prevented (stupid baserunning mistake?) from scoring and it remained 3-2.
In the fifth, Daita was plunked by Makino and, one out later, flew to third on a single to right by Fukuura. Hori flied to Tani and Daita tagged up and hustled in to make it 4-2 Lotte.
Hori, when he came up in the seventh, tagged an offering from reliever Jun Hagiwara into the centerfield seats for his career high 22nd homer and 150th lifetime and it was 5-2 Lotte.
Orix was stifled by the Lotte bullpen on two hits over the final four innings, Masahide Kobayashi fashioning a perfect ninth for his 33rd save. Orix is now tied with the same number of defeats they absorbed last season.
For Lotte, third baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-3 with a walk and is at .304.
For Orix, Ortiz was 2-3 with a walk and is at .255.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
Minchey (W, 14-9) IP 6.0 BF 24 PC 92 H 7 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 2 ER 1 ERA 4.54
S. Fujita IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.58
Sikorsky IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.20
M.H. Kobayashi (S, 33) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.87
Orix:
Makino (L, 2-7) IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 91 H 4 HR 1 K 6 BB 3 R 4 ER 3 ERA 5.05
H. Kobayashi IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.54
Iwashita IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.97
J. Hagiwara IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 24 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.90
E: M. Watanabe, Tani, M.T. Goto
2B: T. Yamasaki 2, Tani
HR: M. Watanabe (7), Hori (22)
RBI: Fukuura, Hori 3, M. Watanabe, Shiotani
SF: Fukuura, Hori
WP: Makino
HBP: Daita (Makino)
GIDP: Tani (6-4-3), Harai (6-4-3)
LOB: Lotte 5, Orix 5
Season Series: Lotte 20, Orix 6 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:44
Attendance: 23,000
Umpires: Okada (HP), Yamamura (1B), Yoshikawa (2B), Nagami (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri According to Samkei Sports, the Giants are pursuing Orix lefthander Koo Dae-sung. Koo had a surprisingly good, though inury shortened 2002 campaign as a starter after an at best nondescript stint in the bullpen in 2001, but this year, even after having the knee surgery, he then had some back problems and never really got untracked for a pitching staff that set new records for runs and hits surrendered in a season. And since the Yomiuri nine was decimated by injury, it's hard to see how an increasingly delicate Koo is a good fit for them. He was good enough after racking up 150 save points as a pro in his native land to receive an offer from the Yankees and is expected to pitch for Korea in an Asian olympic qualifying tournament. But considering how the Giants have had little success with their previous Korean imports, they need to think this over very carefully....According to Sports Nippon, now ex-manager Tatsunori Hara and what had been his coaching staff will participate in a fan appreciation day that will be held on November 23rd at Tokyo Dome as a final goodbye. No doubt that allowing Hara and his underlings to do this is another attempt at damage control after the farcical circumastances under which Hara was cut loose. But doesn't this just put more pressure on successor Tsuneo Horiuchi? If the Giants get off to a bad start next year, you may hear fans calling for Hara's return.....Hara will be visiting with the Yankees in the role of a "special consultant" to the Giants. Hara is thought tohope that it will help lead to him getting his field boss job back in the near future....Horiuchi will wear number 88, chosen as a tribute to his now late high school coach Yasohachiro Suganuma, who had the characters for that number in his first name....Gary Rath and Julio Santana have returned to the U.S. Rath has been released and it is believed that Santana may soon well be let go, too....Akira Etoh is free to do what he wants as to who he will be with next season, says a team spokesman. That's another way of saying that they think that they don't need him. However, if he doesn want to remain with the Giants, he had better be at their fall camp, it is sais.
Hanshin Second baseman Makoto Imaoka participated in an instructional league practice game and singled, walked, was hit by a pitch to force in a run and flew out deep to right. A Hanshin conditioning coach says that the CL batting champ's batspeed is improving. He is apparently not having any problems on the defensive side of the ball.
Chunichi Hiromitsu Ochiai's signing was formally announced Wednesday and he will reportedly be paid about $800,000 a season for three years with a $400,000 signing bonus....It is now being said in the press that reliever Marc Valdes will be back in Nagoya in 2004....Also returning will be reliever Eiji Ochiai, who won't leave theclub via free agency, according to Chunichi Sports.
Yokohama The Stars front office plans wholesale base salary cuts this offseason for its players, but they can be made up in enhanced incentives as part of a strategy to nudge the players into better onfield performances....Sankei Sports claims that Yokohama is still toying with releasing CL homer king Tyrone Woods since some in the organization reportedly look at him as being dingers or nothing, a kind of Japan answer to Greg Vaughan. On the other hand, though, unlike Vaughan, Woods is hardly making big bucks. So this may be a pennywise and pound foolish move should they pull the trigger on it.
Seibu Hiroo Ishii was named the team's minor league manager. Ishii just split up with his wife, singer-songwriter Takako Okamura.
Daiei Righthander Nagisa Arakaki was tentatively scheduled to pitch in a Yosakoi League (a fall instructional circuit) game on the 11th in Kochi, but given his ankle, that is "fluid." Hawks officials aren't very optimistic that the lanky rookie will be ready in time of the Japan Series....Chen Wen-ping, who was released the other day, will go back to the Taiwan pro league, accroding to Sankei Sports....Backup catcher Koji Bonishi has retired....According to Kyodo News Service, a sale held by the Daiei department store and supermarket chain pulled in 40 billion yen (about $350 million) total in 265 outlets across Japan.
Kintetsu The Buffs front office is apparently not willing to go much beyond the approximately $4 million base salary for Tuffy Rhodes that third baseman Norihiro Nakamura is making and that has resulted in an impasse in salary negotiations. So here is a question: if Yomiuri is willing to pay Roberto Petgine $8 million a year, how much will they be willing to forkout for a two time 50 homer guy in Rhodes?
Lotte The team will hold its fall camp in Urawa, Saitama Prefecture, with both the top club and its minor league affiliate's players participating.
In the News
Mariners Await Little Matsui's Next Move
See story at: Seattle Times Article
Saito 20 a Remarkable Accomplishment
Jim Allen has an interesting take on Saito's feat and compares it with past such performances at:
Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Osaka Worries That Hanshin Fans Will Collapse Bridge
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Female Aussie Gold Glover Gets Offer With Japan Women's Club
See story at: Pacifica Tribune Article
Injury May Torpedo Tsao's Olympic Aspirations
See story at: Denver Post Article
Taiwan Post Season Baseball Getting Underway
See story at: Taipei Times Article
Canada Has its Job Cut Out in International Baseball Tourney
See story at: Canadian Press Article
