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10/14/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Otake Outpitches Ishido; Hamanaka Homers in Instructional League Game"
Ishido Loses to Carp on Kurihara Two Run Homer 3-1
Yakult Swallows starter Katsutoshi Ishido's four game winning streak ended Monday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, as Hiroshima third baseman Kenta Kurihara slugged a two run homer in the fourth inning and Carp starter Kan Otake went six innings of one unearned baseball for his first pro victory 3-1. Yakult must now prevail in its final two games to clinch a tie for third.
Otake found himself in a two out first inning jam when third baseman Akinori Iwamura singled to center and leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to left, but first baseman Ken Suzuki grounded out to first to kill the rally.
The Carp then dented Ishido when second baseman Takuya Kimura walked and rightfielder Masafumi Suenaga laced a double into the rightfield corner, Kimura putting it in fourth for home for a 1-0 lead.
But the Swallows would even it in the home portion, as catcher Atsuya Furuta and rightfielder Atsunori Inaba both walked. They moved up on a groundout. Ishido grounded to Okagami, who booted it, and Furuta crossed to make it 1-1. Centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka, though, snuffed any further scoring when he lead Okagami to the second base bag on a ground ball and Okagami then relayed it to first for the double play.
The Carp would surge ahead once more in the fourth, as leftfielder Tomonori Maeda walked with two outs and Kurihara monstered one to straightaway center for a two run roundtripper and a 3-1 Hiroshima advantage.
Otake and his bullpen then limited the Yakult attack to two hits the rest of the way, Shinji Sasaoka capping it off by striking out the side in the ninth to secure the W.
For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-4 and is at .333.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Ishido (L, 4-1) IP 6.0 BF 23 PC 81 H 3 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.67
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.64
H. Ishii IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Hiroshima:
Otake (W, 1-1) IP 6.0 BF 24 PC 92 H 4 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 1 ER 0 ERA 5.63
Sawazaki IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.34
Amano IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Sasaoka (S, 6) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.89
E: S. Miyamoto, Kurihara, Okagami
SB: T. Maeda
2B: Suenaga, K. Suzuki
HR: Kurihara (3)
RBI: T. Arai, Kurihara 2
GIDP: Manaka 2 (6-3, 6-4-3)
LOB: Yakult 8, Hiroshima 4
Season Series: Yakult 13, Hiroshima 12 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:41
Attendance: 13,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Kittaka (1B), Suginaga (3B), Tani (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri The Giants have released veteran catcher Koichiro Yoshinaga. A number five draft choice with Nankai in 1987, Yoshinaga was selected to three Best Nine teams from 1994-1996. He moved to Yomiuri in 2001, but was seldom used....Former Lotte boss Koji Yamamoto will be their head coach in the minors as well as a batting instructor....Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, outfielder Takayuki Shimizu and infielder Akira Etoh will be targeted during the Giants upcoming fall camp for improvement in the hitting department. All three slumped this season. Etoh has been in a two season funk and is in the doghouse with team management....Koryo High School
righthander Kentaro Nishimura, whose fastball maxes out at 90mph, has refused offers from all other ballclubs and will join the Giants in the November draft, probably as their number two choice. The Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture native reportedly has excellent control and pitch movement.
Hanshin Outfielder Osamu Hamanaka homered on a fastball up and in in an instructional league game Monday. He went 2-4 with a walk and four RBIs on the day. Hideki Irabu also made an appearance and threw well....In the wake of Trey Moore's hamstring problem, Shinobu Fukuhara may get the fourth spot in the Japan Series rotation. This is a guy whose career has been hampered not only by injuries, but a lack of focus. Rotsa ruck guy!
Chunichi Kenshin Kawakami made an instructional league start and tossed three innings of one run ball on two hits while being clocked at 90mph on 45 pitches. It was his first game action since going on the dl with a shoulder problem in May....Lefthander Tatsuya Araidai has been released. A 2001 number two draft choice, he hopes to find a job with another team....Manager Hiromitsu Ochiai says that he won't allow hitters to bat off of a tee during fall camp, asserting that it has no benefit whatsoever....Tohoku Fukushi University outfielder Koji Nakamura is said to be
interested in playing for the Dragons. Scouts have compared him to Hanshin's Tomoaki Kanemoto.
Daiei Injured third baseman Hiroki Kokubo took batting practice Monday and may see pinch hit or may be even DH duty in the Japan Series. However, his mobility still isn't that great and one wonders how well his knee will hold up when he runs, especially making the turn around bases....Tsuyoshi Wada threw well in an instructional league game....Nagisa Arakaki will not make an instructional league appearance after all, but rather will participate in a simulated game Wednesday.
Seibu Kazuo Matsui has returned to Japan. At the airport, he told reporters that he couldn't make a decision without checking things out in the states for himself. However, he refused to make any further comment, though a Hochi Sports article posited that Matsui is now favoring the east coast, which is why he travelled there in the first place, the paper says. We'll see.
Nippon Ham The Fighters announced the buying of Yokohama reserve catcher Satoshi Nakajima's contract. In addition, the team moved second year infielder Shingo Nonaka to the Bay Stars for pitcher Yukiya Yokoyama....The club also announced that both pitching coach Yukio Tanaka and outfield defense coach Nobutoshi Shimada have been let go. Tanaka may move into the front office, with minor league pitching coach Takeshi Shimazaki taking over that position for the top team...The team has released three players, relievers Junichiro Muto, Takashima Kamishima, and catcher Nobuaki Arai. Muto was a 1993 number one choice out of Prince Hotels' industrial league team by Lotte and moved to the Fighters this past offseason. He wants to continue his career, as does Kamishima.
Lotte Little southpaw sidearmer Takehiro Hashimoto, who holds the Japan record for most consecutive relief appearances without a start at 526, has retired. After being a bit middle relief specialist for Seibu, he went to Hanshin last season and was lit up. He then moved to Lotte this year and was also ineffective. He was drafted on the third round by Daiei out of Prince Hotels' industrial league club in 1990 and then was traded to the Lions in the Koji Akiyama deal in 1994. In 560 career games, he went 12-22 with 20 saves....Third baseman/DH Jose Fernandez has returned to the states. There is no word on his contract status, though it is expected that he will be back in Chiba next season....Outfielder Kazunori Iyoda and pitcher Takao Inoue have been released. Each hopes to cadge a job with another team...Kyodo News Service says that former Mets manager Bobby Valentine will travel to Japan soon for "final negotiations." A media source has confirmed for me that talks between Valentine and Lotte are indeed ongoing, but that he may wait to see how the managerial situation with the Yankees shakes out before making a final decision.
Orix According to Sports Nippon, the Blue Wave front office is giving up on signing Tsuyoshi Shinjo due to the former Met's desire to play with a Tokyo team.
Miscellaneous According to the St. Petersburg Times, MLB is making plans to have either the Mariners or the A's open their 2004 in Japan....Yu Darvish, the Tohoku High School righthander who is the object of MLB and NPB scouts., was clocked at 90mph Monday on a cold, rainy day in pitching his squad into next spring's Koshien Tournament with a six inning one hit shutout. The game was called with Tohoku ahead 12-0. He struckout six and displayed excellent command of his breaking pitches.
In the News
Japan Series Expected to Increase Consumer Spending
See story at: Mainichi Shimbun Article
Today's Pictures
Osamu Hamanaka Unloads in Instructional League contest
Kenshin Kawakami Starts Comeback
