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03/28/2004 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Play Ball! Hawks Fly by Orix on PL's Opening Day"
Zuleta RBI Single Wins it for Saito
An RBI single through the left side in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday at Fukuoka Dome by DH Julio Zuleta enabled Daiei Hawks starter Kazumi Saito to pick up his second straight Opening Day victory and the birds of prey's third in a 4-3 downing of the Orix Blue Wave. Koo Dae-sung started for the losers and struckout 11 in a frustrating complete game performance.
Orix powered its way to an early lead, as rightfielder Roosevelt Brown drilled a Saito delivery into the rightfield seats leading off the second to make it 1-0. First baseman Jose Ortiz then piggybacked on that with a followup jack into the same part of the yard to widen that to 2-0.
But the Hawks surmounted that post haste, as leftfielder Pedro Valdez connected for a long excursion into the rightcenterfield bleachers. Zuleta walked. Third baseman Ryo Yoshimoto laced a shot off of Koo's leg, leaving a bruise and two men now on base. One out later, centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara walked to pack the sacks. Koo then plunked shortstop Munenori Kawasaki to force the tying run across. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi flew out to right and Zuleta tagged up and crossed to lend the home team a 3-2 advantage.
Brown doubled into the rightfield corner with one down in the fourth, but Saito retired the next two men to get out of it.
Next time up, Orix had a man on with nobody out on a single to left by DH Takeshi Yamasaki, but catcher Takeshi Hidaka's sacrifice bunt attempt plopped just in front of his opposite number, Kenji Johjima, who rifled it to Kawasaki, who then turned it over to Nobuhiko Matsunaka at first for a double play to snuff any thought of a rally.
Hidaka would redeem himself somewhat, though, as Iguchi kicked off the bottom of the frame with a single to center, only to subsequently be gunned down by Hidaka.
Saito nailed Ortiz with a pitch beginning the seventh and the Kobe crew made something of it, as, following a sacrifice and a groundout, Hidaka leveled the score by drilling a shot off the rightfield wall to redeem the former Rockie and put it at 3-3.
Koo would, unfortunately, have some control issues in the eighth and it cost him the ballgame. With two away, he hit Johjima and walked Valdez. Zuleta went up looking for a fastball to hit real hard and hooked one between third and short and into left to see Johjima homeward and the Hawks were in front 4-3.
Orix would put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth on a walk to Ortiz and a sac bunt, but Hirano lined out and, following an intentional walk to Hidaka, shortstop
Mitsutaka Goto grounded out and that was that.
Saito is the first Hawks hurler to win consecutive opening days since Shinichi Yamauchi Yamauchi in 1980-1981. The Japan record is five straight by Hankyu submariner Hisashi Yamada. Manager Sadaharu Oh is now 9-5-1 commencing the regular season.
It only continued, though, Orix third baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani's nightmares, however, as he has seen his side go down to 12 Opening Day defeats in a row, most of those while with Hanshin.
For Daiei, Zuleta was 1-3 with an RBI and an HBP and is at .333. Valdez is 1-3 with a walk and an RBI and is at .333.
For Orix, Brown was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .500. Ortiz was 1-2 with an RBI and a walk and HBP and is at .500.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Koo (L, 0-1) IP 8.0 BF 35 PC 143 H 5 HR 1 K 11 BB 5 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.50
Daiei:
K. Saito (W, 1-0) IP 9.0 BF 36 PC 118 H 7 HR 2 K 4 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.00
SB: M. Kawasaki
2B: Brown, Hidaka
HR: Brown (1), Ortiz (1), P. Valdez (1)
RBI: Brown, Ortiz, Hidaka, M. Kawasaki, Iguchi, P. Valdez, Zuleta
Sac: M. Kawasaki, Shiotani 2
SF: Iguchi
K: Muramatsu, K. Oshima, Brown, M.T. Goto, Shibahara 2, Matsunaka 3, P. Valdez, Zuleta,
Yoshimoto 2, Ide 2
BB: Iguchi, Zuleta, Shibahara, Matsunaka, P. Valdez, Ortiz, Hidaka
IBB: Hidaka (K. Saito)
HBP: M. Kawasaki (Koo), Ortiz (K. Saito), Johjima (Koo)
GIDP: Hidaka (2-6-3)
LOB: Orix 6, Daiei 7
Season Series: Orix 0, Daiei 1
Game Time: 2:46
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Tamba (HP), Higashi (1B), Sato (2B), Nagami (3B)
Valentine Wins First Game Back Over Matsuzaka, Lions 5-3
Seibu Lions righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka, making his new team record fifth straight Opening Day start, tried to make a change to his pitching approach and he was punished for it, as two hung changeups directly resulted in him coughing up three runs to the Chiba Lotte Marines and five overall in a 5-3 loss that gave Lotte skipper Bobby Valentine his first shiroboshi in Japan since September, 1995.
Naoyuki Shimizu started for Lotte for his first Opening Day assignment ever and went 7.1 innings of three run ball before giving way to closer Masahide Kobayashi, who was perfect the rest of the way, for his first victory.
Lotte had the pressure on Matsuzaka right away, as centerfielder Toshio Haru singled to right on a 90mph fastball. One out later, though, second baseman Koichi Hori swung
through a pitch with the hit and run play on and Haru was meat at second. But Hori then singled to right. With the count 1-2 to DH Seung-yeop Lee in the big Korean's first Japanese at bat, Matsuzaka left a changeup up in the zone and Lee, who batted .222 during spring training, torched it down the rightfield line, Hori blazing around the basepaths for a 1-0 advantage. Leftfielder Benny Agbayani, also making his Japanese debut, recalled Lee with a single to center to make that 2-0.
Seibu leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada lambasted an 88mph Shimizu fastball into the rightcenterfield stands in the second to halve the deficit to 2-1. One out later, rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima cranked a shot up the rightcenterfield alley for a double, but two groundballs then enabled Shimizu to wriggle out of the problem.
Hori then compensated for his first inning mistake in a big way in the third. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura walked to set the stage and Hori kabonged another hanging off speed offering into the great wide open in rightcenter to enhance the Lotte lead to 4-1. It was Hori's third career Opening Day blast and his first since 2000.
In the fifth and with two on, Hori came up again, but grounded out to second and 4-1 it remained.
Shimizu, though, ultimately tired in the eighth, as Lions centerfielder Tatsuya Ozeki clocked a one out single to center and third baseman Jose Fernandez, formerly of Lotte as it turns out, laid the smack down and socked one to straightaway center to close it to within 4-3. Valentine dialed local for Kobayashi and he put the Seibu lineup to bed.
In the meantime, Lotte obtained some insurance, as lightning bug shortstop Makoto Kosaka seared one off the base of the centerfield fence and found himself at third when the dust cleared. Haru flied out to right and Kosaka tagged up and hustled home for the 5-3 final.
The record for consecutive Opening Day starts is 15, by Hankyu great Hisashi Yamada. Matsuzaka is 2-3 on such occasions lifetime, admitting that he tends to feel the pressure during those times. In any event, Seibu helmsman Tsutomu Itoh commented that his pitcher's fastball wasn't very good and that he couldn't consistently throw his breaking pitches for strikes. If there is any consolation for Matsuzaka here, it is that he has erased hall of famer Kazuhisa Inao from the club's record books for the consecutive Opening Day starts.
On another statistical note, this is the third year running that Wada has claimed the first Seibu four ply of the campaign.
The Lotte team record for Opening Day dingers is four by Michiyo Arito. Leron Lee and George Altman also had three back when the team's nickname was the Orions. The Pacific League mark is nine by Hiromitsu Kadota while the overall record is ten by Shigeo Nagashima.
This game was broadcast back to Taegu, South Korea since it was favorite son Lee's regular season debut. He finished the day 1-4 with two strikeouts and a .250 average.
One of the Japanese beat writers actually counted the number of days since Valentine was in the dugout in the land of the rising sun, coming up with 3103. Please note, too, that all the stats I cite in this article are from the Japanese press and not from me, so credit goes to their reporters for them.
For Seibu, Fernandez was 1-4 with two RBIs and two strikeouts and is at .250.
For Lotte, Agbayani was 2-3 with an RBI and is at .667. Third baseman Matt Franco was 0-4 and is at .000.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (W, 1-0) IP 7.1 BF 30 PC 110 H 5 HR 2 K 5 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.68
M.H. Kobayashi (S, 1) IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Seibu:
Matsuzaka (L, 0-1) IP 9.0 BF 39 PC 164 H 9 HR 1 K 5 BB 4 R 5 ER 4 ERA 4.00
E: K. Oshima
2B: Lee, H.Y. Oshima, Haru
3B: Kosaka
HR: K. Wada (1), Hori (1), Fernandez (1)
RBI: Haru, Hori 2, Lee, Agbayani, Fernnadez 2, K. Wada
SF: Haru
K. Haru, Lee 2, Satozaki, Tachikawa, Fernandez 2, T.T. Goto, H.Y. Oshima 2, H. Takagi
BB: Kosaka, Fukuura, Agbayani, H.Y. Shibata 2, Haru, Noda
LOB: Lotte 7, Seibu 5
Season Series: Lotte 1, Seibu 0
Game Time: 2:54
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Akimura (HP), Yamamoto (1B), Nakamura (2B), Sakaemura (3B)
Kitagawa, Abe Doubles Help Buffs Pull Away from Fighters 6-3
The third of three doubles by first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa, who totaled up four knocks in this one, as well as a two bagger from shortstop Masahiro Abe in the eighth inning iced the game for the Kintetsu Buffaloes, as they stuck the Nippon Ham Fighters with a 6-2 defeat Saturday at Sapporo Dome. Buffs starter Hisashi Iwakuma, who wasn't pleased with this outing at all, nonetheless had his best showing since the first half of last season, going seven innings of five hit, two run ball, striking out seven for the triumph.
Satoru Kanemura started for the Fighters and wasn't sharp, as he was tagged for three runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.
Nippon Ham had an initial upper hand, as rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi pinged an Iwakuma delivery off the centerfield wall for a double. Centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo, in his first regular season at bat in Japan since being cut loose by the Mets, decided on his own to lay down a sac bunt. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara grounded to the right side and it was 1-0 Fighters.
Kintetsu retorted with a tally of their own in the bottom stanza, as Kanemura walked both leftfielder Larry Barnes and third baseman Norihiro Nakamura with two gone and Barnes was cashed in when Kitagawa drilled one down the rightfield line for two bases and a 1-1 deadlock.
The Buffs then exploited a Fighters miscue in the third when rightfielder Koichi Isobe got aboard on an Ogasawara boot, but was rung up when Abe lined into a 6-3 double play. However, catcher Akihito Fujii crashed a double against the leftfield wall and completed the circuit on a single to center from centerfielder Naoyuki Omura, who was then gunned down attempting to sneak into second on the play, and it was 2-1 visitors.
In the fourth, they went up by a pair when Kitagawa doubled to right once more and, after going to third on a groundout, he tagged up and checked in on a sacrifice fly to left by Isobe to make it 3-1 Buffs.
First baseman Fernando Seguignol racked up his first hit since returning to Japan in the seventh, a double off the rightfield fence. He tagged up and went to third on a deep fly ball to center and then crossed on a similar ball off the bat of catcher Shinji Takahashi to contract the disadvantage to 3-2.
But in the eighth, Kintetsu put this one in its back pocket when Kitagawa doubled to deep left with two outs and went home on a single to left by Fumitoshi Takano, who was pinch run for by Hiroaki Onishi. Isobe walked. Abe pounded one off the ball in right and Onishi and Isobe both set the controls for the heart of home plate for a 6-2 lead. Hector Carrasco then came on and needed just five pitches to induce a popout and two groundouts and it was see you later.
Shinjo whistled a liner over Abe's head for his first hit of the year in the third and a broken bat parachute job in the eighth to finish 2-3. Unfortunately, like the aforementioned fellow former Hanshin man Shiotani, Shinjo has never played on an Opening Day winner in Japan.
Kitagawa's four Opening Day safeties was the fourth such performace in club annals.
For Nippon Ham, leftfielder Angel Echevarria was 0-4 and is at .000. Seguignol was 1-4 and is at .250.
For Kintetsu, Barnes was 0-3 with a walk and is at .000.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Kanemura (L, 0-1) IP 5.1 BF 23 PC 92 H 6 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 5.06
Shimizu IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shibakusa IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yokoyama IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 31 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40
Ki. Sasaki IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 13 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 54.00
Kintetsu:
Iwakuma (W, 1-0) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 97 H 5 HR 0 K 7 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Carrasco IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: M. Ogasawara
SB: N. Omura
2B: Tsuboi, H. Kitagawa 3, Fujii, M. Ogasawara, Seguignol, M. Abe
Sac: Shinjo
SF: Isobe, S. Takahashi
K: Tsuboi 2, Echevarria, Seguignol, Kimoto, S. Takahashi, Oda, Kaneko, Mizuguchi 2, Barnes, N. Nakamura, Fujii
BB: Barnes, N. Nakamura, Tsuboi, Isobe 2, Oda
GIDP: M. Ogasawara (4-6-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 4, Kintetsu 6
Season Series: Nippon Ham 0, Kintetsu 1
Game Time: 3:02
Attendance: 41,000
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Yoshikawa (1B), Kakigizono (2B), Hayashi (3B)
Team Reports
Hanshin Lefthander Makoto Yoshino has an injured middle finger. No word on when he will see game action....George Arias slugged his second homer in as many days Saturday.
Chunichi Shigeki Noguchi is likely to get the Opening Day nod, according to Sports Nippon....Kenshin Kawakami will start an exhibition game against Yokohama Sunday....Manager Hiromitsu Ochiai slammed Yokohama closer Kazuhiro Sasaki back in Fenruary, saying that if Sasaki was really doing okay he wouldn't have come back to Japan. He also posted that Sasaki "doesn't have control good enough to throw strikes." Saturday, he didn't have much to say about the former Mariner....Infielder Omar Linares homered Saturday and is currently flaunting a .353 spring average.
Yomiuri In exhibition action, ace Koji Uehara was clobbered for two homers and five runs in five innings, losing to Hiroshima 5-4. He also developed a blood blister on his right index finger....Yuya Kubo tossed a no hitter in a minor league game Saturday against Yakult's affiliate. The diminutive righty had never held the opposition knockless at any level he has played in....After posting an all time team worst ERA last season, the Giants have permitted the opposition to score 106 runs this spring, breaking a 20 year old mark....Roberto Petagine took some balls in the outfield Saturday, but then went 0-3 as a DH.
Yakult Jason Beverlin, thanks to the injury to Masanori Ishikawa, will start on Opening Day. He as clocked at 93mph Saturday against Hanshin during a four inning five strikeout scoreless performance. He becomes the third foreigner to open on the hill for the Swallows intial faceoff of the pennant race in team history....That wrist injury incurred by third baseman Akinori Iwamura hasn't hurt his power stroke, as he hammered his sixth roundtripper of the spring, good for two runs. He also has a .423 average and 18 RBIs to accompany the longballs.
Hiroshima Pitcher Ken Takahashi, coming off an injury, went five mediocre innings against Yomiuri, surrendering seven hits and three runs. But he felt that toward the end of his stint he was able to regain his command and might be ready to begin the regular season.
Yokohama Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki twisted an ankle while fielding a ground ball in an exhibition game against Chunichi and may open the regular schedule on the shelf. He was clocked at a dismal 88mph....The Stars also saw starter Yuji Yoshimi get treated like a Thanksgiving turkey, as the Dragons lineup feasted on him for four runs on six hits in five innings. Over the last year and change, the southpaw has gone from promising youngster to a glorified batting practice pitcher.
Daiei Lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada made a minor league rehab appearance in relief Saturday and was brilliant, going three innings of one hit ball, though he walked two. They will probably have him make another appearance on the farm before bringing him back up.....Lindsay Gulin started and fashioned six shutout innings on two hits.
Orix For those of you who didn't make the cut at the audition for The Apprentice, the Blue Wave is looking for a general manager to run its business affairs, focusing on people who have innovative ideas on how to promote the ballclub. You can send a resume detailing your job experience, a cover letter and a proposal on how you would attempt to fill the seats at Kobe Green Stadium (though it goes by Yahoo BB Stadium now, btw). If you have any other inquiries, you can phone the team's office at: 078-795-1201. Gambare!
Miscellaneous The three Pacific League openers drew a total of 137,000, a new record. That also contrasts with the total of 104,000 the trio of PL cards drew in 2003....The Yankees spent the day tuning up during a workout at Tokyo Dome in front of 35,000 fans, a lot of them children there for a kids promotion....Bud Selig this week boasted that gthe sport never has been more popular." Note that he didn't finish the sentence. It has never been more popular than football and, increasingly, basketball, for decades. And he and the players union helped!
Koshien Tournament Righthander Yu Darvish no doubt intensified the pro interest in him Friday, as the big Tohoku High School ace wove a no no against powerhouse Kumamoto Kogyo High School. He was clocked at 91mph.
Shigeo Nagashima Japan's Mr. Baseball sent along his greetings to the Yankees and regretted that due to his stroke he won't be able to make a scheduled lunch date with manager Joe Torre. Torre reportedly wanted to visit the former Yomiuri manager, but that was apparently refused somewhere along the line. In any event, GM Brian Cashman stated that would like to see Nagashima throw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game at Yankee Stadium when he gets better.
In the News
Yankees Rediscover Japan
See story at:NY Times Article
See related story at: MLB.com Article
See another related story at: NY Daily News Article
One more related piece at:St. Petersburg Times Article
And So Do the Rays
See story at:MLB.com Article
Happy Faces Greet Yankees in Japan
See story at: Associated Press Article
Rhodes Takes Jeter Over A-Rod....
See story at: NY Times Article
But Notes Japanese Prejudice
See story at:NY Times Article
Today's Photos
Julio Zuleta Cracks Game Winner
