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03/29/2004 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Sayonara Means Victory for Kintetsu, Seibu; Muramatsu's Surprising Slam"
Muramatsu Slam Topples Hawks 11-9
There was no grudge here, since he left via free agency. Nevertheless, Orix centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu, who last went yard four years ago, really stuck it to his old team, the Daiei Hawks, Sunday at Fukuoka Dome, hammering a fourth inning grand slam and driving in a total of five runs to help the Kobe contingent to an 11-9 victory.
The victim of the Orix offensive outpouring was Hawks starter Nagisa Arakaki, who was eventually tattooed for a total of seven runs, six earned, in less than five innings of work and absorbed his first defeat of the campaign.
Blue Wave starter Hisashi Ogura permitted four runs in six innings, but this was a case of lucky being better than good and he isnow 1-0.
Daiei hurt Ogura real good for free in the second, as catcher Kenji Johjima walked and stole second with one away. Leftfielder Pedro Valdez wasted no time in bringing that piggy home, as he singled to right for the RBI. DH Julio Zuleta walked. Following a strikeout, rookie rightfielder Shotaro Ide singled to left to make it 2-0. Centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara then cleaned up the basepaths by shelling one off the rightcenterfield wall, going into third safely for a two run triple to widen that lead to 4-0.
Orix countered with a tally in the third, when catcher Takeshi Hidaka walked with one out and, one out later, Muramatsu beat out an infield ground ball. Second baseman Koichi Oshima laced a ball down the leftfield line and Hidaka rumbled across to put the Blue Wave on the big board at 4-1.
Then Arakaki just went to pot in the fourth and got smoked. Rightfielder Roosevelt Brown and first baseman Jose Ortiz smacked singles to left. Third baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani hit a little ground ball in front of the plate and Johjima pounced on it and got the force at third. Shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to center to plate Ortiz. Hidaka wacked one off the glove of shortstop Munenori Kawasaki for an infield hit to juice the bags. One out later, Arakaki hung a slider and Muramatsu deposited it in the rightfield bleachers and it was 6-4 Orix. That was the speedster's first granny at any level he's played at.
Daiei had two on with one out in the home portion, but stranded them and then gave Orix a gift in the fifth. With two gone, Shiotani got aboard on an infield hit. Goto grounded to Ryo Yoshimoto at third for what should have been the inning's final out, but he threw it away for an error. Arakaki was replaced by Nobuyasu Matsu, who made a pickoff throw to first that first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka allowed to go off his glove, Shiotani busting bigtime for home and it was 7-4 Orix.
Thery tacked on another in the sixth, as Oshima doubled to leftcenter and came around on a pair of grounders to short, Ortiz collecting the RBI, to make it 8-4.
Hawks rookie reliever Koji Mise made his debut in the seventh and did not impress. First, Goto swung through a pitch for strike three, but the ball went passed Johjima far enough for Goto to reach first. Mise then plunked Hidaka. The runners were sacrificed along. Muramatsu lifted a fly ball to left that allowed Goto tagged up and scored on. Somehow, another run scored during this sequence to expand the Orix advantage to 10-4.
But Hiroshi Kobayashi nearly frittered that away in the bottom half. Reserve shortstop Yusuke Torigoe and Ide singled to center. Shibahara rammed a double to the wall in rightcenter to redeem the runners. One out later, second baseman Tadahito Iguchi walked. After another out, Johjima whistled a triple up the rightcenter gap and two more scampered across. Valdez singled Johjima in and it was suddenly a one run game at 10-9. Shinji Taninaka was dispatched to the hill Zuleta singled to left. However, it ended right there when Torigoe struckout.
Orix leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani catalyzed a brief rally in the eighth, though, as he leadoff with a double to leftcenter and went to third on a groundout. Ortiz walked. Shiotani singled to right and it was 11-9.
Kazuo Yamaguchi entered from the pen in the ninth to try to close it out and got into a fix when Matsunaka singled to right and Johjima singled to left with nobody out. But Yamaguchi, throwing 96mph gas, blew Valdez away. Zuleta popped out and Inamine came up empty to turn out the lights for Orix' first win on a Sunday since last July 28th.
After seeing her husband belting the bases loaded bomb, Muramatsu's wife Miwako got on her bicycle and pedaled to the ballpark in time to see him give his hero interview after the end of the game.
For Orix, Brown was 1-4 with a walk and is at .375. Ortiz was 1-4 with a walk, an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .333.
For Daiei, Valdez was 3-5 with two RBIs and is at .500. Zuleta was 1-4 with a walk and is at .286.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Ogura (W, 1-0) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 96 H 6 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.00
H. Kobayashi IP 0.2 BF 8 PC 20 H 5 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 67.50
Taninaka IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 6 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K. Yamaguchi (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Daiei:
Arakaki (L, 0-1) IP 4.2 BF 25 PC 96 H 8 HR 1 K 4 BB 2 R 7 ER 6 ERA 11.57
Matsu IP 0.0 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
A. Mizuta IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 31 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
Mise IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Sato IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 16 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Takeoka IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Yoshimoto, Matsunaka
SB: Johjima
2B: K. Oshima 2, Shibahara, Tani
3B: Shibahara, Johjima
HR: Muramatsu (1)
RBI: Muramatsu 5, K. Oshima, Ortiz, Shiotani, M.T. Goto, Shibahara 4, Johjima 2, P. Valdez 2
Sac: Satake
SF: Muramatsu
K: Muramatsu, Tani, Ortiz 2, M.T. Goto 2, Shibahara, M. Kawasaki, P. Valdez, Zuleta, Yoshimoto,
Torigoe, Inamine
BB: Johjima, Zuleta, Hidaka 2, K. Oshima, T. Yamasaki, Brown, Iguchi, Ortiz
HBP: Hidaka (Mise)
GIDP: Iguchi, Saito
LOB: Lotte 9, Seibu 5
Note: Goto reached on his strikeout in the seventh.
Season Series: Orix 1, Daiei 1
Game Time: 3:15
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Nagami (HP), Sato (1B), Kodera (2B), Higashi (3B)
Nakamura Two Run Sayonara Single Caps Four Run Rally Over Fighters 6-5.
Nippon Ham centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo unloaded a tape measure three run homer in the top of the ninth to lend the Fighters a 5-2 advantage, but the Kintetsu Buffaloes thumped closer Yoshinori Tateyama for a four spot in the bottom of the frame, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura applying the killing two run sayonara single for a 6-5 Buffs triumph. Fifth year reliever Katsunari Yoshikawa picked up his first pro victory thanks to Nakamura's heroics.
Carlos Mirabal started for Nippon Ham and held Kintetsu to two runs on seven hits in six innings and change, but it would prove to not be enough to garner his intial 2004 shiroboshi.
Buffs starter Kevin Beirne was hit up pretty good by the Fighters, as he was tagged for 11 hits but just two runs in a six innings tenacious outing.
Beirne gave up a leadoff single to center to rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi to begin the game, but then proceeded to strikeout the side. However, the Fighters returned in the second for two runs, as first baseman Fernando Seguignol doubled into the rightfield corner and completed the circuit on a double to rightcenter from second baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto. One out later, DH Tomoyuki Oda singled to left and it was 2-0 Nippon Ham.
The Hokkaido side then amassed three singles in the third, but didn't make anything out of them. So on to the fourth and Kintetsu broke up the shutout when leftfielder Larry Barnes singled to right and Nakamura singled to left. First baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to left as well and Barnes reported to shrink the deficit to 2-1.
It remained that way until the seventh, when DH Kenshi Kawaguchi singled to center and went to second on rightfielder Koichi Isobe's infield hit. Both men advanced on a sac bunt. Pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano singled to right to drive Kawaguchi in with the tying run. Centerfielder Naoyuki Omura lofted a fly ball to rightcenter. Shinjo got to it and then unleashed a rocket to the plate, which froze Isobe at third and so it remained a 2-2 standoff.
In the ninth, Buffs reliever Toyohiko Yoshida saw catcher Shinji Takahashi get on with an infield hit and, two outs later, he plunked Tsuboi. Yoshida then left an 86mph fastball in the middle of the zone and Shinjo crashed it off the facade of the fifth level in left, a 450 plus foot shot, to hand it over to Tateyama with a 5-2 lead.
But Fighters shortstop Makoto Kaneko booted Isobe's grounder to commence the ninth and shortstop Masahiro Abe singled to right. One out later, Omura singled to right to jam the basepaths. Following another out, Barnes flamed one down the rightfield line and it was 5-4 on the double. Nakamura managed to get his bat around a sinker down and away and hooked it off the leftfield fence to hail Omura and Barnes in with the 6-5 victory.
Shinjo's last long distance call in Japan was on September 30, 2000 against Hiroshima.
The ninth inning single was the the tenth walkoff knock of Nakamura's career and his first since May, 2002. The record is 19 by former Nankai Hawks catcher Katsuya Nomura.
For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 3-4 and is at .500. Leftfielder Angel Echevarria was 1-5 with three strikeouts and is at .111.
For Kintetsu, Barnes was 2-5 with two RBIs and is at .250.
Pitching Lines:
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal IP 6.1 BF 26 PC 89 H 7 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.84
A. Shimizu IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 7 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T. Itoh IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 21 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Tateyama (L, 0-1) IP 0.2 BF 7 PC 23 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 4 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kintetsu:
Beirne IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 102 H 11 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.00
H. Koike IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yano IP 1.2 BF 6 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40
t. Yoshida IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 11 H 2 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Yoshikawa (W, 1-0) IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Kaneko
SB: Tsuboi
2B: Seguignol 2, Kimoto, Tsuboi, Barnes
HR: Shinjo (1)
RBI: Shinjo 3, Kimoto, Kaneko, Barnes 2, N. Nakamura 2, H. Kitagawa, Takano
Sac: M. Abe, Oda
K: Tsuboi, Shinjo, M. Ogasawara 2, Echevarria 3, S. Takahashi, Oda, Barnes, N. Nakamura, K.
Kawaguchi, A. Fujii, O. Hoshino
BB: H. Kitagawa
HBP: Tsuboi (Yoshida)
GIDP: Kaneko (6-4-3)
LOB: Nippon Ham 8, Kintetsu 8
Season Series: Nippon Ham 0, Kintetsu 2
Game Time: 3:25
Attendance: 23,000
Umpires: Hayashi (HP), Kakigizono (1B), Maeda (2B), Yoshikawa (3B)
Takagi Wins it in Ninth for Seibu with Infield Hit
Seibu reliever Chikara Onodera was credited with his first pro victory Sunday at Seibu Dome, as Lions second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi spanked a shot off the first base bag that ricocheted away from first baseman Matt Franco in the bottom of the tenth inning to score shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima from third for a 3-2 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Koji Mitsui, who was pounded into submission during spring training, was a different man this time, as he limited Lotte to two runs on five hits in 6.1 innings.
Nathan Minchey, who also had a rough spring, matched Mitsui with six innings of two run ball on six hits. Neither man figured in the decision.
Lotte grabbed the first lead of the contest in the second when first baseman Seung-yeop Lee yanked a ball off the rightfield wall for a double and crossed on a one out two bagger into the leftfield corner by third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba. Catcher Tomoya Satozaki singled to right. Rightfielder Takashi Tachikawa flew out to right and Hatsushiba tagged up and strode him to imbue the visitors with a 2-0 edge.
But in the fourth, Lions leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada parked one in the leftfield bleachers and it was 2-1 Lotte.
Minchey would then be charged with the tying run in the seventh when he walked first baseman Taketoshi Goto and rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima singled to left. Hiroshi Tobe was waved in from the bullpen and Nakajima conkeed a single to center to knot it at two all. The runners moved up on a sacrifice, but then were pinned to the bases after that.
Seibu then struck for the deciding run in the tenth, as Nakajima walked. With catcher Kosuke Noda up, the hit and run was put on. Noda swung and missed, but Satozaki's peg to second was late and Nakajima had a steal. Lotte reliever Shinichi Nagasaki then attempted to pick Nakajima off of second, but the throw was wild and Nakajima went to third. Takagi then got a break and the Lions their first 2004 victory.
Lee sustained a back bruise diving to tag the first base bag in the seventh and is day to day.
Takagi had earlier failed on a squeeze bunt attempt and grounded into a double play instead, so he really made amends with his third lifetime walkoff hit and first in six years.
For Lotte, Lee was 1-4 and is at .250. Franco was 0-1 and is at .000.
For Seibu, third baseman Jose Fernandez was 1-3 with a walk and is at .286.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
Minchey IP 6.0 BF 24 PC 90 H 6 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.00
Tobe IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Fujita IP 1.2 BF 4 PC 18 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nagasaki (L, 0-1) IP 1.1 BF 6 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Seibu:
Mitsui IP 6.1 BF 27 PC 110 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.84
S. Mori IP 1.2 BF 7 PC 32 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Toyoda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Onodera (W, 1-0) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Nagasaki
SB: Hori, H.Y. Nakajima
2B: Fernandez, Lee, Hatsushiba
HR: K. Wada (2)
RBI: Tachikawa, Hatsushiba, K. Wada, H.Y. Nakajima, H.Y. Takagi
Sac: Kosaka, Noda
SF: Tachikawa
K: Haru 2, Fukuura, M. Watanabe, J. Inoue, Hatsushiba, H.Y. Shibata, Ozeki, Fernandez, Noda
BB: Agbayani 2, Fernandez, T.T. Goto, H.Y. Nakajima
HBP: Fukuura (Mitsui)
GIDP: K. Wada (1-4-3)
LOB: Lotte 9, Seibu 5
Season Series: Lotte 1, Seibu 1
Game Time:
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Yanagita (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Yamazaki (2B), Kawaguchi (3B)
Matsui Homers Against Old Team
Hideki Matsui returned to his old stomping grounds Sunday and was slotted into the four hole by manager Joe Torre and Matsui responded with a second inning 450 plus foot homer to rightcenter against his old club, the Yomiuri Giants, off of a sixth pitch 2-2 hanging curve ball from lefthander Hisanori Takahashi in a 6-2 victory at Tokyo Dome. It was the first time in 49 years since the Bronx Bombers had visited Japan as a team and the first dinger Matsui has clouted in his homeland since October 10th, 2002, when he took Yakult reliever Ryota Igarashi over the wall at the dome for his 50th roundtripper that season.
The homer ball was snagged by a housewife from Atsugi, who said that when she realized that the ball was headed her way, she covered her face so it wouldn't hit her in the head.
Ten of Matsui's old Seiryo High School classmates turned up in the sellout crowd as well with tickets Godzilla had obtained for them. Matsui ultimately finished 1-3 with a pair of walks to accompany the bomb.
Also highlighting the Yankees attack was a three run homer on a first pitch 88mph fastball from Takahashi by catcher Jorge Posada in the fourth and a solo jack off of Matt Randell by shortstop Derek Jeter.
You could also highlight the payrolls involved, since the entire Giants starting lineup costs Yomiuri in the neighborhood of $25,000,000, with 60% of that occupied by sluggers Roberto Petagine and Tuffy Rhodes while the Yankees' order was more than three times that.
Jose Contreras, who was the focus of jockeying by three Japanese teams (the Giants, the Swallows and the Dragons) for his services before he fled Cuba, pitched in this one and went five innings of one unearned run ball on three hits, striking out six while being clocked at 94mph.
And for those of you who are curious, the Yankees are 15-0-1 on their Japan excursions over the decades.
Pitching Lines:
New York Yankees:
Contreras (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 21 H 3 K 6 BB 2 R ER 0 ERA 0.00
Heredia IP 0.2 BF 5 H 3 K 0 BB 1 R ER 0 ERA 0.00
Quantrill IP 1.1 BF 4 H 0 K 1 BB 0 R ER 0 ERA 0.00
White IP 0.1 BF 2 H 0 K 1 BB 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Gordon IP 0.2 BF 2 H 0 K 1 BB 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Rivera IP 1.0 BF 6 H 2 K 2 BB 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yomiuri:
H. Takahashi (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 19 H 6 K 2 BB 1 ER 4 ERA 9.00
Randell IP 1.2 BF 11 H 2 K 1 BB 3 ER 1 ERA 5.39
Okajima IP 1.1 BF 5 H 1 K 1 BB 1 ER 0.ERA 0.00
Y. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 H 0 K 0 BB 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sikorsky IP 1.0 BF 3 H 0 K 1 BB 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Contreras, A. Rodriguez, Rhodes, Posada, E. Wilson
2B: S. Abe, E. Wilson
HR: H. Matsui (1), Posada (1), Jeter (1)
WP: Okajima
Game Time: 3:10
Attendance:
Umpires:
Hey, Don't Forget Us!
In a game that received almost no notice by the media, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays tied the Hanshin Tigers 7-7 at Tokyo Dome Sunday. Rays centerfielder Rocco Baldelli cracked a pair of homers, one of them a big fly to leftcenter off of a hanger from Hideki Irabu in the second, as part of a three hit afternoon. He also went yard against second year hurler Tomoyuki Kubota in the eighth.
Hanshin actually had a 7-2 lead for a while until Tampa rallied for three in the eighth and then two more in the ninth on Julio Lugo's goner to even things up.
Tigers rookie shortstop Yakashi Toritani sliced a 1-1 96mph fastball that was down and away from Jorge Sosa down the leftfield line for a double in the fifth and he also had a single off of a 92mph Damien Moss heater in the ninth and then made a spectacular grab of a base hit bid off the bat of an unspecified by the Japanese press Rays player.
Pitching Lines:
Tampa Bay:
Waechter IP 3.0 BF 17 H 7 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Halama IP 1.0 BF 5 H 2 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
J. Sosa IP 1.0 BF 6 H 3 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Miller IP 0.1 BF 3 H 1 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 27.00
Godin (?) IP 0.2 BF 2 H 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Carter IP 1.0 BF 4 H 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Baez IP 1.0 BF 3 H 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Moss IP 1.0 BF 4 H 1 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hanshin:
Irabu IP 6.0 BF 25 H 6 K 5 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.00
Egusa IP 1.0 BF 3 H 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T. Kubota IP 1.0 BF 6 H 3 K 0 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 27.00
Ando IP 1.0 BF 5 H 2 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
E: Bullam (?), Carter, Kinkade
2B: Lugo, Arias, Toritani, Kinkade
HR: Baldelli 2 (2), Cruz (1), Arias (1), Lugo (1)
Sac: T. Noguchi
WP: Carter
Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 45,000
Umpires:
Note: I'm not familar with Tampa's roster, so a couple of the names may be wrong since I'm going off of the Japanese transliteration.
Team Reports
Hanshin Lefty reliever Makoto Yoshino is supposed to start throwing again Tuesday, good news for a bullpen that has been somewhat disappointing this spring for manager Akinobu Okada.
Yakult Third baseman Akinori Iwamura homered again, this time against Hiroshima Sunday, his seventh of the spring. However, a solo blast by Carp third baseman Kenta Kurihara gave the fish a 4-3 lead, one they never relinquished. Tomy Mounce then five innings of three run ball (one earned) on seven hits. He finishes the spring with a 7.20 ERA. Tom Davey started for Hiroshima and also surrendered three runs on seven hits to inflate his spring ERA to 5.63. John Bale also pitched, posting three shutout innings to reduce his mark to 9.00 Alex Ramirez didn't play for the Swallows. Greg Larocca went 0-2 while Andy Sheets was 0-1 with a walk for the winners.
Chunichi Kenshin Kawakami threw four hitless innings while Domingo Guzman succeeded him with four frames of three hit shutout ball in a 1-1 tie with Yokohama. Takashi Saito started for the Bay Stars and spun four innings of one unearned run baseball on a lone hit. Scott Mullen then came on and went two hitless frames.
Miscellaneous Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi went 2-2 with two RBIs Saturday against Bingo Selig's Travelling Expos, one of those knocks being a walkoff single to center that won it for the redbirds. Taguchi is batting .311 this spring....Shingo Takatsu went a perfect inning Saturday against Texas....Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui is one for his last ten with four strikeouts, so he was given Saturday off. He then started against Baltimore Sunday and took an 0-4 and made a throwing error....Dodgers lefthander Kazuhisa Ishii has gotten hammered this spring with an ERA above 9.00, so now there are apparently trade rumors surrounding the former Yakult ace. Several teams are reportedly interested....Akinori Otsuka had a tuneup appearance in the Padres minor league camp, retiring all three batters he faced....Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 0-3 against Arizona Sunday.
Shigeo Nagashima The former Giants skipper watched his one time charges take on the Yankees on television from his hospital room.
Today's Photos
Hideki Matsui Punishes One into the Seats
