Sledge drops the hammer
The one question everyone wants to ask Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara is, “What was that guy doing on the mound?”
The second question would be: “Why walk the right-handed batter to have your young hurler, a righty, face a left-handed hitter?” It cost you the game in an 8-5 loss.
Yokohama’s Terrmel Sledge forced those questions by making the Giants pay, slugging a ninth-inning, walk-off, three-run shot off rookie right-hander Kyohei Tsuchimoto on Wednesday at Yokohama Stadium.
Sledge had struck out three times in four at-bats, and Hara gambled --not only with Tsuchimoto (0-1) on the mound, but with the righty-lefty matchup -- and lost it all.
Sledge, who signed with the BayStars in the offseason after playing for the Nippon Ham Fighters for two years, hit a dramatic grand slam in the second-stage of the Pacific League Climax Series last season.
The outfielder, who became the first foreign BayStar to hit a walk-off since Tyrone Woods did it in 2004, hit his first longball with Yokohama.
Jose Castillo’s solo shot, his second in as many days, got Yokohama even at 5-5 in the eighth inning and the ’Stars got skipper -- and former Giants pitching coach -- Takao Obana earned his first win over the Giants.
“The relievers did a great job of getting us to the end of the game like they did,” said Obana, whose five relievers didn’t allow an earned run in 7.2 innings.
SWALLOWS 9, DRAGONS 5
Jamie D’Antona, who batted .362 against Chunichi last season, picked up where he left off by belting a pair of homers and driving in five as Yakult pounded Dragons starter Takashi Ogasawara and cruised at Jingu.
Hiroyasu Tanaka and Kazuki Fukuchi each had two hits for the Swallows, who have won four straight.
TIGERS 6, CARP 4
Tomoaki Kanemoto’s go-ahead two-run homer and an RBI double as Hanshin won its first two series for the first time in two years with a win at the Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 3, FIGHTERS 2
Akinobu Okada’s 400th managerial win came with help from a 22-year-old also named Okada.
Takahiro Okada (T.O.) ripped a three-run shot in the top of the ninth, and Jon Leicester allowed two runs but earned his second save, holding Nippon Ham to one run in the bottom of the ninth.
EAGLES 13, MARINES 4
It was bad last year, and it’s bad this year. This time, Rakuten ate up Lotte’s bullpen, scoring nine runs off four relievers in a rout at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Eagles starter Koji Aoyama left after two pitches with a bad ribcage muscle, but Yosuke Takasu had two doubles, a homer and a single, and two of Teppei Tsuchiya’s four hits were doubles in Rakuten’s biggest scoring game at Chiba in club history.
LIONS 9, HAWKS 5
G.G. Sato homered for the second straight game and Hiroyuki Nakajima’s bases-clearing double highlighted a five-run fourth as Seibu routed Fukuoka SoftBank at Seibu Dome.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
No lucky 'Stars ...
Giants have the edge
Obana vs. the Giants. Or students vs. former teacher. Either way you look at, Yomiuri’s former pitching coach sat across from the Giants on Tuesday for the first time as manager. And Takao Obana’s BayStars faded in the end, a 4-3 loss.
The team of Obana former charges the past four years did just enough to keep the BayStars from winning their home opener, with Marc Kroon shutting the door in the ninth after a walk, a stolen base and an infield single put the winning runs on.
Kroon induced a game-ending groundout to short from Seiichi Uchikawa, a one-time batting champ, to close it out.
Jose Castillo had put the BayStars up 3-1 with a three-run shot in the seventh, but the BayStars couldn’t hold the lead.
Hayato Sakamoto’s sacrifice fly scored Takahiro Suzuki with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth after the Giants rallied to tie things up at 3-3 in the eighth.
“Everyone did a great job to create that scoring chance, so I wanted to at least get the minimum done and drive the run home from third,” said Sakamoto, who added that he no thoughts about the Giants’ former pitching coach.
“None at all because it’s one team vs. another team, so personally, I wasn’t thinking about [Obana],” he said.
Said Obana:“The Giants weren’t cruising out there, our players battled hard.”
SWALLOWS 5, DRAGONS 2
Norichika Aoki and Atsushi Fujimoto each had two hits and two RBIs as Yakult downed Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.
Rookie Masato Nakazawa earned the win in his first pro start, going 5.1 innings and holding the Dragons to two runs on Tony Blanco’s first longball this season.
TIGERS 6, CARP 3
Matt Murton had four of Hanshin’s 16 hits, including his first homer in Japan, and Atsushi Nomi (1-0) held Hiroshima to three runs, two earned, over seven innings as the visiting Tigers won at the Zoom (Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium).
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 8, FIGHTERS 4
Shogo Akada capped a five-run second inning with a bases-clearing double, and Takahiro Okada had three hits, including a homer, as visiting Orix beat Hokkaido Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
The Fighters have lost three straight (including a tie), while the Buffaloes are 6-1 and atop the PL standings.
LIONS 3, HAWKS 2
Hiroyuki Nakajima had two hits and two RBIs, and Takayuki Kishi (1-1) allowed two runs on two hits and four walks as Seibu topped Lotte at Seibu Dome.
G.G. Sato clubbed his first homer and Brian Sikorski collected his third save in four chances with a perfect ninth.
MARINES 6, EAGLES 1
Takashi Ogino had three hits and Shoitsu Omatsu drove in a pair with a double as Lotte took down Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Yuki Karakawa (2-0) took a shutout into the ninth inning before leaving after 8.1 innings. He allowed two hits and fanned nine to help the Marines win their fifth straight.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, activated earlier in the day, earned his first pro save in the ninth.
Obana vs. the Giants. Or students vs. former teacher. Either way you look at, Yomiuri’s former pitching coach sat across from the Giants on Tuesday for the first time as manager. And Takao Obana’s BayStars faded in the end, a 4-3 loss.
The team of Obana former charges the past four years did just enough to keep the BayStars from winning their home opener, with Marc Kroon shutting the door in the ninth after a walk, a stolen base and an infield single put the winning runs on.
Kroon induced a game-ending groundout to short from Seiichi Uchikawa, a one-time batting champ, to close it out.
Jose Castillo had put the BayStars up 3-1 with a three-run shot in the seventh, but the BayStars couldn’t hold the lead.
Hayato Sakamoto’s sacrifice fly scored Takahiro Suzuki with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth after the Giants rallied to tie things up at 3-3 in the eighth.
“Everyone did a great job to create that scoring chance, so I wanted to at least get the minimum done and drive the run home from third,” said Sakamoto, who added that he no thoughts about the Giants’ former pitching coach.
“None at all because it’s one team vs. another team, so personally, I wasn’t thinking about [Obana],” he said.
Said Obana:“The Giants weren’t cruising out there, our players battled hard.”
SWALLOWS 5, DRAGONS 2
Norichika Aoki and Atsushi Fujimoto each had two hits and two RBIs as Yakult downed Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.
Rookie Masato Nakazawa earned the win in his first pro start, going 5.1 innings and holding the Dragons to two runs on Tony Blanco’s first longball this season.
TIGERS 6, CARP 3
Matt Murton had four of Hanshin’s 16 hits, including his first homer in Japan, and Atsushi Nomi (1-0) held Hiroshima to three runs, two earned, over seven innings as the visiting Tigers won at the Zoom (Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium).
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 8, FIGHTERS 4
Shogo Akada capped a five-run second inning with a bases-clearing double, and Takahiro Okada had three hits, including a homer, as visiting Orix beat Hokkaido Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
The Fighters have lost three straight (including a tie), while the Buffaloes are 6-1 and atop the PL standings.
LIONS 3, HAWKS 2
Hiroyuki Nakajima had two hits and two RBIs, and Takayuki Kishi (1-1) allowed two runs on two hits and four walks as Seibu topped Lotte at Seibu Dome.
G.G. Sato clubbed his first homer and Brian Sikorski collected his third save in four chances with a perfect ninth.
MARINES 6, EAGLES 1
Takashi Ogino had three hits and Shoitsu Omatsu drove in a pair with a double as Lotte took down Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Yuki Karakawa (2-0) took a shutout into the ninth inning before leaving after 8.1 innings. He allowed two hits and fanned nine to help the Marines win their fifth straight.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, activated earlier in the day, earned his first pro save in the ninth.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Darvish news ...
No games today
Yu Darvish said he is ready to entertain the idea of going to the major leagues, it was reported Monday.
He has always said that he will discuss that option “in time.” But when asked, he told reporters: “Well, I plan to make the climb one step at a time.”
Reports have him considering the posting system after this season.
Tuesday’s matchups: Buffaloes (Kishida) at Fighters (Itokazu) at Tokyo Dome; Eagles (Nagai) at Marines (Karakawa); and Hawks (D.J. Houlton) at Lions (Kishi).
Yu Darvish said he is ready to entertain the idea of going to the major leagues, it was reported Monday.
He has always said that he will discuss that option “in time.” But when asked, he told reporters: “Well, I plan to make the climb one step at a time.”
Reports have him considering the posting system after this season.
Tuesday’s matchups: Buffaloes (Kishida) at Fighters (Itokazu) at Tokyo Dome; Eagles (Nagai) at Marines (Karakawa); and Hawks (D.J. Houlton) at Lions (Kishi).
Sunday, March 28, 2010
First of all...
You never forget your first
Ah, a first victory. Hitoshi Fujie earned his first win as a pro and rookie skipper Takao Obana his first as manager on Sunday afternoon at Kyocera Dome.
So what does Obana do with the ball after 3-2 victory over the Hanshin Tigers? He chucks it into the stands and heads into the clubhouse.
Fujie came out for the on-field postgame interview and team officials retrieved the ball -- a memento for the second-year lefty from Osaka.
“The ball ended up in the stands, but they got it back for me. But really, I’m happy that we won the game, and we all worked hard as a team to win this,” said the former NOMO Baseball Club member.
The BayStars have the same record as the Japan Series-winning Yomiuri Giants at 1-2.
Obana, who has been a pitching coach since his 1991 retirement, was composed but happy with his first victory.
“It doesn’t matter how you win, winning feels good,” said Obana, whose relievers allowed one run over 4.2 innings to nail it down for Fujie.
SWALLOWS 5, GIANTS 2
Fifth-year lefty Kyohei Muranaka allowed two runs over eight innings to stop a personal six-game skid against the Giants since becoming a pro as Yakult won at Tokyo Dome.
It was the third straight year the Swallows have won their season-opening series, and the first time they’ve won consecutive games at the Big Egg in six years.
Muranaka fanned a career-best 11 while walking two.
“If you don’t beat the Giants, you can’t get to the top, so this was a good win,” Muranaka said.
DRAGONS 8, CARP 7, 10 INNINGS
The Chunichi Dragons uncharacteristically made five errors in three games against Hiroshima, including two by new import Dionys Cesar. But the Dominican also had two hits, the second an RBI walk-off single in the 10th inning that gave the Dragons a win over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
The win made it eight straight years that the Dragons have won their season-opening series.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 2, LIONS 1, 10 INNINGS
Masahiro Tanaka (1-0) worked a career-long 10 innings, holding Saitama Seibu to a run on five hits as Tohoku Rakuten and new skipper Marty Brown beat the Lions at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.
Tanaka, a fourth-year righty, threw his 13th complete game, and Naoto Watanabe won it with an RBI infield walk-off single in the 10th.
MARINES 6, FIGHTERS 5
Kim Tae Kyun’s two-run single in the ninth gave Lotte a walk-off win over last year’s PL champion Nippon Ham at Chiba Marines Stadium.
The victory gave the Marines back-to-back series wins to open the season for the first in 36 years.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 1
Hiroshi Kisanuki (1-0) worked 7.2 sharp innings to help Orix top SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome and win its first two season-opening series for the first time in 10 years.
Ah, a first victory. Hitoshi Fujie earned his first win as a pro and rookie skipper Takao Obana his first as manager on Sunday afternoon at Kyocera Dome.
So what does Obana do with the ball after 3-2 victory over the Hanshin Tigers? He chucks it into the stands and heads into the clubhouse.
Fujie came out for the on-field postgame interview and team officials retrieved the ball -- a memento for the second-year lefty from Osaka.
“The ball ended up in the stands, but they got it back for me. But really, I’m happy that we won the game, and we all worked hard as a team to win this,” said the former NOMO Baseball Club member.
The BayStars have the same record as the Japan Series-winning Yomiuri Giants at 1-2.
Obana, who has been a pitching coach since his 1991 retirement, was composed but happy with his first victory.
“It doesn’t matter how you win, winning feels good,” said Obana, whose relievers allowed one run over 4.2 innings to nail it down for Fujie.
SWALLOWS 5, GIANTS 2
Fifth-year lefty Kyohei Muranaka allowed two runs over eight innings to stop a personal six-game skid against the Giants since becoming a pro as Yakult won at Tokyo Dome.
It was the third straight year the Swallows have won their season-opening series, and the first time they’ve won consecutive games at the Big Egg in six years.
Muranaka fanned a career-best 11 while walking two.
“If you don’t beat the Giants, you can’t get to the top, so this was a good win,” Muranaka said.
DRAGONS 8, CARP 7, 10 INNINGS
The Chunichi Dragons uncharacteristically made five errors in three games against Hiroshima, including two by new import Dionys Cesar. But the Dominican also had two hits, the second an RBI walk-off single in the 10th inning that gave the Dragons a win over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
The win made it eight straight years that the Dragons have won their season-opening series.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 2, LIONS 1, 10 INNINGS
Masahiro Tanaka (1-0) worked a career-long 10 innings, holding Saitama Seibu to a run on five hits as Tohoku Rakuten and new skipper Marty Brown beat the Lions at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.
Tanaka, a fourth-year righty, threw his 13th complete game, and Naoto Watanabe won it with an RBI infield walk-off single in the 10th.
MARINES 6, FIGHTERS 5
Kim Tae Kyun’s two-run single in the ninth gave Lotte a walk-off win over last year’s PL champion Nippon Ham at Chiba Marines Stadium.
The victory gave the Marines back-to-back series wins to open the season for the first in 36 years.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 1
Hiroshi Kisanuki (1-0) worked 7.2 sharp innings to help Orix top SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome and win its first two season-opening series for the first time in 10 years.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
No savior in Sendai....
From stellar to cellar?
The Tohoku Rakuten Eagles last year had stellar pitching. This season it looks more like cellar pitching.
Hisashi Iwakuma gave up a three-run homer to Saitama Seibu’s Dee Brown in the sixth inning, and “closer” Kazuo Fukumori gave up hits to four of the five batters he faced and the Lions came back to beat the winless Eagles 6-4 on Saturday at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.
Manager Marty Brown, who came over from the Hiroshima Carp in the offseason to replace famed skipper Katsuya Nomura, is 0-4 for his Pacific League team.
Fukumori, who spent a year and a half in the Texas Rangers organization, has blown both his save chances.
Brown said Fukumori is the only reliever with experience as a closer, but something needs to change in Sendai.
“This was awful,” Fukumori (0-2) said. “Just pathetic.”
It’s the fourth time in the 6-year-old expansion team’s history that the Eagles have lost four straight to start the season.
HAWKS 6, BUFFALOES 2
Toshiya Sugiuchi, the strikeout king the past two seasons, whiffed 14 en route to winning his second straight start. He allowed five hits and four walks.
Former Buffalo Jose Ortiz socked a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Munenori Kawasaki had three hits, including the 1,000th of his career, to pace the offense.
It was Orix’s first loss of the season.
FIGHTERS 3, MARINES 3
South Korean import and World Baseball Classic star Kim Tae Kyun had a scoring flyball and a two-run single in the ninth that got Chiba Lotte even, and the Marines played to a tie against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 10, GIANTS 5
It didn’t take long for video replay to make an impact in Japan.
Yakult’s Aaron Guiel hit a shot to dead center that was clearly over the fence in the ninth inning of a win over Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome. Two games into the season, the funky setup at the Big Egg deceived umpires, who in live action ruled it a double.
Further review, however, clearly showed the ball had cleared the fence for a two-run shot and a 10-1 lead.
Guiel was already ticked off by an inside pitch from Norihito Kaneto. The outfielder walked toward the mound chirping away after the pitch and players from both benches crowded onto the field. Two pitches later, Guiel got revenge against Kento with his first longball of the season.
Jamie D’Antona slugged two homers and drove in a Japan career-best five for Yakult.
TIGERS 4, BAYSTARS 3, 11 innings
Kenji Jojima’s walk-off homer with two outs in the 11th inning lifted Hanshin over Yokohama at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Jojima has two doubles, a homer and five RBIs in his first two CL games.
“I had a few goose bumps,” Jojima said of his walk-off shot.
DRAGONS 7, CARP 0
Kazuhiro Wada homered for the second straight day, and lefty Chen Wei-yin tossed a four-hitter as the Dragons blanked the Carp at Nagoya Dome.
Chen, last year’s ERA leader, fanned 11 and walked one.
The Tohoku Rakuten Eagles last year had stellar pitching. This season it looks more like cellar pitching.
Hisashi Iwakuma gave up a three-run homer to Saitama Seibu’s Dee Brown in the sixth inning, and “closer” Kazuo Fukumori gave up hits to four of the five batters he faced and the Lions came back to beat the winless Eagles 6-4 on Saturday at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi.
Manager Marty Brown, who came over from the Hiroshima Carp in the offseason to replace famed skipper Katsuya Nomura, is 0-4 for his Pacific League team.
Fukumori, who spent a year and a half in the Texas Rangers organization, has blown both his save chances.
Brown said Fukumori is the only reliever with experience as a closer, but something needs to change in Sendai.
“This was awful,” Fukumori (0-2) said. “Just pathetic.”
It’s the fourth time in the 6-year-old expansion team’s history that the Eagles have lost four straight to start the season.
HAWKS 6, BUFFALOES 2
Toshiya Sugiuchi, the strikeout king the past two seasons, whiffed 14 en route to winning his second straight start. He allowed five hits and four walks.
Former Buffalo Jose Ortiz socked a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Munenori Kawasaki had three hits, including the 1,000th of his career, to pace the offense.
It was Orix’s first loss of the season.
FIGHTERS 3, MARINES 3
South Korean import and World Baseball Classic star Kim Tae Kyun had a scoring flyball and a two-run single in the ninth that got Chiba Lotte even, and the Marines played to a tie against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 10, GIANTS 5
It didn’t take long for video replay to make an impact in Japan.
Yakult’s Aaron Guiel hit a shot to dead center that was clearly over the fence in the ninth inning of a win over Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome. Two games into the season, the funky setup at the Big Egg deceived umpires, who in live action ruled it a double.
Further review, however, clearly showed the ball had cleared the fence for a two-run shot and a 10-1 lead.
Guiel was already ticked off by an inside pitch from Norihito Kaneto. The outfielder walked toward the mound chirping away after the pitch and players from both benches crowded onto the field. Two pitches later, Guiel got revenge against Kento with his first longball of the season.
Jamie D’Antona slugged two homers and drove in a Japan career-best five for Yakult.
TIGERS 4, BAYSTARS 3, 11 innings
Kenji Jojima’s walk-off homer with two outs in the 11th inning lifted Hanshin over Yokohama at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Jojima has two doubles, a homer and five RBIs in his first two CL games.
“I had a few goose bumps,” Jojima said of his walk-off shot.
DRAGONS 7, CARP 0
Kazuhiro Wada homered for the second straight day, and lefty Chen Wei-yin tossed a four-hitter as the Dragons blanked the Carp at Nagoya Dome.
Chen, last year’s ERA leader, fanned 11 and walked one.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Central opening...
Seems like old times...
Catcher Kenji Jojima was all smiles after his first Japan pro baseball game in five years, the Giants won a ho-hummer and the Orix Buffaloes threw their weight around on Friday.
Jojima -- yes without the “H” he used while in the states -- made a triumphant return here with the Hanshin Tigers, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs in a 7-3 comeback victory over the Yokohama BayStars at Kyocera Dome Osaka in their Central League opener.
Jojima, who played with Fukuoka for 11 seasons before going to the Seattle Mariners in 2006, had a pair of two-run doubles that pinned Yokohama rookie skipper Takao Obana with a loss in his first game on the bench.
“I’m a player who came here from another team, but to hear this kind of cheering -- I feel like I’m a Tiger now,” said Jojima.
It seemed he felt like punching something early on. Jojima was visibly frustrated behind the plate with the three early runs the BayStars put up, especially Shuichi Murata’s solo blast in the second inning.
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 1
The Giants had a pedestrian victory over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Tokyo Dome.
One-time ace Tetsuya Utsumi got the nod, with Seth Greisinger sidelined, and made the most of it by hurling eight strong innings. He allowed an unearned run, holding Yakult to four hits and two walks, while punching out 10 in his first Opening Day start in three years.
Yoshinobu Takahashi, at one time in his career a fantasy leaguers dream, made his debut at first and evened the score in the fourth with an RBI single. Whatever the 13-year veteran has lost in speed, the crowd helped him make up for with deafening cheers.
CARP 3, DRAGONS 1
The Chunichi Dragons lost their opener for the first time in four years, falling to another rookie skipper, Kenjiro Nomura, and the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome.
Chunichi starter Kazuki Yoshimi, who tied for the CL lead in wins last year, was rocky early and Hiroshima’s Kenta Maeda tossed eight sharp innings to earn the win.
“I thought the players would be tight because it the opener, but they were tighter than I imagined they would be,” said Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai.
PACFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 16, HAWKS 1
Talk about old times, it has been 21 years since the Buffaloes started out a season with at least four straight victories.
They turned a game that looked to be headed toward a simple five-run victory into a beatdown, adding two in the eighth and 10 in the ninth for a laugher at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera has responded after his Opening Day benching, homering for the third straight game and went 3-for-3 with two walks.
MARINES 9, FIGHTERS 1
Chiba Lotte gave its first-year manager Norifumi Nishimura his third straight win as rookie Takashi Ogino cracked his first pro homer.
The outfielder went deep in his first at-bat in the opening inning as is batting .400 through Lotte’s first four games.
Catcher Kenji Jojima was all smiles after his first Japan pro baseball game in five years, the Giants won a ho-hummer and the Orix Buffaloes threw their weight around on Friday.
Jojima -- yes without the “H” he used while in the states -- made a triumphant return here with the Hanshin Tigers, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs in a 7-3 comeback victory over the Yokohama BayStars at Kyocera Dome Osaka in their Central League opener.
Jojima, who played with Fukuoka for 11 seasons before going to the Seattle Mariners in 2006, had a pair of two-run doubles that pinned Yokohama rookie skipper Takao Obana with a loss in his first game on the bench.
“I’m a player who came here from another team, but to hear this kind of cheering -- I feel like I’m a Tiger now,” said Jojima.
It seemed he felt like punching something early on. Jojima was visibly frustrated behind the plate with the three early runs the BayStars put up, especially Shuichi Murata’s solo blast in the second inning.
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 1
The Giants had a pedestrian victory over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows at Tokyo Dome.
One-time ace Tetsuya Utsumi got the nod, with Seth Greisinger sidelined, and made the most of it by hurling eight strong innings. He allowed an unearned run, holding Yakult to four hits and two walks, while punching out 10 in his first Opening Day start in three years.
Yoshinobu Takahashi, at one time in his career a fantasy leaguers dream, made his debut at first and evened the score in the fourth with an RBI single. Whatever the 13-year veteran has lost in speed, the crowd helped him make up for with deafening cheers.
CARP 3, DRAGONS 1
The Chunichi Dragons lost their opener for the first time in four years, falling to another rookie skipper, Kenjiro Nomura, and the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome.
Chunichi starter Kazuki Yoshimi, who tied for the CL lead in wins last year, was rocky early and Hiroshima’s Kenta Maeda tossed eight sharp innings to earn the win.
“I thought the players would be tight because it the opener, but they were tighter than I imagined they would be,” said Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai.
PACFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 16, HAWKS 1
Talk about old times, it has been 21 years since the Buffaloes started out a season with at least four straight victories.
They turned a game that looked to be headed toward a simple five-run victory into a beatdown, adding two in the eighth and 10 in the ninth for a laugher at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera has responded after his Opening Day benching, homering for the third straight game and went 3-for-3 with two walks.
MARINES 9, FIGHTERS 1
Chiba Lotte gave its first-year manager Norifumi Nishimura his third straight win as rookie Takashi Ogino cracked his first pro homer.
The outfielder went deep in his first at-bat in the opening inning as is batting .400 through Lotte’s first four games.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
In full gear
Grand Central
The Central League pennant race, otherwise known as “Let’s gang up on the Yomiuri Giants,” starts Friday at 6 p.m. with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows getting the first shot in a game at Tokyo Dome.
The Swallows, who bounced back from a fifth-place finish in 2008 to reach the playoffs last year with a third-place run, brought in a few imports to help the pitching staff. Basically, though, it seems they’re counting on guys to repeat outstanding performances from last season.
The Giants, who have won three straight CL titles -- with the crowning jewel coming with a Japan Series run last year -- filled their small gaps in the offseason with the likes of Edgar Gonzalez at second base and outfielder Hisayoshi Chono.
The 25-year-old Chono garnered a look at the starting job in right, but reports later said he would be a "semi-regular," spelling the oft-injured Yoshinobu Takahashi.
“We’ve added Takahashi, Chono and Edgar to the guys we had last year,” said Giants manager Tatsunori Hara. “Our pitching staff is also younger. We go into Opening Day with a lot of expectations.”
Needless to say, the Giants want another Series title. But the needless comment of the day come from Yakult skipper Shigeru Takada, whose “We want to start out strong and build momentum.”
Yeah, who wants to start out by taking their lumps from game one?
Chunichi Hiromitsu Ochiai skipper had a distinctive take on the season, which starts at home at Nagoya Dome against the Hiroshima Carp.
“If possible, I’d like to win all 144 games,” said the often-impatient Ochiai, who has three rookies on the Opening Day roster.
“We had competition for the club and the pitchers and position players here are the ones who won. These are the best players right now.”
It will be the debut for rookie Hiroshima skipper Kenjiro Nomura.
Kenji Jojima will be making his first appearance for a Japanese team in five years when his Hanshin Tigers play host to the Yokohama BayStars at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Yokohama rookie manager Takao Obana makes his debut.
The Pacific League also returns after a three-day layoff, with the Nippon Ham at Chiba Lotte (Yagi vs. Naruse); and Orix at Fukuoka SoftBank (Kondo vs. Wada).
Gin-chan is gone
Bad news for Saitama Seibu Lions fans on Thursday -- the hard-working and diligent Ginjiro Sumitani will be out for the year after it was discovered he tore a ligament in his left knee.
The 22-year-old played in a career-best 112 games last season, mostly because No. 1 catcher Toru Hosokawa was sidelined for much of the season with his own injury issues.
The Central League pennant race, otherwise known as “Let’s gang up on the Yomiuri Giants,” starts Friday at 6 p.m. with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows getting the first shot in a game at Tokyo Dome.
The Swallows, who bounced back from a fifth-place finish in 2008 to reach the playoffs last year with a third-place run, brought in a few imports to help the pitching staff. Basically, though, it seems they’re counting on guys to repeat outstanding performances from last season.
The Giants, who have won three straight CL titles -- with the crowning jewel coming with a Japan Series run last year -- filled their small gaps in the offseason with the likes of Edgar Gonzalez at second base and outfielder Hisayoshi Chono.
The 25-year-old Chono garnered a look at the starting job in right, but reports later said he would be a "semi-regular," spelling the oft-injured Yoshinobu Takahashi.
“We’ve added Takahashi, Chono and Edgar to the guys we had last year,” said Giants manager Tatsunori Hara. “Our pitching staff is also younger. We go into Opening Day with a lot of expectations.”
Needless to say, the Giants want another Series title. But the needless comment of the day come from Yakult skipper Shigeru Takada, whose “We want to start out strong and build momentum.”
Yeah, who wants to start out by taking their lumps from game one?
Chunichi Hiromitsu Ochiai skipper had a distinctive take on the season, which starts at home at Nagoya Dome against the Hiroshima Carp.
“If possible, I’d like to win all 144 games,” said the often-impatient Ochiai, who has three rookies on the Opening Day roster.
“We had competition for the club and the pitchers and position players here are the ones who won. These are the best players right now.”
It will be the debut for rookie Hiroshima skipper Kenjiro Nomura.
Kenji Jojima will be making his first appearance for a Japanese team in five years when his Hanshin Tigers play host to the Yokohama BayStars at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Yokohama rookie manager Takao Obana makes his debut.
The Pacific League also returns after a three-day layoff, with the Nippon Ham at Chiba Lotte (Yagi vs. Naruse); and Orix at Fukuoka SoftBank (Kondo vs. Wada).
Gin-chan is gone
Bad news for Saitama Seibu Lions fans on Thursday -- the hard-working and diligent Ginjiro Sumitani will be out for the year after it was discovered he tore a ligament in his left knee.
The 22-year-old played in a career-best 112 games last season, mostly because No. 1 catcher Toru Hosokawa was sidelined for much of the season with his own injury issues.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 2 of midweek madness ...
Another quiet day
Chatter intensified about the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles after they dropped their opening three-game series; marriage for a one-time batting champ and one inning and one injury for one of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' newest starter are the hot topics on Wednesday.
Midweek off days: baseball's armpits. And to have three consecutive diamond-less days is torture.
Well, it seems Marty Brown is already dodging media shots, mostly spurred by crotchety former skipper Katsuya Nomura last week. The well-respected but highly opinionated Nomura took the sour-grape approach when predicting how the Eagles, who finished second last year under his direction, would do this year with Brown on the bench.
He picked them to finish fifth and an 0-3 start against the Orix Buffaloes did nothing to stamp out that view. But Nomura has been wrong on many occasions, and yet the foul taste of grimy leather has never stopped him from repeatedly jamming his foot into his mouth.
JBD distinctly recalls Nomura, as a guest TV analyst in 2005, harping on then-Chiba Lotte skipper Bobby Valentine to bunt with one out and runners on first and second, and the Marines down two runs in the playoffs at Fukuoka SoftBank. But Tomoya Satozaki powered a double off the wall to score the two and the Marines won the game and eventually the Japan Series.
After Satozaki’s big hit, Nomura still insisted the right move was to bunt in that situation.
Ringing in the season
A year ago, Seiichi Uchikawa of the Yokohama BayStars was in a heroic situation. He was getting hits and making a diving catch and throw to help Japan repeat as World Baseball Classic champion.
One year has passed, and now he’s contributing to the presumption that young, attractive TV announcers who cover baseball evolve into players’ wives. Uchikawa and Fuji TV announcer Tsubasa Nagano filed paperwork for marriage on Wednesday.
“Now I can go into Opening Day with a clear mind,” said the 27-year-old Uchikawa, who won the Central League batting title in 2008.
One and done
Bobby Keppel, a righty who the Fighters picked up in the offseason, had to leave his start on Monday after apparently suffering a mild oblique muscle strain.
Keppel threw a scoreless inning against the Hawks, but couldn’t return. He is expected to miss about three weeks.
Young stars
Finally, a report late Wednesday night said the Yomiuri Giants plan to start rookie Hisayoshi Chono and bat him eighth in Friday’s opener.
The 25-year-old No. 1 draft pick is one of nine first-year players to make Opening Day rosters around the Central League.
Chatter intensified about the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles after they dropped their opening three-game series; marriage for a one-time batting champ and one inning and one injury for one of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' newest starter are the hot topics on Wednesday.
Midweek off days: baseball's armpits. And to have three consecutive diamond-less days is torture.
Well, it seems Marty Brown is already dodging media shots, mostly spurred by crotchety former skipper Katsuya Nomura last week. The well-respected but highly opinionated Nomura took the sour-grape approach when predicting how the Eagles, who finished second last year under his direction, would do this year with Brown on the bench.
He picked them to finish fifth and an 0-3 start against the Orix Buffaloes did nothing to stamp out that view. But Nomura has been wrong on many occasions, and yet the foul taste of grimy leather has never stopped him from repeatedly jamming his foot into his mouth.
JBD distinctly recalls Nomura, as a guest TV analyst in 2005, harping on then-Chiba Lotte skipper Bobby Valentine to bunt with one out and runners on first and second, and the Marines down two runs in the playoffs at Fukuoka SoftBank. But Tomoya Satozaki powered a double off the wall to score the two and the Marines won the game and eventually the Japan Series.
After Satozaki’s big hit, Nomura still insisted the right move was to bunt in that situation.
Ringing in the season
A year ago, Seiichi Uchikawa of the Yokohama BayStars was in a heroic situation. He was getting hits and making a diving catch and throw to help Japan repeat as World Baseball Classic champion.
One year has passed, and now he’s contributing to the presumption that young, attractive TV announcers who cover baseball evolve into players’ wives. Uchikawa and Fuji TV announcer Tsubasa Nagano filed paperwork for marriage on Wednesday.
“Now I can go into Opening Day with a clear mind,” said the 27-year-old Uchikawa, who won the Central League batting title in 2008.
One and done
Bobby Keppel, a righty who the Fighters picked up in the offseason, had to leave his start on Monday after apparently suffering a mild oblique muscle strain.
Keppel threw a scoreless inning against the Hawks, but couldn’t return. He is expected to miss about three weeks.
Young stars
Finally, a report late Wednesday night said the Yomiuri Giants plan to start rookie Hisayoshi Chono and bat him eighth in Friday’s opener.
The 25-year-old No. 1 draft pick is one of nine first-year players to make Opening Day rosters around the Central League.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
No games for three days ...
The schedule Gods
After an exciting opening weekend, which included games on Monday’s national holiday, the great schedule Gods took the air out of the sails by leaving the next three days open.
Three days with no baseball. It’s not the guys who come up with the ideas – theirs is to test the limits and failure is part of that process. But it’s the geniuses who look at painfully flawed schemes and OK them with ringing endorsements. They should always be held accountable.
So with fans all geared up for baseball, we have to wait until Friday to get the fix -- boosted by the start of Central League play. That means editors nationwide told writers to review the first three games. JBD, though, forges ahead by touching on two topics: A troubled ’Star and video replay.
A year after Yokohama BayStars ace Daisuke Miura shunned offers though free agency and stuck with the perennial losers, the right-hander got the news he will be shipped to the farm to start the season.
Miura was limited to four preseason innings and got knocked around pretty good, allowing 14 runs. He served up a whopping eight longballs and, honestly, a 10.80 ERA is not what the BayStars need when new rookie skipper -- and now-former pitching coach guru -- Takao Obana had in mind when he signed up to revamp the pitching staff.
Obana, who spent much of his time in the preseason with the pitchers, let his so-called pitching coach field questions about Miura.
“He’s not injured, but he hasn’t been ‘Miura,’” said Hiroki Nomura. “In the state he’s in now, I think he is also concerned.”
Concern over controversial home run calls was supposed to be over, but video replay got mixed reviews when it was used for the first time on Sunday at Tokyo Dome.
Terrmel Sledge of Yokohama hit a drive to center against the Yomiuri Giants that was ruled a double and umps used video review to overturn the call.
Even though the call went against his club, Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara said it was “it was extremely fair baseball.”
The crew chief, though, had a slightly -- different view.
“A view from another angle would have been helpful,” said crew chief Hitoshi Watarida.
What angle would be best for them to see they missed the call in live action?
After an exciting opening weekend, which included games on Monday’s national holiday, the great schedule Gods took the air out of the sails by leaving the next three days open.
Three days with no baseball. It’s not the guys who come up with the ideas – theirs is to test the limits and failure is part of that process. But it’s the geniuses who look at painfully flawed schemes and OK them with ringing endorsements. They should always be held accountable.
So with fans all geared up for baseball, we have to wait until Friday to get the fix -- boosted by the start of Central League play. That means editors nationwide told writers to review the first three games. JBD, though, forges ahead by touching on two topics: A troubled ’Star and video replay.
A year after Yokohama BayStars ace Daisuke Miura shunned offers though free agency and stuck with the perennial losers, the right-hander got the news he will be shipped to the farm to start the season.
Miura was limited to four preseason innings and got knocked around pretty good, allowing 14 runs. He served up a whopping eight longballs and, honestly, a 10.80 ERA is not what the BayStars need when new rookie skipper -- and now-former pitching coach guru -- Takao Obana had in mind when he signed up to revamp the pitching staff.
Obana, who spent much of his time in the preseason with the pitchers, let his so-called pitching coach field questions about Miura.
“He’s not injured, but he hasn’t been ‘Miura,’” said Hiroki Nomura. “In the state he’s in now, I think he is also concerned.”
Concern over controversial home run calls was supposed to be over, but video replay got mixed reviews when it was used for the first time on Sunday at Tokyo Dome.
Terrmel Sledge of Yokohama hit a drive to center against the Yomiuri Giants that was ruled a double and umps used video review to overturn the call.
Even though the call went against his club, Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara said it was “it was extremely fair baseball.”
The crew chief, though, had a slightly -- different view.
“A view from another angle would have been helpful,” said crew chief Hitoshi Watarida.
What angle would be best for them to see they missed the call in live action?
Monday, March 22, 2010
Fight the big fight
Fighting back
Look at Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ 16-run explosion on Monday this way: There was no way the defending Pacific League champions could afford to lose three straight at home to start the season.
From that point of view, D.J. Houlton had little chance of winning, but 16-5? Shinji Takahashi had two hits and three RBIs as the Fighters sent 14 men to the plate in a 10-run second inning --the team’s biggest frame since Aug. 20, 1966-- and salvaged the finale of their season-opening three-game series with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Houlton had a bad day, or skipper Koji Akiyama picked a bad day to the send the righty out there. He surrendered a career-worst nine runs on six hits and three walks in 1.1 innings.
Kensuke Tanaka had three hits and an RBI, and Makoto Kaneko had two hits, including a bases-clearing double in the second, as the Fighters parlayed 15 hits and seven walks off five SoftBank hurlers into their first win of the season.
The victory was also the 500th of Nippon Ham skipper Masataka Nashida’s career, making him the 25th manager to reach that mark.
MARINES 13, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura homered and doubled for three RBIs, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka had a triple and three RBIs as the Chiba Lotte Marines won the rubber game against the Saitama Seibu Lions 13-2 to capture the series win in the three-game opening set.
Third-year righty Yuki Karakawa tossed a complete game, allowing a pair of runs on five hits and a walk, while fanning 11. He stopped a personal three-game losing streak to the Lions.
But the offense that took command early. Fukuura capped a three-run rally in the second with an RBI laser off the wall in the right that went for a single. He followed that with a long homer to right in the third inning. The blast was the 18-year veteran’s 100th career longball.
The Marines, who were fifth last season, are a game over .500 for the first time since April 5 of last year while under Bobby Valentine.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Greg LaRocca’s two-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Orix Buffaloes a 5-4 win and a sweep in their opening series with the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles.
The Buffaloes have won three straight to start the season for the first time since 2000.
LaRocca, who had hit fouled a ball off his leg in his previous at-bat, went into a home run trot the moment he left the batter’s box at Kobe’s Skymark Stadium.
“[It felt] very good. I’m glad I didn’t hit it off my shin again,” said LaRocca, who hit .364 with a homer in the series. It was his first longball since he went deep against Rakuten last June 27.
“You just want to get good wood on it. Hopefully we can ride this out the Nippon championship.”
Mamoru Kishida came on to fire six innings of relief, his longest outing out of the pen, to earn the win. He allowed two hits and a walk for a run in the ninth, but skipper Akinobu Okada stayed with him to close it out. That raises questions, though, about who will close for the first-place-in-March Buffaloes.
Look at Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters’ 16-run explosion on Monday this way: There was no way the defending Pacific League champions could afford to lose three straight at home to start the season.
From that point of view, D.J. Houlton had little chance of winning, but 16-5? Shinji Takahashi had two hits and three RBIs as the Fighters sent 14 men to the plate in a 10-run second inning --the team’s biggest frame since Aug. 20, 1966-- and salvaged the finale of their season-opening three-game series with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
Houlton had a bad day, or skipper Koji Akiyama picked a bad day to the send the righty out there. He surrendered a career-worst nine runs on six hits and three walks in 1.1 innings.
Kensuke Tanaka had three hits and an RBI, and Makoto Kaneko had two hits, including a bases-clearing double in the second, as the Fighters parlayed 15 hits and seven walks off five SoftBank hurlers into their first win of the season.
The victory was also the 500th of Nippon Ham skipper Masataka Nashida’s career, making him the 25th manager to reach that mark.
MARINES 13, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura homered and doubled for three RBIs, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka had a triple and three RBIs as the Chiba Lotte Marines won the rubber game against the Saitama Seibu Lions 13-2 to capture the series win in the three-game opening set.
Third-year righty Yuki Karakawa tossed a complete game, allowing a pair of runs on five hits and a walk, while fanning 11. He stopped a personal three-game losing streak to the Lions.
But the offense that took command early. Fukuura capped a three-run rally in the second with an RBI laser off the wall in the right that went for a single. He followed that with a long homer to right in the third inning. The blast was the 18-year veteran’s 100th career longball.
The Marines, who were fifth last season, are a game over .500 for the first time since April 5 of last year while under Bobby Valentine.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Greg LaRocca’s two-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Orix Buffaloes a 5-4 win and a sweep in their opening series with the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles.
The Buffaloes have won three straight to start the season for the first time since 2000.
LaRocca, who had hit fouled a ball off his leg in his previous at-bat, went into a home run trot the moment he left the batter’s box at Kobe’s Skymark Stadium.
“[It felt] very good. I’m glad I didn’t hit it off my shin again,” said LaRocca, who hit .364 with a homer in the series. It was his first longball since he went deep against Rakuten last June 27.
“You just want to get good wood on it. Hopefully we can ride this out the Nippon championship.”
Mamoru Kishida came on to fire six innings of relief, his longest outing out of the pen, to earn the win. He allowed two hits and a walk for a run in the ninth, but skipper Akinobu Okada stayed with him to close it out. That raises questions, though, about who will close for the first-place-in-March Buffaloes.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Lefty-lefty matchup ...
Not left out
The left-handed-hitting Shoitsu Omatsu had five homers and 20 strikeouts in 128 at-bats against southpaws last year. But rookie skipper Norifumi Nishimura’s first big move paid off in a 2-1 win over the Saitama Seibu Lions on Sunday when the new manager put the outfielder in the starting lineup against a southpaw.
The result, Omatsu saved the Marines from wasting a great start from Shunsuke “Submarine” Watanabe, by driving in both runs with an RBI single in the fourth inning and a solo blast in the seventh that broke a 1-1 tie.
It wasn’t like Omtasu tore the cover off the ball in 2009. He was a .269 hitter in 494 at-bats.
The win was not actually the very first for Nishimura. He had a victory with Lotte as a fill-in on July 29, 2004. But it’s his first as an official skipper.
“We lost the opener yesterday, but the players didn’t panic,” Nishimura was quoted as saying. “We believed in what we were doing and this is the result. It feels great,” he said about his first victory.
Watanabe snapped a personal five-game losing streak to the Lions, working 7.2 busy innings – with eight hits and three walks – but allowing just a run. He fanned two for his first win against the Lions since Sept. 16, 2008.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Let’s just call it late-inning apprehension. Tohoku Rakuten hurler Shinichiro Koyama’s played “hurler gone wild” in the ninth inning, uncorking a bases-loaded bouncer that sent home the winning run for the Orix Buffaloes at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The righty, who also fired a wild pitch in last year’s second stage of the Pacific League Climax Series finale -- which the Eagles eventually lost -- walked the first batter he faced and then gave the game away.
Orix won despite a reported Opening Day tiff between slugger Alex Cabrera and new manager Akinobu Okada. The former Hanshin skipper didn’t play the Venezuelan in the opener, and the 10-year veteran zipped past reporters without a word after the Buffs won.
“Selfish players don’t get to play,” Okada was quoted as saying.
But Cabrera answered on the second day with his bat, slugging a two-run homer in the third to go with a single and a walk. Outfielder So Taguchi, playing in Japan for the first time since 2001, had three hits to help the Buffs win their first two games for the first time in 10 seasons.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 1
Nobuhiro Matsuda homered in the top of the 11th inning in a 2-1 win over Nippon Ham to give Fukuoka SoftBank a two-game winning streak to start the season.
Preseason video replay
Tokyo Dome, a place where numerous visiting teams get robbed of longballs because of the hard-to-see green fence and green seats behind them, was the first place to put the new video replay system into use.
Terrmel Sledge slugged a drive to center and umps originally called it a double. After further review, they ruled it a homer. It’s still the preseason, but the Giants’ home-field advantage will be threatened.
Both the Pacific and Central leagues implemented the review system this season, and it has yet to be used in the PL.
The left-handed-hitting Shoitsu Omatsu had five homers and 20 strikeouts in 128 at-bats against southpaws last year. But rookie skipper Norifumi Nishimura’s first big move paid off in a 2-1 win over the Saitama Seibu Lions on Sunday when the new manager put the outfielder in the starting lineup against a southpaw.
The result, Omatsu saved the Marines from wasting a great start from Shunsuke “Submarine” Watanabe, by driving in both runs with an RBI single in the fourth inning and a solo blast in the seventh that broke a 1-1 tie.
It wasn’t like Omtasu tore the cover off the ball in 2009. He was a .269 hitter in 494 at-bats.
The win was not actually the very first for Nishimura. He had a victory with Lotte as a fill-in on July 29, 2004. But it’s his first as an official skipper.
“We lost the opener yesterday, but the players didn’t panic,” Nishimura was quoted as saying. “We believed in what we were doing and this is the result. It feels great,” he said about his first victory.
Watanabe snapped a personal five-game losing streak to the Lions, working 7.2 busy innings – with eight hits and three walks – but allowing just a run. He fanned two for his first win against the Lions since Sept. 16, 2008.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Let’s just call it late-inning apprehension. Tohoku Rakuten hurler Shinichiro Koyama’s played “hurler gone wild” in the ninth inning, uncorking a bases-loaded bouncer that sent home the winning run for the Orix Buffaloes at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The righty, who also fired a wild pitch in last year’s second stage of the Pacific League Climax Series finale -- which the Eagles eventually lost -- walked the first batter he faced and then gave the game away.
Orix won despite a reported Opening Day tiff between slugger Alex Cabrera and new manager Akinobu Okada. The former Hanshin skipper didn’t play the Venezuelan in the opener, and the 10-year veteran zipped past reporters without a word after the Buffs won.
“Selfish players don’t get to play,” Okada was quoted as saying.
But Cabrera answered on the second day with his bat, slugging a two-run homer in the third to go with a single and a walk. Outfielder So Taguchi, playing in Japan for the first time since 2001, had three hits to help the Buffs win their first two games for the first time in 10 seasons.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 1
Nobuhiro Matsuda homered in the top of the 11th inning in a 2-1 win over Nippon Ham to give Fukuoka SoftBank a two-game winning streak to start the season.
Preseason video replay
Tokyo Dome, a place where numerous visiting teams get robbed of longballs because of the hard-to-see green fence and green seats behind them, was the first place to put the new video replay system into use.
Terrmel Sledge slugged a drive to center and umps originally called it a double. After further review, they ruled it a homer. It’s still the preseason, but the Giants’ home-field advantage will be threatened.
Both the Pacific and Central leagues implemented the review system this season, and it has yet to be used in the PL.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Strong starts -- except for one…
Pacific League openers
He looked like Yu Darvish, his motion was the same, but the guy throwing for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Opening Day looked more like … a regular pitcher in a 5-3 Opening Day loss to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.
Darvish did have 13 punchouts – a club record in an opener -- but he allowed three hits to aging infielder Hiroki Kokubo, who had a double and two RBI to key the victory.
Darvish, one of Japan’s heroes in last year’s second straight World Baseball Classic-title run, gave up a soft single and a bouncer that snuck through the infield before the defense behind him committed an error that led to two second-inning runs. He allowed five runs on seven hits and no walks for last year's Pacific League champs.
The righty threw a 147-pitch complete game but the Fighters couldn’t generate enough offense to overcome the mistakes.
The Hawks won their third straight season opener, with Toshiya Sugiuchi going six innings and surrendering three runs on seven hits for the win.
“Today, we won this one on defense,” said Hawks manager Koji Akiyama. “Sugiuchi went out hard, but the guys behind him did their work the way they are supposed to.”
BUFFALOES 1, EAGLES 0
Two new managers watched their offenses struggle against some fine pitching in their respective debuts. Akinobu Okada’s Orix Buffaloes downed Marty Brown’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1-0 behind Chihiro Kaneko’s four-hitter at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Ryo Hijirisawa whacked first pitch of the game off Kaneko up the middle for a single. That’s about all that went right for the Eagles against the right-hander.
Hijirisawa ran the Eagles out of the inning by trying to advance on a comebacker to Kaneko and then blew up the ninth with a double play after the leadoff batter had reached.
Kaneko allowed just four hits while fanning six and walking none. He beat 2008 Sawamura Award winner Hisashi Iwakuma, who also threw a complete game -- allowing five hits and fanning seven -- in the first 1-0 Opening Day game in Japan since 1996.
Brown lost his first opener after winning all four while skipper of the Hiroshima Carp.
LIONS 2, MARINES 1
Saitama Seibu Lions ace Hideaki Wakui kept the score close, and Hiroyuki Nakajima and Dee Brown kept the visiting Chiba Lotte Marines down.
Brown’s first hit in Japan cleared the fence to put the Lions up in the seventh inning, just after Nakajima had blasted a solo shot to tie things up at 1-1.
Brian Sikorski, who was a Marine last season, notched the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Wakui, the reigning Sawamura Award winner, fired 145 pitches, fanned 11, gave up seven hits, walked three and hit a batter for his second straight Opening Day win.
Marines starter Yoshihisa Naruse only allowed three hits, but two of them left the yard and he took the complete-game loss.
He looked like Yu Darvish, his motion was the same, but the guy throwing for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Opening Day looked more like … a regular pitcher in a 5-3 Opening Day loss to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.
Darvish did have 13 punchouts – a club record in an opener -- but he allowed three hits to aging infielder Hiroki Kokubo, who had a double and two RBI to key the victory.
Darvish, one of Japan’s heroes in last year’s second straight World Baseball Classic-title run, gave up a soft single and a bouncer that snuck through the infield before the defense behind him committed an error that led to two second-inning runs. He allowed five runs on seven hits and no walks for last year's Pacific League champs.
The righty threw a 147-pitch complete game but the Fighters couldn’t generate enough offense to overcome the mistakes.
The Hawks won their third straight season opener, with Toshiya Sugiuchi going six innings and surrendering three runs on seven hits for the win.
“Today, we won this one on defense,” said Hawks manager Koji Akiyama. “Sugiuchi went out hard, but the guys behind him did their work the way they are supposed to.”
BUFFALOES 1, EAGLES 0
Two new managers watched their offenses struggle against some fine pitching in their respective debuts. Akinobu Okada’s Orix Buffaloes downed Marty Brown’s Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 1-0 behind Chihiro Kaneko’s four-hitter at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Ryo Hijirisawa whacked first pitch of the game off Kaneko up the middle for a single. That’s about all that went right for the Eagles against the right-hander.
Hijirisawa ran the Eagles out of the inning by trying to advance on a comebacker to Kaneko and then blew up the ninth with a double play after the leadoff batter had reached.
Kaneko allowed just four hits while fanning six and walking none. He beat 2008 Sawamura Award winner Hisashi Iwakuma, who also threw a complete game -- allowing five hits and fanning seven -- in the first 1-0 Opening Day game in Japan since 1996.
Brown lost his first opener after winning all four while skipper of the Hiroshima Carp.
LIONS 2, MARINES 1
Saitama Seibu Lions ace Hideaki Wakui kept the score close, and Hiroyuki Nakajima and Dee Brown kept the visiting Chiba Lotte Marines down.
Brown’s first hit in Japan cleared the fence to put the Lions up in the seventh inning, just after Nakajima had blasted a solo shot to tie things up at 1-1.
Brian Sikorski, who was a Marine last season, notched the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Wakui, the reigning Sawamura Award winner, fired 145 pitches, fanned 11, gave up seven hits, walked three and hit a batter for his second straight Opening Day win.
Marines starter Yoshihisa Naruse only allowed three hits, but two of them left the yard and he took the complete-game loss.
Friday, March 19, 2010
J's Take
Opening Day!!
Hello, and welcome to Japanese Baseball Daily, my take on some of the world's best action on the diamond -- as evidenced by back-to-back World Baseball Classic titles.
The season kicks off Saturday with a matchup I hope I get to watch from start to finish before I go to the office. I work for The Daily Yomiuri, backed by the largest paper in Japan.
I’ve covered baseball for five years, and entering my sixth, I can say that the Pacific League, which starts a week before the Central League, is wide open. But the defending PL champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters open at home with their ace, the nasty Yu Darvish who has pinpoint control and fires darts. He won the Sawamura Award -- as Japan’s top pitcher -- in 2007 and the right-hander is working his fourth consecutive Opening Day, his sixth overall.
He faces the SoftBank Hawks’ Toshiya Sugiuchi, a Sawamura Award winner in 2005 and Japan’s leader in Ks last season. Sugiuchi has a deceptive delivery and a nasty slider, as many lefties do, and gives the Hawks a great chance to take the opener on the road in Sapporo. Game time is 1 p.m.
The Orix Buffaloes, my pick -- for some unknown reason -- to reach the Japan Series, play at 1:30 p.m. at Kyocera Dome Osaka against last year’s surprise Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, coming off their first winning season. The 6-year-old club has a new manager -- Marty Brown -- and something very much foreign to the club – expectations. As Brown takes over, a win would go far in making his season successful after four as the top man with the loss-prone Hiroshima Carp.
Righty ace Hisashi Iwakuma, the ’08 Sawamura Award winner, gets the ball for the Eagles for his sixth Opening Day start, while Orix sends Chihiro Kaneko, also a righty, to his second opener.
The Saitama Seibu Lions and Chiba Lotte Marines, two teams that have failed to properly address bullpen issues, play at Seibu Dome at 1 p.m. I predicted in The Daily Yomiuri’s Japan Pro Baseball Special, which comes out on Saturday, that neither of these teams will finish in the top three in the PL and reach the postseason.
The Lions won it all in 2008, and the Marines took the crown in 2005. They have fallen off where it counts the most: on the mound.
Opening Day should be a national holiday.
Hello, and welcome to Japanese Baseball Daily, my take on some of the world's best action on the diamond -- as evidenced by back-to-back World Baseball Classic titles.
The season kicks off Saturday with a matchup I hope I get to watch from start to finish before I go to the office. I work for The Daily Yomiuri, backed by the largest paper in Japan.
I’ve covered baseball for five years, and entering my sixth, I can say that the Pacific League, which starts a week before the Central League, is wide open. But the defending PL champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters open at home with their ace, the nasty Yu Darvish who has pinpoint control and fires darts. He won the Sawamura Award -- as Japan’s top pitcher -- in 2007 and the right-hander is working his fourth consecutive Opening Day, his sixth overall.
He faces the SoftBank Hawks’ Toshiya Sugiuchi, a Sawamura Award winner in 2005 and Japan’s leader in Ks last season. Sugiuchi has a deceptive delivery and a nasty slider, as many lefties do, and gives the Hawks a great chance to take the opener on the road in Sapporo. Game time is 1 p.m.
The Orix Buffaloes, my pick -- for some unknown reason -- to reach the Japan Series, play at 1:30 p.m. at Kyocera Dome Osaka against last year’s surprise Tohoku Rakuten Eagles, coming off their first winning season. The 6-year-old club has a new manager -- Marty Brown -- and something very much foreign to the club – expectations. As Brown takes over, a win would go far in making his season successful after four as the top man with the loss-prone Hiroshima Carp.
Righty ace Hisashi Iwakuma, the ’08 Sawamura Award winner, gets the ball for the Eagles for his sixth Opening Day start, while Orix sends Chihiro Kaneko, also a righty, to his second opener.
The Saitama Seibu Lions and Chiba Lotte Marines, two teams that have failed to properly address bullpen issues, play at Seibu Dome at 1 p.m. I predicted in The Daily Yomiuri’s Japan Pro Baseball Special, which comes out on Saturday, that neither of these teams will finish in the top three in the PL and reach the postseason.
The Lions won it all in 2008, and the Marines took the crown in 2005. They have fallen off where it counts the most: on the mound.
Opening Day should be a national holiday.
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