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06/20/2006 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Weekly Update"
Japanese Baseball News: Weekly Update
Japanese Baseball News: The Monday Report By Glenn Davies,Tokyo Japan |
| Central League News | ||
 | Another week and another change at the top of the Central league. The Dragons moved into first winning 4 of their last 5 behind the strong pitching of veterans Kadokura(6-2 2.94), Yamamoto (3-4 3.80) and 3rd year starter Sato (5-0 1.15).The Tigers ended inter-league play with a 2-1 series win over the Buffaloes but fell out of first thanks to a 1-2 losing series against the minor league Eagles.The Giants continue to fall from the sky with a 2-11 record over their last 13. Even the continued hot hitting of Y.S.Lee, who hit his CL leading 23rd HR of the year in a 2-1 loss to the Eagles, cant seem to get the offense going. Pitching has also been a bit of a train wreck, the team ERA has now moved to 3.70 after being 2.60ish until mid May. Yakult have played their way back into a fight for 3rd and look much more like the run scoring machine they were touted to be. | |
| Pacific League News | ||
 | The Marines needed to use 7 pitchers to win 8-7 and avoid a sweep by the CL Swallows in their last interleague match up in 2006. Beirne got the win (3-3) but Marines pitching started to look hittable again over the last week.The Lions overtook the HAwks and were the team of the week with hot hitting Alex Cabrera hitting 3 dingers in one game against the Bay Stars.Cabrera has 18 Hrs on the year and remains the key to challenging the Marines for the title.The Hawks are 5-5 in their last 10 and continue to feast and famine on hitting and pitching. But with the rotation they have it is unlikely that they wont push for first again this season, the starting 4 already have 24 wins between them at this point.500 ball maybe where the Fighters top out as they are unable to keep any kind of winning streak going. Rakuten have to be the team of the week for almost sweeping the Tigers and the Giants...Nomura would have savored those victories. | |
| Batting Leaders | ||||||||||||||
Central | Team | Avg. | AB | HR | RBI | Pacific | Team | Avg. | AB | HR | RBI | |||
| 1 | Fukudome | Dragons | .348 | 244 | 14 | 47 | 1 | Fukuura | Marines | .358 | 246 | 3 | 31 | |
| 2 | Nioka | Giants | .337 | 252 | 13 | 38 | 2 | Cabrera | Lions | .356 | 236 | 18 | 57 | |
| 3 | Lee | Giants | .329 | 255 | 23 | 51 | 3 | Matsunaga | Hawks | .352 | 247 | 14 | 49 | |
| 4 | Aoki | Swallows | .325 | 255 | 3 | 25 | 4 | Fernandez | Eagles | .318 | 245 | 18 | 48 | |
| 5 | Sheets | Tigers | .324 | 272 | 10 | 42 | 5 | Omichi | Hawks | .313 | 291 | 5 | 35 | |
| Pitching Leaders | ||||||||||||||
Central | Team | ERA | W | L | Sv | Pacific | Team | ERA | W | L | Sv | |||
| 1 | Kawakami | Dragons | 1.35 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Matsuzaka | Lions | 2.07 | 9 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2 | Guttormson | Swallows | 2.35 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | Saitoh | Hawks | 2.07 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
| 3 | Kuroda | Carp | 2.66 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | Akakaki | Hawks | 2.14 | 6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | Utsumi | Giants | 2.77 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 4 | Yagi | Fighters | 2.44 | 6 | 3 | 0 | |
| 5 | Sasaoka | Carp | 2.96 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | Hirano | Buffaloes | 2.58 | 6 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2006 Standings |
| Central | W | L | T | Pct% | GB | Pacific | W | L | T | Pct% | GB |
| Chunichi Dragons | 36 | 25 | 2 | .590 | - | Chiba Lotte Marines | 41 | 29 | 0 | .586 | - |
| Hanshin Tigers | 37 | 27 | 1 | .578 | 0.5 | Seibu Lions | 38 | 30 | 1 | .559 | 2.0 |
| Yomiuri Giants | 34 | 31 | 2 | .523 | 4.0 | Softbank Hawks | 39 | 31 | 1 | .557 | 2.0 |
| Yakult Swallows | 33 | 31 | 0 | .516 | 4.5 | Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters | 35 | 35 | 0 | .500 | 6.0 |
| Hiroshima Carp | 28 | 35 | 2 | .444 | 9.0 | Orix Buffaloes | 30 | 40 | 1 | .429 | 11.0 |
| Yokohama Bay Stars | 23 | 41 | 2 | .359 | 14.5 | Rakuten Eagles | 25 | 44 | 0 | .362 | 15.5 |
