Gary Garland / the japanese insider

June 30, 2002

     No games scheduled.

Kisanuki Pitches Well in Complete Game Loss Against U.S. University All Star Team

     Asia University righthander Hiroshi Kisanuki held an American collegiate all star squad to two runs and seven hits over eight innings while striking out nine, but absorbed the loss when the Japan team could only manage two hits in a 2-0 defeat Sunday at City Bank Park in Central Islip, NY. Mariners international scouting head Ted Heid evaluated, "I saw him last  year, but his growth as a pitcher since this spring has been remarkable." A Dodgers scout was also keeping a close eye on Kisanuki while he threw in the bullpen. An Orix scout noted that Kisanuki's arm has good whipping action. Of course, what isn't said is that is going to lead to injury later on, so we'll see how durable he is after he turns pro. You can see a pic of his delivery at:  http://www.nikkansports.com/news/baseball/bb-020702-5.jpg

Today in Japanese Baseball History

    This report is for June 30th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1964 at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium, Carp infielder Junro Anan tried to move the runners on first and second over on a sac bunt, but popped it up in the air. Hanshin Tigers submariner Midori Ishikawa went for the ball and thought he had caught it in the air, but plate umpire Inada said it was a trap. As soon as the umpire made the call, the runners took off. Ishikawa threw to second and then the ball was relayed to first for what Hanshin thought was a triple play since they thought that the ball had been cut off in flight. Of course, upon finding out it had been called a trap, the Hanshin players objected. The umpiring crew huddled and the call was changed to a catch and thus the triple play was made valid.

     Hiroshima's manager and players weren't about to accept the new call and the arguing carried on for two hours. The umpires even offered a compromise, calling Anan out and resuming the game with there being one out and men on first and second. The Hanshin side wasn't going for that, so at the two hour and 29 minute mark of the rhubarb, the umpires called the game, citing their "misjudgement." It was now 9:52 in the evening. When this was announced to the crowd, about a thousand fans stormed the field and began rioting, throwing rocks at the broadcast booth and just generally tearing the place apart. The police finally restored order at around 11:00 p.m. and it lead to the entire series with Hanshin being cancelled due to the destruction waged on the facilities.

Source: http://osaka-nikkan.com/lib/ocp/ren/sangoku27.html

Muffed Sac Bunt by Iriki Leads to Big Yakult Rally and Giants Loss

     A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Yomiuri Giants starter Yusaku Iriki enabled the Yakult Swallows to rally from a 6-2 deficit Saturday to tie it up in the sixth inning and then go on to victory with three runs in the eighth off of reliever Tsuyoshi Jobe by a 9-6 score. Yakult righthander Ryota Igarashi scooped up his sixth shiroboshi of the year after striking out the side in his one inning stint.

     Kevin Hodges, who has basically eaten the Giants for lunch in four previous starts against them, was thumped for six runs, four earned, in five innings to miss a chance to match Terry Bross' team record for wins by a foreigner in a season against their crosstown enemies, ultimately getting a no decision when the Swallows staged their comeback.

     Centerfielder Hideki Matsui ignited a Giants rally in the second inning, doubling off the rightfield fence. Hodges then plunked first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara and both were moved up on a sac bunt. Yakult catcher Atsuya Furuta then allowed a pitch to get by him for a passed ball and a 1-0 Giants lead. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to center and it was 2-0 Yomiuri.

     Yakult returned the favor in the bottom half. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to right, as did third baseman Akinori Iwamura. Both men were sent along on a sac bunt and Hodges singled to left to knot it at two all.

     In the fifth, the Giants put four on the board. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled to right with one out. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka did likewise. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi doubled down the leftfield line to drive in Shimizu. Matsui then creamed one over the rightfield fence and it was 6-2 Yomiuri.

     Yakult, though, steamed back in the sixth when Ramirez singled to left and Iwamura singled to right. Second baseman  Hajime Miki then endeavored to sacrifice and Iriki hurried his throw and missed the first baseman to permit Ramirez to cross. Pinch hitter Takahiro Ikeyama walked to load the bases. Centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka grounded to second to convert Iwamura. Hector Almonte was summoned from the pen and shortstop Shinya Miyamoto grounded to short and Miki was in to make it a one run game at 6-5. That should have been the third out of the inning. Shinichi Sato singled to left for an RBI and the 6-6 tie.

     In the eighth, stuck the knife in. Manaka and Miyamoto both singled to left with one out. Sato fanned, but first baseman Roberto Petagine was intentionally walked to load the bases. Furuta singled to center and Manaka and Miyamoto hit the dish to make it 8-6. Ramirez walked. Iwamura singled to left and Petagine made it in and now the Swallows were in the driver's seat at 9-6. Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu worked a 1-2-3 ninth to seal it.

     For Yakult, Petagine was 0-2 with two walks and a hit batter and is at .298. Ramirez was 2-4 with a walk and is at .323.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

Y. Iriki                   IP 5.0 PC 97 H 8 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 6 ER 2 ERA 2.96
Kawamoto            IP 0.1 PC  1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Almonte               IP 0.1 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.46
Y. Maeda             IP 1.1 PC 18 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Jobe (L, 1-2)        IP 0.2 PC 30 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.91
Okajima                IP 0.1 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.90

Yakult:

Hodges                      IP 5.0 PC 91 H 8 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 6 ER 4 ERA 2.83
Teramura                   IP 1.0 PC  7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.58
Newman                    IP 1.0 PC  9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.63
R. Igarashi (W, 6-1) IP 1.0 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.29
Takatsu (S, 19)         IP 1.0 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.13

E: Murata, Y. Iriki
SB: Nishi
2B: H. Matsui, Y. Takahashi,
HR: H. Matsui (15)
RBI: H. Matsui 3, Y. Takahashi, Nishi, Manaka, S. Miyamoto, H. Sato, Furuta 2, Iwamura, Hodges 2
IBB: Petagine
HBP: Kiyohara (Hodges), Petagine (Y. Iriki)
PB: Furuta
LOB: Yomiuri 4, Yakult 11

Season Series: Yomiuri 8, Yakult 8

Game Time: 3:40
Attendance: 45,000
Umpires: T. Kobayashi (HP), Sasaki (1B), Kasahara (2B), Kiuchi (3B)

June 29, 2002

Hanshin Ends Losing Streak with 10th Inning Sayonara Victory

     The Hanshin Tigers, 0 for June at Koshien Stadium, their homeground, coming into this game, got a two out looper off the bat of pinch hitter Koji Hirashita in the bottom of the tenth that tipped off the glove of Yokohama Bay stars shortstop Takuro Ishii that drove in catcher Akihiro Yano from second for a 4-3 sayonara victory, their first triumph in their last nine tries. Mark Valdez was credited with his first Japan win with a dominant two innings, striking out four in a row after entering the contest.

     Trey Moore started for Hanshin and threw a solid seven innings of three run ball on seven hits, striking out five and walking two. Yuji Yoshimi, the man on the hill for the Stars, was even better, surrendering three runs on five hits in seven innings and fanning seven while walking one. Neither figured in the decision.

     Yokohama jumped in front first, as rightfielder Boi Rodrigues hammered a Moore delivery over the rightfield wall for a 1-0 lead with one out in the second. Rightfielder Hitoshi Tamura singled to right. Leftfielder Masaaki Koike singled to center and Tamura motored to third. Catcher Takeshi Nakamura flied out to right and Tamura tagged and scored to make it 2-0 Yokohama.

     In the third, Moore dug a little bit of a hole for himself, but escaped unscathed. With one out, second baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to right and third baseman Hirofumi Ogawa walked. Centerfielder Ernie Young struckout, but Rodrigues walked to load the bases. Tamura, though, struckout and disaster was averted.

     Yokohama had men on second with one out in both the fourth and fifth, but Moore shut those problems down.

     In the sixth, Hanshin roused itself and halved the Stars advantage. Yano leadoff with a double to rightcenter and was sacrificed to third by Moore. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka flied out to right and Yano crossed and it was 2-1.

     Rodrigues, however, took Moore on a downtown tour to the righthand side in the eighth and the Stars were back up by a deuce at 3-1.

     Hanshin centerfielder Osamu Hamanaka responded by going to the opposite field on a 1-1 88mph fastball from Yoshimi in the home segment and rebounded it off the rightifield foul pole to shrink the Hanshin deficit to 3-2. Leftfielder Derrick White walked and Yoshimi was removed by manager Masaaki Mori, with Azuma being inserted in his place. Yano sacrificed White to second. One out later, Imaoka rammed an 89mph fastball up through the middle to knot it at three apiece.

     In the bottom of the tenth, Yano doubled with two gone down the leftfield line. Hirashita then was jammed on an 89mph fastball and fisted it over short, where Ishii turned his back and pursued it. He got his glove on it, but couldn't hold it as Yano made a beeline for the plate and Hiroashita had his first career sayonara hit and Hanshin had a W in the bank.

     For Yokohama, Young was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .170. Rodrigues was 2-3 with two RBIs and a walk and is at .276.

     For Hanshin, first baseman George Arias was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .269. White was 0-2 with a walk and is at .255.

Pitching Lines:

Yokohama:

Yoshimi                   IP 7.0 PC 97 H 5 HR 1 K 7 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.45
Azuma                     IP 1.0 PC  8 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.21
Takeshita               IP 1.0 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.42
Sugimoto (L, 1-1)  IP 0.2 PC 22 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.97

Hanshin:

Moore:                       IP 8.0 PC 118 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.11
M. Valdez (W, 1-1)   IP 2.0 PC   29 H 0 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.76

2B: Yano 2
HR: Rodrigues 2 (13), Hamanaka (10)
RBI: Rodrigues 2, T. Nakamura, Imaoka 2, Hamanaka, Hirashita
SF: T. Nakamura, Imaoka
GIDP: Kataoka
LOB: Yokohama 6, Hanshin 3

Season Series: Yokohama 4, Hanshin 11

Game Time: 3:04
Attendance: 33,000
Umpires: Yoshimoto (HP), Kittaka (1B0, Tsuchiyama (2B), Tani (3B)

Powell Wins Ninth Straight for Kintetsu 4-3

     There is nobody hotter in baseball anywhere in the world than Jeremy Powell, who notched his ninth consecutive win with a 4-3 Kintetsu Buffaloes victory over the Daiei Hawks Saturday at Fukuoka Dome behind two run homers from first baseman Yuji Yoshioka and DH Kenshi Kawaguchi, as well as a bizarre triple play in the seventh. Closer Akira Okamoto racked up his 17th save for the Buffs.

     Daiei starter Akichika Yamada was the victin of all four Kintetsu tallies, though he was hardly getting hit around. He just made a couple of mistakes and paid huge for them in his 5.1 innings.

     Powell looked a little shaky in the first, as Daiei centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara leadoff with a triple into the rightfield corner and then headed home on a two bag scorcher into the rightcenter alley by leftfielder Pedro Valdez. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi beat out a roller toward short. But Powell induced a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to keep it at 1-0 Hawks.

     In the top of the second, Kintetsu leapfrogged over their Fukuoka opponents. Kawaguchi leadoff with a one out double to rightcenter. Yoshioka then got a hold of a Yamada delivery and catapulted it over the leftfield fence and now it was 2-1 Buffs.

     Two innings later, a knock and a blast put the Buffs firmly in control. With one down, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura singled to right. Kawaguchi then mortared a hot over the rightcenterfield wall to make it 4-1 Kintetsu.

     The Buffs loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but a 4-6-3 double play ball killed that chance.

     In the bottom of the seventh, Daiei third baseman Hiroki Kokubo went yard to leftcenter for the 17th time this season and it was 4-2 Buffs. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka then beat out a tapper. DH Noriyoshi Omichi singled to left. Shortstop Munenori Kawasaki attempted to sacrifice on a two strike count and whiffed on a curve ball. Catcher Tetsuya Matoyama then winged it to second to get Matsunaka, who was trying to cheat a bit in anticipation of Kawasaki laying the ball down. During the rundown, Omichi endeavored to sneak into second, but his timing was bad and he was tagged out after Matsunaka was likewise done in, a triple play. Now THAT is running yourself out of an inning.

     Daiei outfielder Arihito Muramatsu doubled to left with one away in the eighth and Kintetsu manager Masataka Nishida went to the pen for Yamamoto. One out later, Valdez spanked an RBI single to right. Okamoto relieved Yamamoto and Iguchi singled to center. Now with the winning run on first, Okamoto lured Kokubo to fly out to left to keep his side ahead 4-3.

     Kintetsu made a little noise in the eighth but couldn't covert against Rodney Pedraza. Okamoto returned to the center of the diamond and put away three of the final four hitters to put it in the refrigerator for the Osaka contingent.

     For Daiei, Valdez was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .283.

     For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-5 and is at .275.

Pitching Lines:

Kintetsu:

Powell (W, 9-3)          IP 7.1 PC 114 H 9 HR 1 K 5 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.14
Yamamoto                  IP 0.1 PC   10 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.93
A. Okamoto (S, 17)   IP 1.1 PC   23 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.45

Daiei:

A. Yamada (L, 4-5)   IP 5.1 PC 95 H 5 HR 2 K 4 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.23
Matsu                        IP 2.1 PC 33 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kurano                       IP 0.0 PC  4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.71
H.K. Watanabe         IP 0.1 PC  4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.76
Pedraza                      IP 0.2 PC 12 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.38
S. Yoshida                 IP 0.1 PC  4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.55

E: Kawasaki
2B: Kawaguchi, Matoyama, P. Valdez, Muramtasu
3B: Shibahara
HR: Yoshioka (8), Kawaguchi (3), Kokubo (17)
RBI: Kawaguchi 2, Yoshioka 2, Kokubo, P. Valdez 2
HBP: Yoshioka (Matsu)
GIDP: Isobe
LOB: Kintetsu 8, Daiei 5

Season Series: Kintetsu 6, Daiei 7, 1 tie

Game Time: 3:43
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Kakigizono (HP), Sato (1B), Maeda (2B), Kodera (3B)

Wada Homer in the Eighth Vanquishes Nippon Ham 4-3

     Seibu Lions DH Kazuhiro Wada sustained a hairline knee fracture ealier this season and made a speedy recovery. Saturday, he fractured a pitch from Nippon Ham reliever Kato in the eighth and landed it beyond the centerfield wall to break a 3-3 tie to enable the Lions to break a little two game losing streak and seize the day at 4-3.

     Nippon Ham got on the board in the bottom of the first, as shortstop Makoto Kaneko leadoff with a single to right, was sacrificed to second, went to third when Seibu starter Takashi Ishii walked the next two men to load the bases, rightfielder Yukio Tanaka lofted a sac fly to right and leftfielder D.T. Cromer singled to center to plate first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara for a 2-0 Fighters lead.

     Nippon Ham starter Satoru Kanemura, who otherwise had a very credible outing, didn't hold that advantage long. With one out in the second, leftfielder Susumu Otomo singled to left. One out later, catcher Satoshi Nakajima singled to center.Kanemura wild pitched both men up a base. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi singled to left and both runners scurried around to knot it 2-2.

     Kanemura then left a hittable pitch in the strike zone to third baseman Tom Evans in the fourth to left and it was 3-2 Lions.

     However, Seibu starter Takashi Ishii, who has been out until recently with an injury and hasn't won in more than two months, saw one of his pitches brutalized by Cromer, the ball clattering around the leftfield seats to deadlock it at 3-3.

     Kanemura gave way to Tatsuhito Kato in the eighth and with one out, Wada pulled his hands inside a pitch that was about letter high in the zone and managed to get it past the centerfield fence for what was ultimately the game winner. You'll see why I said "managed" when you see the photo of Wada's swing on the longball. The pitch had gotten on him, but he got the head of the bat on it and still had enough batspeed left to goose it out of the park: http://www.nikkansports.com/news/baseball/bb-020630-1.jpg
 
     For Nippon Ham, DH Sherman Obando was 1-3 with a walk and is at .244. Cromer was 2-3 with two RBIs and a walk and is at .272.

     For Seibu, Evans was 2-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .328.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Takashi Ishii (W, 3-1)   IP 7.0 PC 106 H 7 HR 1 K 5 BB 5 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.78
Doi                                   IP 0.1 PC     5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.04
Mori                                 IP 0.2 PC    7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.69
Toyoda (S, 12)               IP 1.0 PC   10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.72

Nippon Ham:

Kanemura                  IP 6.0 PC 113 H 8 HR 1 K 7 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.62
T. Kato (L, 0-1)         IP 1.1 PC   22 H 1 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.20
Shibakusa                  IP 1.0 PC  13 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.30
N. Takahashi             IP 0.2 PC    9 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.71

SB: K. Matsui, Shibata
2B: Evans, Ide
HR: Evans (6), Wada (9), Cromer (13)
RBI: Evans, Wada, H. Takagi 2, Cromer 2, Y. Tanaka
WP: Kanemura
LOB: Seibu 7, Nippon Ham 8

Season Series: Seibu 9, Nippon Ham 5

Game Time: 3:23
Attendance: 25,000
Umpires: Yamamoto (HP), Yanagida (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Akimura (3B)

Tachikawa Slam Paves Way for Bombardment of Koo, Kase in Lotte Victory

     Lotte rightfielder Takashi Tachikawa basically took over what had been a 2-1 ballgame in the sixth inning Saturday at Chiba Marine Stadium, smashing a grand slam in the sixth and a solo bomb in the seventh for a total of five RBIs on the day, as the home team administered a 7-3 defeat to Koo Dae-sung and the Orix Blue Wave 7-3. The four earned runs that Koo was charged with in his five inning stint "inflated" his ERA from 1.57 to 1.86 and evened his record at 4-4. Furthermore, it pulled Lotte out of last place in the PL for the first time this season and ended a personal three game losing skein by starter Naoyuki Shimizu.

     Lotte ended a 14 inning scoreless streak against Koo in the bottom of the second, as third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba bashed one into the leftfield seats to make it 1-0.

     Orix charged back in the fourth, however,. shortstop Makoto Shiozaki pinged a one out double off the leftfield wall and then jogged all the way around on a belt into the leftfield stands from centerfielder Koji Takamizawa and it was 2-1 Blue Wave.

     The sixth, though, was Tachikawa's, and thus Lotte's. Centerfielder Saburo Omura leadoff with an infield hit. Shortstop Makoto Kosaka came up and when he swung, Orix catcher Takeshi Hidaka was called for interference and Kosaka was awarded first base. Koo walked first baseman Kazuya Fukuura to pack the sacks. Koo ran an 0-2 slider on the inner half of the plate up there and Tachikawa crushed it to left for his first pro grand slam and it was 5-2 Lotte.

     In the seventh, Lotte used the deep ball again, as Fukuura homered into the rightfield seats with two outs and then Tachikawa made it back to back jacks with a shot to left to expand the gap between them and Orix to 7-2. Tachikawa has hit in all four of the games in which he has been slotted in the four hole.

     Orix put men on first and second in the eighth with nobody out, but couldn't even advance the runners. Lotte reliever Hiroyuki Kobayashi struckout the side in the ninth, but not before being mugged for a solo sock to left by leftfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani and that's how it ended, 7-3 Lotte.

     For Orix, DH Fernando Seguignol took home a golden sombrero (four times up, four strikeouts) and is at .218. Third baseman Scott Sheldon was only slightly less dire, throwing in three empties in four hitless at bats to sink to .220.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Koo (L, 4-4)        IP 5.0 PC 88 H 6 HR 2 K 3 BB 1 R 5 ER 4 ERA 1.86
Tokano               IP 1.1 PC 21 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.01
Kase                    IP 0.1 PC 12 H 3 HR 2 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.50
Hagiwara            IP 1.1 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.40

Lotte:

N. Shimizu (W, 5-4 )  IP 8.0 PC 132 H 7 HR 1 K 9 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.26
H. Kobayashi            IP 1.0 PC   13 H 1 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00

2B: Shiotani, Shiozaki
HR: Takamizawa (3), Shiotani (3), Hatsushiba (8), Tachikawa 2 (3), Fukuura (3)
RBI: Takamizawa 2, Shiotani, Hatsushiba, Tachikawa 5, Fukuura
Catcher's Interference: Hidaka
LOB: Orix 6, Lotte 5

Season  Series: Orix 7, Lotte 5

Game Time: 2:57
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Tachibana (HP), Hirabayashi (1B), Yamazaki (2B), Sakaemura (3B)

Kanemoto Three Run Homer Puts Dragons Away 10-4

     Hiroshima Carp leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto capped off a six run fifth inning rally by jackhammering a pitch from Chunichi Dragons starter Takashi Ogasawara into the rightfield seats at Nagoya Dome with two men on, as the Red Hell went on to amass a total of 12 hits in a 10-4 cakewalk over the darlings of Aichi Prefecture Saturday. Ken Takahashi was strong for the visitors, weaving seven innings of two run ball on eight hits and striking out six to level his record at 6-6.

     The Dragons got the jump on the Carp, when catcher Motonobu Tanishige dialed Ibaraki 6-5000 on Takahashi for a 1-0 lead in the third.

     Ogasawara had been sailing along for the first four innings, having been touched for just two hits, one an infield safety, but then he capsized in the fifth. Rightfielder Kojiro Machida leadoff with single to center. Third baseman Takahiro Arai singled to right and catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura singled to left to juice the bags. One out later, centerfielder Koichi Ogata walked to force in the tying run. Takuya Kimura singled to right for two RBIs. After another out, Kanemoto put one in the no deposit, no return section in right and it was 6-1 Carp.

     In the bottom of the sixth, Chunichi chipped one off of that lead with a double to right by rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome, a one out infield hit by second baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami and a sac fly to right by third baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe to make it 6-2.

     Hiroshima saw that one and raised them another three in the seventh. Ogata commenced it with a single to left. Shortstop Takuya Kimura walked. One out later, Kanemoto worked a freebie to fill the bases. First baseman Luis Lopez cleared them when he tripled to center and then he was back in the dugout himself on a single to center by backup rightfielder Jun Hirose and it was a blowout at 10-2 Carp.

     The Dragons put up a pair in the eighth, but it would be too little, too late. Fukudome leadoff with a double down the leftfield line. First baseman Leo Gomez walked. Tatsunami then lasered a double into the rightcenter alley and both men sprinted in to make it 10-4.

     Chunichi squeeked out two infield hits in the ninth, but that was the last of what they had and Rob Stanifer turned out the lights when he induced a ground ball from Fukudome for the final out of the battle.

     For Hiroshima, Lopez was 1-4 with three RBIs and is at .263. Second baseman Eddie Diaz was 0-3 with a walk and is at .313.

     For Chunichi, Gomez was 0-3 and is at .269. Scott Bullet was 0-1 in a pinch hitting appearance and is at .192.
 

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

K. Takahashi  (W, 6-6)  IP 7.0 PC 118 H 8 HR 1 K 6 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.27
Tamaki                             IP 1.0 PC  21 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.75
Stanifer                            IP 1.0 PC  16 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.02

Chunichi:

T. Ogasawara (L, 5-3)     IP 5.0 PC 91 H 7 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 6 ER 6 ERA 3.34
Kuriyama                          IP 2.0 PC 58 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 18.00
Ochiai                               IP 1.0 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.45
Gaillard                             IP 1.0 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.57

E: Arai
2B: Fukudome 2, Tatsunami
3B: Lopez
HR: Kanemoto (10), Tanishige (11)
RBI: Kanemoto 3, Lopez 3, T. Kimura 2, Hirose, Ogata, Tanishige, H.Y. Watanabe, Tatsunami 2
SF: H.Y. Watanabe
HBP: Diaz (T. Ogasawara)
GIDP: Lopez,.T. Kimura, Haru, Ibata
LOB: Hiroshima 5, Chunichi 8

Season Series: Hiroshima 9, Chunichi 6

Game Time: 3:26
Attendance: 38,000
Umpires: Suginaga (HP), Honda (1B), Fukatani (2B), Ino (3B)

Wada's 181 Pitch CG Leads Japanese Collegians to Victory

     Waseda University southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada went all 11 innings Saturday at Harbor Yard Stadium in Bridgeport, CT in a 4-3 sayonara victory to even the series with a team of American university all stars at one all.

     Wada started the game by striking out both of the first two men he faced and amassed nine K's total while permitting three runs, all before the fifth. After that, he started using his breaking pitches more and shut the U.S. attack down over the final six innings.

     Dodgers scout Ron Ridge is quoted by Sports Nippon as stating that Wada "he uses his off speed pitches really well. If Ishii is an attacking type pitcher, Wada is a brains type pitcher."

     Whan asked about Wada delivering to the plate so many times in the game, U.S. manager Prado (?)  said, "unbelievable. I've never seen a pitcher go all the way in an extra inning game. If I left a pitcher out there that long, I'd get sued. Since he threw so long, we won't have to face him again, right?" the skipper joked.

Female Pitcher Makes Start on Mound in Japanese Club Tournament

     Tomomi Yamamoto, a 25 year old lefthander, started on the mound for DTJ Fukuoka against the Oita Hercules, each Kyushu club teams, in a tournament of Kyushu adult baseballers, the first time that has been done in the history of Japanese adult amateur baseball, according to Nikkan Sports.

     Yamamoto is a graduate of Kyushu Women's Junior College who has played for a woman's professional baseball team in the U.S. called the Florida Regents as well as U.S. semi-pro ball. Stuffwise, she has a 66mph fastball and a curve ball. Physically, she is 5'1" with a regular female build. You can see a pic of her at: http://www.nikkansports.com/news/baseball/bb-020630-9.jpg

     In the above mentioned start, she faced seven men and got one out while walking two and giving up a three run homer during a six run shelling on 17 pitches before being yanked in a 22-0 defeat.

It's Like Ichiro Never Left

     With making it in the big leagues like he has, Ichiro is becoming almost omnipresent back home in Japan. See Seattle Times story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/134485024_ichiro30.html

Quote of the Week

     Larry Stone of the Seattle Times in his weekly MLB power rankings on number 28 out of 30 Milwaukee Brewers: "All the accumen of WorldCom, the vision of Enron." Obviously, THAT Bud is not for him. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/134484963_power30.html

Kindelan Cranks 420 Foot Homer in Shidax Victory

     Former Cuban national team member Orestes Kindelan slugged an eighth inning two run homer deep into the leftfield seats at Seibu Dome for Shidax against Tokyo Gas Saturday to bring his club from a run back to one ahead, as Shidax won the day 6-5. That was his first longball since coming to the club, which is in Japan's industrial league.

     Kindelan's side was won 4-3 in the eighth, but with two down and a man on first, he got a 1-0 fastball down and on the inner half of the plate and mashed a towering drive 420 feet away from home plate. He also had an RBI single to accompany the dinger.

     Kindelan was a .313 career hitter in Cuba with 487 homers and 1511 RBIs and industrial league officials are hoping that his presence will generate more interest in their product.

     After the game was over, Kindelan spent time with fans, signing autographs and having his picture taken. There is also talk of having him do clinics for little leaguers.

     Another Cuban player, Antonio Pacheco, went 0-4 and is 0 for Japan so far.

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report is for June 29th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1946, Nippon Kangyo Bank sold lottery tickets where the winners would win ducats to a Yomiuri Giants game at Korakuen Stadium.

     Also on this date in 1952, the Daiei Stars were victimized by two triple plays in a game against the Mainichi Orions at Kawasaki Stadium, the only time one team has ever suffered that indignity in the same contest. The Stars were later merged with the Orions and the club became known as the Daimai Orions.

Yokohama Knows When to Holt 'em and Hanshin Does the Folding

     By the time you've read this, Hanshin Tigers starter Shinji Taninaka will be a reliever, since he got demoted after this abortion of a start in which he went just four innings and surrendered six runs, all earned, on eight hits, three of those homers, as Yokohama Bay Stars starter Chris Holt, who was just good enough to get credit for the win, was able to make it to the end of the seventh inning and handed the Tigers their eighth straight defeat, the first time in two years they had dropped so many consecutively. The Central League race is now so tight that the Osaka nine is in danger of sinking to fifth place if they don't improve things pronto.

     Taninaka put the Stars lineup away in order in the first, but couldn't surmount centerfielder Ernie Young in the top of the second, as the former Diamondback took a slow curve and blowed it up real good into the leftfield seats for a 1-0 Yokohama lead.

     Hanshin equalized it in their ups in the same stanza, first baseman George Arias beating out a tapper toward third, going to second on a groundout and coming around on a broken bat first pitch single by centerfielder Osamu Hamanaka to make it 1-1. That was Hamanaka's first non-homer RBI in 15 games.

     Taninaka then had some control issues in the third. With two away, second baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to center and first baseman Takahiro Saeki singled to left. Young walked to pack the sacks. And so did rightfielder Boi Rodrigues, to force in Taneda and it was 2-1 Yokohama.

     The Tigers managed to overcome that obstacle, too, when their turn came. Taninaka singled to right and was sacrificed to second. One out later, third baseman Atsushi Kataoka singled to center and Taninaka crossed with the leveler at 2-2.

     The Stars, perhaps weary of that routine, put the game away in the fourth. Hitoshi Tamura leadoff with a blast into the centerfield seats. Catcher Takeshi Nakamura singled to right. Holt moved him with a sac bunt. One out later, Taneda beat out a little ground ball toward short. Saeki stepped up and got a little slider, little because it didn't have much break on it and was in a decent location, but Saeki got it all anyway and lost it in the rightfield stands for a three run homer and a 6-2 Yokohama advantage.

     Holt was shaken down again in the home half. Hamanaka cracked a one out single to left. Leftfielder Derrick White launched his first homer in 113 at bats and 36 games, delighting some lucky fan in the leftfield bleachers to bring his team within 6-4. Hanshin wouldn't do a thing with Holt from there on in except for a double to leftcenter from second baseman Makoto Imaoka in the seventh with two out. Imaoka was stranded when Holt whiffed catcher Akihiro Yano to end the inning, the score now 6-4.

     In the sixth, Yokohama grabbed an insurance run when shortstop Takuro Ishii walked and was sacrificed to second, Saeki walked, Young was hit with a pitch to crowd the basepaths again and Rodrigues flied out to right to plate Ishii and make it 7-4 Stars.

     Hanshin got a one out double from Arias with one gone in the eighth, but Hiyama struckout and Hamanaka lined to third to extinguish that threat and then Yokohama closer Takashi Saito struckout the side in the ninth to save it.

     Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto, who struckout twice in three hitless trips to go down to .189, was demoted to the minors. Manager Senichi Hoshino was reportedly especially upset with a mental error that Fujimoto made in being tardy to cover second in the sixth. Accompanying Fujimoto on the bus to the minors was White, who has been in a long slide at the plate.

     The Hanshin offense hasn't generated a lead in 59 innings and the opposition has gotten in front first in 12 of the club's 16 June confrontations.

     For Yokohama, Young was 1-3 with an RBI, a walk and an HBP and is at .184. Rodrigues was 1-2 with two RBIs and two walks and is at .269. For fans of Holt, you can see a pic of his delivery at:
http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/image/062905horutoOS165628_b.jpg

     For Hanshin, Arias was 2-4 and is at .273. White was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .258.

Pitching Lines:

Yokohama:

Holt (W, 3-1)        IP 7.0 PC 89 H 7 HR 1 K 7 BB 0 R 4 ER 3 ERA 2.39
Takeshita              IP 0.2 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.52
Azuma                   IP 0.1 PC   1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.46
T. Saito (S, 12)     IP 1.0 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.70

Hanshin:

Taninaka (L, 4-5)    IP 4.0 PC 83 H 8 HR 3 K 4 BB 2 R 6 ER 6 ERA 4.27
Yoshino                   IP 0.0 PC   4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hesaka                     IP 1.0 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T.H. Hashimoto      IP 0.1 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 33.75
Kanazawa               IP 1.2 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.55
Fukuhara                IP 2.0 PC 31 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.42

E: Young, Ogawa
2B: Imaoka, Arias
HR: Young (5), Tamura (1), Saeki (1), White (7)
RBI: Young, Tamura, Saeki 3, Rodrigues 2, Kataoka, Hamanaka, White 2
SF: Rodrigues
WP: Fukuhara
HBP: Young (Kanazawa), Hamanaka (Holt)
Balk: Holt
LOB: Yokohama 9, Hanshin 5

Season Series: Yokohama 4, Hanshin 10

Game Time: 3:22
Attendance: 35,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), Tani (2B), Yoshimoto (3B)

Kaneko Sayonara  Single Downs Seibu 2-1

     Seibu Lions starter Koji Mitsui and Nippon Ham moundsman Itsuki Shoda were both excellent Friday at Tokyo Dome, each permitting one run on four and three hits respectively, but neither figured in the decision, which went to Fighters reliever Hiroshi Shibakusa when shortstop Makoto Kaneko sinngled to center in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded for a 2-1 sayonara victory at the expense of Shinji Mori, who absorbed his fifth loss.

     An error by second baseman Takaya Hayashi made the lone Lions run possible. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui leadoff the game with a two bagger up the leftcenter alley. One out later, first baseman  Toshiaki Inubushi grounded to Hayashi, who let it get through him, and Matsui wheeled on in for a 1-0 advantage.

     Nippon Ham then would capitalize on a mistake from Mitsui to knot it up. With one out in the sixth, Mistui nailed rightfielder Kazuteru Shimada, who was then pinch run for by Morimoto, who proceeded to steal second while third baseman Yukio Tanaka was striking out. Toshihiro Noguchi was then sent up to hit for leftfielder D.T. Cromer, who had struckout in his two at bats up to that point. Noguchi singled to left and Morimoto dashed in to make it 1-1.

     Nothing happened after that until the bottom of the ninth. Tanaka walked to lead it off and was pinch run for by Shigeyuki Furuki. Noguchi, now in rightfield, bunted. Mori attempted to get Furuki at second and failed, both men reaching safely. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide sacrificed Furuki and Noguchi to third and second. Pinch hitter Kuniyuki Kimoto was intentionally walked to set up a force at every base. Kaneko got a 2-2 hanging forkball and spanked it into leftcenter for his second sayonara knock of the year. It also put Nippon Ham back at .500.

     For Seibu, third baseman Tom Evans was 1-3 with a walk and is at .317.

     For Nippon Ham, DH Sherman Obando was 1-3 with a walk and is at .243. Cromer had the two whiffs in two at bats and is at .267.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Mitsui                  IP 7.2 PC 132 H 4 HR 0 K 10 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.55
Aoki                     IP 0.1 PC     8 H 1 HR 0 K  1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.21
Mori (L, 3-5 )       IP 0.1 PC  25 H 1 HR 0 K  0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.72

Nippon Ham:

Shoda                          IP 8.0 PC 139 H 3 HR 0 K 7 BB 2 R 1 ER 0 ERA 2.21
Shibakusa (W, 1-1)   IP 1.0 PC    18 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50

E: Hayashi, Sanematsu
SB: Morimoto
2B: K. Matsui, Evans, Hayashi, Kaneko
RBI: Kaneko, Noguchi
IBB: Kimoto
Catcher's Interference: Sanematsu
HBP: H. Takagi (Shoda), Kaneko (Mitsui), Shimada (Mitsui)
GIDP: Wada
LOB: Seibu 7, Nippon Ham 10

Season Series: Seibu 8, Nippon Ham 5

Game Time: 3:23
Attendance: 14,000
Umpires: Higashi (HP), Akimura (1B), Yamamoto (2B), Kawaguchi (3B)

Takahashi Gets First Career June Win as Giants Edge Swallows 4-3

     They say that all good things come to an end at one time or another. Well, sometimes, so do some bad things. Friday at a packed Meiji Jingu Stadium, despite being lit up for one of Yakult Swallows first baseman Roberto Petagine's two homers, Yomiuri Giants starter Hisanori Takahashi grabbed his first career June win by taking a 4-3 decision over their crosstown rival Swallows. Takahashi, who, after a dismal spring, has been little short of spectacular once the bell rang, is now 6-1. He went 6.1 innings and surrendered five hits and one earned run.

     The Giants got busy from the word go, as leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu belted a double to leftcenter to begin the game and then galloped around on a scorcher up the rightcenter alley from shortstop Tomohiro Nioka off of Swallows starter Shugo Fujii. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked. Centerfielder Hideki Matsui put the good wood on another Fujii delivery, but it was right at rightfielder Shinichi Sato for the first out. First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara then spanked a single to center and Nioka was back in the dugout with a 2-0 Giants lead.One out later, second baseman Toshihisa Nishi cannonaded a triple into the rightcenter gap and Kiyohara and Takahashi were in uncontested and the Giants had a whopping 4-0 advantage.

     Fortunately for Yakult, Fujii, who saw his pitches reaching the plate up in the zone in that disastrous initial frame, made some immediate adjustments and shut the Kyojin attack down on one hit during the remainder of his seven inning stint and waited in the hope that his side could mount a comeback. In the fourth, Petagine brought some major pain to a Takahashi  offering and went to leftcenter anjd over the fence to make it 4-1 Giants.

     Takahashi was saling along, working the outside corner and then finishing the hitters off with his sinker until the seventh, when leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to left to lead it off. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura walked. Second baseman Hajime Miki grounded out. Manager Tatsunori Hara went to the mound and pulled Takahashi in favor of Jeon Min-tae when Takahiro Ikeyama was sent up by Swallows manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu to hit for Fujii. Ikeyama walked to put the tying run on first. But centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka flew out to shallow center and shortstop Shinya Miyamoto bounced out to Jeon to snuff a promising rally.

     In the eighth, Petagine went yard again, this time to left and it was 4-2.

     Junichi Kawahara came on in the bottom of the ninth to try to close it out and Iwamura welcomed him with a solo jack to center. Now each hitter would be the potential leveler, but the next three batter went meekly and the Swallows lost another game in the standings.

     Kiyohara was hit by a pitch from Yakult reliever Ryu Kawabata in the eighth and suffered a bruise on his left pinky, but isn't expected to miss any playing time.

     Yakult catcher Atsuya Furuta was 0-3 in this one against Takahashi and is now 0-31 in his career against him.

     Petagine has slugged two homers in a game 13 times in his four seasons in Japan. His single season high in that department is six, which he accomplished in 1999. He also has 33 lifetime bombs off of Giants hurlers.

     For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-4 and is at .320. Petagine was 2-3 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .302.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:
H. Takahashi (W, 6-1) IP 6.1 PC 112 H 5 HR 1 K 7 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.11
Jeon                               IP 1.2 PC   19 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
J. Kawahara (S, 13)     IP 1.0 PC   14 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25

Yakult:

Fujii (L, 5-3)          IP 7.0 PC 102 H 5 HR 0 K 8 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 2.50
Hagiwara              IP 0.1 PC      6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.65
Matsuda               IP 0.1 PC   12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kawabata             IP 1.0 PC   18 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.77
Newman               IP 0.1 PC     4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.71

2B: T. Shimizu, Nioka, S. Miyamoto
3B: Nishi
HR: Petagine 2 (17), Iwamura (8), Nioka, Kiyohara, Nishi 2
RBI: Petagine 2, Iwamura,
HBP: Kiyohara (Kawabata)
LOB: Yomiuri 6, Yakult 7

Season Series: Yomiuri 8, Yakult 7

Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 43,000
Umpires: Watada (HP), Kasahara (1B), Kiuchi (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)

Hiroshima Keeps Dragons from Taking Sole Possession of Third 8-7

     For the first time in 11 games, the Hiroshima Carp batting order generated double figures in hits, tying their season high with 15, as they went on to edge the Chunichi Dragons 8-7 at Nagoya Dome Friday. Dragons third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami drilled a grand slam homer and drove in a total of seven runs to account for all of that outfit's tallies. The loss was Chunichi's 16th one run defeat of the year.

     Centerfielder Koichi Ogata gave an indication that Chunichi starter Kenta Asakura, who hasn't won a game since May 19th, didn't have his best stuff, as the veteran outfielder leadoff the contest with a shot into the leftcenterfield bleachers. Two outs later, leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto lofted another delivery over the centerfield wall and it was 2-0 Carp.

     Yasushi Tsuruta started for the Carp and wouldn't get past the first inning, as shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to left and Hiroyuki Watanabe beat out a roller toward short. Kosuke Fukudome singled to right to pack the sacks. One out later, Tatsunami unloaded bigtime on a forkball to touch 'em all to right and it was 4-2 Dragons. That was the sixth granny of Tatsunami's career, tying him for third on the all time list in that category for the Dragons. The club record is eight, by the great Shinichi Etoh. You can see a pic of the swing at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/image/062907tatunamiOS113628_b.jpg

     Ogata would pop in again in the second, however, to rectify that situation. Itsuki Asai leadoff with a single to right and third baseman Takahiro Arai singled to left. A strikeout and a groundout later, Ogata kissed the leftfield fence to usher in both runners and it was 4-4.

     Chunichi would surge out to another lead, though, on another Tatsunami extra base hit in the home portion. With one out, Ibata doubled to leftcenter. Watanabe walked. One out later, first baseman Leo Gomez also finagled a free pass to juice the bags. Tatsunami then whizzed a shot into the leftcenter alley and all the way to the wall, everyone scoring while Tatsunami went into second standing up to pull the Dragons in front 7-4.

     Masahiro Yamamoto was called in for the Dragons and he got rocked. Kanemoto commenced the fourth with a single to right. First baseman Luis Lopez singled to left. Both men were sacrificed along. Arai then mashed a Yamamoto pitch off the centerfield wall to plate Kanemoto. Why Lopez didn't score is beyond me. Maybe he thought the ball would be caught? Anyway, it was academic, as catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura, who owns the Dragons pitching staff, singled to right to push Lopez in and it was a one run ballgame at 7-6.

     In the top of the fifth,  Arai this time got it over the fence in leftcenter and it was knotted at 7-7.

     Kimura was then big in the clutch to enable the Carp to prevail. In the top of the seventh, Kanemoto doubled to leftcenter and went to third on groundout. Kojiro Machida walked. One out later, Kimura took a fastball on the outer half of the plate and went with it to right and Kanemoto trotted in with the 8-7 lead.

     Kobayashi struckout the side in the eighth and closer Yasuhiro Oyamada retired the last three of four men he saw in the ninth and it was all done.

     Kimura is 15-32 against the Dragons this year, a .652 clip.

     For Chunichi, leftfielder Scott Bullet was 0-4 and is at .194. Gomez was 0-2 with two walks and two strikeouts and is at .272.

     For Hiroshima, Lopez was 1-4 and is at .264. Second baseman Eddie Diaz was was 0-5 and is at .318.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Tsuruta                           IP 1.0 PC 39 H 6 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.82
Tomabechi                      IP 1.0 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 7.18
Hiroike                            IP 3.0 PC 35 H 0 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.07
K. Kobayashi (W, 3-2) IP 3.0 PC 42 H 1 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.05
Oyamada (S, 16)            IP 1.0 PC 18 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.25

Chunichi:

Asakura                  IP 2.0 PC 44 H 5 HR 2 K 1 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.01
M. Yamamoto         IP 0.1 PC 10 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.92
Endo                        IP 1.2 PC 20 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.34
Yaguchi                  IP 2.0 PC 36 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
Yamakita (L, 0-2)   IP 2.0 PC 31 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.96
Kito                         IP 1.0 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.62

E: Kito
2B: Ogata, Arai, Kanemoto, Tanishige, Tatsunami, Morino, Ibata
HR: Ogata (10), Kanemoto (9), Arai (14), Tatsunami (8)
RBI: Ogata 3, Kanemoto, Arai 2, K. Kimura 2, Tatsunami 7
LOB: Hiroshima 9, Chunichi 5

Season Series: Hiroshima 8, Chunichi 6

Game Time: 3:50
Attendance: 32,500
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), Fukatani (1B), Ino (2B), Suginaga (3B)

Kokubo Slam Leads Hawks Past Buffaloes 5-2

     Daiei Hawks starter Kenichi Wakatabe held the Kintetsu Buffaloes to two runs on seven hits and third baseman Hiroki Kokubo creamed a breaking ball from Hisashi Iwakuma to power the Kyushu nine to a 5-2 victory Friday at Fukuoka Dome. Wakatabe also went all the way, something the beleaguered Hawks rotation hasn't been able to do in quite some time.

     Kintetsu took a temporary lead in the third, as centerfielder Naoyuki Omura had a little fly ball double to left and, one out later, went plateward on a single to right by leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes to make it 1-0.

     Daiei reacted by burying the Buffs in their ups in the same stanza. DH Noriyoshi Omichi leadoff with a double to rightcenter and went to third on a groundout. One out later, centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara doubled to leftcenter for the tying run. Leftfielder Pedro Valdez walked. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was then hit by a 1-2 pitch to load the bases. Kokubo dug in and pasted whatever Iwakuma ran up to the plate, the ball a real cruise missile that landed in the second deck in left just inside the foul pole for the grand salami and the 800th bases loaded roundtripper in Pacific League history. Oh, and the Hawks were sitting pretty at 5-1. The all star third baseman now has six total grannies. You can see a pic of the finish on Kokubo's swing at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/image/062908kokuboOS112628_b.jpg Too, that was the first bases loaded ding dong Iwakuma has surrendered in his three pro seasons.

     In the sixth, Kintetsu combined a leadoff double by third baseman Norihiro Nakamura and a two out single to right by Koichi Isobe to make it 5-2. Wakatabe then rendered the Buffs hitless and this one was soon in the books. It was also Daiei manager Sadaharu Oh's 1000th lifetime game as the Hawks' field boss. In that position, he is 496-489-15.

     For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .281.

     For Daiei, Valdez was 0-2 with two walks and is at .279

Pitching Lines:

Kintetsu:

Iwakuma (L, 4-4)   IP 3.2 PC 55 H 5 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 3.28
Yoshida                 IP 0.2 PC   7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08
Takamura              IP 2.2 PC 43 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.36
Johnson                IP 1.0 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00

Daiei:

Wakatabe (W, 4-0)    IP 9.0 PC 128 H 7 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.55

SB: Matsunaka, Torigoe
2B: N. Nakamura, N. Omura, Omichi, Shibahara, Matsunaka
HR: Kokubo (16)
RBI: Rhodes, Yoshioka, Shibahara, Kokubo 4
HBP: M. Abe (Wakatabe), Iguchi (Iwakuma)
LOB: Kintetsu 7, Daiei 5

Season Series: Kintetsu 5, Daiei 7

Game Time: 2:47
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Yoshikawa (HP), Kodera (1B), Kakigizono (2B), Maeda (3B)

Ono, Kobayashi Combine for Three Hit Shutout Against Orix

     Chiba Lotte Marines starter Shingo Ono was able to consistently keep the ball in on Orix Blue Wave hitters to finally get into the victory column this season, twirling eight outstanding innings of shutout ball on three hits, as he bested an excellent outing from Orix Blue Wave starter Ed Yarnell 2-0. Masahide Kobayashi saved it in the ninth to bring it to a close. Lotte second baseman Koichi Hori drove in both runs with a two out two run single to left off of a first pitch slider from Yarnell in the first for the only scores Ono required to get the job done.

      For Orix, first baseman Fernando Seguignol was 0-3 and is at .224. Third baseman Scott Sheldon was 0-3 and is at .224.

     For Lotte, outfielder Derrick May did not play.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Yarnell (L, 4-8)    IP 7.0 PC 122 H 4 HR 0 K 7 BB 6 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.76
Kawagoe             IP 1.0 PC   9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.03

Lotte:

S. Ono (W, 1-3)             IP 8.0 PC 101 H 3 HR 0 K 5 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.29
M. Kobayashi (S, 13)   IP 1.0 PC     3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.53

RBI: Hori 2
HBP: Iyoda
GIDP: Takamizawa
LOB: Orix 4, Lotte 7

Season Series: Orix 7, Lotte 4

Game Time: 2:30
Attendance: 11,000
Umpires: Nakamura (HP), Yamazaki (1B), Sakaemura (2B), Tachibana (3B)

If You Just Can't Get Enough of Ichiro

     The Seattle Times has added a section devoted to Ichiro with photos, a trivia quiz, and archived articles. Just point your browser to: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sports/mariners/spotlight/ichiro/

Japanese College All Stars Lose First Game of Five with U.S. Collegians

     A Japanese all star team facing off  in a five game series with a similarly composed U.S. nine, went down to a 6-1 defeat Saturday in the opener, this one played at Ripken Field in Aberdeen, Maryland. Tokai University hurler Yuya Kubo, who may go as a low first rounder in the November draft, started and gave up  three runs in five innings to accept blame for the loss. The lone Japanese tally came on a sac fly, as they managed just three hits.

     Kubo, who hit a high of 91mph on the radar gun, allowed just one hit in the first four innings, but defensive breakdowns lead to the three runs he was charged with ijn the fifth and the Japanese couldn't mount a counterattack. They did get a chance, though, to play in front of about ten major league scouts.

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report is for June 28th, and on that date in Japanese basebal history in 1965, Hanshin Tigers rightyander Gene Bacque became the first foreign hurler to toss a no hitter in Japan when he victimized Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima and the rest of the Yomiuri Giants lineup at Koshien Stadium in a 7-0 Tigers victory. Bacque pitched for eight seasons in Japan, going 100-80 with a 2.34 ERA. His best season was in 1964, when he was 29-9 with four shutouts and a 1.89 ERA in 353.1 innings, winning both the ERA title and a Sawamura Award.

     Also on the that date in 1977, the head of a privately organized Yomiuri Giants cheering section raped a woman and was arrested.

     Also on that date in 1950,. Yomiuri Giants hurler Hideo Fujimoto threw the first perfect game in Japanese history against Nishi Nihon Pirates (later merged with the Nishitetsu Clippers, who changed their names to the Lions) in a 4-0 win at Aomori. Fujimoto went 26-1 with a 2.64 ERA that season, with 33 complete games, six of them shutouts in 360.1 innings. Fujmoto was a little guy, only 5'7" and 145 pounds soaking wet. You can review Fujimoto's illustrious career at the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hanshin Loses Seventh Straight to Yokohama 2-1

     Daisuke Miura was brilliant again for the Yokohama Bay Stars Thursday at Osaka Dome, going all the way and allowing the Hanshin Tigers one run on seven hits while striking out a career best tying 12. He didn't get much run support, as his club's offense only put two first inning runs on the board and then couldn't get anything else going against Tigers starter Kei Igawa, but it was nonetheless good enough and the Osaka favorite sons went down to defeat for the seventh straight game.

     Yokohama got their only tallies of the contest in a rally started by shortstop Takuro Ishii's 0-2 single to center and subsequent steal of second. After Ishii was sacrificed to third, leftfielder Takanori Suzuki was plunked with an Igawa pitch and he stole second. One out later, rightfielder Boi Rodrigues drilled a ball up the leftcenter alley and both Ishii and Suzuki crossed to make it 2-0 Yokohama.

     Hanshin had a chance to at least chip a run off that lead in the bottom of the inning, but first baseman George Arias killed that opportunity. Second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to center to begin things. Shortstop Shuta Tanaka sacrificed him along. Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka, celebrating his 33rd birthday, then legged out a tapper. That brought up Arias, who tried to pull something he shouldn't have and rolled into a 4-6-3 double play and that was the end of the uprising.

     Igawa got into trouble for the final time in the game in the fifth, when he surrendered a one out single to center by Hitoshi Taneda, who then went to third on a two out double off the leftfield wall by centerfielder Ernie Young. Rodrigues, however, grounded to first and Igawa put it in cruise control until leaving upon the conclusion of the eighth.

     Hanshin then got its sole score of the game when centerfielder Osamu Hamanaka homered to left on a first pitch hanging forkball from Miura in the home portion and it was 2-1 Yokohama.

     Miura, who was clocked at a high of 91mph, was touched for two singles from then on until the ninth, when Kataoka leadoff with a screamer into the leftcenter alley for a double and went to third on a groundout. With a chance to deadlock it, though, rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama fanned and pinch hitter Hiroshi Yagi came up empty on an 86mph fastball and that was the ballgame.

     Of Hanshin's twelve losses this month, five have been by one run. And they are 1-5 in one run ballgames for June after taking eight of 12 such close matches in May.

     By contrast, Yokohama, who couldn't by a victory the first two months of the season, are now 9-6 for June.

     Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino, when he was running the Chunichi Dragons, suffered an eight game losing skein in 1990, which was his worst experience as a skipper. Hanshin has a possibility of matching that tomorrow.

     For Yokohama, Young was 2-4 with two strikeouts and is at .174. Rodrigues was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .267.

     For Hanshin, Arias was 1-4 and is at .270. Leftfielder Derrick White was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .258.

Pitching Lines:

Yokohama:

Miura (W, 4-9)       IP 9.0 PC 125 H 7 HR 1 K 12 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.81

Hanshin:

Igawa (L, 8-4)       IP 8.0 PC 122 H 6 HR 0 K 10 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.93
Kanazawa             IP 1.0 PC   11 H 0 HR 0 K   1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.73

SB: T. Ishii, Taneda, T. Suzuki, Hiyama, Hirashita
2B: Rodriguez, Taneda, Young, Kataoka
HR: Hamanaka (9)
RBI: Hamanaka, Rodrigues 2
HBP: T. Suzuki
GIDP: Saeki, Rodrigues, Arias
LOB: Yokohama 6, Hanshin 5
 
Season Series: Yokohama 3, Hanshin 10

Game Time: 2:47
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Kittaka (HP), Tani (1B), Yoshimoto (2B), Mori (3B)

Cromer Three Run Homer Ensures Fighters Victory

     Two homers by Nippon Ham leftfielder D.T. Cromer, including a critical 490 foot three run bomb in the sixth, Thursday at Tokyo Dome enabled the Fighters to carry the day against PL leading Seibu 7-5. Carlos Mirabal tied Jeremy Powell for tops in wins in the league with his eighth against three losses while Lions reliever Hayato Aoki was saddled with his first loss.

     Tom Evans continues to contribute at third base for Seibu, as in the top of the second, he followed a walk to first baseman Ken Suzuki with some yardwork in the leftfield bleachers to make it 2-0 Lions. Seibu would then load the bases with two outs, only to have centerfielder Kazuhiko Miyaji groundout to neutralize the attack.

     Nippon Ham halved that disadvantage, when Cromer went downtown with two outs in the bottom of the frame off of Lions starter Fumiya Nishiguchi and it was 2-1 Seibu.

     An inning later, Fighters first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara raked Nishiguchi for a jack over the rightcenterfield wall to knot it at 2-2.

     Seibu went back in front, though, in the fourth, when rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki scorched a double to rightcenter and scored when Miyaji's sac bunt was thrown away by catcher Kazunari Sanematsu and it was 3-2 Lions.

     Cromer, though, wouldn't allow that to stand. With Koji Onuma on the hill for Seibu in the sixth, second baseman Shigeyuki Furuki leadoff with a walk. One out later, DH Sherman Obando also worked a freebie, this time off of another reliever, Aoki, who was fresh out of the pen. Rightfielder Kazuteru Shimada singled to center to plate Furuki. Third baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto then rolled what looked like a double play ball to Hiroyuki Takagi at second, who misdirected a throw and Obando was in with the lead run. Then Cromer mashed an Aoki fastball that was up in the zone off a sign at the rear of the rightfield seats, giving him 1,000,000 yen from the sponsor of that billboard and a three run homer to make it 7-3 Fighters.You can see a pic of Cromer swingin' at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/image/062807kuroma1NK173627_b.jpg

     Seibu signalled that they weren't going to just lay down now, as Ozeki singled with one out in the seventh and then Tetsuya Kakiuchi dialed long distance on Fighters reliever Naoyuki Tateishi to contract the disparity with the Tokyo side to 7-5. That was the best Seibu had, though, and relievers Tatsuhito Kato and Tomokazu Iba, who appears to have his closer's job back, combined to suppress the Lions on one hit over the final 2.1 innings to shut the door and secure the triumph.

     Nishiguchi had complained of discomfort in his lower back before the game, but manager Haruki Ihara chose to keep him in. A stiff back makes it hard to finish your pitches properly and they will tend to come up in the strike zone, which is what happened on both of the longballs he served up.

     For Seibu, Evans was 1-4 with two RBIs and is at .317.

     For Nippon Ham, Cromer was 2-4 with four RBIs and is at .269. Obando was 0-3 with a walk and is at .242.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Nishiguchi           IP 5.0 PC 81 H 3 HR 2 K 6 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.07
Onuma                 IP 0.1 PC   9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.06
Aoki (L, 2-1)        IP 0.2 PC 29 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 4 ER 2 ERA 3.25
Mizuo                  IP 1.0 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.89
Doi                       IP 1.0 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.08

Nippon Ham:

Mirabal (W, 8-3)     IP 6.0 PC 99 H 6 HR 1 K 6 BB 2 R 3 ER 2 ERA 3.51
N. Takahashi          IP 0.1 PC   7 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 10.80
Tateishi                   IP 0.1 PC   7 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.06
T. Kato                    IP 1.1 PC 22 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.95
Iba (S, 8)                  IP 1.0 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.91

E: H. Takagi, Sanematsu
SB: Furuki
2B: Ozeki
HR: Evans (5), Kakiuchi (3), Cromer 2 (12), M. Ogasawara (20)
RBI: Kakiuchi 2, Evans 2, M. Ogasawara, Shimada, Cromer 4
LOB: Seibu 7, Nippon Ham 3

Season Series: Seibu 8, Nippon Ham 4

Game Time: 3:02
Attendance: 14,000
Umpires: Yanagida (HP), Kawaguchi (1B), Akimura (2B), Higashi (3B)

Sasaoka Outpitches Bunch 3-2

     Hiroshima ace Shinji Sasaoka and Chunichi Dragons righthander Melvin Bunch hooked up in a battle of two solid pitchers and it was the Carp veteran who prevailed when the smoke cleared, as the Red Hell beat the Dragons Thursday at Nagoya Dome for their fourth victory in a row there 3-2. The win evened Sasaoka's record at 4-4 while Bunch is now 6-5.

     Hiroshima drew first blood in the top of the second, as Itsuki Asai blodgeoned a Bunch delivery into the rightcenterfield seats to make it 1-0 visitors.

     Bunch then made the wrong decision in the third and it cost him a kuroboshi. Kenjiro Nomura leadoff the inning with a walk. Takuya Kimura laid down a sac bunt. Bunch grabbed it and fired to second, but it was not in time and now two were on and nobody out. Second baseman Eddie Diaz then finagled a walk to load the bases. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto flew out to center and Nomura tagged and hustled in with the second run while the speedy Kimura tagged up and sprinted to third. Koichi Ogata grounded to short for what should have been the last out of the inning, but instead it got Ogata an RBI and the Carp were on top of the world at 3-0.

     The Dragons labored for their initial score of the night in the fourth, as rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome beat out an infield roller for a hit to lead it off. First baseman Leo Gomez singled to center, Fukudome chugging on to third. One out later, rightfielder Kazuki Inoue grounded to short and Fukudome hit the dish to make it 3-1.

     In the seventh, the Dragons scratched out another tally when Jinno singled to center and went ot second on a groundout, and then blazed in on a single to center from Hiroyuki Watanabe and it was 3-2 Carp.

     Carp reliever got himself into a fix in the eighth, when Gomez tattooed a shot off the leftfield wall for a double. One out later, Inoue walked. But the next two men struckout to let the opportunity slip away.

     The home team then made it tense again in the ninth. With one out, shortstop Hirokazu Ibata walked off of closer Yasuhiro Oyamada. Watanabe singled to right and now the team's most dangerous hitter, Fukudome, was up. But he flew out and Masahiro Araki grounded out and it was "game setto."

     Once the game concluded, Hiroshima announced the signing of another prospect from its Dominican Academy, Natanael Mateo, a 20 year old righthanded pitcher. He is 5'11" 190 and will make in excess of $35,000. He will be assigned to the Japanese minors.

     For Hiroshima, Diaz was2-3 with a walk and is at .326.

     For Chunichi, Gomez was 2-3 with a walk and is at .275. Leftfielder Scott Bullet was 0-3 and is at .202.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Sasaoka (W, 4-4)   IP 6.2 PC 112 H 7 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.26
Tamaki                    IP 1.1 PC   27 H 1 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.13
Oyamada (S, 15)    IP 1.0 PC   14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.31

Chunichi:

Bunch (L, 6-5)     IP 7.0 PC 118 H 1 HR 1 K 6 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.11
Endo                     IP 1.0 PC   11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.54
Yamakita              IP 0.1 PC     5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.82
Kito                      IP 0.2 PC    6 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.70

2B: Kanemoto, Gomez
HR: I. Asai (2)
RBI: Kanemoto, I. Asai, Ogata, H.Y. Watanabe, Inoue
SF: Kanemoto
WP: Tamaki
GIDP: Nishiyama
LOB: Hiroshima 5, Chunichi 11

Season Series: Hiroshima 7, Chunichi 6

Game Time: 3:18
Attendance: 32,000
Umpires: Honda (HP), Ino (1B), Suginaga (2B), Arisumi (3B)

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report is for June 27th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1981, MLB players were out on strike, so a game between the Hiroshima Carp and the Yomiuri Giants from Korakuen Stadium was broadcast in the U.S.to apparently excellent ratings. I have to confess that I don't know anything about this, but that's what it says.
  

     No games scheduled.

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report would have been for June 26th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1970, Sadaharu Oh became the first man in Japanese annals to have accumulated 3,000 total bases.

June 25, 2002

Uehara Shuts Out Hiroshima 4-0

     The Yomiuri Giants maintained their stranglehold on first place Tuesday, as starter Koji Uehara escaped a big first inning jam by feeding the Hiroshima Carp lineup a steady diet of forkballs and then cruised the rest of the way by heavily utilizing a cut fastball in a 4-0 Giants victory at Sapporo Dome. Uehara is now 8-3.

     The Carp got on Uehara's case as soon as the game was under way, shortstop Kenjiro Nomura cracking a leadoff single to center and rightfielder Takuya Kimura beating out a bunt. After second baseman Eddie Diaz grounded to third to force the runner at second, leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto walked to load the bases. That's when Uehara and catcher Yoshinori Murata met and decided on the forkball strategy. It worked well, as centerfielder Koichi Ogata popped out and first baseman Itsuki Asai whiffed to kill the threat.

     Hiroshima starter Hiroki Kuroda escaped two relatively minor squeezes before giving in during the sixth. Yomiuri leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu leadoff with a triple off the rightfield wall. Shortstop Daisuke Motoki walked. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi doubled to leftcenter to send in Shimizu and Motoki. Centerfielder Hideki Matsui grounded to short, Takahashi advancing to third on the play. First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara flied out to center and Takahashi tagged and crossed to make it 3-0 Yomiuri.

     In the eighth, Shimizu leadoff with a homer off of Tetsuto Tomabechi for the final 4-0 margin of victory. Hiroshima went down in order in the ninth and it was all over.

     For Hiroshima, Diaz was 1-4 and is at .321. Luis Lopez was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .266.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Kuroda (L, 3-4)   IP 6.0 PC 86 H 6 HR 0 K 5 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.47
Tomabechi          IP 1.1 PC 16 H 1 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.39
Hiroike                 IP 0.2 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86

Yomiuri:

Uehara (W, 8-3)   IP 9.0 PC 125 H 7 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.71

2B: Uehara, Y. Takahashi
3B: T. Shimizu
HR: T. Shimizu (6)
RBI: T. Shimizu, Y. Takahashi 2, Kiyohara
SF: Kiyohara
GIDP: T. Kimura, Uehara, Etoh
LOB: Hiroshima 7, Yomiuri 4

Season Series: Hiroshima 8, Yomiuri 6

Game Time: 2:47
Attendance: 44,500
Umpires: Tomoyori (HP), Suginaga (1B), Mori (2B), Honda (3B)

Triple Play, Nakamura Error Fries Buffaloes 2-1

     Chiba Lotte Marines first baseman Kazuya Fukuura made a nifty pick of a hot shot in the seventh and turned it into a triple play while starter Nathan Minchey waited for Sean Bergman to leave so that his offense could hit up the Kintetsu  bullpen for two runs, as Lotte squeaked by the Buffs 2-1 at Osaka Dome Tuesday. Minchey is now 4-9 and this is his first victory since May 24th. Bergman didn't figure in the decision.

     It was 0-0 until the sixth, when Kintetsu catcher Tetsuya Matoyama went midieval on a Minchey pitch and ditched it in the leftfield seats to make it 1-0 Buffs.

     Kintetsu threatened again in the seventh, but Fukuura repelled that attack almost singlehandedly. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi leadoff with a double to leftcenter. Leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes walked. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura singled to center to load the bases. DH Kenshi Kawaguchi hit a sharp one hopper that Fukuura gloved almost as soon as it hit the ground and went home for the force. Lotte catcher Toshiya Tsuji then returned the throw to first to get the runner. Nakamura had started late from first since he though Fukuura might catch it in the air. After receiving the return throw, Fukuura then whipped it on to Gold Glove shortstop Makoto Kosaka, who put the tag on the slow Nakamura for the third leg of the triple play.

     Rightfielder Takashi Tachikawa then greeted reliever Akinori Otsuka by yanking his first pitch into the centerfield seats in the eighth to knot it at one all.

     Daisuke Miyamoto spelled Otsuka for the ninth and an error by Nakamura would determine the course of the game. Third baseman Kazunori Iyoda walked to open the frame and he was sacrificed along. Centerfielder Saburo Omura slapped a routine grounder to Nakamura, who booted it. Kosaka singled to right and Iyoda sprinted in for a 2-1 Lotte lead.

     Kintetsu nearly evened it in the home half. Pinch hitter Daisuke Masuda leadoff with an infield single and was sacrificed to second. Pinch hitter Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to left. With the tying run on third and one out, closer Masahide Kobayashi put the pedal to the metal and fanned Rhodes and then had Nakamura crossed up enough during his at bat that he took a hanging slider for strike three to put it in the books as a Lotte victory. This was the first time Kintetsu had lost two in a row in a month and a half. Now that is HOT!

     The triple play was the first one for Lotte since 1994, in a game against Seibu. The last time a first baseman started a triple play on a ground ball was in 1982 in a tilt between the Taiyo Whales and the Hiroshima Carp.

     For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 0-3 with a walk and is at .282.

     For Lotte, DH Derrick May was 0-2 with two walks and is at .225.

Pitching Lines:

Lotte:

Minchey (W, 4-9)         IP 8.0 PC 101 H 3 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.73
M. Kobayashi (S, 12)   IP 1.0 PC   15 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.62

Kintetsu:

Bergman                      IP 7.0 PC 96 H 4 HR 0 K 0 BB 6 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Otsuka                         IP 1.0 PC 13 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.91
D. Miyamoto (L, 0-1) IP 0.1 PC   9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.06
Yamamoto                   IP 0.2 PC   4 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.98

E: Kosaka, Mizuguchi, N. Nakamura
SB: Kosaka
2B: N. Omura, Otsuka, Mizuguchi
HR: Tachikawa (1), Matoyama (2)
RBI: Kosaka, Tachikawa, Matoyama
HBP: Fukuura (Bergman)
GIDP: Iyoda, Yoshioka
LOB: Lotte 10, Kintetsu 3

Season Series: Lotte 5, Kintetsu 10

Game Time: 2:59
Attendance: 21,000
Umpires: Tamba (HP), Maeda (1B), Sato (2B), Yamamura (3B)

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report is for June 25th and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1959 at Korakuen Stadium, Emperor Hirohito attended the first ballgame ever personally graced by a Japanese monarch, a faceoff between the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers. It was tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the ninth and third baseman Shigeo Nagashima homered to left off of eventual Hall of Fame inductee Minoru Murayama for a sayonara victory. You can see a pick of the Nagashima walkoff at: http://www.sanspo.com/morespo/century/image/century01-1_b.jpg

     Another great, Masaaki Koyama, started for Hanshin, having just come off tossing a three hit shutout at the Kokutetsu Swallows. Despite being rested and feeling confident, he  wasn't getting much movement on his pitches, his fastball not boring in on the hitters as it normally did. In the bottom of the fifth, Nagashima, who had been in a slump (such as it was; he was still hitting .326) before the game, hammered a 1-1 running fastball ("shuuto") into the leftcenterfield seats.

     Murayama, who was the first Japanese pitcher to shutout an MLB team (the Detroit Tigers, against whom he had a no hitter until two gone in the eighth, finishing with a two hitter on November 18, 1962) came into the game in relief with one out in the seventh and Nagashima was sitting on a shuuto on the innner half of the plate. Nagashima had been doing a better job keeping his hands inside the ball in batting practice before the game and he did it again here, as the ball drifted up and over the middle of the plate and Nagashima turned on it and lined it deep into the leftfield seats near the foul pole. Murayama was such an intense competitor that he insisted until the day he died that the ball was foul.

     Koyama, who finished his career with 320 wins and a Hall of Fame plaque to call his own, had a couple of hits and an RBI on the day at the plate, so while he didn't throw well, he helped the offense keep it even until Nagashima, who finished 3-4, ended it. Rookie Sadaharu Oh batted sixth and slugged a two run homer to right off of a slider in the seventh to knot the game up and KO Koyama. This was the first of 106 times in history in which Oh and Nagashima would each go yard in the same match. Genji Fujita got credit for the victory for Yomiuri.

Sources:
http://www.sanspo.com/morespo/century/century0001.html
http://www2.plala.or.jp/ippeifuji/w06.htm

Trivia Time

     The homer that Oh cracked off of Koyama wasn't the first time that the great first baseman would give the phenomenal righthander problems. So let's cite another instance of Oh foiling a Koyama outing. What record did Oh keep Koyama from tying with another two run homer in 1962? Answer at the bottom of the article.

June 24, 2002

Giants Fumble Away Game to Hiroshima 5-2

     Four errors by the Yomiuri Giants infield lead to four unearned runs for the Hiroshima Carp, as the fish went on to drown their Tokyo counterparts Monday 5-2 at Sapporo Dome. Masayuki Hasegawa went all the way for the victors while the miscues sabotaged an otherwise solid effort from Giants starter Masumi Kuwata. To add to the Giants misery, they lost starting catcher Shinnosuke Abe, who suffered internal bleeding in his left thigh after a collision with Kazuki Fukuchi in the eighth inning and he will be gone until at least the first week of August.

     Yomiuri took an early 1-0 lead in the first, when leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu commenced the attack with a triple to rightcenter. One out later, rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi legged out a grounder near second for the RBI.
 
     The Carp saw that one and raised their opponent another in the top of the second, as first baseman Itsuki Asai leadoff with a single to right and went to second on a groundout, catcher Kazuya Kimura singled to left and Hasegawa hit a dribbler out in front of the plate that he threw wildly to first on and Asai hit the dish with the equalizer. Shortstop Kenjiro Nomura grounded to Yomiuri second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, who booted it to enable Kimura to cross and it was 2-1 Hiroshima.

     That was the way it remained until the eighth, when the Carp threw another deuce on the board with the help of a suspect Giants fielding decision. Second baseman Eddie Diaz leadoff with a single to left and he was pinch run for by Fukuchi. Tomoaki Kanemoto singled to right and Fukuchi blazed into third. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata grounded to short and Daisuke Motoki threw home, where Abe had tried to block the plate. When the dust cleared, Abe had dropped the ball and was then escorted off the field on a stretcher, Yoshinori Murata replacing him. In the meantime, Kanemoto snuck into third, from where he scored on a flyout to right from pinch hitter Luis Lopez and it was 4-1 Hiroshima.

     One more error lead to another Carp run in the top of the ninth. With one out, shortstop Takuya Kimura singled to left and stole second. One out later, Kanemoto hit one to first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara, who let the ball get by him and the Red Hell were up by four at 5-1.

     Godzilla Matsui dined on a slow curve ball from Hasegawa to start the ninth and carromed it off the rightfield four pole for his 14 homer of the year, his first dinger in 11 games and the only time in in his career he has gone deep in Hokkaido's capital. This was his 19th lifetime contest there and the yardwork came on his 84 at bat in the north country.

     That was all the Giants order had to offer, though, and three batters later, Hiroshima went back to the hotel with a 5-2 triumph.

     According to Sports Nippon, Sapporo has been the site of some mostly forgettable incidents for the Giants. Yomiuri batting coach Sadaaki Yoshimura, who was once a catcher himself, was really racked up in 1988 in a collsion at home with the Chunichi Dragons Tadahiro Sakaemura and suffered a severed knee ligament and wasn't able to return until September of the following season. He had been enjoying a good year until that day, hitting .302 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs. He wasn't the same player in the after math, going from .322-30-86 in 1987 in 127 games to playing in just 84 games in 1990 (though he went .327-14-45) and then .227-10-42 in 1991 and it was downhill from there.

     Other notable trips to Sapporo for Yomiuri:

Ten walks in one inning by three Giants hurlers (Asano 4, Kado 3, Tamura 3) on July 6, 1978 that forced in six runs.

1983, Hajime Kato complins of pain in his right arm. He goes back to Tokyo to have it looked at and it turns out to be a blood clot and he was done for the season. He recovered to go 10-7 with a 3.36 ERA the following season.

July 10, 1990, Masumi Kuwata, after getting hammered in a game at Asahikawa, Hokkaido, gets into an argument with one of his coaches on the way to Sapporo and is sent home by manager Genji Fujita.

July 9, 1996, they get nine hits in a row to win a game and start a drive that would narrow an 11.5 game deficit to almost nothing in the standings.

July 11, 2000, Kazuhiro Kiyohara rips his 400th and 401st homers.

     Getting back to Monday's game, however, Shimizu, with his four hits, now has 12 games in which he has had three ot more safeties and in four of those he has had a quartet of knocks. He is now at .336.

     For Hiroshima, Diaz was 1-4 and is at .322. Lopez had the RBI in the one plate appearance and is at .268.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Hasegawa (W, 5-2)    IP 9.0 PC 138 H 7 HR 1 K 5 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.17

Yomiuri:

Kuwata (L, 3-5)     IP 7.0 PC 120 H 7 HR 0 K 5 BB 2 R 4 ER 1 ERA 2.12
Kawamoto             IP 0.1 PC     7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
Almonte                 IP 0.2 PC     9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.50
Y. Maeda               IP 1.0 PC    18 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 2.21

E: Nishi, Kiyohara, Etoh, S. Abe
SB: T. Kimura
2B: Arai
3B: T. Shimizu
HR: H. Matsui (14)
RBI: H. Matsui, Y. Takahashi, Ogata, Lopez
SF: Lopez
IBB: K. Kimura
GIDP: T. Kimura, Y. Takahashi
LOB: Hiroshima 9, Yomiuri 5

Season Series: Hiroshima 6, Yomiuri 7

Game Time: 3:25
Attendance: 44,500
Umpires: Kamimoto (HP), Mori (1B), Honda (2B), Tomoyori (3B)

Two Run Itoh Double Gets Seibu Come From Behind Victory

     A two run sixth inning double from Seibu Lions catcher Tsutomu Itoh put his team ahead to stay in what became a 5-4 victory for the Tokorozawa nine against the Orix Blue Wave Monday at Seibu Dome. Hayato Aoki got his second win in relief when starter Tetsuya Shiozaki couldn't maintain a 3-1 lead he had been staked to.

     Seibu shortstop Kazuo Matsui leadoff the bottom of the first with a double to rightcenter and came home on a double to right from third baseman Tom Evans with two out to make it 1-0 Lions. First baseman Ken Suzuki singled to right to convert Evans and it was 2-0 for the home folks.

     Matsui went for extra bases again in the fourth with two outs, and then strolled in on a single to right from rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki to widen the Seibu lead to 3-0.

     Orix then used a three bagger for its first tally of the game. First baseman Yuji Goshima leadoff with a walk and one out later rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi seared a shot up the rightcenter gap to turn in Goshima and make it 3-1. However, Katsuragi was stranded when the next two hitters bounced out to Shiozaki and to third respectively.

     The Kobe contingent then returned in the sixth to even it, as Katsuragi leadoff with a single to center and second baseman Koichi Oshima singled to right. Shortstop Makoto Shiozaki went to sacrifice and Tetsuya Shiozaki fumbled it to load the bases. Centerfielder Koji Takamizawa hit a roller near second for an infield hit and two runs scored to knot it at three apiece. DH Yoshitomo Tani was jammed with slider, but still fisted it to right  for a single and Shiozaki scored to make it 4-3 Orix.

     Seibu retorted with the game winning runs in their portion. Suzuki leadoff by spanking a single off the rightfield wall for a long single and was sacrificed to second. Pinch hitter Kazuhiro Wada, finally back after that hairline fracture,  singled to right. Itoh then got an 87mph fastball that was up in the zone and he put a beatin' on it, cannonading it into the leftcenter alley to usher in both runners and the Lions were back on top 5-4.

     Three relievers suppressed the Orix lineup on four hits through the eighth before closer Kiyoshi Toyoda struckout the side to put it on ice. This is one of the few games you will see where three consecutive whiffs bookend the game for the same club.

     Manager Hiromichi Ishige has kept both Scott Sheldon and Fernando on the bech the last couple of games, asserting that both men lacked focus and that their failures are ones of character and their punishment isn't any sign of a cultural misunderstanding. For his part, Seguignol isn't taking this too well, arguing that how is the team supposed to win with him and Sheldon riding the pine. Ishige replied that they are piling up too many strikeouts.

     For Seibu, Evans was 1-4 with an RBI and three strikeouts and is at .321.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Tokumoto           IP 5.0 PC 76 H 7 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.72
Kase                    IP 0.1 PC   6 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.09
Tokano (L, 3-3)  IP 1.2 PC 21 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.13
Imamura              IP 1.0 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40

Seibu:

Shiozaki            IP 5.0 PC 78 H 4 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 4 ER 3 ERA 3.83
Mizuo                IP 0.0 PC   8 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.00
Aoki (W, 2-0)    IP 1.1 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.67
Mori                   IP 1.2 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.49
Toyoda (S, 11)  IP 1.0 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.75

E: Shiozaki
SB: K. Oshima, Ueda
2B: T. Itoh, K. Matsui, Evans
3B: Katsuragi, K. Matsui
RBI: Takamizawa 2, Tani, Katsuragi, Ozeki, Evans, K. Suzuki, T. Itoh 3
IBB: H. Oshima
GIDP: Tani, Shindo, H. Takagi
LOB: Orix 4, Seibu 5

Season Series: Orix 3, Seibu 12

Game Time: 2:53
Attendance: 14,000
Umpires: Yamazaki (HP), Nagami (1B), Nakamura (2B), Hirabayashi (3B)

Kato Finally Has Good Outing for Lotte

     Kosuke Kato, now back in the Lotte rotation after a disastrous first three months of the season, finally showed the promise he displayed last season, going 7.1 innings and limiting the Kintetsu Buffaloes to four hits while fanning seven and walking two to obtain his third win against seven losses, his first shiroboshi since April 26th.

     There was a lot of grousing about home plate umpire Hayashi's liberal strike zone by both Buffs third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, who said that the arbiter beat his squad, not Kato, and manager Masataka Nishida, who grumbled about how high his strike zone was.

     That zone, though, didn't do Kintetsu starter Katsuhiko Maekawa any favors, as he was mugged for four runs on six hits in seven innings for his fifth defeat.

     Lotte seized a 1-0 lead in the third, when Maekawa nailed centerfielder Saburo Omura with a pitch and stole second. One out later, first baseman Kazuya Fukuura singled to center to drive in Omura.

     Lotte rookie catcher Toshiya Tsuji torched his a double to leftcenter and Lotte was back in business in the seventh. One out later, shortstop Makoto Kosaka doubled down the leftfield line and it was 2-0 Lotte.

     Tsuji was then in the middle of another Lotte rally in the eighth. Third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba walked to leadoff the inning and was sacrificed to second. Leftfielder Akira Otsuka doubled into the rightfield corner for one run and third baseman Kazunori Iyoda singled to left. Tsuji laced a double into the leftcenter alley and Iyoda and Otsuka crossed for a 5-0 Lotte edge.

     Kintetsu leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes went boom to make it close in the bottom segment. Kato plunked centerfielder Naoyuki Omura and pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano singled to right. Soichi Fujita was summoned to face Rhodes and threw the ex-Cub a 1-0 slider that was destroyed, Rhodes mortaring it into the upper deck in rightcenter. Can you say "bomb" boys and girls? Fujita had owned Rhodes previously, but obviously the 2001 homer champ got the upperhand this time and it was 5-3 Lotte. Unfortunately for their faithful, that was the final bullet in the chamber and Masahide Kobayashi kept the Kintetsu bats quiet in the ninth to wrap it up for his 11th save.

     Rhodes' homer was his 28th in his 58th game, well ahead of his 2001 pace, when he reached that number in his 70th battle. He has also homered eight times in the last 12 games.

     For Lotte, DH Derrick May was was 1-3 and is at .227. Lotte is batting a pitiful .230 as a team and one reason is that last season's batting champ, Fukuura, is hitting just .283. That leads all Lotte batsmen

     For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 1-3 with a walk and three RBIs and is at .286.

Pitching Lines:

Lotte:

K. Kato (W, 3-7)          IP 7.1 PC 128 H 4 HR 0 K 7 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.45
Fujita                             IP 0.0 PC     2 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.19
H. Kobayashi               IP 0.2 PC  12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.86
M. Kobayashi (S, 11)  IP 1.0 PC  15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.72

Kintetsu:

Maekawa (L, 2-5 )      IP 7.1 PC 124 H 6 HR 0 K 6 BB 5 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.50
Misawa                       IP 0.1 PC   12 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.16
Yoshida                      IP 0.1 PC     7 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
A. Otsuka                   IP 1.0 PC   14 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.38

E: A. Otsuka, N. Nakamura
SB: S. Omura
2B: Tsuji 2, Tachikawa, Kosaka, Otsuka
HR: Rhodes (28)
RBI: Rhodes 3, Kosaka, Fukuura, Otsuka, Tsuji 2
HBP: S. Omura (Maekawa), N. Omura (K. Kato)
LOB: Lotte 11, Kintetsu 6

Season Series: Lotte 4, Kintetsu 10

Game Time: 3:32
Attendance: 15,000
Umpires: Hayashi (HP), Kakigizono (1B), Yoshikawa (2B), Kodera (3B)

Saito Lit Up in Ninth in Yokohama Defeat

     Yokohama Bay Stars closer Takashi Saito was stomped for five runs, three of them earned, in the top of the ninth at Yokohama Stadium Monday to break a 6-6 deadlock to decide it for the Chunichi Dragons 11-6. Masahiro Yamamoto was credited with the win even though he surrendered a game tying three run homer in the eighth to Stars centerfielder Ernie Young.

     The Dragons drew first blood in the second, when third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a long fly ball to center and then completed the circuit on a sac fly from catcher Motonobu Tanishige to make it 1-0 for the party from Nagoya.

     In the fifth, rightfielder Kazuki Inoue lead it off with a ground ball to Hitoshi Taneda at second, who threw wildly to first and Inoue went to second. Tanishige pinged a shot off the leftfield wall for a long single and an RBI. Second baseman Masahiko Morino doubled off the centerfield fence. One out later, shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to center to deliver Inoue and the Dragons were sitting pretty at 3-0.

     Yokohama was pretty quiet against Dragons starter Kenshin Kawakami until the seventh, when they neutralized the Chunichi advantage in a gulp. With one away, Young lofted a ball into the rightfield bleachers for a solo homer. Rightfielder Boi Rodrigues singled to left. Third baseman Hirofumi Ogawa then jackhammered a Kawakami delivery into the rightfield stands and it was 3-3.

     Another fielding miscue from the Stars would aid the Dragons in retaking the lead. Ibata walked to begin the frame. Pinch hitter Takayuki Onishi hit a comebacker to reliever Yu Sugimoto, who was thinking twin killing and ended up with bupkis. One out later, first baseman Leo Gomez sang a longball serenade to Sugimoto and as the ball bouned around the leftcenterfield seats, the Dragons were back in the catbird seat at 6-3.

     Young would change that, though. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa started it with a single to center. One out later, backup second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa grounded to third for what should have been the inning ending double play, but he muffed it. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki popped out, but Young got every bit of a sinker from Yamamoto and he knew it was gone as soon as contact was made to level it at 6-6.

     I'm not really sure why Saito was out there for the ninth since what would manager Masaaki Mori do if the game went into extra innings, but climbed the hill and pinch hitter Koichi Sekikawa walked and was sacrificed to second. Onishi, now in left, struckout. Centerfielder Kosuke Fukudome was intentionally walked. Aikawa was charged with a passed ball and both runners advanced. Hiroyuki Watanabe, who was put into the game as a defensive replacement for Gomez, singled to center to plate both men and he then came all the way around when shortstop Takuro Ishii made a bad relay. Tatsunami legged out an infield hit. Hidenori Kuramoto then connnected and deposited the ball in the leftcenterfield stands and it was 11-6.

     Eddie Gaillard allowed a couple of baserunners in the bottom of the ninth, but left them on the diamond as he struckout two and induced a groundball to end it.

     For Yokohama, Young was 2-4 with four RBIs and is at .143. Rodrigues was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .267.

     For Chunichi, leftfielder Scott Bullet was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .209. Gomez was 1-4 with three RBIs and is at .270.

Pitching Lines:

Chunichi:

Kawakami                        IP 7.0 PC 101 H 6 HR 2 K 7 BB 1 R 4 ER 3 ERA 2.62
Ochiai                               IP 0.1 PC    4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 2.70
M. Yamamoto (W, 2-4 ) IP 0.2 PC  10 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.50
Gaillard                             IP 1.0 PC  16 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.64

Yokohama:

Bowers                IP 5.0 PC 92 H 5 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 3 ER 2 ERA 4.75
Sugimoto            IP 3.0 PC 60 H 2 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 2 ERA 2.78
T. Saito (L, 0-1)  IP 1.0 PC 30 H 3 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 5 ER 3 ERA 2.81

E: Tatsunami, T. Ishii, Taneda
SB: Ibata, Tanishige, Inoue
2B: Tatsunami, Morino
HR: Gomez (16), Kuramoto (1), Young 2 (4), Ogawa (3)
RBI: Ibata, Gomez 3, H.Y. Watanabe, Tanishige 2, Kuramoto 2, Young 4, Ogawa 2
SF: Tanishige
IBB: Fukudome
PB: Ryoji Aikawa
GIDP: T. Ishii
LOB: Chunichi 5, Yokohama 4

Season Series: Chunichi 9, Yokohama 4

Game Time: 3:31
Attendance: 16,000
Umpires: Sasaki (HP), Tani (1B), Arisumi (2B), Hamano (3B)

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     This report is for June 24th and on that day in Japanese baseball history in 1956, Hanshin Tigers infielder Fumio Fujimura slugged a walkoff come from behind grand slam homer against the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien Stadium.

     Also on that date in 1965, Sankei  Atoms (now the Yakult Swallows) light hitting first baseman Yoshinori Hoshiyama slammed a pitch from Hiroshima Carp sidearmer Sohachi Aniya into the rightfield bleachers at Meiji Jingu Stadium in the fifth inning with two on. However, in trying to pick up the flight of the ball on his way to first, he didn't notice that the runner at first, infielder Isamu Shinoda, had turned around to see where the ball went as well and as Hoshiyama rounded the bag he sent Shinoda sprawling onto the outfield grass in the resultant collision. What makes this even funnier is that the first base umpire had his back turned to all this to find the ball himself. However, the plate umpire was paying attention and he called Hoshiyama, who finished his career with just 24 homers in eight seasons, was called out. It was scored as a two RBI single and a putout by the Carp first sacker. Again, the lesson here, kids. is don't run with your head down.

Orix Trades Ebisu to Yakult for Soejima

     The Orix Blue Wave and the Yakult Swallows announced a trade between the two teams Tuesday that sent pitcher Nobuyuki Ebisu (31) to the Swallows in exchange for outfielder Kota Soejima (28). Considering that Ebisu was in Orix' starting rotation last season, one wonders just what is going on here. Soejima played in 91 games two years ago and batted .321. Orix manager Hiromichi Ishige likes his compact swing and hopes he can provide some pop. Nevertheless, since then, he has been little more than a spare part for Yakult.

     Ebisu had a horrendous spring and has spent some injury time. That invites the question as whether if Ebisu is damaged goods or if he has worn out his welcome in Hyogo Prefecture with team management. Very curious.

Ihara Makes Best of  Lions Odds and Ends

     See  Jim Allen article at: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020627wo53.htm

Cuba's Omar Linares to Play with Chunichi

     Just when Japanese pro teams had given up on the possibility of aquiring a Cuban player, the Chunichi Dragons receive a phone call from someone in the Cuban baseball establishment informing them that former national team member Omar Linares, a third baseman, will be made available to them. He will report after the all star break.

     According to Sankei Sports, Linares, 34, will live in a Nagoya area hotel and will have an interpreter by his side. the Cuban government will be paid, $4,000 a month for each of the three months he will be in Japan.

      Making this even more fascinating, though, is that Sankei is saying that Linares is a "leading candidate" to manage the Cuban squad at the 2004 Athens Olympics. One of the Japanese reporters asked a Cuban official if what the Cubans are doing amounts to "selling labor abroad," the official replied that Linares is there soley to pick up coaching tips while he plays for the Dragons. You can see a pic of Linares at:
http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/image/062701rinaresuMS013626_b.jpg

     Biographical info: born on October 23rd, 1967, his father taught him how to play baseball starting at age 12. He was picked to be on the Cuban National Team at the age of 17 and participated in three olympics and won the first Triple Crown in Cuba's history. He is a member of the Pinar Del Rio team in the Cuban leagues. He is 6'1" 225 pounds and hits and throws righthanded.
Source: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200206/bt2002062701.html

     In further news about the interaction between the Dragons and Cuba, when they play some exhibition games in Cuba in November, they will pay $70,000 out of their own pockets to pad the outfield walls at one of the Cuban parks, many of which have concrete fences.

      Nikkan Sports gave a timeline of the Japanese flirtation with the Cuban leagues:

October, 1991: The Yomiuri Giants start looking into the possibility of aquiring Cuban stars.

October, 1993: NPB President Eiichiro Yamamoto tells the press that there is a likelihood Cuban players will be allowed by Cuba to play in Japan.
December, 1993: The chairman of the Cuban Baseball Federation says that there will be no Cubans going to Japan.

May, 1994, five Cuban players join the Shidax team of Japan's industrial league. Their estimated salary: 5,000,000 yen.

November 1995, Cuba's Minister of Sports tells Yamamoto that if they were to send players abroad, Japan