Murton tops Ichiro’s hit mark
When Ichiro Suzuki banged away at hit records in the states, he got a song written for him. No one here is making songs about Matt Murton, but it’s OK. He has enough hits of his own.
Murton broke Suzuki’s NPB single-season hit record in a 17-4 mauling of the Yakult Swallows on Tuesday, and still has two games left.
Murton had three hits to increase his total to 213, while putting together his 25th game of three or more hits. He drove in three runs, as did Craig Brazell -- who homered twice -- and Tomoaki Kanemoto.
The Tigers blew the game open with a nine-run second inning to back Atsushi Nomi (8-0), who gave up four runs over five shaky innings but got the win.
Yakult’s Norichika Aoki went 1-for-4 to bring his career-best hit total to 205.
The Tigers remained percentage points ahead of the third-place Yomiuri Giants.
GIANTS 4, BAYSTARS 0
Yomiuri used four pitchers to shut out Yokohama and remain in third place with a victory at Yokohama Stadium.
Alex Ramirez belted his league-best 48th longball, and Hisayoshi Chono, hitting in the top spot for the first time, cracked his first leadoff homer.
It was the 15th whitewash hurled at the last-place BayStars, who will finish in the cellar for the third straight year.
Hideki Asai (4-1) worked six scoreless frames, allowing four hits and a walk, while fanning three.
Marc Kroon got the final out for his 25th save.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Remember the name ...
Murton evens Ichiro
The Hanshin Tigers’ Matt Murton has put together an astounding season for a first-year import or a native superstar.
The outfielder matched a legend, notching his 110th hit on Sunday in a 7-2 win over the Hiroshima Carp at The Zoom.
He equaled Ichiro Suzuki’s 1994 total when the current Seattle Mariners star played for the Orix BlueWave.
The Tigers have three games left for Murton, batting .349, to break the mark.
Japan has often in the past pitched around foreign players with a chance to break hallowed marks here, but the Carp went right at Murton, who was hitless in three trips to the plate before sending a hard single to left in the seventh inning.
Takahiro Arai added three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIS, and Tomoaki Kanemoto had a two-run shot to lead the Tigers.
Jason Standridge (11-5) worked seven strong innings as the Tigers moved back into second by percentage points in the Central League standings, ahead of the idle Yomiuri Giants.
SWALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 1
Jamie D’Antona’s 15th homer keyed a three-run second inning as Yakult topped Yokohama at Jingu Stadium.
The win guaranteed Yakult of a winning season for the first time since 2004.
Yoshinori Sato (12-9) allowed six hits and two walks over six innings for the win.
The Hanshin Tigers’ Matt Murton has put together an astounding season for a first-year import or a native superstar.
The outfielder matched a legend, notching his 110th hit on Sunday in a 7-2 win over the Hiroshima Carp at The Zoom.
He equaled Ichiro Suzuki’s 1994 total when the current Seattle Mariners star played for the Orix BlueWave.
The Tigers have three games left for Murton, batting .349, to break the mark.
Japan has often in the past pitched around foreign players with a chance to break hallowed marks here, but the Carp went right at Murton, who was hitless in three trips to the plate before sending a hard single to left in the seventh inning.
Takahiro Arai added three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIS, and Tomoaki Kanemoto had a two-run shot to lead the Tigers.
Jason Standridge (11-5) worked seven strong innings as the Tigers moved back into second by percentage points in the Central League standings, ahead of the idle Yomiuri Giants.
SWALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 1
Jamie D’Antona’s 15th homer keyed a three-run second inning as Yakult topped Yokohama at Jingu Stadium.
The win guaranteed Yakult of a winning season for the first time since 2004.
Yoshinori Sato (12-9) allowed six hits and two walks over six innings for the win.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Title drunk ...
After drinking up, Dragons can’t down Swallows
A night after celebrating their eighth Central League championship, the Chunichi Dragons at least had a reason for losing to the Yakult Swallows for the 15th time this season: They were title drunk.
Kyohei Muranaka (11-9) held the Dragons to a run on six hits over six innings as the Swallows finished off their mastery of the CL titlists 3-2 at Nagoya Dome on Saturday.
It was Muranaka’s third win this season against the Dragons, who used seven pitchers in their season finale.
Chunichi plays host to the first-stage winner of the Climax Series winner, starting on Oct. 20.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama got the Swallows even with an RBI single in the sixth, and Josh Whitesell’s pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh was the difference.
Masahiko Morino slugged his 22nd longball, a solo shot in the ninth, to push home both Chunichi runs.
The Swallows were officially eliminated from potential postseason play when the Hanshin Tigers won earlier in the day.
GIANTS 7, BAYSTARS 1
Alex Ramirez ripped his CL-high and career-best 47th homer, and Ryota Wakiya homered, doubled and started a triple play to lead Yomiuri past lowly Yokohama at Tokyo Dome.
Ramirez’s solo blast gave him a career-best 126 RBIs, one better than his 2008 total.
TIGERS 11, CARP 4
Takashi Toritani had three hits and knocked in two to extend his recently established record for RBIs by a shortstop to 100 as Hanshin locked up a postseason spot with a win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Hanshin’s Matt Murton had two hits to push his CL-best-ever total to 209, one shy of Ichiro Suzuki’s 1994 NPB record.
The Tigers have four games to play.
A night after celebrating their eighth Central League championship, the Chunichi Dragons at least had a reason for losing to the Yakult Swallows for the 15th time this season: They were title drunk.
Kyohei Muranaka (11-9) held the Dragons to a run on six hits over six innings as the Swallows finished off their mastery of the CL titlists 3-2 at Nagoya Dome on Saturday.
It was Muranaka’s third win this season against the Dragons, who used seven pitchers in their season finale.
Chunichi plays host to the first-stage winner of the Climax Series winner, starting on Oct. 20.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama got the Swallows even with an RBI single in the sixth, and Josh Whitesell’s pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh was the difference.
Masahiko Morino slugged his 22nd longball, a solo shot in the ninth, to push home both Chunichi runs.
The Swallows were officially eliminated from potential postseason play when the Hanshin Tigers won earlier in the day.
GIANTS 7, BAYSTARS 1
Alex Ramirez ripped his CL-high and career-best 47th homer, and Ryota Wakiya homered, doubled and started a triple play to lead Yomiuri past lowly Yokohama at Tokyo Dome.
Ramirez’s solo blast gave him a career-best 126 RBIs, one better than his 2008 total.
TIGERS 11, CARP 4
Takashi Toritani had three hits and knocked in two to extend his recently established record for RBIs by a shortstop to 100 as Hanshin locked up a postseason spot with a win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Hanshin’s Matt Murton had two hits to push his CL-best-ever total to 209, one shy of Ichiro Suzuki’s 1994 NPB record.
The Tigers have four games to play.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Fired up ...
Idle Dragons earn CL title sitting down
Just as Hard Drives (my Daily Yomiuri column) predicted early in September, the Chunichi Dragons won the Central League -- not on the field, but while sitting back at home, watching with the rest of us.
Well, sort of. They certainly raced over to Nagoya Dome quickly enough.
The idle Dragons popped corks on Friday at the dome when the second-place Hansin Tigers fell 5-0 to the Hiroshima Carp at The Zoom behind a four-hitter by newcomer Dioni Soriano (1-3) .
It was the third league title for the Dragons under skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai, the club’s eighth overall and its first since 2006.
Hanshin, with pressure to win out over the final week, fell to last-place Yokohama and fourth-place Hiroshima on back-to-back nights.
Soriano, who was signed to the Carp’s developmental squad in May, was making his seventh start. He earned his first win in Japan.
The lefty from the Dominican Republic had allowed 33 hits in 32 innings before shutting down Hanshin.
Eiishin Soyogi clubbed his 13th homer and had two singles, one an RBI base hit in a four-run fourth.
The Dragons, who won the Japan Series in 2007, will wait as Hanshin and the defending Series champion Yomiuri Giants battle face off in the first stage of the CL Climax Series.
The Dragons host the second stage at Nagoya Dome.
MARINES NAB FINAL SPOT
The Chiba Lotte Marines booted the defending Pacific League champs out of the postseason with a 5-4 win over the Orix Buffaloes at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Saburo Omura had a double and two RBIs, and Toshiaki Imae stroked a two-run homer to back Yoshihisa Naruse (13-11) as Lotte advanced as the third seed.
Omura’s RBI double in the seventh was the difference as the Marines earned the right to face the second-place Seibu Lions for the chance to battle PL champion SoftBank and represent the league in the Japan Series.
Just as Hard Drives (my Daily Yomiuri column) predicted early in September, the Chunichi Dragons won the Central League -- not on the field, but while sitting back at home, watching with the rest of us.
Well, sort of. They certainly raced over to Nagoya Dome quickly enough.
The idle Dragons popped corks on Friday at the dome when the second-place Hansin Tigers fell 5-0 to the Hiroshima Carp at The Zoom behind a four-hitter by newcomer Dioni Soriano (1-3) .
It was the third league title for the Dragons under skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai, the club’s eighth overall and its first since 2006.
Hanshin, with pressure to win out over the final week, fell to last-place Yokohama and fourth-place Hiroshima on back-to-back nights.
Soriano, who was signed to the Carp’s developmental squad in May, was making his seventh start. He earned his first win in Japan.
The lefty from the Dominican Republic had allowed 33 hits in 32 innings before shutting down Hanshin.
Eiishin Soyogi clubbed his 13th homer and had two singles, one an RBI base hit in a four-run fourth.
The Dragons, who won the Japan Series in 2007, will wait as Hanshin and the defending Series champion Yomiuri Giants battle face off in the first stage of the CL Climax Series.
The Dragons host the second stage at Nagoya Dome.
MARINES NAB FINAL SPOT
The Chiba Lotte Marines booted the defending Pacific League champs out of the postseason with a 5-4 win over the Orix Buffaloes at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Saburo Omura had a double and two RBIs, and Toshiaki Imae stroked a two-run homer to back Yoshihisa Naruse (13-11) as Lotte advanced as the third seed.
Omura’s RBI double in the seventh was the difference as the Marines earned the right to face the second-place Seibu Lions for the chance to battle PL champion SoftBank and represent the league in the Japan Series.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
The bitter end ...
Closer Fujikawa gives up 3-run shot as Tigers lose
Perhaps it was the pressure to win out to close the season. Perhaps it was just a poorly located fastball.
Whatever it was, it resulted in a three-run homer off the bat of Yokohama slugger Shuichi Murata and 4-3 victory for the lowly BayStars over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium on Thursday.
The Tigers, second behind the Chunichi Dragons in the Central League, went into their home finale with a magic number of seven. Now, the Dragons’ magic number to win their eighth CL title is one.
Kyuji Fujikawa (3-4) couldn’t seal the deal. He walked two in front of Murata, a two-time home run king, and the Yokohama slugger tomahawked a fastball out to left to make it 4-3. It was his second longball of the night and his 26th this year.
“I just didn’t have it,” Fujikawa said.
The Tigers put two on with two down in the ninth to bring up Keiichi Hirano, who had three hits, but he grounded out to end the game.
Craig Brazell had an RBI single in the fourth to give the Tigers the lead, and Takashi Toritani’s scoring flyball in the fifth, his NPB record 98th RBI as a shortstop, gave Hanshin a two-run cushion.
But Fujikawa blew the save, and Hanshin has to hope Chunichi drops its season finale at home on Saturday.
Hanshin first-year import Matt Murton extended his CL record for hits in a season to 207, three shy of Ichiro Suzuki’s NPB mark.
Also, it was the final home game for veteran catcher Akihiro Yano, who helped lead the Tigers to CL titles in 2003 and ’05. The 41-year-old has been on the farm most of the season because injuries have taken their toll.
CARP 1, SWALLOWS 0
Kenta Maeda (15-7) tossed a six-hitter and Yoshiyuki Ishihara knocked in the game’s only run in the second inning as Hiroshima topped Yakult at The Zoom.
The righty fanned four, while walking one and hitting one for his fourth shutout of the season.
In the Pacific League, the Marines and Buffaloes were rained out at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Perhaps it was the pressure to win out to close the season. Perhaps it was just a poorly located fastball.
Whatever it was, it resulted in a three-run homer off the bat of Yokohama slugger Shuichi Murata and 4-3 victory for the lowly BayStars over the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium on Thursday.
The Tigers, second behind the Chunichi Dragons in the Central League, went into their home finale with a magic number of seven. Now, the Dragons’ magic number to win their eighth CL title is one.
Kyuji Fujikawa (3-4) couldn’t seal the deal. He walked two in front of Murata, a two-time home run king, and the Yokohama slugger tomahawked a fastball out to left to make it 4-3. It was his second longball of the night and his 26th this year.
“I just didn’t have it,” Fujikawa said.
The Tigers put two on with two down in the ninth to bring up Keiichi Hirano, who had three hits, but he grounded out to end the game.
Craig Brazell had an RBI single in the fourth to give the Tigers the lead, and Takashi Toritani’s scoring flyball in the fifth, his NPB record 98th RBI as a shortstop, gave Hanshin a two-run cushion.
But Fujikawa blew the save, and Hanshin has to hope Chunichi drops its season finale at home on Saturday.
Hanshin first-year import Matt Murton extended his CL record for hits in a season to 207, three shy of Ichiro Suzuki’s NPB mark.
Also, it was the final home game for veteran catcher Akihiro Yano, who helped lead the Tigers to CL titles in 2003 and ’05. The 41-year-old has been on the farm most of the season because injuries have taken their toll.
CARP 1, SWALLOWS 0
Kenta Maeda (15-7) tossed a six-hitter and Yoshiyuki Ishihara knocked in the game’s only run in the second inning as Hiroshima topped Yakult at The Zoom.
The righty fanned four, while walking one and hitting one for his fourth shutout of the season.
In the Pacific League, the Marines and Buffaloes were rained out at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tails lights ...
Hanshin back in 2nd
The Hanshin Tigers might have put the Yomiuri Giants in their tail lights.
Atsushi Nomi hurled six one-run innings and the Tigers parlayed four hits, a walk and a hit batter into three runs in the third inning of a 3-1 win at Koshien Stadium on Wednesday.
Neither team could afford to lose the game, but the Giants’ loss officially ended their three-year reign over the Central League. They fell into third with the loss.
The Tigers kept their hopes alive for a comeback title run, moving back into second and reducing their magic number to seven with seven games to play.
All that’s left now for the Giants is a second-place finish and a chance to play host to the second stage of the CLCS.
Nomi (6-0), who won his seventh straight against the Giants dating back to last year, allowed six hits, while walking two, hitting one and fanning three.
Giants starter Dicky Gonzalez (5-13) lost his third straight decision, setting a club record for foreign hurlers with his 13th loss.
CARP 12, BAYSTARS 4
Shigenobu Shima slugged a three-run shot and Eiishin Soyogi had three hits and two RBIs as Hiroshima routed visiting Yokohama.
Lefty Ken Takahashi faced one batter in his retirement game, striking out Jose Castillo in the eighth.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Needing at least a win or a tie to keep its playoff hopes alive, Lotte took the field against a power-diminished Orix team and edged the Buffaloes at Chiba Marine Stadium.
The Marines scored the eventual winner on a wild pitch in the eighth and can reach the playoffs for the first time in three years with a win or a tie on Thursday.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 1
Hideto Asamura hit a two-run homer and Jose Fernandez slugged a solo shot as Seibu completed its season with a victory over Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
BROWN BOOTED FROM SENDAI
The Rakuten Eagles grounded Marty Brown after one season with the team.
Club representative Jun Maeda said the team informed Brown before the game that it would terminate his two-year contract at season’s end.
“It’s disappointing. It wasn’t my choice. This is part of baseball,” said Brown, who took over a team that finished in second last season but is in the PL cellar this year.
The Hanshin Tigers might have put the Yomiuri Giants in their tail lights.
Atsushi Nomi hurled six one-run innings and the Tigers parlayed four hits, a walk and a hit batter into three runs in the third inning of a 3-1 win at Koshien Stadium on Wednesday.
Neither team could afford to lose the game, but the Giants’ loss officially ended their three-year reign over the Central League. They fell into third with the loss.
The Tigers kept their hopes alive for a comeback title run, moving back into second and reducing their magic number to seven with seven games to play.
All that’s left now for the Giants is a second-place finish and a chance to play host to the second stage of the CLCS.
Nomi (6-0), who won his seventh straight against the Giants dating back to last year, allowed six hits, while walking two, hitting one and fanning three.
Giants starter Dicky Gonzalez (5-13) lost his third straight decision, setting a club record for foreign hurlers with his 13th loss.
CARP 12, BAYSTARS 4
Shigenobu Shima slugged a three-run shot and Eiishin Soyogi had three hits and two RBIs as Hiroshima routed visiting Yokohama.
Lefty Ken Takahashi faced one batter in his retirement game, striking out Jose Castillo in the eighth.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Needing at least a win or a tie to keep its playoff hopes alive, Lotte took the field against a power-diminished Orix team and edged the Buffaloes at Chiba Marine Stadium.
The Marines scored the eventual winner on a wild pitch in the eighth and can reach the playoffs for the first time in three years with a win or a tie on Thursday.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 1
Hideto Asamura hit a two-run homer and Jose Fernandez slugged a solo shot as Seibu completed its season with a victory over Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
BROWN BOOTED FROM SENDAI
The Rakuten Eagles grounded Marty Brown after one season with the team.
Club representative Jun Maeda said the team informed Brown before the game that it would terminate his two-year contract at season’s end.
“It’s disappointing. It wasn’t my choice. This is part of baseball,” said Brown, who took over a team that finished in second last season but is in the PL cellar this year.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Giant obstacles ...
Tigers fall to Giants, have to win out
The three-time defending Central League champion Yomiuri Giants, with their title hopes on a ventilator, fought to keep the plug in the wall.
The Giants jumped all over the second-place Hanshin Tigers early and stomped out a rally midway through Tuesday's game for a 7-5 win at Koshien Stadium.
The Giants s, who have to hope the front-running Chunichi Dragons lose their finale to the Yakult Swallows at home on Saturday, need a lot to happen to win the title.
The Giant first have to win out over their final five games to have a chance.
Meanwhile, the Tigers, who have eight games to play, also have to win out if the Dragons beat the Swallows to close out their season.
Hanshin will need a better start than it had against Yomiuri in their penultimate meeting. Loser Jason Standridge (10-5) suffered through a rough first inning and took a seat on the bench after the final out of the third, in which he allowed opposing starter Tetsuya Utsumi (11-8) a two-out, two-run single to fall behind 5-1.
Giants rookie Hisayoshi Chono, just back from his first stint on the farm, had an RBI single in a three-run first. Utsumi plated a pair with an opposite-field looping liner that gave him some breathing room.
The lefty, though, surrendered three runs in the sixth without recording an out and departed.
Yomiuri’s Shinnosuke Abe extended his career-high homer total by slugging his 43rd, a solo blast in the seventh.
Matt Murton continued his pursuit of Ichiro Suzuki’s 210-hit season with two singles for 205. He moved one past Giants slugger Alex Ramirez’s CL record.
SWALLOWS 4, BAYSTARS 0
Norichika Aoki homered and singled to tie his career-best hit total of 202 to lead Yakult past host Yokohama.
Lefty Masanori Ishikawa (13-8) tossed a three-hitter for his first shutout in about two years, extending his club-record winning streak to 11 for a career-best 13th win.
The BayStars were blanked for the 14th time and set a NPB record with their third straight 90-loss season.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 7, EAGLES 2
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits to push his season total to 203 and added two runs batted in, and Toshiaki Imae had three hits and two RBIs as Lotte routed visiting Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 0
Five Nippon Ham hurlers combined on a six-hitter, and Sho Nakata had a pair of RBI doubles in a win over host Orix.
The third-place Fighters finished their season and have a half-game lead over Lotte, which has two games to play.
Lotte has to win its final two games to keep the Fighters out of the postseason for the fifth straight year.
The three-time defending Central League champion Yomiuri Giants, with their title hopes on a ventilator, fought to keep the plug in the wall.
The Giants jumped all over the second-place Hanshin Tigers early and stomped out a rally midway through Tuesday's game for a 7-5 win at Koshien Stadium.
The Giants s, who have to hope the front-running Chunichi Dragons lose their finale to the Yakult Swallows at home on Saturday, need a lot to happen to win the title.
The Giant first have to win out over their final five games to have a chance.
Meanwhile, the Tigers, who have eight games to play, also have to win out if the Dragons beat the Swallows to close out their season.
Hanshin will need a better start than it had against Yomiuri in their penultimate meeting. Loser Jason Standridge (10-5) suffered through a rough first inning and took a seat on the bench after the final out of the third, in which he allowed opposing starter Tetsuya Utsumi (11-8) a two-out, two-run single to fall behind 5-1.
Giants rookie Hisayoshi Chono, just back from his first stint on the farm, had an RBI single in a three-run first. Utsumi plated a pair with an opposite-field looping liner that gave him some breathing room.
The lefty, though, surrendered three runs in the sixth without recording an out and departed.
Yomiuri’s Shinnosuke Abe extended his career-high homer total by slugging his 43rd, a solo blast in the seventh.
Matt Murton continued his pursuit of Ichiro Suzuki’s 210-hit season with two singles for 205. He moved one past Giants slugger Alex Ramirez’s CL record.
SWALLOWS 4, BAYSTARS 0
Norichika Aoki homered and singled to tie his career-best hit total of 202 to lead Yakult past host Yokohama.
Lefty Masanori Ishikawa (13-8) tossed a three-hitter for his first shutout in about two years, extending his club-record winning streak to 11 for a career-best 13th win.
The BayStars were blanked for the 14th time and set a NPB record with their third straight 90-loss season.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 7, EAGLES 2
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits to push his season total to 203 and added two runs batted in, and Toshiaki Imae had three hits and two RBIs as Lotte routed visiting Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 0
Five Nippon Ham hurlers combined on a six-hitter, and Sho Nakata had a pair of RBI doubles in a win over host Orix.
The third-place Fighters finished their season and have a half-game lead over Lotte, which has two games to play.
Lotte has to win its final two games to keep the Fighters out of the postseason for the fifth straight year.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Soft landing ...
SoftBank seizes PL title
The SoftBank Hawks have landed atop the Pacific League.
The Hawks entered Sunday with a magic number of one, and clinched the club’s 14th title, first since 2003, when the Seibu Lions lost in Sapporo.
The Hawks also fell 8-3 to the Rakuten Eagles at The Kleenex Box, but they topped the highly competitive PL.
“It’s a relief to look back on the season now that’s it over,” said second-year skipper Koji Akiyama.
“We lost tonight in this last game, but it just goes to show how competitive the PL was this season.
“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if any of the teams won it. This was a tough season.”
The Hawks did it with balance -- the second best team ERA at 3.89 and the third-most runs -- behind a pair of strong starters and a career year from Hitoshi Tamura. The 14-year veteran has played in a career-best 140 games, and his.324 average and 165 hits are also pro highs. In addition, he socked 27 homers.
Lefties Tusyoshi Wada (17-8) and Toshiya Sugiuchi (16-7) led the way and a shutdown bullpen, featuring Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and closer Takahiro Mahara, shortened games.
Munenori Kawasaki, an 11-year pro, has a career-best 189 hits and 53 RBIs from the leadoff spot.
FIGHTERS 4, LIONS 3
“Mr. Second Helping” couldn’t help Seibu from falling to Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome. The slugger hit two HRs, but Yoshio Itoi’s RBI double in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Fighters into the third place.
The loss pushed Seibu into second in the playoff seeding, and means Nippon Ham and Lotte will battle for the final spot.
BUFFALOES 6, MARINES 4, 10 INNINGS
Mitsutaka Goto cracked a walk-off two-run homer to lift Orix past Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The loss dropped Lotte a half-game behind third-place Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BAYSTARS 3, GIANTS 2
Jose Castillo drilled a clutch RBI single in the eighth inning to down visiting Yomiuri for the second time in four days as Yokohama won at home.
Alex Ramirez blasted a pair of homers, the second of which was career-best 46th, but that was all the three-time defending CL champion Giants could muster.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 1
Despite a rain delay, righty Yoshinori Sato recorded 19 straight out and Norichika Aoki blasted a homer to become the first two-time 200-hit batter as Yakult continued its mastery of visiting Chunichi.
Chunichi’s loss gave the idle Hanshin Tigers a magic number of eight.
The SoftBank Hawks have landed atop the Pacific League.
The Hawks entered Sunday with a magic number of one, and clinched the club’s 14th title, first since 2003, when the Seibu Lions lost in Sapporo.
The Hawks also fell 8-3 to the Rakuten Eagles at The Kleenex Box, but they topped the highly competitive PL.
“It’s a relief to look back on the season now that’s it over,” said second-year skipper Koji Akiyama.
“We lost tonight in this last game, but it just goes to show how competitive the PL was this season.
“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if any of the teams won it. This was a tough season.”
The Hawks did it with balance -- the second best team ERA at 3.89 and the third-most runs -- behind a pair of strong starters and a career year from Hitoshi Tamura. The 14-year veteran has played in a career-best 140 games, and his.324 average and 165 hits are also pro highs. In addition, he socked 27 homers.
Lefties Tusyoshi Wada (17-8) and Toshiya Sugiuchi (16-7) led the way and a shutdown bullpen, featuring Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and closer Takahiro Mahara, shortened games.
Munenori Kawasaki, an 11-year pro, has a career-best 189 hits and 53 RBIs from the leadoff spot.
FIGHTERS 4, LIONS 3
“Mr. Second Helping” couldn’t help Seibu from falling to Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome. The slugger hit two HRs, but Yoshio Itoi’s RBI double in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Fighters into the third place.
The loss pushed Seibu into second in the playoff seeding, and means Nippon Ham and Lotte will battle for the final spot.
BUFFALOES 6, MARINES 4, 10 INNINGS
Mitsutaka Goto cracked a walk-off two-run homer to lift Orix past Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The loss dropped Lotte a half-game behind third-place Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BAYSTARS 3, GIANTS 2
Jose Castillo drilled a clutch RBI single in the eighth inning to down visiting Yomiuri for the second time in four days as Yokohama won at home.
Alex Ramirez blasted a pair of homers, the second of which was career-best 46th, but that was all the three-time defending CL champion Giants could muster.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 1
Despite a rain delay, righty Yoshinori Sato recorded 19 straight out and Norichika Aoki blasted a homer to become the first two-time 200-hit batter as Yakult continued its mastery of visiting Chunichi.
Chunichi’s loss gave the idle Hanshin Tigers a magic number of eight.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Streak busted ...
Kaneko lit up as Marines hold firm
Chihiro Kaneko was streaking so hard, he probably didn’t even see what hit him.
The Orix Buffaloes righty, who had won 13 straight decisions, got lit up for six runs--four earned -- as the Lotte Marines marched past Orix 6-2 at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Saturday.
Lotte’s Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 3-for-4 to become the first Pacific League player since Ichiro Suzuki of the Orix BlueWave to stack up 200 hits in a season.
Nishioka has 201 hits with four games left on the Marines’ schedule. He was a particular pest for Kaneko, who hadn’t lost since Lotte beat him on June 24.
Kaneko (17-8), the PL wins leader, got surrendered 10 hits and three walks in 5.1 innings.
The win helped the Marines move in front of Nippon Ham for the third and final PLCS playoff spot.
Nishioka followed Naoki Matoba’s two-RBI single in the fourth with a run-scoring hit, his 200th hit of the season.
Matoba added an RBI hit in the sixth, and Nishioka followed with his second run-scoring single.
Nishioka joined the Hanshin Tigers’ Matt Murton of the Central League in becoming the second 200-hit player of the season, the first time in both leagues in NBP history.
Matoba also had a big day. It was the first three-hit game in his 10-year career. The former SoftBank Hawk was a career .157 catcher coming into the game with 80 hits lifetime.
HAWKS 1, FIGHTERS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (16-7) put two runners on in the ninth but got a double play to finish off a five-hitter and help SoftBank shrink its magic number for the PL title to one by blanking Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
The Hawks beat Yu Darvish (12-8), scoring a seventh-inning run on Munenori Kawasaki’s RBI single.
The Hawks can clinch Sunday in Sendai against last-place Rakuten.
LIONS 3, EAGLES 2
Mr. Second Helping, “Okawari-kun,” homered twice, solo shots in the sixth and eighth, and Takayuki Kishi worked out of trouble for his first pro save as Seibu got a must win against Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Nakamura’s 22nd and 23rd bombs gave Seibu a victory that kept its slim PL title hopes alive. The Lions also locked up a PLCS spot.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Alex Ramirez smashed his 44th homer, a solo blast in the seventh that broke a 2-2 tie and pushed Yomiuri past Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Ramirez’s shot, one off his career best, helped the Giants keep pace with Chunichi and Hanshin, remaining in third place.
TIGERS 8, CARP 3
Takahiro Arai homered and double and drove in three to lead host Hanshin past Hiroshima.
Randy Messenger (5-6) went 5.1 he Tigers stayed 2.5 games behind CL leader Chunichi.
DRAGONS 9, BAYSTARS 7
Tony Blanco homered twice and led three players with two RBIs as Chunichi won the CL’s only day game to put pressure on Yomiuri and Hanshin.
Chihiro Kaneko was streaking so hard, he probably didn’t even see what hit him.
The Orix Buffaloes righty, who had won 13 straight decisions, got lit up for six runs--four earned -- as the Lotte Marines marched past Orix 6-2 at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Saturday.
Lotte’s Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 3-for-4 to become the first Pacific League player since Ichiro Suzuki of the Orix BlueWave to stack up 200 hits in a season.
Nishioka has 201 hits with four games left on the Marines’ schedule. He was a particular pest for Kaneko, who hadn’t lost since Lotte beat him on June 24.
Kaneko (17-8), the PL wins leader, got surrendered 10 hits and three walks in 5.1 innings.
The win helped the Marines move in front of Nippon Ham for the third and final PLCS playoff spot.
Nishioka followed Naoki Matoba’s two-RBI single in the fourth with a run-scoring hit, his 200th hit of the season.
Matoba added an RBI hit in the sixth, and Nishioka followed with his second run-scoring single.
Nishioka joined the Hanshin Tigers’ Matt Murton of the Central League in becoming the second 200-hit player of the season, the first time in both leagues in NBP history.
Matoba also had a big day. It was the first three-hit game in his 10-year career. The former SoftBank Hawk was a career .157 catcher coming into the game with 80 hits lifetime.
HAWKS 1, FIGHTERS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (16-7) put two runners on in the ninth but got a double play to finish off a five-hitter and help SoftBank shrink its magic number for the PL title to one by blanking Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
The Hawks beat Yu Darvish (12-8), scoring a seventh-inning run on Munenori Kawasaki’s RBI single.
The Hawks can clinch Sunday in Sendai against last-place Rakuten.
LIONS 3, EAGLES 2
Mr. Second Helping, “Okawari-kun,” homered twice, solo shots in the sixth and eighth, and Takayuki Kishi worked out of trouble for his first pro save as Seibu got a must win against Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Nakamura’s 22nd and 23rd bombs gave Seibu a victory that kept its slim PL title hopes alive. The Lions also locked up a PLCS spot.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Alex Ramirez smashed his 44th homer, a solo blast in the seventh that broke a 2-2 tie and pushed Yomiuri past Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Ramirez’s shot, one off his career best, helped the Giants keep pace with Chunichi and Hanshin, remaining in third place.
TIGERS 8, CARP 3
Takahiro Arai homered and double and drove in three to lead host Hanshin past Hiroshima.
Randy Messenger (5-6) went 5.1 he Tigers stayed 2.5 games behind CL leader Chunichi.
DRAGONS 9, BAYSTARS 7
Tony Blanco homered twice and led three players with two RBIs as Chunichi won the CL’s only day game to put pressure on Yomiuri and Hanshin.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Showing some fight ...
Nippon Ham legitimate
Back in the first two months of the season, the Nippon Ham Fighters looked out on their feet.
The boys from Hokkaido now look like real contenders for a Pacific League playoff spot.
Kensuke Tanaka’s clutch two-run single in the sixth inning broke up a tie score and gave the Fighters a 4-2 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at The Kleenex Box in Friday's only game.
The win put the defending PL champion Fighters alone in the third and final PLCS playoff spot, and gave them a legitimate shot at the postseason with three games left on their schedule.
They are a half-game better than the Lotte Marines, but face the first-place SoftBank Hawks on Saturday and the second-place Seibu Lions on Sunday. Both of those teams are trying to win the PL title, with the Hawks a half-game up.
Atsunori Inaba had a two-run single in the third to put the Fighters in the lead as Nippon Ham tied a season-best by moving six games over .500. It’s their first time being as high as third place this season.
Right-hander Ryo Sakakibara (10-1) got the win with five innings in relief of Masao Kida, who was gone after 1.2 innings.
Ace Yu Darvish faces SoftBank’s Toshiya Sugiuchi Saturday. The Hawks’ magic number to win the PL is two.
Back in the first two months of the season, the Nippon Ham Fighters looked out on their feet.
The boys from Hokkaido now look like real contenders for a Pacific League playoff spot.
Kensuke Tanaka’s clutch two-run single in the sixth inning broke up a tie score and gave the Fighters a 4-2 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at The Kleenex Box in Friday's only game.
The win put the defending PL champion Fighters alone in the third and final PLCS playoff spot, and gave them a legitimate shot at the postseason with three games left on their schedule.
They are a half-game better than the Lotte Marines, but face the first-place SoftBank Hawks on Saturday and the second-place Seibu Lions on Sunday. Both of those teams are trying to win the PL title, with the Hawks a half-game up.
Atsunori Inaba had a two-run single in the third to put the Fighters in the lead as Nippon Ham tied a season-best by moving six games over .500. It’s their first time being as high as third place this season.
Right-hander Ryo Sakakibara (10-1) got the win with five innings in relief of Masao Kida, who was gone after 1.2 innings.
Ace Yu Darvish faces SoftBank’s Toshiya Sugiuchi Saturday. The Hawks’ magic number to win the PL is two.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
It's a jungle out there ...
Lions tumble into 2nd place
The Seibu Lions were salivating over a possible Pacific League title just last week. Now, they’re tongues are hanging out for a different reason.
The Lions sent their ace to the mound on four days’ rest and still fell to the lowly Rakuten Eagles 4-3 at home on Thursday, tumbling out of first place with their fifth straight loss.
Seibu’s magic number, which was four on Sept. 16, magically turned into a magic number of two for SoftBank, which routed Lotte 9-3 in a day game.
Takeshi Yamasaki and Randy Ruiz hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning, and Taishi Nakagawa’s two-run single in the third gave Rakuten a 4-1 lead, and third-year hurler Yasunori Kikuchi won his pro debut with five innings of two-run ball.
Hideaki Wakui (14-8) lasted only three innings on short rest. He allowed six hits and a walk, while fanning five in Seibu’s home finale.
Rakuten skipper Marty Brown extended his NPB record for ejections, getting the thumb for the 12th time in his career, the fourth time this year, for arguing a close play at second base.
The Lions have two games remaining, while the Hawks have three.
HAWKS 9, MARINES 3
Tsuyoshi Wada (17-8) pitched SoftBank past Lotte, scattering five hits and fanning 10 with two walks over seven innings in a win at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Munenori Kawasaki had three hits and three RBIs to back Wada, who took over the PL lead in wins.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 6, DRAGONS 1
Matt Murton had three hits, including a homer and a double, and drove in two to become just the fourth player in NPB history to reach 200 hits in a season as Hanshin topped host Chunichi.
Murton became the second foreign player to reach 200 hits--joining Yomiuri’s Alex Ramirez. Murton has 10 games left to surpass the 204 hits Ramirez had in 2007.
Atsushi Nomi (5-0) limited Chunichi to a run on five hits and no walks with nine strikeouts for the win, which pushed Hanshin back into second by percentage points over Yomiuri.
BAYSTARS 5, GIANTS 2
Brett Harper had a two-run blast in the third, and Jose Castillo drilled a two-run shot to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth as Yokohama avoided a sweep to Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Tomokazu Oka (7-9) held the Giants to two runs on five hits and no walks over seven innings for the win.
SWALLOWS 3, CARP 0
Shohei Tateyama (11-6) fired a six-hitter as Yakult blanked Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Josh Whitesell had a solo homer in the fourth to back Tateyama, and the Swallows added two more runs in the seventh.
Yakult’s Norichika Aoki had one hit to leave him three shy of 200.
The Seibu Lions were salivating over a possible Pacific League title just last week. Now, they’re tongues are hanging out for a different reason.
The Lions sent their ace to the mound on four days’ rest and still fell to the lowly Rakuten Eagles 4-3 at home on Thursday, tumbling out of first place with their fifth straight loss.
Seibu’s magic number, which was four on Sept. 16, magically turned into a magic number of two for SoftBank, which routed Lotte 9-3 in a day game.
Takeshi Yamasaki and Randy Ruiz hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning, and Taishi Nakagawa’s two-run single in the third gave Rakuten a 4-1 lead, and third-year hurler Yasunori Kikuchi won his pro debut with five innings of two-run ball.
Hideaki Wakui (14-8) lasted only three innings on short rest. He allowed six hits and a walk, while fanning five in Seibu’s home finale.
Rakuten skipper Marty Brown extended his NPB record for ejections, getting the thumb for the 12th time in his career, the fourth time this year, for arguing a close play at second base.
The Lions have two games remaining, while the Hawks have three.
HAWKS 9, MARINES 3
Tsuyoshi Wada (17-8) pitched SoftBank past Lotte, scattering five hits and fanning 10 with two walks over seven innings in a win at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Munenori Kawasaki had three hits and three RBIs to back Wada, who took over the PL lead in wins.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 6, DRAGONS 1
Matt Murton had three hits, including a homer and a double, and drove in two to become just the fourth player in NPB history to reach 200 hits in a season as Hanshin topped host Chunichi.
Murton became the second foreign player to reach 200 hits--joining Yomiuri’s Alex Ramirez. Murton has 10 games left to surpass the 204 hits Ramirez had in 2007.
Atsushi Nomi (5-0) limited Chunichi to a run on five hits and no walks with nine strikeouts for the win, which pushed Hanshin back into second by percentage points over Yomiuri.
BAYSTARS 5, GIANTS 2
Brett Harper had a two-run blast in the third, and Jose Castillo drilled a two-run shot to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth as Yokohama avoided a sweep to Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Tomokazu Oka (7-9) held the Giants to two runs on five hits and no walks over seven innings for the win.
SWALLOWS 3, CARP 0
Shohei Tateyama (11-6) fired a six-hitter as Yakult blanked Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Josh Whitesell had a solo homer in the fourth to back Tateyama, and the Swallows added two more runs in the seventh.
Yakult’s Norichika Aoki had one hit to leave him three shy of 200.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Smoking hot ...
Dragons get hot late
The Chunichi Dragons spent much of Wednesday blowing smoke at Nagoya Dome. They caught a little bit of fire in the bottom of the ninth.
Hanshin’s Craig Brazell fielded pinch-hitter Takehiro Donoue’s bases-loaded bouncer and launched it over catcher Kenji Jojima’s head, allowing the winning run to score for a 1-0 Chunichi walk-off win.
With one out, the infield in and Atsushi Fujii at third, Donoue’s little tapper probably would have scored the run. But Brazell couldn’t make the play close, double-clutching and then throwing high while running toward home.
The win kept the Dragons 2.5 games up on the Central League’s second-place team, which became the Yomiuri Giants as the Tigers fell into third.
The Tigers fell to 1-10 at Chunichi’s dome and haven’t scored a run there in 30 innings. The Dragons are 14-3-1 this month with a team ERA of 1.63.
Three straight hits loaded the bases for Chunichi in the bottom of the ninth before Tony Blanco fanned. Donoue, hitting for reliever Takuya Asao (12-3), got some words of advice before stepping in against Kyuji Fujikawa.
His tapper was weak, but effective, giving the Dragons their club-record 12th walk-off win this season. It was their 11th consecutive win at home, their second double-digit winning streak at the dome this season.
Daisuke Yamai walked away with no decision after 7.2 scoreless innings. Hanshin’s Yoshitomo Kubo worked eight scoreless, scattering three hits and a hit batter, while fanning five but didn't get a decision.
Asao set a club record with his 70th appearance, and won his sixth straight decision as the Dragons recorded their fourth shutout this month.
GIANTS 6, BAYSTARS 2
A night after hitting a walk-off blast, Hayato Sakamoto picked up where he left off, going 4-for-5 with a homer in his first at-bat and adding a double and two RBIs as three-time defending CL champion Yomiuri kept its slim hopes for a fourth straight league title alive.
Yoshinobu Takahashi also homered in support of Tetsuya Utsumi (10-8), who carried a shutout into the ninth before allowing two runs. He left after 8.2 innings, allowing nine hits and three walks, while punching out six.
SWALLOWS 5, CARP 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s two-RBI single in the sixth inning help lift Yakult to a comeback win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 3, FIGHTERS 1
Akihisa Makida’s solo blast in the fifth gave Rakuten the lead and Ryo Hijirizawa also went deep in the sixth with the bases empty as the Eagles downed Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
The loss meant the Fighters were mathematically eliminated from the PL title race.
The SoftBank Hawks clinched a Climax Series playoff spot by virtue of fourth-place Nippon Ham’s loss.
The Chunichi Dragons spent much of Wednesday blowing smoke at Nagoya Dome. They caught a little bit of fire in the bottom of the ninth.
Hanshin’s Craig Brazell fielded pinch-hitter Takehiro Donoue’s bases-loaded bouncer and launched it over catcher Kenji Jojima’s head, allowing the winning run to score for a 1-0 Chunichi walk-off win.
With one out, the infield in and Atsushi Fujii at third, Donoue’s little tapper probably would have scored the run. But Brazell couldn’t make the play close, double-clutching and then throwing high while running toward home.
The win kept the Dragons 2.5 games up on the Central League’s second-place team, which became the Yomiuri Giants as the Tigers fell into third.
The Tigers fell to 1-10 at Chunichi’s dome and haven’t scored a run there in 30 innings. The Dragons are 14-3-1 this month with a team ERA of 1.63.
Three straight hits loaded the bases for Chunichi in the bottom of the ninth before Tony Blanco fanned. Donoue, hitting for reliever Takuya Asao (12-3), got some words of advice before stepping in against Kyuji Fujikawa.
His tapper was weak, but effective, giving the Dragons their club-record 12th walk-off win this season. It was their 11th consecutive win at home, their second double-digit winning streak at the dome this season.
Daisuke Yamai walked away with no decision after 7.2 scoreless innings. Hanshin’s Yoshitomo Kubo worked eight scoreless, scattering three hits and a hit batter, while fanning five but didn't get a decision.
Asao set a club record with his 70th appearance, and won his sixth straight decision as the Dragons recorded their fourth shutout this month.
GIANTS 6, BAYSTARS 2
A night after hitting a walk-off blast, Hayato Sakamoto picked up where he left off, going 4-for-5 with a homer in his first at-bat and adding a double and two RBIs as three-time defending CL champion Yomiuri kept its slim hopes for a fourth straight league title alive.
Yoshinobu Takahashi also homered in support of Tetsuya Utsumi (10-8), who carried a shutout into the ninth before allowing two runs. He left after 8.2 innings, allowing nine hits and three walks, while punching out six.
SWALLOWS 5, CARP 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s two-RBI single in the sixth inning help lift Yakult to a comeback win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 3, FIGHTERS 1
Akihisa Makida’s solo blast in the fifth gave Rakuten the lead and Ryo Hijirizawa also went deep in the sixth with the bases empty as the Eagles downed Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
The loss meant the Fighters were mathematically eliminated from the PL title race.
The SoftBank Hawks clinched a Climax Series playoff spot by virtue of fourth-place Nippon Ham’s loss.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Blown away again …
Dragons improve to 9-1 vs. Tigers at Nagoya Dome
Matt Murton doubled to lead off the game. That turned out to be the Hanshin Tigers’ best scoring chance all night.
Chen Wei-yin shut them down on four hits and two walks over eight innings, and the Dragons got just enough offense to blank Hanshin 3-0 on Tuesday and be the first team in Japan to book a spot in the Climax Series playoffs.
Chen (13-10) fanned five to extend his personal scoreless string to 18 consecutive innings and give front-running Chunichi a 9-1 record against Hanshin at Nagoya Dome.
Chen got out of that first-inning jam, not allowing a runner to reach third and the Dragons are in the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
“I just tried to use my hard stuff to get through the situation,” Chen said. “My fastball was working best.”
The Dragons have five games remaining, while the Tigers have 12, two against third-place the Yomiuri Giants.
Kei Nomoto was 2-for-2, including a fourth-inning sac fly for the game’s first run and an RBI single in the sixth.
“We can’t afford to lose these games, so we just have to go out and get it done,” Nomoto said.
Kazuhiro Wada had three hits and scored twice for the Dragons, who are 2.5 games up on the Tigers.
Jason Standridge (10-4) pitched well in the loss. He held the Dragons to two runs on seven hits and no walks over seven innings.
Hitoki Iwase got the final out for his 41st save.
GIANTS 4, BAYSTARS 3, 12 INNINGS
Hayato Sakamoto slugged his third walk-off homer of the season to lift Yomiuri past visiting Yokohama.
It was Sakamoto’s 30th homer, making the Giants the fifth team in NPB history with four players hitting at least 30 longballs.
The Giants also pulled into a virtual tie with the Tigers for second.
CARP 5, SWALLOWS 2
Kenta Kurihara’s second homer in as many nights -- hits second of the evening -- a solo blast in the eighth, broke a 2-2 tie and sparked a three-run inning as Hiroshima came back to top Yakult at The Zoom for its and fifth straight win.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 1
Yuji Iiyama had four hits -- his first four-hit game in three years and second of his career -- and knocked in two runs, including the eventual game-winning run in the eighth as Nippon Ham won at Sapporo Dome.
The Fighters, who saw closer Hisashi Takeda allow four hits and two runs in the ninth before holding on for his 18th save, remained tied for the third and final playoff spot.
MARINES 12, EAGLES 2
A day after struggling to snap its 16-game skid at The Kleenex Box, Lotte got three hits each from Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Tadahito Iguchi in a 17-hit attack for a rout of Rakuten.
It was Nishioka’s 26th game with at least three hits, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for the most three-or-more hit games in one season.
Matt Murton doubled to lead off the game. That turned out to be the Hanshin Tigers’ best scoring chance all night.
Chen Wei-yin shut them down on four hits and two walks over eight innings, and the Dragons got just enough offense to blank Hanshin 3-0 on Tuesday and be the first team in Japan to book a spot in the Climax Series playoffs.
Chen (13-10) fanned five to extend his personal scoreless string to 18 consecutive innings and give front-running Chunichi a 9-1 record against Hanshin at Nagoya Dome.
Chen got out of that first-inning jam, not allowing a runner to reach third and the Dragons are in the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
“I just tried to use my hard stuff to get through the situation,” Chen said. “My fastball was working best.”
The Dragons have five games remaining, while the Tigers have 12, two against third-place the Yomiuri Giants.
Kei Nomoto was 2-for-2, including a fourth-inning sac fly for the game’s first run and an RBI single in the sixth.
“We can’t afford to lose these games, so we just have to go out and get it done,” Nomoto said.
Kazuhiro Wada had three hits and scored twice for the Dragons, who are 2.5 games up on the Tigers.
Jason Standridge (10-4) pitched well in the loss. He held the Dragons to two runs on seven hits and no walks over seven innings.
Hitoki Iwase got the final out for his 41st save.
GIANTS 4, BAYSTARS 3, 12 INNINGS
Hayato Sakamoto slugged his third walk-off homer of the season to lift Yomiuri past visiting Yokohama.
It was Sakamoto’s 30th homer, making the Giants the fifth team in NPB history with four players hitting at least 30 longballs.
The Giants also pulled into a virtual tie with the Tigers for second.
CARP 5, SWALLOWS 2
Kenta Kurihara’s second homer in as many nights -- hits second of the evening -- a solo blast in the eighth, broke a 2-2 tie and sparked a three-run inning as Hiroshima came back to top Yakult at The Zoom for its and fifth straight win.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 1
Yuji Iiyama had four hits -- his first four-hit game in three years and second of his career -- and knocked in two runs, including the eventual game-winning run in the eighth as Nippon Ham won at Sapporo Dome.
The Fighters, who saw closer Hisashi Takeda allow four hits and two runs in the ninth before holding on for his 18th save, remained tied for the third and final playoff spot.
MARINES 12, EAGLES 2
A day after struggling to snap its 16-game skid at The Kleenex Box, Lotte got three hits each from Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Tadahito Iguchi in a 17-hit attack for a rout of Rakuten.
It was Nishioka’s 26th game with at least three hits, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for the most three-or-more hit games in one season.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Little Box of horror ... no more ...
Marines stop 16-game skid at The Kleenex Box
The Chiba Lotte Marines had lost every which way but loose over 16 games at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi. They threw just about everything they had at the Rakuten Eagles for 12 innings on Sunday, and finally snapped the skid with a 9-7 victory.
Toshiaki Imae went 5-for-7 with a tiebreaking double in the 12th as the Marines won the Kleenex Box for the first time since July 9 last year.
The victory took the Marines five hours, three minutes, seven pitchers and 19 hits.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka upped his average to .341 with four hits, including two homers, and added four RBIs.
The Eagles also used seven pitchers, and Ryo Hijirizawa led them with four hits, including homer No. 5, and two RBIs.
HAWKS 5, LIONS 4
Seibu continued it stumble before the finish line, helped along by Hitoshi Tamura’s two-run, go-ahead single in the sixth as host SoftBank swept the Lions.
Masahiko Morifuku (3-1) earned the win with 2.1 innings of relief as second-place SoftBank kept Seibu from reducing its magic number from four, and moved a half-game back of them in the standings.
FIGHTERS 3, BUFFALOES 2
Eiichi Koyano drove in his 108th run and Atsunori Inaba also had an RBI in a three-run third that propelled Nippon Ham past visiting Orix.
The win helped the Fighters remain in a third-place tie with the Marines.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 3
Fourth-place Yakult kept up its mastery of visiting Chunichi, edging the Dragons after getting the lead on Hiroyasu Tanaka’s fifth-inning RBI single.
Yakult is 8-13-1 vs. first-place Chunichi.
TIGERS 4, GIANTS 2
Lin Wei-zhu’s two-run homer in the fourth inning put host Hanshin on top, and Kenji Jojima added a solo blast for insurance in the eighth in a win over third-place Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium.
The runs were enough to give 19-year-old rookie Takumi Akiyama, who worked around seven hits and two walks over six innings, his fourth win in five decisions.
CARP 9, BAYSTARS 1
Ughhhh……..
Kenta Kurihara had two bombs, his 11th and 12th, and Eishin Soyogi blasted his 12th as Hiroshima won its fifth straight at Yokohama.
Ughhhhhh……..
The Chiba Lotte Marines had lost every which way but loose over 16 games at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi. They threw just about everything they had at the Rakuten Eagles for 12 innings on Sunday, and finally snapped the skid with a 9-7 victory.
Toshiaki Imae went 5-for-7 with a tiebreaking double in the 12th as the Marines won the Kleenex Box for the first time since July 9 last year.
The victory took the Marines five hours, three minutes, seven pitchers and 19 hits.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka upped his average to .341 with four hits, including two homers, and added four RBIs.
The Eagles also used seven pitchers, and Ryo Hijirizawa led them with four hits, including homer No. 5, and two RBIs.
HAWKS 5, LIONS 4
Seibu continued it stumble before the finish line, helped along by Hitoshi Tamura’s two-run, go-ahead single in the sixth as host SoftBank swept the Lions.
Masahiko Morifuku (3-1) earned the win with 2.1 innings of relief as second-place SoftBank kept Seibu from reducing its magic number from four, and moved a half-game back of them in the standings.
FIGHTERS 3, BUFFALOES 2
Eiichi Koyano drove in his 108th run and Atsunori Inaba also had an RBI in a three-run third that propelled Nippon Ham past visiting Orix.
The win helped the Fighters remain in a third-place tie with the Marines.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 3
Fourth-place Yakult kept up its mastery of visiting Chunichi, edging the Dragons after getting the lead on Hiroyasu Tanaka’s fifth-inning RBI single.
Yakult is 8-13-1 vs. first-place Chunichi.
TIGERS 4, GIANTS 2
Lin Wei-zhu’s two-run homer in the fourth inning put host Hanshin on top, and Kenji Jojima added a solo blast for insurance in the eighth in a win over third-place Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium.
The runs were enough to give 19-year-old rookie Takumi Akiyama, who worked around seven hits and two walks over six innings, his fourth win in five decisions.
CARP 9, BAYSTARS 1
Ughhhh……..
Kenta Kurihara had two bombs, his 11th and 12th, and Eishin Soyogi blasted his 12th as Hiroshima won its fifth straight at Yokohama.
Ughhhhhh……..
Sunday, September 19, 2010
No magic in Fukuoka ...
Lions’ magic number stays at 4 after beatdown from Hawks
The SoftBank Hawks were up to old tricks as they cooled the Seibu Lions’ magic talk on Sunday.
A pair of veterans, Hitsohi Tamura and Nobuhiko Matsunaka, each went deep and SoftBank’s shutdown bullpen fired five scoreless innings in an 11-4 beating of the Lions at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Tamura blasted his 27th homer, and Matsunaka, who was recently activated, slugged his 11th to lead a 16-hit attack that brought SoftBank to within 1.5 games of the Pacific League’s front-running Lions.
After losing a game they led the night before, the Lions started like a house of fire. Leadoff man Yasuyuki Kataoka became just the 14th player to open back-to-back games with a home run, belting his 13th.
Jose Fernandez, who went 5-for-5, cracked his ninth homer since rejoining Seibu in June, for a 2-0 lead after a half-inning.
But Tamura took Kazuyuki Hoashi deep for a three-run bomb that gave SoftBank the lead in the bottom of the frame.
Matsunaka’s solo shot broke a 4-4 tie after the Lions got even, and Tamura added an RBI single in a five-run seventh that broke the game open.
BUFFALOES 4, FIGHTERS 0
Chihiro Kaneko continued his amazing run, tossing 7.2 scoreless innings as Orix topped defending PL champion Nippon Ham as the righty won his 13th straight decision, the franchise’s longest winning streak by a hurler since 1958.
Kaneko (17-7), pitching on four days’ rest, took a liner off his pitching shoulder in the first inning, but worked through it to move the Buffs a half-game out of third.
EAGLES 8, MARINES 6
Yosuke Takasu’s walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth lifted Rakuten past Lotte for the 16th straight time at The Kleenex Box.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 6, TIGERS 4
Shinnosuke Abe’s first-inning two-run double highlighted a five-run first inning as Yomiuri rebounded from Saturday’s loss with a big win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Giants and Tigers are in a virtual tie for the second place, with Hanshin just percentage points ahead.
DRAGONS 6, SWALLOWS 2
Kazuhiro Wada homered twice and drove in three, and Kenichi Nakata (7-3) fired eight strong innings as Chunichi topped Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
CARP 3, BAYSTARS 2
Shogo Kimura broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with an RBI triple and scored when Kenta Kurihara singled as Hiroshima won at Yokohama.
The SoftBank Hawks were up to old tricks as they cooled the Seibu Lions’ magic talk on Sunday.
A pair of veterans, Hitsohi Tamura and Nobuhiko Matsunaka, each went deep and SoftBank’s shutdown bullpen fired five scoreless innings in an 11-4 beating of the Lions at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Tamura blasted his 27th homer, and Matsunaka, who was recently activated, slugged his 11th to lead a 16-hit attack that brought SoftBank to within 1.5 games of the Pacific League’s front-running Lions.
After losing a game they led the night before, the Lions started like a house of fire. Leadoff man Yasuyuki Kataoka became just the 14th player to open back-to-back games with a home run, belting his 13th.
Jose Fernandez, who went 5-for-5, cracked his ninth homer since rejoining Seibu in June, for a 2-0 lead after a half-inning.
But Tamura took Kazuyuki Hoashi deep for a three-run bomb that gave SoftBank the lead in the bottom of the frame.
Matsunaka’s solo shot broke a 4-4 tie after the Lions got even, and Tamura added an RBI single in a five-run seventh that broke the game open.
BUFFALOES 4, FIGHTERS 0
Chihiro Kaneko continued his amazing run, tossing 7.2 scoreless innings as Orix topped defending PL champion Nippon Ham as the righty won his 13th straight decision, the franchise’s longest winning streak by a hurler since 1958.
Kaneko (17-7), pitching on four days’ rest, took a liner off his pitching shoulder in the first inning, but worked through it to move the Buffs a half-game out of third.
EAGLES 8, MARINES 6
Yosuke Takasu’s walk-off, three-run homer in the ninth lifted Rakuten past Lotte for the 16th straight time at The Kleenex Box.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 6, TIGERS 4
Shinnosuke Abe’s first-inning two-run double highlighted a five-run first inning as Yomiuri rebounded from Saturday’s loss with a big win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Giants and Tigers are in a virtual tie for the second place, with Hanshin just percentage points ahead.
DRAGONS 6, SWALLOWS 2
Kazuhiro Wada homered twice and drove in three, and Kenichi Nakata (7-3) fired eight strong innings as Chunichi topped Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
CARP 3, BAYSTARS 2
Shogo Kimura broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with an RBI triple and scored when Kenta Kurihara singled as Hiroshima won at Yokohama.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Do you Nomi? ...
Lefty tosses 7 scoreless as Tigers blank Giants
Atsushi Nomi hasn’t been healthy or effective this season to put up big numbers, but he made a big impact on Saturday against the Yomiuri Giants.
The southpaw fired seven scoreless innings as the second-place Tigers put a game between themselves and third-place Giants with a 1-0 win before a packed house at Koshien Stadium.
Nomi (4-0) scattered six hits and two walks, while fanning six to lower his ERA to 2.77 in eight games. With the win, the Tigers pulled themselves to within 1.5 games of first place when front-running Chunichi, which lost at Jingu Stadium.
The Tigers had eight hits, but wasted a trio of runners, in part because Keiichi Hirano failed to get bunts down on three occasions.
Japan’s active sacrifice bunt leader failed each time he was asked to lay one down after Matt Murton got on base.
But Hirano redeemed himself by flagging down a smash with two on and none out in the eighth inning to help preserve Hanshin’s 1-0 lead.
Dicky Gonzalez (5-11) tossed 6.2 innings of one-run ball, but added to his career-worst loss total.
CARP 16, BAYSTARS 6
Shogo Kimura had five hits, Soichiro Amaya had four hits and Shigenobu Shima had three hits and four RBIs as Hiroshima used 24 hits to batter hapless host Yokohama.
It was the franchise-record 20th time this season the BayStars have allowed double digits in runs.
Former BayStar Takuro Ishii had three singles, his 162nd game of three or more hits.
SWALLOWS 6, DRAGONS 1
Shohei Tateyama (10-6) shut down Chunichi on six hits and a walk over six innings as fourth-place Yakult knocked off the Dragons at Jingu Stadium.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb for the second time this season for arguing with umpires in the fifth inning.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 3, BUFFLAOES
Yu Darvish (12-7) scattered eight hits and two walks, while fanning 11 as Nippon Ham nudged its way into the final playoff position with a win over visiting Orix.
Yoshio Itoi’s fourth-inning RBI single gave the Fighters the lead and Eiichi Koyano scored on an error for the reigning PL champs, who rode Darvish as he tied for the league lead in Ks with 200.
HAWKS 9, LIONS 7, 11 INNINGS
Roberto Petagine, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroki Kokubo all homered, Kokubo’s coming in the 11th inning to give SotBank a walk-off win over Seibu.
The Hawks rallied from four runs down to keep the Lions’ magic number to win the league title at four.
EAGLES 4, MARINES 3
Norihiro Nakamra capped a two-run, ninth-inning rally off Hiroyuki Kobayashi (3-2) with an RBI single as Rakuten rallied for a walk-off win over visiting Lotte.
It was the Marines’ 15 straight loss at the Kleenex Box.
Atsushi Nomi hasn’t been healthy or effective this season to put up big numbers, but he made a big impact on Saturday against the Yomiuri Giants.
The southpaw fired seven scoreless innings as the second-place Tigers put a game between themselves and third-place Giants with a 1-0 win before a packed house at Koshien Stadium.
Nomi (4-0) scattered six hits and two walks, while fanning six to lower his ERA to 2.77 in eight games. With the win, the Tigers pulled themselves to within 1.5 games of first place when front-running Chunichi, which lost at Jingu Stadium.
The Tigers had eight hits, but wasted a trio of runners, in part because Keiichi Hirano failed to get bunts down on three occasions.
Japan’s active sacrifice bunt leader failed each time he was asked to lay one down after Matt Murton got on base.
But Hirano redeemed himself by flagging down a smash with two on and none out in the eighth inning to help preserve Hanshin’s 1-0 lead.
Dicky Gonzalez (5-11) tossed 6.2 innings of one-run ball, but added to his career-worst loss total.
CARP 16, BAYSTARS 6
Shogo Kimura had five hits, Soichiro Amaya had four hits and Shigenobu Shima had three hits and four RBIs as Hiroshima used 24 hits to batter hapless host Yokohama.
It was the franchise-record 20th time this season the BayStars have allowed double digits in runs.
Former BayStar Takuro Ishii had three singles, his 162nd game of three or more hits.
SWALLOWS 6, DRAGONS 1
Shohei Tateyama (10-6) shut down Chunichi on six hits and a walk over six innings as fourth-place Yakult knocked off the Dragons at Jingu Stadium.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb for the second time this season for arguing with umpires in the fifth inning.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 3, BUFFLAOES
Yu Darvish (12-7) scattered eight hits and two walks, while fanning 11 as Nippon Ham nudged its way into the final playoff position with a win over visiting Orix.
Yoshio Itoi’s fourth-inning RBI single gave the Fighters the lead and Eiichi Koyano scored on an error for the reigning PL champs, who rode Darvish as he tied for the league lead in Ks with 200.
HAWKS 9, LIONS 7, 11 INNINGS
Roberto Petagine, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroki Kokubo all homered, Kokubo’s coming in the 11th inning to give SotBank a walk-off win over Seibu.
The Hawks rallied from four runs down to keep the Lions’ magic number to win the league title at four.
EAGLES 4, MARINES 3
Norihiro Nakamra capped a two-run, ninth-inning rally off Hiroyuki Kobayashi (3-2) with an RBI single as Rakuten rallied for a walk-off win over visiting Lotte.
It was the Marines’ 15 straight loss at the Kleenex Box.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
One shining moment ...
Ishikawa sets club record with 10th straight win
Amid a cloud of reports about a second managerial change this season and a steady rain, the Yakult Swallows were able shine on the field against the Yomiuri Giants.
Masanori Ishikawa (12-8) carried a shutout into the eighth inning, and veteran Shinya Miyamoto had two hits, including his third homer, as the Swallows won 6-4 at Jingu Stadium on Thursday. It was the lefty's club-record 10th straight win.
The day started with club president Tadashi Suzuki addressing reports the club would replace interim manager Junji Ogawa with pitching coach Daisuke Araki.
The team said it would make an announcement soon.
In the meantime, fourth-place Yakult was down 0-2 in a three-game set with second-place Yomiuri. Ishikawa set down the first 11 and had the Giants scoreless on four hits through seven innings.
Jamie D’Antona doubled and scored in the second, and singled home a run in the fifth. Miyamoto hit a two-run shot in the sixth to help build a 6-0 lead as the Swallows snapped a three-game skid.
Shinnosuke Abe belted his 41st homer -- extending his career high -- a two-run shot that brought the Giants to within two at 6-4.
But Lim Chang Yong nailed it down with a perfect ninth for his 30th save and sent the Giants back into third place.
TIGERS 2, BAYSTARS 1
Matt Murton had three hits, including the 191st of the season to tie the club record set in 1950, and scored the tying run in the eighth on Takashi Toritani’s triple as Hanshin rallied to win at Yokohama.
Toritani scored the go-ahead run on Takahiro Arai’s sac fly as the Tigers moved back into second.
CARP 5, DRAGONS 3
Ace Kenta Maeda (14-6) toiled for 153 pitches, working around a career-worst-tying 10 hits to beat Chunichi at The Zoom and halt a five-game skid.
Maeda, who took over the league lead in wins, walked three and fanned seven in his CL-best fifth complete game to snap Chunichi's six-game winning streak.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 3, EAGLES 0
Masaru Takeda (13-6) tossed six scoreless innings and Nippon Ham made the best of three hits, scoring all three runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth.
BUFFALOES 7, LIONS 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s pinch-hit grand slam highlighted a five-run eighth as Orix came back to beat Seibu at Skymark Stadium.
It was Okada’s first career pinch-hit blast and his first slam.
MARINES 3, HAWKS 0
Bryan Corey (4-3) and four relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Tadahito Iguchi each homered as Lotte knocked off SoftBank at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Amid a cloud of reports about a second managerial change this season and a steady rain, the Yakult Swallows were able shine on the field against the Yomiuri Giants.
Masanori Ishikawa (12-8) carried a shutout into the eighth inning, and veteran Shinya Miyamoto had two hits, including his third homer, as the Swallows won 6-4 at Jingu Stadium on Thursday. It was the lefty's club-record 10th straight win.
The day started with club president Tadashi Suzuki addressing reports the club would replace interim manager Junji Ogawa with pitching coach Daisuke Araki.
The team said it would make an announcement soon.
In the meantime, fourth-place Yakult was down 0-2 in a three-game set with second-place Yomiuri. Ishikawa set down the first 11 and had the Giants scoreless on four hits through seven innings.
Jamie D’Antona doubled and scored in the second, and singled home a run in the fifth. Miyamoto hit a two-run shot in the sixth to help build a 6-0 lead as the Swallows snapped a three-game skid.
Shinnosuke Abe belted his 41st homer -- extending his career high -- a two-run shot that brought the Giants to within two at 6-4.
But Lim Chang Yong nailed it down with a perfect ninth for his 30th save and sent the Giants back into third place.
TIGERS 2, BAYSTARS 1
Matt Murton had three hits, including the 191st of the season to tie the club record set in 1950, and scored the tying run in the eighth on Takashi Toritani’s triple as Hanshin rallied to win at Yokohama.
Toritani scored the go-ahead run on Takahiro Arai’s sac fly as the Tigers moved back into second.
CARP 5, DRAGONS 3
Ace Kenta Maeda (14-6) toiled for 153 pitches, working around a career-worst-tying 10 hits to beat Chunichi at The Zoom and halt a five-game skid.
Maeda, who took over the league lead in wins, walked three and fanned seven in his CL-best fifth complete game to snap Chunichi's six-game winning streak.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 3, EAGLES 0
Masaru Takeda (13-6) tossed six scoreless innings and Nippon Ham made the best of three hits, scoring all three runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth.
BUFFALOES 7, LIONS 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s pinch-hit grand slam highlighted a five-run eighth as Orix came back to beat Seibu at Skymark Stadium.
It was Okada’s first career pinch-hit blast and his first slam.
MARINES 3, HAWKS 0
Bryan Corey (4-3) and four relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Tadahito Iguchi each homered as Lotte knocked off SoftBank at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Scratchin’ one out ...
Lions preserve 6-run lead, scratch 1 off magic number
The Seibu Lions built a six-run lead in two and a half innings on Wednesday. In the end, they hung on by a nail at Skymark Stadium.
Seventh-year hurler Atsushi Okamoto bailed Alex Graman out of a ninth-inning jam by inducing a game-ending double play with two on as Seibu edged Orix 6-5 and shaved its magic number to win the Pacific League title to five.
Graman, returning this year from offseason shoulder surgery, started the ninth in search of his first save of the season. He left after allowing a run and Okamoto surrendered an RBI single before getting Aarom Baldiris on a chopper that went around the horn to end it.
Jose Fernandez pushed his average to .324 with two hits and two RBIs, and Hiroyuki Nakajima had two hits, including a two-run homer, as Seibu won the middle game of a three-game set.
Righty Masamichi Hirano (4-4) went 6.1 innings for the win. He allowed one run on six hits and two walks with three Ks.
HAWKS 9, MARINES 0
Tsuyoshi Wada (16-8) won his second straight start, blanking Lotte on seven hits and a walk over seven innings as SoftBank won in the rain at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Hiroki Kokubo and Hitoshi Tamura had two hits and two RBI each to back Wada, who fanned nine to extend his career-best win total and tie for the PL lead.
FIGHTERS 7, EAGLES 5
Yang Zhong-shou had two hits and three RBIs and rookie Shota Ono added three hits and two RBIs as Nippon Ham downed Rakuten at Sapporo Dome.
Nippon Ham is just one game out of the third final PLCS playoff spot.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 5, SWALLOWS 2
Shinnosuke Abe’s RBI single broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, and Edgar Gonzalez followed with a bases-clearing double as Yomiuri topped Yakult for the second straight night at Jingu Stadium.
Yomiuri moved past Hanshin into sole possession of second place, 2.5 games behind Chunichi.
DRAGONS 6, CARP 5
Reserve outfielder Masaaki Koike’s RBIs single in the eighth inning broke a 5-5 tie, and Takuya Asao (11-3) worked 1.1 scoreless innings as Chunichi won its sixth straight decision, its 11th consecutive over Hiroshima.
Tony Blanco hit a three-run homer, his 19th, and had an RBI single to power the Dragons, who are a season-best 19 games over .500.
BAYSTARS 7, TIGERS 5
Third-year left-hander Kenjiro Tanaka (1-0) took advantage of seven early runs to pick up his first pro win in his debut as a starter with six-plus innings as Yokohama held off visiting Hanshin.
Craig Brazell hit his CL-best 44rd longball for he slumping Tigers, who are 1-5-1 since Sept. 8.
The Seibu Lions built a six-run lead in two and a half innings on Wednesday. In the end, they hung on by a nail at Skymark Stadium.
Seventh-year hurler Atsushi Okamoto bailed Alex Graman out of a ninth-inning jam by inducing a game-ending double play with two on as Seibu edged Orix 6-5 and shaved its magic number to win the Pacific League title to five.
Graman, returning this year from offseason shoulder surgery, started the ninth in search of his first save of the season. He left after allowing a run and Okamoto surrendered an RBI single before getting Aarom Baldiris on a chopper that went around the horn to end it.
Jose Fernandez pushed his average to .324 with two hits and two RBIs, and Hiroyuki Nakajima had two hits, including a two-run homer, as Seibu won the middle game of a three-game set.
Righty Masamichi Hirano (4-4) went 6.1 innings for the win. He allowed one run on six hits and two walks with three Ks.
HAWKS 9, MARINES 0
Tsuyoshi Wada (16-8) won his second straight start, blanking Lotte on seven hits and a walk over seven innings as SoftBank won in the rain at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Hiroki Kokubo and Hitoshi Tamura had two hits and two RBI each to back Wada, who fanned nine to extend his career-best win total and tie for the PL lead.
FIGHTERS 7, EAGLES 5
Yang Zhong-shou had two hits and three RBIs and rookie Shota Ono added three hits and two RBIs as Nippon Ham downed Rakuten at Sapporo Dome.
Nippon Ham is just one game out of the third final PLCS playoff spot.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 5, SWALLOWS 2
Shinnosuke Abe’s RBI single broke a scoreless tie in the sixth, and Edgar Gonzalez followed with a bases-clearing double as Yomiuri topped Yakult for the second straight night at Jingu Stadium.
Yomiuri moved past Hanshin into sole possession of second place, 2.5 games behind Chunichi.
DRAGONS 6, CARP 5
Reserve outfielder Masaaki Koike’s RBIs single in the eighth inning broke a 5-5 tie, and Takuya Asao (11-3) worked 1.1 scoreless innings as Chunichi won its sixth straight decision, its 11th consecutive over Hiroshima.
Tony Blanco hit a three-run homer, his 19th, and had an RBI single to power the Dragons, who are a season-best 19 games over .500.
BAYSTARS 7, TIGERS 5
Third-year left-hander Kenjiro Tanaka (1-0) took advantage of seven early runs to pick up his first pro win in his debut as a starter with six-plus innings as Yokohama held off visiting Hanshin.
Craig Brazell hit his CL-best 44rd longball for he slumping Tigers, who are 1-5-1 since Sept. 8.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A sinking feeling ...
Tigers fall to lowly Yokohama
The Hanshin Tigers are in a fight for their playoff lives. The Yokohama BayStars are putting pride on the line.
Pride won the battle on Tuesday as Naoyuki Shimizu worked six innings and Shuichi Murata homered for a 6-3 win over the Central League’s second-place Tigers at Yokohama Stadium .
The loss dropped Hanshin into a virtual tie for second place with the Yomiuri Giants.
Shimizu (10-11) pitched around nine hits and three walks, fanning two as the BayStars snapped a nine-game skid against the Tigers.
Hiroki Sanada came on with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning, and a rare relay-throw on a flyout got him out of the jam. Seiichi Uchikawa in right made the catch and rushed the ball toward the infield. Jose Castillo caught the throw, turned and fired to the plate to cut down Takashi Toritani.
“Hey, Shu-san had just hit a home run to get us the lead so I thought, ‘If blow this, they’re going to kill me,’” joked Sanada, who recorded a hold.
“I just went out there pumped up and got the job done.”
Shimizu reached double digits in wins for the first time in two years as the bullpen tossed three scoreless innings.
Hanshin's Craig Brazell took over the CL lead in homers by hitting his 43 rd in a losing cause.
DRAGONS 10, CARP 1
Chen Wei-yin (12-10) scattered seven hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings, and Masahiro Araki and Masahiko Morino each had two hits and three RBI as first-place Chunichi cruised past Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Dragons have won five straight overall, 10 in a row over Hiroshima.
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Michihiro Ogasawara had three hits, inclduing homer No. 33, and two RBIs and Hideki Asai (3-1) held Yakult to four hits and a walk over six as Yomiuri won at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, HAWKS 4, 11 INNINGS
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits, raising his average to .336, and pushed the game-winner home in the 11th inning as Lotte outlasted second-place SoftBank at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Hiroki Kokubo kicked Nishioka’s grounder for a walk-off error as SoftBank missed a chance to gain ground on Seibu.
BUFFALOES 3, LIONS 2
Chihiro Kaneko (16-7) continued his red-hot streak, tossing seven quality innings to win his 12th straight decision as Orix topped visiting Seibu.
Kaneko moved into the PL’s top spot in wins.
EAGLES 9, FIGHTERS 0
Satoshi Nagai (9-10) tossed a four-hitter with three walks and seven Ks as Rakuten blanked Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
Takeshi Yamasaki went 3-for-5 with homer No. 25 and three RBIs.
The Hanshin Tigers are in a fight for their playoff lives. The Yokohama BayStars are putting pride on the line.
Pride won the battle on Tuesday as Naoyuki Shimizu worked six innings and Shuichi Murata homered for a 6-3 win over the Central League’s second-place Tigers at Yokohama Stadium .
The loss dropped Hanshin into a virtual tie for second place with the Yomiuri Giants.
Shimizu (10-11) pitched around nine hits and three walks, fanning two as the BayStars snapped a nine-game skid against the Tigers.
Hiroki Sanada came on with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning, and a rare relay-throw on a flyout got him out of the jam. Seiichi Uchikawa in right made the catch and rushed the ball toward the infield. Jose Castillo caught the throw, turned and fired to the plate to cut down Takashi Toritani.
“Hey, Shu-san had just hit a home run to get us the lead so I thought, ‘If blow this, they’re going to kill me,’” joked Sanada, who recorded a hold.
“I just went out there pumped up and got the job done.”
Shimizu reached double digits in wins for the first time in two years as the bullpen tossed three scoreless innings.
Hanshin's Craig Brazell took over the CL lead in homers by hitting his 43 rd in a losing cause.
DRAGONS 10, CARP 1
Chen Wei-yin (12-10) scattered seven hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings, and Masahiro Araki and Masahiko Morino each had two hits and three RBI as first-place Chunichi cruised past Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Dragons have won five straight overall, 10 in a row over Hiroshima.
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Michihiro Ogasawara had three hits, inclduing homer No. 33, and two RBIs and Hideki Asai (3-1) held Yakult to four hits and a walk over six as Yomiuri won at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, HAWKS 4, 11 INNINGS
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits, raising his average to .336, and pushed the game-winner home in the 11th inning as Lotte outlasted second-place SoftBank at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Hiroki Kokubo kicked Nishioka’s grounder for a walk-off error as SoftBank missed a chance to gain ground on Seibu.
BUFFALOES 3, LIONS 2
Chihiro Kaneko (16-7) continued his red-hot streak, tossing seven quality innings to win his 12th straight decision as Orix topped visiting Seibu.
Kaneko moved into the PL’s top spot in wins.
EAGLES 9, FIGHTERS 0
Satoshi Nagai (9-10) tossed a four-hitter with three walks and seven Ks as Rakuten blanked Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
Takeshi Yamasaki went 3-for-5 with homer No. 25 and three RBIs.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Graduation day ...
Tigers teen tosses shutout
The Hanshin Tigers have had to turn to a teen pitcher in a time of crisis.
And 19-year-old rookie Takumi Akiyama came up big on Sunday, tossing a four-hitter for his first career complete game in a 5-0 whitewash of the Yakult Swallows at Koshien Stadium.
The right-hander fired 93 just pitches, fanning three and walking none to become just the third rookie straight out of high school to throw a shutout in franchise history.
Akiyama (3-1) lowered his ERA to 2.72 in four starts this season, scattering four hits and getting a pair of double plays over the final two innings.
Takashi Toritani doubled in a run in the first, and Takahiro Arai followed with an RBI single to get Akiyama the lead.
Kyohei Muranaka (10-8) wasn’t sharp, allowing nine hits and four runs -- three earned -- with a walk, a hit batter and three strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Akiyama helped his own cause with an RBI single in the seventh, and Kenji Jojima doubled twice and drove in a run for Hanshin, which stayed 1.5 games behind front-running Chunichi in the Central League.
DRAGONS5, BAYSTARS 2
Masahiko Morino went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer in the first and an RBI single in the seventh to lead first-place Chunichi past visiting Yokohama.
Set-up man Takuya Asao worked a scoreless eighth to set an NPB record with his 56th consecutive hold point.
Kenichi Nakata (6-3) went six innings for the win.
GIANTS 5, CARP 1
Hayato Sakamoto belted his 29th homer and added an RBI double, and Dicky Gonzalez (5-10) won Yomiuri’s first game by a starter in 13 contests as the Giants topped Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.
Sakamoto set a club record for home runs by a Giants leadoff batter.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 13, MARINES 4
Hisashi Takayama had four hits, including a homer and four RBIs to lead Seibu past visiting Lotte.
The Lions reduced their magic number to seven.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
Kenji Otonari (4-8) surrendered two hits and fanned nine over seven innings as SoftBank blanked visiting Nippon Ham.
Munenori Kawasaki had two hits and an RBI for the second-place Hawks.
EAGLES 9, BUFFALOES 4
Teppei Tsuchiya had four hits, including his ninth homer, and three RBIs as host Rakuten downed Orix.
The Hanshin Tigers have had to turn to a teen pitcher in a time of crisis.
And 19-year-old rookie Takumi Akiyama came up big on Sunday, tossing a four-hitter for his first career complete game in a 5-0 whitewash of the Yakult Swallows at Koshien Stadium.
The right-hander fired 93 just pitches, fanning three and walking none to become just the third rookie straight out of high school to throw a shutout in franchise history.
Akiyama (3-1) lowered his ERA to 2.72 in four starts this season, scattering four hits and getting a pair of double plays over the final two innings.
Takashi Toritani doubled in a run in the first, and Takahiro Arai followed with an RBI single to get Akiyama the lead.
Kyohei Muranaka (10-8) wasn’t sharp, allowing nine hits and four runs -- three earned -- with a walk, a hit batter and three strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Akiyama helped his own cause with an RBI single in the seventh, and Kenji Jojima doubled twice and drove in a run for Hanshin, which stayed 1.5 games behind front-running Chunichi in the Central League.
DRAGONS5, BAYSTARS 2
Masahiko Morino went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer in the first and an RBI single in the seventh to lead first-place Chunichi past visiting Yokohama.
Set-up man Takuya Asao worked a scoreless eighth to set an NPB record with his 56th consecutive hold point.
Kenichi Nakata (6-3) went six innings for the win.
GIANTS 5, CARP 1
Hayato Sakamoto belted his 29th homer and added an RBI double, and Dicky Gonzalez (5-10) won Yomiuri’s first game by a starter in 13 contests as the Giants topped Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.
Sakamoto set a club record for home runs by a Giants leadoff batter.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 13, MARINES 4
Hisashi Takayama had four hits, including a homer and four RBIs to lead Seibu past visiting Lotte.
The Lions reduced their magic number to seven.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
Kenji Otonari (4-8) surrendered two hits and fanned nine over seven innings as SoftBank blanked visiting Nippon Ham.
Munenori Kawasaki had two hits and an RBI for the second-place Hawks.
EAGLES 9, BUFFALOES 4
Teppei Tsuchiya had four hits, including his ninth homer, and three RBIs as host Rakuten downed Orix.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Hear them roar ...
Lions start to take control of PL
Not injuries, mediocre performances, slumps or opponents have been able to keep the Seibu Lions down, and now they’re roaring toward another Pacific League title.
Ace Hideaki Wakui (14-7) held the Lotte Marines to a run on three hits and a walk over seven innings and Hisashi Takayama doubled and singled for three RBIs as the Lions won at home on Saturday.
The Lions drew a season-high 33,920, who watched them pull out a close game and be the first team to talk “magic number,” which was announced today at eight.
Wakui, who hadn’t won since Aug. 13, fanned five and is one win off the league lead.
“I was really hurting the team for the past month,” he said. “I’m just relieved to get a win.”
The Lions, who lead the second-place SoftBank Hawks by 3.5 games, have just 11 games left. The Hawks have 10 games remaining.
Brian Sikorski extended his career-best saves total to 33 with a scoreless ninth.
Takayama doubled in two in the first and had an RBI single in the third, while Jose Fernandez had two hits to drive his average to .314.
FIGHTERS 4, HAWKS 1
Yu Darvish (11-7) helped Nippon Ham inch closer to the third and final playoff spot by fanning 12 Hawks in a win at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano’s fourth-inning solo blast was the difference for Darvish, who scattered six hits and walked one over the distance.
EAGLES 5, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (10-8) shut down Orix on five hits and two walks over eight innings, and Motohiro Shima doubled home two runs in the fourth that prove to be the difference in a win at The Kleenex Box.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, BAYSTARS 2
Tony Blanco had his second 4-for-4 game in Japan -- about two weeks after his first -- and homered twice in one game at Nagoya Dome for the first time to drive in four and lead Chunichi past Yokohama.
Masahiro Yamamoto (5-0) worked 5.2 innings, pitching around right hits and two walks for the win. It was his 210th win, putting him in sole possession of 19th on the all-time list.
The Dragons won their eighth game this month and increased their lead in the CL to 1.5 games over Hanshin by moving a season-high 16 games over .500.
GIANTS 11, CARP 6
Alex Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a season-high five RBIs, and Shinnosuke Abe hit a grand slam, his 40th homer, to put the game out of reach in the seventh inning as Yomiuri bombarded Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.
Abe became just the third catcher in NPB history to have at least 40 homers in a season, joining Katsuya Nomura and Koichi Tabuchi.
SWALLOWS 3, TIGERS 2
Josh Whitesell’s two-run shot in the seventh capped a three-run uprising off Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-3) as Yakult won at Koshien Stadium.
Not injuries, mediocre performances, slumps or opponents have been able to keep the Seibu Lions down, and now they’re roaring toward another Pacific League title.
Ace Hideaki Wakui (14-7) held the Lotte Marines to a run on three hits and a walk over seven innings and Hisashi Takayama doubled and singled for three RBIs as the Lions won at home on Saturday.
The Lions drew a season-high 33,920, who watched them pull out a close game and be the first team to talk “magic number,” which was announced today at eight.
Wakui, who hadn’t won since Aug. 13, fanned five and is one win off the league lead.
“I was really hurting the team for the past month,” he said. “I’m just relieved to get a win.”
The Lions, who lead the second-place SoftBank Hawks by 3.5 games, have just 11 games left. The Hawks have 10 games remaining.
Brian Sikorski extended his career-best saves total to 33 with a scoreless ninth.
Takayama doubled in two in the first and had an RBI single in the third, while Jose Fernandez had two hits to drive his average to .314.
FIGHTERS 4, HAWKS 1
Yu Darvish (11-7) helped Nippon Ham inch closer to the third and final playoff spot by fanning 12 Hawks in a win at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano’s fourth-inning solo blast was the difference for Darvish, who scattered six hits and walked one over the distance.
EAGLES 5, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (10-8) shut down Orix on five hits and two walks over eight innings, and Motohiro Shima doubled home two runs in the fourth that prove to be the difference in a win at The Kleenex Box.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, BAYSTARS 2
Tony Blanco had his second 4-for-4 game in Japan -- about two weeks after his first -- and homered twice in one game at Nagoya Dome for the first time to drive in four and lead Chunichi past Yokohama.
Masahiro Yamamoto (5-0) worked 5.2 innings, pitching around right hits and two walks for the win. It was his 210th win, putting him in sole possession of 19th on the all-time list.
The Dragons won their eighth game this month and increased their lead in the CL to 1.5 games over Hanshin by moving a season-high 16 games over .500.
GIANTS 11, CARP 6
Alex Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a season-high five RBIs, and Shinnosuke Abe hit a grand slam, his 40th homer, to put the game out of reach in the seventh inning as Yomiuri bombarded Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.
Abe became just the third catcher in NPB history to have at least 40 homers in a season, joining Katsuya Nomura and Koichi Tabuchi.
SWALLOWS 3, TIGERS 2
Josh Whitesell’s two-run shot in the seventh capped a three-run uprising off Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-3) as Yakult won at Koshien Stadium.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Changes at the top ...
Dragons take over 1st in CL
The last time the Chunichi Dragons were in first place in the Central League, the season was young -- just learning to crawl.
The Dragons crawled back into first with a tough 1-0 win over the Yokohama BayStars on Friday at Nagoya Dome in a three-horse race for the CL title.
Masahiko Morino’s scoring flyball in the eighth inning was the game’s only run in a pitching duel between a pair of young hurlers who ended up with no decisions after seven scoreless innings each.
The Dragons, who took over the top spot in the CL for first for time since April 15, have three shutouts already this month with a team ERA of 0.75.
Chunichi second-year righty Shinji Iwata scattered two hits and three walks with a half-dozen strikeouts, while rookie right-hander Shigeru Kaga frustrated the Dragons by working around four hits and four walks with four Ks.
The Dragons broke through against reliever Shintaro Ejiri (1-2), who walked one before getting an out and getting the hook.
Takuya Asao (3-1) worked 1.1 scoreless innings and Hitoki Iwase, who became the first reliever to appear in at least 50 over 12 consecutive years, recorded his 38th save.
The Dragons have a CL-high 71 wins, while the Tigers and Yomiuri Giants are tied with 67 each. Both teams have games in hand on the Dragons.
SWALLOWS 7, TIGERS 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s solo blast in the seventh got Yakult even and Shingo Kawabata singled over a drawn-in infield to break the tie and in a win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Starter Masanori Ishikawa (11-8) allowed two runs over 6.2 innings to tie a club record by winning his ninth straight decision.
GIANTS 5, CARP 4, 10 INNINGS
Michihiro Ogasawara blasted his 31st homer to lead off the 10th as Yomiuri got past Hiroshima in Niigata.
It was Ogasawara’s first walk-off shot in five seasons and his first with the Giants.
Marc Kroon (4-2) set down the side in order, fanning two, to get the win.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 12, MARINES 8
Takeya Nakamura celebrated his wife’s birthday with two longballs, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the seventh, and had four RBIs as Seibu rocked Lotte at Seibu Dome.
Jose Fernandez homered and doubled to drive in three for Seibu.
FIGHTERS 2, HAWKS 1, 10 INNINGS
Hichori Morimoto squeezed home the go-ahead run in the 10th as Nippon Ham got past SoftBank at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The loss pushed the Hawks two games back of the Lions.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 1
Aarom Baldiris had a two-run single in the first inning and a solo homer in the seventh to carry Orix past Rakuten in Sendai.
The last time the Chunichi Dragons were in first place in the Central League, the season was young -- just learning to crawl.
The Dragons crawled back into first with a tough 1-0 win over the Yokohama BayStars on Friday at Nagoya Dome in a three-horse race for the CL title.
Masahiko Morino’s scoring flyball in the eighth inning was the game’s only run in a pitching duel between a pair of young hurlers who ended up with no decisions after seven scoreless innings each.
The Dragons, who took over the top spot in the CL for first for time since April 15, have three shutouts already this month with a team ERA of 0.75.
Chunichi second-year righty Shinji Iwata scattered two hits and three walks with a half-dozen strikeouts, while rookie right-hander Shigeru Kaga frustrated the Dragons by working around four hits and four walks with four Ks.
The Dragons broke through against reliever Shintaro Ejiri (1-2), who walked one before getting an out and getting the hook.
Takuya Asao (3-1) worked 1.1 scoreless innings and Hitoki Iwase, who became the first reliever to appear in at least 50 over 12 consecutive years, recorded his 38th save.
The Dragons have a CL-high 71 wins, while the Tigers and Yomiuri Giants are tied with 67 each. Both teams have games in hand on the Dragons.
SWALLOWS 7, TIGERS 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s solo blast in the seventh got Yakult even and Shingo Kawabata singled over a drawn-in infield to break the tie and in a win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Starter Masanori Ishikawa (11-8) allowed two runs over 6.2 innings to tie a club record by winning his ninth straight decision.
GIANTS 5, CARP 4, 10 INNINGS
Michihiro Ogasawara blasted his 31st homer to lead off the 10th as Yomiuri got past Hiroshima in Niigata.
It was Ogasawara’s first walk-off shot in five seasons and his first with the Giants.
Marc Kroon (4-2) set down the side in order, fanning two, to get the win.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 12, MARINES 8
Takeya Nakamura celebrated his wife’s birthday with two longballs, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the seventh, and had four RBIs as Seibu rocked Lotte at Seibu Dome.
Jose Fernandez homered and doubled to drive in three for Seibu.
FIGHTERS 2, HAWKS 1, 10 INNINGS
Hichori Morimoto squeezed home the go-ahead run in the 10th as Nippon Ham got past SoftBank at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The loss pushed the Hawks two games back of the Lions.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 1
Aarom Baldiris had a two-run single in the first inning and a solo homer in the seventh to carry Orix past Rakuten in Sendai.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Fit to be tied ...
Tigers, Dragons show off just how close CL is with draw
The Central League figures to go down to the last pitch, and the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers gave fans a glimpse of the playoff future in a 2-2 12-inning tie on Thursday at Koshien Stadium.
Moments after Yamato Maeda was caught stealing for the second out in the ninth inning, Shunsuke Fujikawa tripled to center and scored on pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama looping single over the infield to tie the score.
The top two teams in the CL failed to capitalize on their chances in extra innings, finishing the three-game set 1-1-1.
The Tigers ran out of position players in the 10th inning after Craig Brazell was doubled off at first on Ryo Asai’s liner to short. Hanshin skipper Akinobu Mayumi turned to pitcher Ken Nishimura, putting the righty in the outfield.
The pitcher moved back and forth from right to left, depending on Chunichi’s hitters.
The last out in the 12th came with Nishimura at the plate, instead of Brazell, as Takahiro Arai got thrown out trying to steal second.
BAYSTARS 10, GIANTS 7
Jose Castillo had three hits, including his 16th longball, and host Yokohama scored in double digits against Yomiuri for the first time in two years in a win at home.
Seiichi Uchikawa also had three hits, and Brett Harper led three others with two RBIs by hitting a pair of run-scoring singles as the BayStars collected 16 hits.
CARP 9, SWALLOWS 2
Kenta Maeda (13-6) scattered five hits and a walk, while fanning nine to become the CL’s top winner as Hiroshima downed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Tomonori Maeda’s bases-clearing double in the seventh broke the game open, and seventh-year pro Shogo Kimura hit his first homer in the ninth, a two-run shot.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 0
Brian Wolfe (3-3) worked seven shutout innings and two relievers finished off a four-hitter as Nippon Ham blanked host Seibu.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano homered twice (to give him 15) and drove in three, and Atsunori Inaba had three hits, including his 16th longball, to back Wolfe.
EAGLES 5, HAWKS 2
Hisashi Kitani (2-4) pitched hitless relief over 1.1 innings and Randy Ruiz had a double and drove in two as Rakuten stifled SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The Central League figures to go down to the last pitch, and the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers gave fans a glimpse of the playoff future in a 2-2 12-inning tie on Thursday at Koshien Stadium.
Moments after Yamato Maeda was caught stealing for the second out in the ninth inning, Shunsuke Fujikawa tripled to center and scored on pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama looping single over the infield to tie the score.
The top two teams in the CL failed to capitalize on their chances in extra innings, finishing the three-game set 1-1-1.
The Tigers ran out of position players in the 10th inning after Craig Brazell was doubled off at first on Ryo Asai’s liner to short. Hanshin skipper Akinobu Mayumi turned to pitcher Ken Nishimura, putting the righty in the outfield.
The pitcher moved back and forth from right to left, depending on Chunichi’s hitters.
The last out in the 12th came with Nishimura at the plate, instead of Brazell, as Takahiro Arai got thrown out trying to steal second.
BAYSTARS 10, GIANTS 7
Jose Castillo had three hits, including his 16th longball, and host Yokohama scored in double digits against Yomiuri for the first time in two years in a win at home.
Seiichi Uchikawa also had three hits, and Brett Harper led three others with two RBIs by hitting a pair of run-scoring singles as the BayStars collected 16 hits.
CARP 9, SWALLOWS 2
Kenta Maeda (13-6) scattered five hits and a walk, while fanning nine to become the CL’s top winner as Hiroshima downed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Tomonori Maeda’s bases-clearing double in the seventh broke the game open, and seventh-year pro Shogo Kimura hit his first homer in the ninth, a two-run shot.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 0
Brian Wolfe (3-3) worked seven shutout innings and two relievers finished off a four-hitter as Nippon Ham blanked host Seibu.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano homered twice (to give him 15) and drove in three, and Atsunori Inaba had three hits, including his 16th longball, to back Wolfe.
EAGLES 5, HAWKS 2
Hisashi Kitani (2-4) pitched hitless relief over 1.1 innings and Randy Ruiz had a double and drove in two as Rakuten stifled SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
1-2 punch ...
Yamai, Fujii lead 2nd-place Dragons past 1-st-place Tigers
Two players who haven’t been consistent contributors were as steady as could be on Wednesday at Skymark Stadium.
Daisuke Yamai (7-4) scattered eight hits -- with no walks -- with a career-high 11 strikeouts, while Atsushi Fujii had his first career five-hit game as Chunichi routed the Central League's front-running Hanshin Tigers 10-1 at Skymark Stadium.
Chunichi, which went a season-high 14 games over .500 and moved a half-game behind the Tigers, also got three hits and two runs from leadoff man Masahiro Araki.
The three-game showdown between the CL’s top two teams is tied at a game apiece, and the Dragons can leave the Kansai area in first place with a win Thursday.
The Dragons, a night after being shut out 1-0, rocked Randy Messenger (4-5) for five runs in the first inning.
Araki and stole second and the Dragons loaded the bases with one out for No. 5 man Tony Blanco. The Dominican singled in a pair and after an error allowed two runs to score, Fujii capped the rally with an RBI double.
Messenger got the instant thumb when he plunked Masahiko Morino in the head in the second inning, and Morino homered with a man aboard in the fourth.
Hanshin’s Craig Brazell smacked his 42nd homer, a solo shot that tied him with Yomiuri’s Alex Ramirez for the league lead and accounted for Hanshin’s run.
The Giants and BayStars were washed out at Yokohama, while the Swallows and Carp game at Jingu was called early in the afternoon because of a typhoon.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, EAGLES 0
Tsuyoshi Wada, who had lost three straight starts, finally earned his career-high 15th win by scattering five hits and a walk over eight innings as SoftBank blanked Rakuten.
Hitoshi Tamura belted a pair of homers, his 25th and 26th, and drove in four in support of Wada (15-8), who fanned seven for his first win since Aug. 11.
LIONS 8, FIGHTERS 3
Kazuhisa Ishii (9-4) lasted six innings, allowing two runs, and Jose Fernandez sparked a five-run outburst in the fourth with his seventh homer as Seibu topped Nippon Ham to keep pace with SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 6, MARINES 2
Alex Cabrera’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run third, and Hiroshi Kisanuki (10-10) went the distance to notch double digits in wins for the first time in three season as Orix topped Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Two players who haven’t been consistent contributors were as steady as could be on Wednesday at Skymark Stadium.
Daisuke Yamai (7-4) scattered eight hits -- with no walks -- with a career-high 11 strikeouts, while Atsushi Fujii had his first career five-hit game as Chunichi routed the Central League's front-running Hanshin Tigers 10-1 at Skymark Stadium.
Chunichi, which went a season-high 14 games over .500 and moved a half-game behind the Tigers, also got three hits and two runs from leadoff man Masahiro Araki.
The three-game showdown between the CL’s top two teams is tied at a game apiece, and the Dragons can leave the Kansai area in first place with a win Thursday.
The Dragons, a night after being shut out 1-0, rocked Randy Messenger (4-5) for five runs in the first inning.
Araki and stole second and the Dragons loaded the bases with one out for No. 5 man Tony Blanco. The Dominican singled in a pair and after an error allowed two runs to score, Fujii capped the rally with an RBI double.
Messenger got the instant thumb when he plunked Masahiko Morino in the head in the second inning, and Morino homered with a man aboard in the fourth.
Hanshin’s Craig Brazell smacked his 42nd homer, a solo shot that tied him with Yomiuri’s Alex Ramirez for the league lead and accounted for Hanshin’s run.
The Giants and BayStars were washed out at Yokohama, while the Swallows and Carp game at Jingu was called early in the afternoon because of a typhoon.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, EAGLES 0
Tsuyoshi Wada, who had lost three straight starts, finally earned his career-high 15th win by scattering five hits and a walk over eight innings as SoftBank blanked Rakuten.
Hitoshi Tamura belted a pair of homers, his 25th and 26th, and drove in four in support of Wada (15-8), who fanned seven for his first win since Aug. 11.
LIONS 8, FIGHTERS 3
Kazuhisa Ishii (9-4) lasted six innings, allowing two runs, and Jose Fernandez sparked a five-run outburst in the fourth with his seventh homer as Seibu topped Nippon Ham to keep pace with SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 6, MARINES 2
Alex Cabrera’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run third, and Hiroshi Kisanuki (10-10) went the distance to notch double digits in wins for the first time in three season as Orix topped Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
It’s a jungle out there …
Lions walk off in wild one
The Seibu Lions are fighting like they are kings of the Pacific League jungle.
Hiroyuki Nakajima powered the front-running Lions past the Nippon Ham Fighters with a walk-off sac fly to the warning track for a 6-5 win on Tuesday night at Seibu Dome.
The Lions stayed a game and a half in front of Softbank, which won, with a dramatic comeback from four runs down.
The Fighters put a four-spot on the board in the third, but Seibu rallied for five, capped by a Jose Fernandez RBI single, in the seventh to get even. Fernandez became the 11th foreign player -- the 260th overall -- to reach 1,000 hits.
Brian Sikorski (2-3) tossed a perfect ninth for the win.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 4
Chihiro Kaneko looked headed for his first loss in 11 decisions, but pinch-hitter So Taguchi’s two-run blast in the seventh gave Orix the lead and it hung on to top Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Kaneko (15-7) fanned 11, while working around eight hits and a walk over eight innings to win his 11th straight decision.
Lotte’s Tsuyoshi Nishioka tied Leron Lee’s club mark for hits in a season by getting two to reach 175.
HAWKS 3, EAGLES 0
Hitoshi Tamura made the best of his first start in three games, blasting a three-run homer, and five pitchers combined on a two-hitter as SoftBank blanked visiting Rakuten.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 1, DRAGONS 0
Jason Standridge (10-2) worked 7.1 scoreless innings, and closer Kyuji Fujikawa got him out of trouble in the eighth and escaped his own jam in the ninth as host Hanshin blanked Chunichi.
The first-place Tigers went a season-high 16 games over .500 and stretched their lead over the Dragons to 1.5 games, snapping Chunichi’s six-game winning streak in the process.
Takashi Toritani’s sac fly in the fifth scored Matt Murton, who doubled, with the game’s only run.
GIANTS 6, BAYSTARS 4
Michihiro Ogasawara and Shigeyuki Furuki each had two hits -- including solo blasts -- and Tetsuya Matsumoto’s two-run single in the eight broke a 4-4 tie as Yomiuri won at Yokohama.
Ogasawara joined Sadaharu Oh and Katsuya Nomura as the only players in Nippon Pro Baseball history to have 10 seasons of at least 30 homers.
SWALLOWS 6, CARP 5
Yasushi Iihara’s solo shot leading off the ninth lifted fourth-place Yakult to a walk-off win over visiting Hiroshima.
The Seibu Lions are fighting like they are kings of the Pacific League jungle.
Hiroyuki Nakajima powered the front-running Lions past the Nippon Ham Fighters with a walk-off sac fly to the warning track for a 6-5 win on Tuesday night at Seibu Dome.
The Lions stayed a game and a half in front of Softbank, which won, with a dramatic comeback from four runs down.
The Fighters put a four-spot on the board in the third, but Seibu rallied for five, capped by a Jose Fernandez RBI single, in the seventh to get even. Fernandez became the 11th foreign player -- the 260th overall -- to reach 1,000 hits.
Brian Sikorski (2-3) tossed a perfect ninth for the win.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 4
Chihiro Kaneko looked headed for his first loss in 11 decisions, but pinch-hitter So Taguchi’s two-run blast in the seventh gave Orix the lead and it hung on to top Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Kaneko (15-7) fanned 11, while working around eight hits and a walk over eight innings to win his 11th straight decision.
Lotte’s Tsuyoshi Nishioka tied Leron Lee’s club mark for hits in a season by getting two to reach 175.
HAWKS 3, EAGLES 0
Hitoshi Tamura made the best of his first start in three games, blasting a three-run homer, and five pitchers combined on a two-hitter as SoftBank blanked visiting Rakuten.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 1, DRAGONS 0
Jason Standridge (10-2) worked 7.1 scoreless innings, and closer Kyuji Fujikawa got him out of trouble in the eighth and escaped his own jam in the ninth as host Hanshin blanked Chunichi.
The first-place Tigers went a season-high 16 games over .500 and stretched their lead over the Dragons to 1.5 games, snapping Chunichi’s six-game winning streak in the process.
Takashi Toritani’s sac fly in the fifth scored Matt Murton, who doubled, with the game’s only run.
GIANTS 6, BAYSTARS 4
Michihiro Ogasawara and Shigeyuki Furuki each had two hits -- including solo blasts -- and Tetsuya Matsumoto’s two-run single in the eight broke a 4-4 tie as Yomiuri won at Yokohama.
Ogasawara joined Sadaharu Oh and Katsuya Nomura as the only players in Nippon Pro Baseball history to have 10 seasons of at least 30 homers.
SWALLOWS 6, CARP 5
Yasushi Iihara’s solo shot leading off the ninth lifted fourth-place Yakult to a walk-off win over visiting Hiroshima.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Giant fall ...
Yomiuri continues to fall
Maybe it was appropriate that Yomiuri Giants starter got the boot for a dangerous pitch, since the Giants are moving dangerously close to missing the playoffs.
Shun Tono got the thumb after hitting Naomichi Donoue in the head in the second inning, and the Chunichi Dragons ended up with their third three-game sweep over the Giants at Nagoya Dome with a 3-1 decision on Sunday.
The three-time defending Central League champion Giants are still 4.5 games ahead of the Yakult Swallows, but they’ve dropped six of seven (with a tie thrown in), and are 9-15 against the second-place Dragons.
The Giants have lost a franchise-worst nine straight at Nagoya Dome.
They scored a combined three runs in the series, Ken Nakata (5-3) finishing off another dominant performance by a Chunichi starter. He worked eight innings, allowing a run on five hits with one walk, while punching out six as the Dragons won their fifth straight.
Takuya Asao got one out in the ninth to set a Nippon Pro Baseball record by notching a hold in his 21st straight outing. Hitoki Iwase got the final two outs for his 37th save.
The Giants, who led the CL most of the first half, fell 2.5 games behind the Dragons and trail the first-place Hanshin Tigers by three games.
Tono (12-8) has lost his last five decisions as the Giants set a single-season club record for losses at an opposing venue with their 10th.
The Dragons lead the league with 69 wins, but have lost 54 and have 19 games to play. The Giants have 23 games left, while Hansin has 26.
TIGERS 11, CARP 5
Craig Brazell slugged his 40th homer, one off the CL lead, and Takumi Akiyama (2-1) earned his second pro win with a quality start of three runs allowed in 6.1 innings as Hanshin won at The Zoom.
Takashi Toritani had four of Hanshin’s 20 hits, including an RBI triple and three RBIs.
SWALLOWS 6, BAYSTARS 6, 12 INNINGS
Yakult's Ryuji Aikawa’s scoring flyball off Yokohama Shun Yamaguchi tied the score in the ninth and it stayed that way until the inning limit ended things after five hours and nine minutes at Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, EAGLES 5
Takeya “Okawarai-kun” Nakamura slugged a solo blast in the top of the ninth, his third homer in as many games, as Seibu fought past Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Bryan Corey (3-3) worked five sharp innings and Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled twice and drove in a pair as Lotte downed Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 2, 10 INNINGS
Nobuhiro Matsuda tied the score with his 18th homer, a solo shot in the seventh, and Hiroki Kokubo delivered an RBI go-ahead double in the 10th to lift SoftBank past Orix at Skymark Stadium
Maybe it was appropriate that Yomiuri Giants starter got the boot for a dangerous pitch, since the Giants are moving dangerously close to missing the playoffs.
Shun Tono got the thumb after hitting Naomichi Donoue in the head in the second inning, and the Chunichi Dragons ended up with their third three-game sweep over the Giants at Nagoya Dome with a 3-1 decision on Sunday.
The three-time defending Central League champion Giants are still 4.5 games ahead of the Yakult Swallows, but they’ve dropped six of seven (with a tie thrown in), and are 9-15 against the second-place Dragons.
The Giants have lost a franchise-worst nine straight at Nagoya Dome.
They scored a combined three runs in the series, Ken Nakata (5-3) finishing off another dominant performance by a Chunichi starter. He worked eight innings, allowing a run on five hits with one walk, while punching out six as the Dragons won their fifth straight.
Takuya Asao got one out in the ninth to set a Nippon Pro Baseball record by notching a hold in his 21st straight outing. Hitoki Iwase got the final two outs for his 37th save.
The Giants, who led the CL most of the first half, fell 2.5 games behind the Dragons and trail the first-place Hanshin Tigers by three games.
Tono (12-8) has lost his last five decisions as the Giants set a single-season club record for losses at an opposing venue with their 10th.
The Dragons lead the league with 69 wins, but have lost 54 and have 19 games to play. The Giants have 23 games left, while Hansin has 26.
TIGERS 11, CARP 5
Craig Brazell slugged his 40th homer, one off the CL lead, and Takumi Akiyama (2-1) earned his second pro win with a quality start of three runs allowed in 6.1 innings as Hanshin won at The Zoom.
Takashi Toritani had four of Hanshin’s 20 hits, including an RBI triple and three RBIs.
SWALLOWS 6, BAYSTARS 6, 12 INNINGS
Yakult's Ryuji Aikawa’s scoring flyball off Yokohama Shun Yamaguchi tied the score in the ninth and it stayed that way until the inning limit ended things after five hours and nine minutes at Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, EAGLES 5
Takeya “Okawarai-kun” Nakamura slugged a solo blast in the top of the ninth, his third homer in as many games, as Seibu fought past Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Bryan Corey (3-3) worked five sharp innings and Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled twice and drove in a pair as Lotte downed Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 2, 10 INNINGS
Nobuhiro Matsuda tied the score with his 18th homer, a solo shot in the seventh, and Hiroki Kokubo delivered an RBI go-ahead double in the 10th to lift SoftBank past Orix at Skymark Stadium
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The older, the better ...
45-year-old Yamamoto becomes oldest to throw shutout
The fire still burns in Dragons 45-year-old lefty Masahiro Yamamoto.
He started the season with the farm team, but looks like an ace after tossing a six-hitter to become the oldest hurler to throw a shutout as Chunichi blanked the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 on Saturday at Nagoya Dome.
Intermittent spells of effectiveness have kept the veteran on the farm at times late in his 26-plus years, but the man who throws everything was sharp until the end.
“I’m really happy, but I want to continue to pitch well from here on out,” said Yamamoto, who walked one and fanned four.
“I’m happy I pitched well, but the big thing is that the team got a victory in a big game,” said Yamamoto, whose birthday is Aug. 11.
Yamamoto didn’t get the call to the first team until last month, beating Hanshin on Aug. 7. He is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in five starts.
The win, Chunichi’s fifth straight, guaranteed the Dragons will hold second place in the Central League through the weekend.
It was Yamamoto’s 30th career shutout, his first since April 27, 2007.
The Dragons have knocked off the Giants eight straight times at Nagoya Dome.
CARP 8, TIGERS 3
Kenta Kurihara’s RBI double gave Hiroshima the lead in the third inning, and Justin Huber’s pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth put the game away as the Carp downed first-place Hanshin.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 4
Brett Harper’s sixth-inning RBI single, his second of the game, gave host Yokohama the lead and sparked an eight-run outburst that carried the BayStars past visiting Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 1, MARINES 0, 12 INNINGS
Yuji Iiyama’s scoring flyball was the game’s only run as Nippon Ham outlasted host Lotte in a sparkling pitching display.
Nippon Ham’s Yu Darvish went eight scoreless, while Chiba’s Hayden Penn tossed 10 shutout innings, both leaving the mound with no decision.
EAGLES 7, LIONS 6
Randy Ruiz capped Rakuten’s biggest ninth-inning comeback with a with an RBI single as the Eagles rallied for five runs -- one off Seibu closer Brian Sikorski (1-3) -- to win at the Kleenex Box.
The Eagles used eight hits and a walk to rally past the PL front runners.
BUFFALOES 12, HAWKS 5
Alex Cabrera homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs as Orix sent SoftBank to its fourth straight loss with a win at Skymark Stadium.
The fire still burns in Dragons 45-year-old lefty Masahiro Yamamoto.
He started the season with the farm team, but looks like an ace after tossing a six-hitter to become the oldest hurler to throw a shutout as Chunichi blanked the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 on Saturday at Nagoya Dome.
Intermittent spells of effectiveness have kept the veteran on the farm at times late in his 26-plus years, but the man who throws everything was sharp until the end.
“I’m really happy, but I want to continue to pitch well from here on out,” said Yamamoto, who walked one and fanned four.
“I’m happy I pitched well, but the big thing is that the team got a victory in a big game,” said Yamamoto, whose birthday is Aug. 11.
Yamamoto didn’t get the call to the first team until last month, beating Hanshin on Aug. 7. He is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in five starts.
The win, Chunichi’s fifth straight, guaranteed the Dragons will hold second place in the Central League through the weekend.
It was Yamamoto’s 30th career shutout, his first since April 27, 2007.
The Dragons have knocked off the Giants eight straight times at Nagoya Dome.
CARP 8, TIGERS 3
Kenta Kurihara’s RBI double gave Hiroshima the lead in the third inning, and Justin Huber’s pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth put the game away as the Carp downed first-place Hanshin.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 4
Brett Harper’s sixth-inning RBI single, his second of the game, gave host Yokohama the lead and sparked an eight-run outburst that carried the BayStars past visiting Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 1, MARINES 0, 12 INNINGS
Yuji Iiyama’s scoring flyball was the game’s only run as Nippon Ham outlasted host Lotte in a sparkling pitching display.
Nippon Ham’s Yu Darvish went eight scoreless, while Chiba’s Hayden Penn tossed 10 shutout innings, both leaving the mound with no decision.
EAGLES 7, LIONS 6
Randy Ruiz capped Rakuten’s biggest ninth-inning comeback with a with an RBI single as the Eagles rallied for five runs -- one off Seibu closer Brian Sikorski (1-3) -- to win at the Kleenex Box.
The Eagles used eight hits and a walk to rally past the PL front runners.
BUFFALOES 12, HAWKS 5
Alex Cabrera homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs as Orix sent SoftBank to its fourth straight loss with a win at Skymark Stadium.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Rolling up the score ...
Lions feast on hurler's tough night
Rakuten Eagles lefty Kohei Hasebe endured one of the worst starts to a game any pitcher could imagine, and the Seibu Lions ate it up.
Hasebe walked the first batters and then surrendered a grand slam to Takeya Nakamura as the Lions battered Rakuten for a 14-4 win at the Kleenex Box on Friday.
Three others had two RBIs each, including Toru Hosokawa, who blasted his eighth home run.
The Lions, who moved back into first place in the Pacific League on Thursday, extended their lead to 1.5 games over SoftBank and Lotte.
Masamitsu Hirano (3-3) tossed six innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits with no walks and one punchout for a righty who has three of his career four win vs. the Eagles.
Hasebe (3-5), though, needed a do-over after walking the bases loaded and then missing the plate against Jose Fernandez to force in a run. After allowing Nakamura’s 10th career slam, he struck out the side in the first.
His line: 1.2 innings, nine runs, eight earned, four hits and five walks. His ERA went from 6.36 to7.83.
FIGHTERS 4, MARINES 1
Brian Wolfe (2-3) scattered four hits and two walks over 5.2 innings and five relievers tossed one-hit ball the rest of the way as Nippon Ham shut down Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
BUFFALOES 11, HAWKS 2
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped his PL-leading 32nd homer and fifth-year lefty Shinya Nakayama (2-2) scattered seven hits in his first complete game as Orix downed SoftBank at Skymark Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 3, GIANTS 2
Masahiko Morino broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth, and Kazuhiro Wada followed with his 1,500th career hit, a homer, as host Chunichi won to shove Yomiuri into third place.
The win was the seventh straight for Chunichi over Yomiuri at Nagoya Dome, and put out the Dragons 1.5 games behind first-place Hanshin.
Kazuki Yoshimi (12-7) got a quick hook in the sixth, but allowed a run over 5.1 innings for his club-record 11th single-season win at the dome.
CARP 5, TIGERS 4
Jun Hirose’s two-run single in the seventh helped Hiroshima come from behind to top front-running Hanshin at The Zoom.
SWLALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 2
Yoshinori Sato (10-7) reached double digits in wins for the first time in his two-plus seasons, Norichika Aoki’s RBI double in the eighth being the difference as Yakult won at Yokohama.
Rakuten Eagles lefty Kohei Hasebe endured one of the worst starts to a game any pitcher could imagine, and the Seibu Lions ate it up.
Hasebe walked the first batters and then surrendered a grand slam to Takeya Nakamura as the Lions battered Rakuten for a 14-4 win at the Kleenex Box on Friday.
Three others had two RBIs each, including Toru Hosokawa, who blasted his eighth home run.
The Lions, who moved back into first place in the Pacific League on Thursday, extended their lead to 1.5 games over SoftBank and Lotte.
Masamitsu Hirano (3-3) tossed six innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits with no walks and one punchout for a righty who has three of his career four win vs. the Eagles.
Hasebe (3-5), though, needed a do-over after walking the bases loaded and then missing the plate against Jose Fernandez to force in a run. After allowing Nakamura’s 10th career slam, he struck out the side in the first.
His line: 1.2 innings, nine runs, eight earned, four hits and five walks. His ERA went from 6.36 to7.83.
FIGHTERS 4, MARINES 1
Brian Wolfe (2-3) scattered four hits and two walks over 5.2 innings and five relievers tossed one-hit ball the rest of the way as Nippon Ham shut down Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
BUFFALOES 11, HAWKS 2
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped his PL-leading 32nd homer and fifth-year lefty Shinya Nakayama (2-2) scattered seven hits in his first complete game as Orix downed SoftBank at Skymark Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 3, GIANTS 2
Masahiko Morino broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth, and Kazuhiro Wada followed with his 1,500th career hit, a homer, as host Chunichi won to shove Yomiuri into third place.
The win was the seventh straight for Chunichi over Yomiuri at Nagoya Dome, and put out the Dragons 1.5 games behind first-place Hanshin.
Kazuki Yoshimi (12-7) got a quick hook in the sixth, but allowed a run over 5.1 innings for his club-record 11th single-season win at the dome.
CARP 5, TIGERS 4
Jun Hirose’s two-run single in the seventh helped Hiroshima come from behind to top front-running Hanshin at The Zoom.
SWLALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 2
Yoshinori Sato (10-7) reached double digits in wins for the first time in his two-plus seasons, Norichika Aoki’s RBI double in the eighth being the difference as Yakult won at Yokohama.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Trading places ...
Lions climb back atop PL behind Nishiguchi
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama --The Seibu Lions’ Fumiya Nishi turns 38 at the end of the month. He turned back the clock on Thursday at Seibu Dome.
The righty fired six shutout innings, escaping a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the first as the Lions jumped back into the Pacific League’s top spot with a 3-0 shutout of the Orix Buffaloes.
Nishiguchi (3-2), who brought a 5.95 ERA into the game, earned his second win since a return from farm banishment.
He allowed five hits and three walks, punching out three, and closer Brian Sikorski allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth for his 31st save, tying Alex Graman's club record for a foreign stopper.
Nishiguchi followed a strong performance the previuos night by a veteran hurler lefty Kazuhisa Ishii, who turns 36 on Sept. 9.
“It’s a burst of old-guy power,” joked Nishiguchi, who worked to keep Orix off the board while waiting for run support.
“I just competed. I knew our guys would score if I just battled out there.”
Tomoaki Sato broke the scoreless tie when he yanked a shot inside third and down the line for an RBI double. Ryo Sakata followed with an RBI single and Takuya Hara took one for the team, getting an RBI after he was plunked with the bases loaded.
The SoftBank Hawks fell at Sapporo Dome, but Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe rejected the idea of scoreboard watching and the signifance of taking over first place.
“The team at the top of the standings changes all the time, so I’m not thinking about that. I'm more concerned about us playing good games,” he said.
FIGHTERS 2, HAWKS 1
Shota Ono’s solo shot in the bottom of the fourth inning, just after SoftBank had tied the score, was the difference as Masaru Takeda (12-6) held the Hawks to a run over eight innings.
Hisashi Takeda became the 52nd pitcher to record a one-pitch save, inducing a game-ending double play from Nobuhiro Matsuda.
MARINES 4, EAGLES 2
Tsuyoshi Nishioka recorded his 22nd three-hit game -- tying him for third on the PL's single-season list -- to back Yoshihisa Naruse (11-11), who allowed Rakuten just two runs over 7.1 innings at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Nishioka homered, his eighth, and doubled while driving in two as the Marines moved into second, a half-game back of Seibu.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 6, CARP 0
Righty Maximo Nelson (3-2) had his best night as a Dragon, tossing his first complete game -- a shutout, to boot -- and collecting his first hit, with an RBI to top it off as Chunichi blanked Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
The Dominican scattered four hits and two walks, fanning eight to win just his third game after starting the season with a team ban for bringing a bullet into the country in his luggage.
Nelson didn’t allow a runner to reach third and got four double plays behind him.
The third-place Dragons took over the league lead in wins with 66 and moved a half-game behind second-place Yomiuri, which was idle.
TIGERS 6, BAYSTARS 3
Pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama’s two-out, two-run single in the sixth put host Hanshin in front, and the Tigers added three more in the seventh to beat Yokohama going away for their fifth straight win.
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama --The Seibu Lions’ Fumiya Nishi turns 38 at the end of the month. He turned back the clock on Thursday at Seibu Dome.
The righty fired six shutout innings, escaping a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the first as the Lions jumped back into the Pacific League’s top spot with a 3-0 shutout of the Orix Buffaloes.
Nishiguchi (3-2), who brought a 5.95 ERA into the game, earned his second win since a return from farm banishment.
He allowed five hits and three walks, punching out three, and closer Brian Sikorski allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth for his 31st save, tying Alex Graman's club record for a foreign stopper.
Nishiguchi followed a strong performance the previuos night by a veteran hurler lefty Kazuhisa Ishii, who turns 36 on Sept. 9.
“It’s a burst of old-guy power,” joked Nishiguchi, who worked to keep Orix off the board while waiting for run support.
“I just competed. I knew our guys would score if I just battled out there.”
Tomoaki Sato broke the scoreless tie when he yanked a shot inside third and down the line for an RBI double. Ryo Sakata followed with an RBI single and Takuya Hara took one for the team, getting an RBI after he was plunked with the bases loaded.
The SoftBank Hawks fell at Sapporo Dome, but Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe rejected the idea of scoreboard watching and the signifance of taking over first place.
“The team at the top of the standings changes all the time, so I’m not thinking about that. I'm more concerned about us playing good games,” he said.
FIGHTERS 2, HAWKS 1
Shota Ono’s solo shot in the bottom of the fourth inning, just after SoftBank had tied the score, was the difference as Masaru Takeda (12-6) held the Hawks to a run over eight innings.
Hisashi Takeda became the 52nd pitcher to record a one-pitch save, inducing a game-ending double play from Nobuhiro Matsuda.
MARINES 4, EAGLES 2
Tsuyoshi Nishioka recorded his 22nd three-hit game -- tying him for third on the PL's single-season list -- to back Yoshihisa Naruse (11-11), who allowed Rakuten just two runs over 7.1 innings at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Nishioka homered, his eighth, and doubled while driving in two as the Marines moved into second, a half-game back of Seibu.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 6, CARP 0
Righty Maximo Nelson (3-2) had his best night as a Dragon, tossing his first complete game -- a shutout, to boot -- and collecting his first hit, with an RBI to top it off as Chunichi blanked Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
The Dominican scattered four hits and two walks, fanning eight to win just his third game after starting the season with a team ban for bringing a bullet into the country in his luggage.
Nelson didn’t allow a runner to reach third and got four double plays behind him.
The third-place Dragons took over the league lead in wins with 66 and moved a half-game behind second-place Yomiuri, which was idle.
TIGERS 6, BAYSTARS 3
Pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama’s two-out, two-run single in the sixth put host Hanshin in front, and the Tigers added three more in the seventh to beat Yokohama going away for their fifth straight win.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Fired up …
Iwasaki fires up Dragons with walk-off HR
Tatsuro Iwasaki is a light-hitting middle infielder who could easily be knocked over by a good gust of wind.
But he blew the Carp out of the water with his first pro home run, a walk-off, two-run shot in the ninth inning that lifted the Chunichi Dragons past Hiroshima 3-1 Wednesday at Nagoya Dome.
Iwasaki, a fourth-year player, was sent in as a pinch-hitter and asked to bunt in the eighth inning but eventually struck out after failing to lay one down.
He wanted to make up for that mistake when he came to the plate in the 10th. He pumped his fist after leaving the batter’s box, but never saw the ball disappear among the fans in left.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Iwasaki said. “I wasn’t sure if it made it into the stands or not,” said Iwasaki, often a late-inning defensive replacement who upped his average to .175 with the homer for the Cental League's third-place Dragons.
Takuya Asao (9-3) fired two perfect innings to earn the win in relief, his ninth straight victory at the dome.
TIGERS 10, BAYSTARS 3
Craig Brazell smacked his 40th homer to become the first import since Randy Bass in 1986 to reach that figure as first-place Hanshin hammered Yokohama at Koshien Stadium.
Brazell hit a two-run shot, and Takahiro Arai went 5-for-5 with four RBIs in his fourth career five-hit game.
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 3, 12 INNINGS
Yakult’s Shinya Miyamoto’s eighth-inning infield single evened the score and Yomiuri went scoreless over the final six innings in a tie at Toyama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, BUFFALOES 4
Ryo Sakata had a three-run homer and an RBI single, and Kazuhisa Ishii (8-4) worked seven strong as Seibu topped Orix at Seibu Dome.
FIGHTERS 6,HAWKS 2
Yang Zhong-shou’s bases-clearing triple highlighted a four-run sixth as Nippon Ham rallied past Orix at Sapporo Dome.
The Fighters hung six runs on Tsuyoshi Wada (14-8) on nine hits and two walks.
MARINES 16, EAGLES 6
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had four hits and two RBIs to lead a 20-hit Lotte barrage that wiped out Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Four other Marines had two RBIs.
Tatsuro Iwasaki is a light-hitting middle infielder who could easily be knocked over by a good gust of wind.
But he blew the Carp out of the water with his first pro home run, a walk-off, two-run shot in the ninth inning that lifted the Chunichi Dragons past Hiroshima 3-1 Wednesday at Nagoya Dome.
Iwasaki, a fourth-year player, was sent in as a pinch-hitter and asked to bunt in the eighth inning but eventually struck out after failing to lay one down.
He wanted to make up for that mistake when he came to the plate in the 10th. He pumped his fist after leaving the batter’s box, but never saw the ball disappear among the fans in left.
“I didn’t know what happened,” Iwasaki said. “I wasn’t sure if it made it into the stands or not,” said Iwasaki, often a late-inning defensive replacement who upped his average to .175 with the homer for the Cental League's third-place Dragons.
Takuya Asao (9-3) fired two perfect innings to earn the win in relief, his ninth straight victory at the dome.
TIGERS 10, BAYSTARS 3
Craig Brazell smacked his 40th homer to become the first import since Randy Bass in 1986 to reach that figure as first-place Hanshin hammered Yokohama at Koshien Stadium.
Brazell hit a two-run shot, and Takahiro Arai went 5-for-5 with four RBIs in his fourth career five-hit game.
GIANTS 3, SWALLOWS 3, 12 INNINGS
Yakult’s Shinya Miyamoto’s eighth-inning infield single evened the score and Yomiuri went scoreless over the final six innings in a tie at Toyama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, BUFFALOES 4
Ryo Sakata had a three-run homer and an RBI single, and Kazuhisa Ishii (8-4) worked seven strong as Seibu topped Orix at Seibu Dome.
FIGHTERS 6,HAWKS 2
Yang Zhong-shou’s bases-clearing triple highlighted a four-run sixth as Nippon Ham rallied past Orix at Sapporo Dome.
The Fighters hung six runs on Tsuyoshi Wada (14-8) on nine hits and two walks.
MARINES 16, EAGLES 6
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had four hits and two RBIs to lead a 20-hit Lotte barrage that wiped out Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Four other Marines had two RBIs.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Records come in to play ...
Kaneko continues victory
Chihiro Kaneko has been as hot as this year’s sticky summer.
The hurler, who was the top Pacific League pitcher of July with five wins, picked up his fifth of August with 6.1 innings of work Tuesday in an 8-4 win over the host Saitama Seibu Lions in a regional game at Maebashi.
It was the first time in 32 years -- since Yutaro Imai -- that a pitcher from the club, then known as Hankyu, has won five games in back-to-back months. Kaneko (14-7) gave up five hits and walked two, while fanning nine.
The sixth-year righty extended his career-best win total to14 with help from three relievers.
Mamoru Kishida escaped a bases-loaded, potentially game-tying jam in the ninth, by fanning Jose Fernandez to end the game.
EAGLES 8, MARINES 2
Hisashi Iwakuma (9-8) worked six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks, to earn his 100th win as Rakuten topped host Lotte.
Ryo Hijirizawa was a homer shy of the cycle and had three RBIs to back Iwakuma, who reached the milestone in 205 games.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
D. J. Houlton (8-6) went 5.1 and the SoftBank bullpen shut down Nippon Ham the rest of the way as the Hawks won at Sapporo Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 12, GIANTS 8
Ryuji Aikawa and Shingo Kawabata each had three hits and three RBIs to lead an 18-hit attack that gave Yakult a 12-2 lead, and it held off Yomiuri at Kanazawa.
The Swallows beat the Giants for the first straight time, the first time they’ve done that since 2003.
Kyohei Muranaka (10-7) allowed seven runs over 6.2 innings (and 146 pitches) and earned double digits in wins for the first time in his four-plus-year career.
TIGERS 13, BAYSTARS 1
Takashi Toritani led a 22-hit night at Koshien Stadium, collecting his club record 43rd hit this month as the Tigers clubbed Yokohama.
It was the third time in a week the Tigers have had at least 20 hits.
Slugger Craig Brazell drilled his 39 th homer, putting him three behind CL leader Alex Ramirez of Yomiuri.
DRAGONS 9, CARP 3
Chen Wei-yin (11-9) gave up two early runs but found a groove, as did Chunichi’s offense, in a romp over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki’s bases-clearing triple in the fourth gave Chunichi the lead, and Chen made it stand up by tossing two-run ball over seven innings.
Second-year import Tony Blanco had his first four-hit game in Japan, while Hiroshima rookie skipper Kenjiro Nomura got the boot for the first time.
Chihiro Kaneko has been as hot as this year’s sticky summer.
The hurler, who was the top Pacific League pitcher of July with five wins, picked up his fifth of August with 6.1 innings of work Tuesday in an 8-4 win over the host Saitama Seibu Lions in a regional game at Maebashi.
It was the first time in 32 years -- since Yutaro Imai -- that a pitcher from the club, then known as Hankyu, has won five games in back-to-back months. Kaneko (14-7) gave up five hits and walked two, while fanning nine.
The sixth-year righty extended his career-best win total to14 with help from three relievers.
Mamoru Kishida escaped a bases-loaded, potentially game-tying jam in the ninth, by fanning Jose Fernandez to end the game.
EAGLES 8, MARINES 2
Hisashi Iwakuma (9-8) worked six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks, to earn his 100th win as Rakuten topped host Lotte.
Ryo Hijirizawa was a homer shy of the cycle and had three RBIs to back Iwakuma, who reached the milestone in 205 games.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
D. J. Houlton (8-6) went 5.1 and the SoftBank bullpen shut down Nippon Ham the rest of the way as the Hawks won at Sapporo Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 12, GIANTS 8
Ryuji Aikawa and Shingo Kawabata each had three hits and three RBIs to lead an 18-hit attack that gave Yakult a 12-2 lead, and it held off Yomiuri at Kanazawa.
The Swallows beat the Giants for the first straight time, the first time they’ve done that since 2003.
Kyohei Muranaka (10-7) allowed seven runs over 6.2 innings (and 146 pitches) and earned double digits in wins for the first time in his four-plus-year career.
TIGERS 13, BAYSTARS 1
Takashi Toritani led a 22-hit night at Koshien Stadium, collecting his club record 43rd hit this month as the Tigers clubbed Yokohama.
It was the third time in a week the Tigers have had at least 20 hits.
Slugger Craig Brazell drilled his 39 th homer, putting him three behind CL leader Alex Ramirez of Yomiuri.
DRAGONS 9, CARP 3
Chen Wei-yin (11-9) gave up two early runs but found a groove, as did Chunichi’s offense, in a romp over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki’s bases-clearing triple in the fourth gave Chunichi the lead, and Chen made it stand up by tossing two-run ball over seven innings.
Second-year import Tony Blanco had his first four-hit game in Japan, while Hiroshima rookie skipper Kenjiro Nomura got the boot for the first time.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Lions let out roar ...
Uemoto hits walk-off jack to lift Seibu, snap skid
Tatsuyuki Uemoto doesn’t get much playing time. The 79 games he has been in this represent his career high.
The backup catcher had different kind of career “high” on Sunday, slugging a walk-off homer to bring the Seibu Lions from the brink of defeat to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Seibu Dome.
Uemoto, who had four homers last year, matched his 2010 total with a three-run shot off Shinichiro Koyama (3-3).
It was his second sayonara hit, but his first walk-off homer and it halted a seven-game slide.
“I have a feeling this game will be a turning point for us,” said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe, whose third-place Lions were in first before the skid.
HAWKS 2, MARINES 1
In what looks like it will be a Climax Series preview, SoftBank showed off its shutdown bullpen, protecting a one-run lead over four innings to edge visiting Lotte.
Five of the Hawks’ 10 hits were infield singles -- two of them from Hitoshi Tamura, who beat out a roller to short for an RBI in the fourth that put SoftBank on top.
Takahiro Mahara finished it off for his 28th save.
BUFFALOES 9, FIGHTERS 6
Makoto Moriyama snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and Mitsutaka Goto followed with a triple as Orix rallied for three late runs to beat Nippon Ham at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Alex Cabrera had four hits to raise his average to .340, inching to two points behind PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka (.342) of Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 12, CARP 11
Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs, and Alex Ramirez had three hits and a run batted in as Yomiuri piled on the runs and held off host Hiroshima.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara hit his 29th longball to lead three others with two hits and two RBIs.
Micheal Nakamura relieved closer Marc Kroon in the ninth and earned his first CL save, his last one was Sept. 27, 2008, with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
BAYSTARS 2, DRAGONS 1
Tomokazu Oka (5-7) scattered eight hits over seven innings as Yokohama edged visiting Chunichi.
The Dragons had 10 hits, but hit into a pair of late-inning double plays to spoil their scoring chances.
TIGERS 12, SWALLOWS 5
Takashi Toritani went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, and Kenji Jojima went deep twice as Hanshin tore up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Craig Brazell cracked his 38th homer, one of 20 Hanshin hits, to move three shy of the CL lead.
Tatsuyuki Uemoto doesn’t get much playing time. The 79 games he has been in this represent his career high.
The backup catcher had different kind of career “high” on Sunday, slugging a walk-off homer to bring the Seibu Lions from the brink of defeat to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Seibu Dome.
Uemoto, who had four homers last year, matched his 2010 total with a three-run shot off Shinichiro Koyama (3-3).
It was his second sayonara hit, but his first walk-off homer and it halted a seven-game slide.
“I have a feeling this game will be a turning point for us,” said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe, whose third-place Lions were in first before the skid.
HAWKS 2, MARINES 1
In what looks like it will be a Climax Series preview, SoftBank showed off its shutdown bullpen, protecting a one-run lead over four innings to edge visiting Lotte.
Five of the Hawks’ 10 hits were infield singles -- two of them from Hitoshi Tamura, who beat out a roller to short for an RBI in the fourth that put SoftBank on top.
Takahiro Mahara finished it off for his 28th save.
BUFFALOES 9, FIGHTERS 6
Makoto Moriyama snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and Mitsutaka Goto followed with a triple as Orix rallied for three late runs to beat Nippon Ham at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Alex Cabrera had four hits to raise his average to .340, inching to two points behind PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka (.342) of Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 12, CARP 11
Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs, and Alex Ramirez had three hits and a run batted in as Yomiuri piled on the runs and held off host Hiroshima.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara hit his 29th longball to lead three others with two hits and two RBIs.
Micheal Nakamura relieved closer Marc Kroon in the ninth and earned his first CL save, his last one was Sept. 27, 2008, with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
BAYSTARS 2, DRAGONS 1
Tomokazu Oka (5-7) scattered eight hits over seven innings as Yokohama edged visiting Chunichi.
The Dragons had 10 hits, but hit into a pair of late-inning double plays to spoil their scoring chances.
TIGERS 12, SWALLOWS 5
Takashi Toritani went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, and Kenji Jojima went deep twice as Hanshin tore up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Craig Brazell cracked his 38th homer, one of 20 Hanshin hits, to move three shy of the CL lead.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Ace gone wild ...
Sugiuchi walks 6 as Marines stroll past Hawks
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi went wild on Saturday, giving up a career-worst nine runs against the Lotte Marines.
His team battled back after falling behind by eight, but the result was a 9-6 win for the Marines, who pulled even with the Hawks in the Pacific League standings.
Lotte didn’t have to do much but sit back and watch Sugiuchi (15-6) self-destruct.
The southpaw, the league leader in wins and strikeouts, had six walks -- three with the bases loaded -- and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The only real damage from the Marines came from Shoitsu Omatsu, who made Sugiuchi pay for walking two in the first inning by blasting his 16th homer, a three-run shot.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits and a walk, and scored two runs to help torment Sugiuchi, who managed to strike out five.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (6-5) held the Hawks to a run over the first five innings, but gave up a two-run homer to Hitoshi Tamura, his 22nd, in a three-run sixth before departing.
BUFFALOES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Shinya Nakayama (1-2) shut down Hokkaido Nippon Ham over seven as the Orix won at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Nakayama, a fifth-year lefty making his third start this season, limited the Fighters to a run on five hits, while walking two and fanning three for his first win since June 7, 2008.
EAGLES 5, LIONS 5, 12 INNINGS
Seibu scored the game-tying run on Shinichiro Koyama’s wild pitch in the eighth and neither the Lions nor Rakuten could score another run in this year's longest PL game at 5 hours, 23 minutes.
The Lions are winless in their last eight.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Giancarlo Alvarado (6-6) and four relievers combined to hold Yomiuri to one run on 10 hits as Hiroshima won at The Zoom.
The Carp had just two hits, including a two-run homer by Jun Hirose in the sixth.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 3
Kazuhiro Wada hit a three-run and Masahiro Yamamoto (3-0) tossed 6.2 sharp innings as Chunichi topped host Yokohama.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 2
Matt Murton had four hits, including his 16th homer, Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each had three hits and two RBIs as Hanshin routed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi went wild on Saturday, giving up a career-worst nine runs against the Lotte Marines.
His team battled back after falling behind by eight, but the result was a 9-6 win for the Marines, who pulled even with the Hawks in the Pacific League standings.
Lotte didn’t have to do much but sit back and watch Sugiuchi (15-6) self-destruct.
The southpaw, the league leader in wins and strikeouts, had six walks -- three with the bases loaded -- and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The only real damage from the Marines came from Shoitsu Omatsu, who made Sugiuchi pay for walking two in the first inning by blasting his 16th homer, a three-run shot.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits and a walk, and scored two runs to help torment Sugiuchi, who managed to strike out five.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (6-5) held the Hawks to a run over the first five innings, but gave up a two-run homer to Hitoshi Tamura, his 22nd, in a three-run sixth before departing.
BUFFALOES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Shinya Nakayama (1-2) shut down Hokkaido Nippon Ham over seven as the Orix won at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Nakayama, a fifth-year lefty making his third start this season, limited the Fighters to a run on five hits, while walking two and fanning three for his first win since June 7, 2008.
EAGLES 5, LIONS 5, 12 INNINGS
Seibu scored the game-tying run on Shinichiro Koyama’s wild pitch in the eighth and neither the Lions nor Rakuten could score another run in this year's longest PL game at 5 hours, 23 minutes.
The Lions are winless in their last eight.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Giancarlo Alvarado (6-6) and four relievers combined to hold Yomiuri to one run on 10 hits as Hiroshima won at The Zoom.
The Carp had just two hits, including a two-run homer by Jun Hirose in the sixth.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 3
Kazuhiro Wada hit a three-run and Masahiro Yamamoto (3-0) tossed 6.2 sharp innings as Chunichi topped host Yokohama.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 2
Matt Murton had four hits, including his 16th homer, Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each had three hits and two RBIs as Hanshin routed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Taking flight …
Hawks rise to top of PL
Hitoshi Tamura is having his best season in years and because of his contributions, the SoftBank Hawks have their eyes on the Pacific League title.
Tamura Friday drilled a three-run homer with two on and two out in the first inning and the Hawks held off the Lotte Marines 4-2 at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
It was homer No. 21 Tamura, his highest total since hitting 40 in 2004 with the Yokohama BayStars.
The win put the Hawks alone atop the standings for the first time in 20 days, but heading into the final month three teams bunched together. Tamura said the Hawks will drive hard to take the title.
“We have to make it happen, it won’t just happen by itself,” he said. “We have to work together as a team over the last 20 or so games and that’s what we aim to do.”
Fourth-year hurler Mitsuhiko Morifuku (1-0) got his first pro win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames. The shutdown trio of Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and Takahiro Mahara saved it for him with a scoreless inning each.
EAGLES 11, LIONS 3
Daisuke Kusano had three hits, including two doubles, and tied his career high with five RBIs as visiting Rakuten beat up on Seibu.
The Lions, who have lost seven straight, fell to a game behind league-leading SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 3, FIGHTERS 3, 12 INNINGS
Aarom Baldiris’ sac fly in the sixth inning was the last run scored as Orix and Nippon Ham tied at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 9, GIANTS 7, 11 INNINGS
Soichiro Amaya blasted a fastball from Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-2) into th e stands in right, a two-run, three-run shot and the second blast of the inning, for a walk-off win over Yomiuri at The Zoom.
Takahiro Iwamoto opened the inning with a video-review homer, a solo shot to center that hit a hand-held fan of a spectator whom the Giants thought was leaning over the fence. Umpires determined the fan was not in the field of play, and Yomiuri’s lead was cut to one.
Nomaguchi walked two before Amaya clubbed his sixth longball of the season.
SWALLOWS 6, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (8-5) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base, tossing a six-hitter for his second shutout and fifth straight victory as Yakult downed Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers lost for the sixth time in seven games, but stayed in second place.
BAYSTARS 3, DRAGONS 2, 12 INNINGS
Shinji Niinuma stroked a sayonara single off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-3) as host Yokohama edged the Dragons.
Hitoshi Tamura is having his best season in years and because of his contributions, the SoftBank Hawks have their eyes on the Pacific League title.
Tamura Friday drilled a three-run homer with two on and two out in the first inning and the Hawks held off the Lotte Marines 4-2 at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
It was homer No. 21 Tamura, his highest total since hitting 40 in 2004 with the Yokohama BayStars.
The win put the Hawks alone atop the standings for the first time in 20 days, but heading into the final month three teams bunched together. Tamura said the Hawks will drive hard to take the title.
“We have to make it happen, it won’t just happen by itself,” he said. “We have to work together as a team over the last 20 or so games and that’s what we aim to do.”
Fourth-year hurler Mitsuhiko Morifuku (1-0) got his first pro win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames. The shutdown trio of Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and Takahiro Mahara saved it for him with a scoreless inning each.
EAGLES 11, LIONS 3
Daisuke Kusano had three hits, including two doubles, and tied his career high with five RBIs as visiting Rakuten beat up on Seibu.
The Lions, who have lost seven straight, fell to a game behind league-leading SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 3, FIGHTERS 3, 12 INNINGS
Aarom Baldiris’ sac fly in the sixth inning was the last run scored as Orix and Nippon Ham tied at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 9, GIANTS 7, 11 INNINGS
Soichiro Amaya blasted a fastball from Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-2) into th e stands in right, a two-run, three-run shot and the second blast of the inning, for a walk-off win over Yomiuri at The Zoom.
Takahiro Iwamoto opened the inning with a video-review homer, a solo shot to center that hit a hand-held fan of a spectator whom the Giants thought was leaning over the fence. Umpires determined the fan was not in the field of play, and Yomiuri’s lead was cut to one.
Nomaguchi walked two before Amaya clubbed his sixth longball of the season.
SWALLOWS 6, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (8-5) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base, tossing a six-hitter for his second shutout and fifth straight victory as Yakult downed Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers lost for the sixth time in seven games, but stayed in second place.
BAYSTARS 3, DRAGONS 2, 12 INNINGS
Shinji Niinuma stroked a sayonara single off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-3) as host Yokohama edged the Dragons.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The rise and fall ...
Marines boot Lions from top spot
The Lotte Marines left boot prints on the Seibu Lions after 2-1 victory Thursday at Chiba Marine Stadium that completed a three-game sweep.
The Marines booted the Lions out of first place in the Pacific League, and ended up in a tie for the top spot when SoftBank and Orix later tied.
The Marines hadn’t swept Seibu in three straight since 2005, but third-year righty Yuki Karakawa (6-3) allowed a first-inning run, then got in a grove and held the Lions to a run on five hits and a walk over eight innings for his career-high sixth victory.
Ikuhiro Kiyota’s scoring flyball in the eighth plated pinch-runner Yoshifumi Okada to give the Marines the lead, and Masahide Kobayashi worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save to send the Lions to their sixth straight loss.
The Marines, who have won six of seven, moved atop the standings for the first time in more than a month.
“We did it the way we usually do and that’s with everyone contributing. It was a nice game,” said Lotte skipper Norifumi Nishimura.
The Lions, meanwhile, dropped into third place in the crowded PL, 2 percentage point behind the leaders.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s RBI singled off host SoftBank closer Takahiro Mahara in the ninth and Orix as the Hawks played to a 12-inning tie.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 10, DRAGONS 4
Alex Ramirez led a six-homer barrage against Chunichi, five off starter Kazuki Yoshimi (11-7), and reached the 100-RBI plateau for the sixth straight season as Yomiuri cruised at Tokyo Dome and moved back into first place.
Ramirez cracked a mammoth three-run shot off the back wall in left field, and added a two-run shot in the seventh, his CL-best 41st, to give him 1,084 RBIs here in Japan.
It was the 40th longball for Ramirez, who has hit that figure three times.
Hayato Sakamoto hit Yoshimi’s first pitch for a homer, and added a solo blast in the second to give him 25. Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 18th and Michihiro Ogasawara hit his 27th.
CARP 6, TIGERS 1
Eric Stults (5-9) scattered six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 8.1 innings to beat Yakult at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Masato Akamatsu had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs to lead the Carp.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 3
Shuichi Murata had three hits and an RBI, and Terrmel Sledge homered to back Hitoshi Fujie (2-2), who went 6.2 strong innings as Yokohama beat up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
The Lotte Marines left boot prints on the Seibu Lions after 2-1 victory Thursday at Chiba Marine Stadium that completed a three-game sweep.
The Marines booted the Lions out of first place in the Pacific League, and ended up in a tie for the top spot when SoftBank and Orix later tied.
The Marines hadn’t swept Seibu in three straight since 2005, but third-year righty Yuki Karakawa (6-3) allowed a first-inning run, then got in a grove and held the Lions to a run on five hits and a walk over eight innings for his career-high sixth victory.
Ikuhiro Kiyota’s scoring flyball in the eighth plated pinch-runner Yoshifumi Okada to give the Marines the lead, and Masahide Kobayashi worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save to send the Lions to their sixth straight loss.
The Marines, who have won six of seven, moved atop the standings for the first time in more than a month.
“We did it the way we usually do and that’s with everyone contributing. It was a nice game,” said Lotte skipper Norifumi Nishimura.
The Lions, meanwhile, dropped into third place in the crowded PL, 2 percentage point behind the leaders.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s RBI singled off host SoftBank closer Takahiro Mahara in the ninth and Orix as the Hawks played to a 12-inning tie.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 10, DRAGONS 4
Alex Ramirez led a six-homer barrage against Chunichi, five off starter Kazuki Yoshimi (11-7), and reached the 100-RBI plateau for the sixth straight season as Yomiuri cruised at Tokyo Dome and moved back into first place.
Ramirez cracked a mammoth three-run shot off the back wall in left field, and added a two-run shot in the seventh, his CL-best 41st, to give him 1,084 RBIs here in Japan.
It was the 40th longball for Ramirez, who has hit that figure three times.
Hayato Sakamoto hit Yoshimi’s first pitch for a homer, and added a solo blast in the second to give him 25. Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 18th and Michihiro Ogasawara hit his 27th.
CARP 6, TIGERS 1
Eric Stults (5-9) scattered six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 8.1 innings to beat Yakult at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Masato Akamatsu had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs to lead the Carp.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 3
Shuichi Murata had three hits and an RBI, and Terrmel Sledge homered to back Hitoshi Fujie (2-2), who went 6.2 strong innings as Yokohama beat up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A muffled roar …
Lions get slugger back, but can’t stop slide
The Seibu Lions got their slugger back and looked ready to bite back in the Pacific League pennant chase.
Instead, the Lotte Marines left them with a bad taste in their mouths at Chiba Marine Stadium on Wednesday.
Saburo Omura’s solo shot off reliever Kimiyasu Kudo (0-2) broke a tie in the eighth inning and gave the Marines a 3-2 win over the front-running Lions, who dropped their fifth straight.
Lotte has won five of six and moved a game behind the Lions and a half-game back of the Fukuoka Hawks. The Lions, who have been decimated by injuries, saw the return of cleanup man Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura -- out much of the season after opting to have surgery on his right elbow.
The slugger doubled and singled, but Saburo connected for his 16th longball, his only hit in four at-bats, while Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits and scored on a wild pitch for the Marines.
Kudo, a 47-year-old lefty in his 29th year, has been ineffective, to say the most.
His WHIP coming into the game was 2.44 and his ERA after .2 innings climbed to 10.50. He has allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings this season.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 2
Chihiro Kaneko scattered four hits over eight innings to win his ninth straight decision, giving him a career-best 13th victory as Orix topped SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera and Tomotaka Sakaguchi each had two hits and an RBI to back Kaneko (13-7), who fanned a career-best-tying 12.
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano added to his league-leading RBI total, driving in three with a double and two singles as visiting Nippon Ham downed Rakuten.
TIGERS 22, CARP8
A five-run deficit was not much of a roadblock for Hanshin, which scored a club-record 22 runs on 20 hits to come back and smash Hiroshima at Kyocera Dome Osaka to halt a four-game skid.
Tomoaki Kanemoto highlighted a seven–run seventh with a go-ahead grand slam, and Takashi Toritani and Kenji Jojima added two of Hanshin’s five longballs in a win that moved the Tigers back into first place.
DRAGONS 5, GIANTS 2
Daisuke Yamai (6-4) worked 7.1 sharp innings, and Masahiko Morino doubled in the eventual game-winning run to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning as Chunichi beat host Yomiuri for the fourth time in five meetings.
SWALLOWS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and host Yakult held off a late Yokohama rally to win its third straight.
The Seibu Lions got their slugger back and looked ready to bite back in the Pacific League pennant chase.
Instead, the Lotte Marines left them with a bad taste in their mouths at Chiba Marine Stadium on Wednesday.
Saburo Omura’s solo shot off reliever Kimiyasu Kudo (0-2) broke a tie in the eighth inning and gave the Marines a 3-2 win over the front-running Lions, who dropped their fifth straight.
Lotte has won five of six and moved a game behind the Lions and a half-game back of the Fukuoka Hawks. The Lions, who have been decimated by injuries, saw the return of cleanup man Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura -- out much of the season after opting to have surgery on his right elbow.
The slugger doubled and singled, but Saburo connected for his 16th longball, his only hit in four at-bats, while Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits and scored on a wild pitch for the Marines.
Kudo, a 47-year-old lefty in his 29th year, has been ineffective, to say the most.
His WHIP coming into the game was 2.44 and his ERA after .2 innings climbed to 10.50. He has allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings this season.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 2
Chihiro Kaneko scattered four hits over eight innings to win his ninth straight decision, giving him a career-best 13th victory as Orix topped SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera and Tomotaka Sakaguchi each had two hits and an RBI to back Kaneko (13-7), who fanned a career-best-tying 12.
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano added to his league-leading RBI total, driving in three with a double and two singles as visiting Nippon Ham downed Rakuten.
TIGERS 22, CARP8
A five-run deficit was not much of a roadblock for Hanshin, which scored a club-record 22 runs on 20 hits to come back and smash Hiroshima at Kyocera Dome Osaka to halt a four-game skid.
Tomoaki Kanemoto highlighted a seven–run seventh with a go-ahead grand slam, and Takashi Toritani and Kenji Jojima added two of Hanshin’s five longballs in a win that moved the Tigers back into first place.
DRAGONS 5, GIANTS 2
Daisuke Yamai (6-4) worked 7.1 sharp innings, and Masahiko Morino doubled in the eventual game-winning run to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning as Chunichi beat host Yomiuri for the fourth time in five meetings.
SWALLOWS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and host Yakult held off a late Yokohama rally to win its third straight.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
What a difference ...
Giants move back into 1st
Less than a week ago, the Yomiuri Giants had fallen into third place in the Central League and were kicking themselves.
After beating the Chunichi Dragons 6-4 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome, the three-time defending league champs were kicking back and enjoying the view from first place.
Yomiuri's fourth consecutive victory, coupled with the Hanshin Tigers’ loss, put the Giants back atop the standings.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara busted up a tie with his 26th homer, a solo blast, and rookie Hisayoshi Chono collected his third hit--an RBI single--in a two-run eighth that lifted the Giants past Chunichi.
“I just wanted to take good swings and happened to get a hold of that one,” said Ogasawara, who is four longballs from hitting the 30 mark for the sixth straight season.
It wasn’t all good news for the Giants. Starter Seth Greisinger allowed four runs in the fifth inning, lasting 4.2 frames before departing. The trainer came out to the mound after Tony Blanco led off with a loud solo shot, and Kei Nomoto made a loud out on a one-hopper to second base.
Greisinger stayed in and got one more out before letting the Dragons tie the score at 4-4.
Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara refused to give details of why he removed the right-hander, who is coming off elbow surgery in the offseason.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb in the fifth when he argued a close play at first base for more than the five-minute limit.
The Dragons, who moved into second place with a three-game sweep of the Giants last week, are in third, 4.5 games ahead of Yakult in the race the third and final Climax Series spot.
CARP 6, TIGERS 5
Shigenobu Shima took Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-2) deep with one out in the ninth inning, and Ryuji Yokoyama put the tying and go-ahead runs on before recording his sixth save as Hiroshima won at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers fell out of at least a tie for first place for the first time since Aug. 14.
SWALLOWS 13, BAYSTARS 5
Josh Whitesell had two hits, including his 11th homer, and drove in a pair of runs, and visiting Yokohama contributed two big errors as Yakult won a laugher at home to get back to .500 after being as many as 19 games under in June.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 9, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura had a tie-breaking two-run single in a five-run fifth, and Saburo Omura capped the rally with his 16th longball, a two-run shot as host Lotte routed front-running Seibu.
The Marines moved to within two games of the top spot after the Lions lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Seibu’s Yasuyuki Kataoka became the fifth player to steal 50 bases over three straight seasons when he swiped second in the first inning.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 4
Hitoshi Tamura slugged his first grand slam since 2004 when he was with Yokohama--and just the second of his 16-year career, as SoftBank edged Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome to move to within a half-game of the top spot.
Tamura reached the 20-homer mark for the first time in five years to back D.J. Houlton (7-6), who won for the first time since July 19.
EAGLES 4, FIGHTERS 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (8-8) scattered four hits over eight innings, and Takeshi Yamasaki knocked in a pair of runs as Rakuten topped visiting Nippon Ham.
It was victory No. 99 for Iwakuma.
Less than a week ago, the Yomiuri Giants had fallen into third place in the Central League and were kicking themselves.
After beating the Chunichi Dragons 6-4 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome, the three-time defending league champs were kicking back and enjoying the view from first place.
Yomiuri's fourth consecutive victory, coupled with the Hanshin Tigers’ loss, put the Giants back atop the standings.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara busted up a tie with his 26th homer, a solo blast, and rookie Hisayoshi Chono collected his third hit--an RBI single--in a two-run eighth that lifted the Giants past Chunichi.
“I just wanted to take good swings and happened to get a hold of that one,” said Ogasawara, who is four longballs from hitting the 30 mark for the sixth straight season.
It wasn’t all good news for the Giants. Starter Seth Greisinger allowed four runs in the fifth inning, lasting 4.2 frames before departing. The trainer came out to the mound after Tony Blanco led off with a loud solo shot, and Kei Nomoto made a loud out on a one-hopper to second base.
Greisinger stayed in and got one more out before letting the Dragons tie the score at 4-4.
Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara refused to give details of why he removed the right-hander, who is coming off elbow surgery in the offseason.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb in the fifth when he argued a close play at first base for more than the five-minute limit.
The Dragons, who moved into second place with a three-game sweep of the Giants last week, are in third, 4.5 games ahead of Yakult in the race the third and final Climax Series spot.
CARP 6, TIGERS 5
Shigenobu Shima took Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-2) deep with one out in the ninth inning, and Ryuji Yokoyama put the tying and go-ahead runs on before recording his sixth save as Hiroshima won at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers fell out of at least a tie for first place for the first time since Aug. 14.
SWALLOWS 13, BAYSTARS 5
Josh Whitesell had two hits, including his 11th homer, and drove in a pair of runs, and visiting Yokohama contributed two big errors as Yakult won a laugher at home to get back to .500 after being as many as 19 games under in June.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 9, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura had a tie-breaking two-run single in a five-run fifth, and Saburo Omura capped the rally with his 16th longball, a two-run shot as host Lotte routed front-running Seibu.
The Marines moved to within two games of the top spot after the Lions lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Seibu’s Yasuyuki Kataoka became the fifth player to steal 50 bases over three straight seasons when he swiped second in the first inning.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 4
Hitoshi Tamura slugged his first grand slam since 2004 when he was with Yokohama--and just the second of his 16-year career, as SoftBank edged Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome to move to within a half-game of the top spot.
Tamura reached the 20-homer mark for the first time in five years to back D.J. Houlton (7-6), who won for the first time since July 19.
EAGLES 4, FIGHTERS 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (8-8) scattered four hits over eight innings, and Takeshi Yamasaki knocked in a pair of runs as Rakuten topped visiting Nippon Ham.
It was victory No. 99 for Iwakuma.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Going the distance …
Takeda shuts down Lions for career-best 11th win
A consistent contributor to Nippon Ham’s three Pacific League titles the past four seasons, Masaru Takeda had never won more than 10 games.
He reached his career-high 11th win on Sunday, shutting down the front-running Seibu Lions over the distance in a 4-1 win at Sapporo Dome.
The fifth-year pro, who has six losses, fired just 89 pitches to set down the Lions, allowing five hits with no walks, while fanning six.
He surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth.
Eiichi Koyano and Tomohiro Nioka each had two-run singles in a four-run first inning as the Fighters won their fourth straight.
Koyano moved into the PL lead for RBIs with 92.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada cracked his 29th and 30th homers, the latter in a four-run sixth that lifted Orix past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Keiji Obiki’s single put the Buffaloes up and helped them avoid a sweep.
EAGLES 4, HAWKS 0
Masahiro Tanaka (11-5) scattered 10 hits with no walks and nine Ks to record his first shutout since May 20 last year as Rakuten avoided a sweep to SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.
The Eagles scored three in the first with the help of four walks from Hawks starter Shinsuke Ogura (4-7), who got just two outs, and two errors.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, TIGERS 0
Hideki Asai (2-1) tossed six scoreless innings, and Hayato Sakamoto continued his best power season, smacking his 24 th homer as host Yomiuri completed a sweep of Hanshin.
The Giants moved to within percentage points of first place, in a virtual tie with the Tigers atop the standings.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Yashushi Iihara slapped a bases-loaded single to right to cap a two-run, ninth inning off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-2) as Yakult rallied to win at Nagoya Dome.
Hiroyasu Tanaka’s dribbler to short against a drawn-in infield tied the score. Lim Chang Yong loaded the bases in the ninth before recording his 26th save.
CARP 6, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose homered and Yuki Saito (3-4) scattered eight hits and two walks as Hiroshima routed Yokohama at The Zoom.
A consistent contributor to Nippon Ham’s three Pacific League titles the past four seasons, Masaru Takeda had never won more than 10 games.
He reached his career-high 11th win on Sunday, shutting down the front-running Seibu Lions over the distance in a 4-1 win at Sapporo Dome.
The fifth-year pro, who has six losses, fired just 89 pitches to set down the Lions, allowing five hits with no walks, while fanning six.
He surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth.
Eiichi Koyano and Tomohiro Nioka each had two-run singles in a four-run first inning as the Fighters won their fourth straight.
Koyano moved into the PL lead for RBIs with 92.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada cracked his 29th and 30th homers, the latter in a four-run sixth that lifted Orix past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Keiji Obiki’s single put the Buffaloes up and helped them avoid a sweep.
EAGLES 4, HAWKS 0
Masahiro Tanaka (11-5) scattered 10 hits with no walks and nine Ks to record his first shutout since May 20 last year as Rakuten avoided a sweep to SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.
The Eagles scored three in the first with the help of four walks from Hawks starter Shinsuke Ogura (4-7), who got just two outs, and two errors.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, TIGERS 0
Hideki Asai (2-1) tossed six scoreless innings, and Hayato Sakamoto continued his best power season, smacking his 24 th homer as host Yomiuri completed a sweep of Hanshin.
The Giants moved to within percentage points of first place, in a virtual tie with the Tigers atop the standings.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Yashushi Iihara slapped a bases-loaded single to right to cap a two-run, ninth inning off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-2) as Yakult rallied to win at Nagoya Dome.
Hiroyasu Tanaka’s dribbler to short against a drawn-in infield tied the score. Lim Chang Yong loaded the bases in the ninth before recording his 26th save.
CARP 6, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose homered and Yuki Saito (3-4) scattered eight hits and two walks as Hiroshima routed Yokohama at The Zoom.
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