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10/14/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Lotte Fans Give Leon Lee a Sendoff; Takatsu Wild Pitches Swallows to Defeat"
Fernandez Three Run Homer Crippling for Orix in 5-1 Loss
Kazuya Motoyanagi went all the way for Orix, but never recovered from a three run jack into the rightcenterfield seats in the first, as Chiba Lotte Marines submarining starter Shunsuke Watanabe racked up his fifth straight complete game in a 5-1 victory at Chiba Marine Stadium Sunday in the final Pacific League game of the schedule.
Lotte centerfielder Takenori Daita ignited that first inning uprising when he singled to right and blazed all the way around from first on a two bag gapper to rightcenter by leftfielder Jun Inoue to make it 1-0. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura was hit by a pitch. Second baseman Koichi Hori singled to center to convert Inoue. Fernandez then hammered a Motoyanagi offering deep into the rightcenterfield stands and it was 5-0.
Orix gained its line tally in the fourth, as centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani doubled to rightcenter and, one out later, DH Takeshi Yamasaki singled to left for an RBI to make it 5-1 Lotte.
Watanabe would allow just a Tani infield hit from there up through the end of the eighth inning before being touched for a pair of two out knocks in the ninth, but he fanned leftfielder Ryoji Aikawa to turn out the lights.
If you want to know why Lotte fans have the reputation for being the classiest in Japan, just consider that after the game ended, they stood up and began chanting departing Orix skipper Leon Lee's name. Lee was a former Lotte player and tears were seen streaming down his face when this happened.
Tani grabbed the hits title with 189, a record for righthand hitters in the PL. Former Yokohama second baseman Bobby Rose holds the Japan record with 192.
Orix set new Japan worst for ERA with a 5.95 mark, breaking the Nankai Hawks record in 1980 of 5.63. Also, their pitching staff's five complete games ties a record set by Hanshin for fewest in 1999.
For Orix, second baseman Jose Ortiz was 1-4 and is at .255.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 1-3 with three RBI and is at .303.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Motoyanagi (L, 5-2) IP 8.0 BF 34 PC 112 H 9 HR 1 K 4 BB 0 R 5 ER 4 ERA 4.64
Lotte:
S. Watanabe (W, 9-4) IP 9.0 BF 33 PC 101 H 6 HR 0 K 6 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.66
E: R. Tsuji, M.T. Goto
2B: J. Inoue, Hatsushiba, Tani
HR: Fernandez (32)
RBI: Fernandez 3, J. Inoue, Hori, T. Yamasaki
HBP: Fukuura (Motoyanagi), Katsuragi (S. Watanabe)
LOB: Orix 5, Lotte 5
Season Series: Orix 6, Lotte 21 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:09
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Sakaemura (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Kawaguchi (3B)
Takatsu Wild Pitch in Ninth Loses for Yakult 8-7
The Yakult Swallows rallied from a five run deficit Sunday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium to eventually seize a 7-6 lead, but closer Shingo Takatsu surrendered a game tying solo homer to shortstop Kazunori Okagami, normally a pinch running specialist, in the ninth and then unleashed a bases loaded wild pitch later in the frame to lose it to the Hiroshima Carp 8-7..
Neither starter pitched very well in this one, as Carp moundsman Masayuki Hasegawa permitted four runs on six hits in seven innings while Swallows hurler Shohei Tachiyama lasted just four innings and was tattooed for five runs on five hits.
The home nine went out to an immediate advantage, as second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to left and rightfielder Masafumi Suenaga reached on an infield hit. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata then stepped up and crushed one into the centerfield seats and it was 3-0.
In the fourth, Carp leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to right and third baseman Kenta Kurihara thundered a shot into the leftfield stands to make it 5-0 Hiroshima.
But Hasegawa, who hadn't given the Swallows hardly anything up to that point, began to lose it in the fifth. Rightfielder Atsunori Inaba leadoff with a single to right and, one out later, Yuichi Matsumoto, pinch hitting for Tachiyama, grounded to Kimura, who booted it. Centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka singled to center to plate Inaba. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to left to usher Matsumoto in and it was 5-2 Carp.
Yakult chipped away again in the seventh, as pinch hitter Ryuji Miyade singled to right and Manaka smashed one into the rightfield bleachers to shrink the gap between the two sides to 5-4 Hiroshima.
The Carp responded with a run in the bottom segment, as pinch hitter Shigenobu Shima singled to left and, one out later, pinch hitter Kojiro Machida singled to right. Kimura singled to center to redeem Shima and Hiroshima had a 6-4 advantage.
But when Shinji Sasaoka came on to try to close it out in the ninth, second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi singled to right with one down and went to second on a bad pickoff throw. pinch hitter Hirobumi Watarai singled to right to send Shiroishi in and went to second on the throw home. Yoshiyuki Noguchi came in to pinch run for Watarai. Manaka singled to right and Noguchi crossed to knot it at 6-6. One out later, third baseman Akinori Iwamura walked and leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to right to drive Manaka in and lend Yakult a 7-6 edge.
Unfortunately, Okagami took Takatsu over the leftfield wall to commence the bottom of the ninth to level it at 7-7. One out later, Kimura singled to right. Kazuyoshi Kimura did likewise, with the runner sprinting to third. Ogata was intentionally walked to set up a force at every base. While pitching to first baseman Takahiro Arai, Takatsu delivered a fourth pitch sinker that deflected off of catcher Atsuya Furuta's glove and Takuya Kimura hustled in for the victory.
Yakult needs to win all three of its remaining games to beat the Giants out for sole possession of third. If they go 2-1, they will tie Yomiuri.
Masaki Hayashi netted his first pro win for the Carp, but did it in a weird way. He threw one pitch to Furuta in the top of the ninth and induced a groundout before his teammates struck for the winning runs. He is the ninth man in Central League history to earn a one pitch victory while there have been seven in Pacific League annals who have pulled that off. The last one pitch shiroboshi was by Hanshin sidearmer Minoru Kasai on June 3, 2000 in a game againt Chunichi.
For Yakult, Matsumoto was 0-1 and is at .286. Ramirez was 1-5 with an RBI and is at .332.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Tachiyama IP 4.0 BF 17 PC 42 H 5 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.19
Yamabe IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 38 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.05
Narimoto IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 5 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.22
H. Ishii IP 1.2 BF 8 PC 31 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.13
Takatsu (L, 2-3) IP 0.1 BF 5 PC 24 H 3 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.07
Hiroshima:
Hasegawa IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 130 H 6 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.29
Amano IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.06
Sasaoka IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 25 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 1 ERA 4.94
Kikuchihara IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.12
Masaki Hayashi (W, 1-0) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.46
E: Ramirez, Sasaoka, T. Kimura
HR: Ogata (29), Kurihara (2), Manaka (6), Okagami (1)
RBI: Manaka 4, S. Miyamoto, Ramirez, T. Kimura, Ogata 3, Kurihara 2, Okagami
IBB: Ogata (Takatsu)
WP: Hasegawa, Takatsu
HBP: Kura (Tachiyama), K. Suzuki (Kikuchihara)
GIDP: Hasegawa (1-6-3)
LOB: Yakult 8, Hiroshima 6
Season Series: Yakult 13, Hiroshima 11 1 Tie
Game Time: 3:27
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Suginaga (1B), Tani (2B), Watada (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin More then 13,000 fans turned out Sunday at Koshien Stadium to watch a Tigers pre-Japan Series workout. Norihiro Akahoshi, normally a centerfielder, played some shortstop, an idea that manager Senichi Hoshino toyed with in spring training, but never tried in the regular season. So it's doubtful that you will see Akahoshi becoming Japan's answer to Mickey Stanley in the Japanese fall classic....On NHK's Sunday Sports program. Hoshino promised fans that this would be a hotly contested series, which Sankei Sports spun as a promise to win it, but the quote given by the paper doesn't say that at all....Lefthander Trey Moore hurt his hamstring while running during Sunday's workout and won't make a scheduled instructional league appearance on Monday. He was tentatively penciled in to start game four of the Japan Series, but now that is up in the air....The Tigers rotation will be four deep during the series, with Igawa, Irabu, Moore (for now) and Shimoyanagi. One would presume that if Moore can't pitch, Tomoyuki Kubota will replace him, but we'll see.
Yokohama Righthander Takashi Saito may not be ready for Opening Day, 2004, according to a report in Sports Nippon. He will have surgery to clean out an area around his right rotator cuff and won't be able to throw for a while. Geez, not even spring training and already manager Daisuke Yamashita has bad news to deal with.
Daiei Keisaburo Tanoue got some instruction on throwing a forkball that has more depth of sink Sunday. He or Hayato Terahara, who was far less than impressive in a bullpen session, may start game five of the Japan Series. Terahara is apparently having a hard time keeping his front shoulder closed and he isn't using his legs, which is essential to his velocity....Catcher Kenji Johjima did something in an instructional league game Sunday he didn't do all this past season: homer off of a lefty, Tomoya Kawaguchi on a hanging breaking ball on the inner half of the plate.
Lotte Outgoing manager Koji Yamamoto is reportedly unhappy about the team announcing the termination of several of his coaches before the game. Yamamoto thought it would have been better form to at least wait until it was over. Yamamoto is said to have received a coaching offer from Yomiuri.
Miscellaneous The Pacific League set an attendance record with a total of 10,144,000 fans pushing through the turnstyles this season, an increase of 4.8% over 2002. That was lead by the Daiei Hawks, who exceeded three million again at Fukuoka Dome. But even the pathetic Orix Blue Wave showed a 15.9% increase. However, games were also an average of ten minutes longer this year at 3:22.
In the News
Hanshin May Have Advantage in Rightfield
The disagreement I have with this is that high strikeout guys like Hiyama are more prone to flameout at championship time than someone who hits for average, such as Shibahara. Plus Shibahara will get to more balls than Hiyama. See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Today's Pictures
In His Last Game as Orix Skipper, Leon Lee Chokes Back Tears
