Oka finds rare form, goes distance for 1st time
Tomokazu Oka found a form he has never had in Japan before. And it led to a tidy 7-1 win over the Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium on Saturday.
Oka (3-4) needed only 110 pitches to polish off his first complete game here, tossing a two-hitter with two walks and one lonely strikeout to snap Yokohama’s five-game skid.
Terrmel Sledge hit his 20th homer, a three-run shot in a six-run sixth inning, to pace the BayStars.
Yuki Yoshimura had two hits, including his third homer to back Oka, who pitched in the majors for several clubs.
GIANTS 5, CARP 0
Wirfin Obispo tossed seven scoreless innings and Alex Ramirez hit his CL-best-tying 33rd homer to lead Yomiuri past Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Obispo (2-2), brought up earlier in the day, allowed five hits and four walks, while fanning one.
Yoshiyuki Kamei and Ryota Wakiya each hit two-run homers for the Giants.
DRAGONS 5, TIGERS 5, 12 INNINGS
Ryo Asai’s two-out, broken-bat infield RBI single in the ninth got Hanshin even with Chunichi and neither team could break the deadlock after 12 innings.
Craig Brazell also hit his 33rd homer.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 7
Eiichi Koyano had four great at-bats, finishing with two homers and a double with four RBIs to lead Nippon Ham past Seibu at Obihiro in Hokkaido.
The Fighters handed Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui (11-6) his worst beating as a pro, pounding him for 12 hits -- three homers – and eight runs in 5.1 innings.
BUFFALOES 8, EAGLES 5
Takahiro T.O. Okada homered twice and drove in four, and Aarom Baldiris, Tomotaka Sakaguchi and Hisao Arakane all had two hits and an RBI as Orix won its season-high seventh straight.
HAWKS 14, MARINES 5
Munenori Kawasaki had four hits and two RBIs and Toshiya Sugiuchi (13-4) allowed one earned run over seven innings to tie for the league lead in wins as SoftBank smothered host Lotte.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Scratching and surviving ...
Tigers scratch out win vs. Dragons
The Hanshin Tigers didn’t kill the ball, but the Central League’s front-runners knocked out the Chunichi Dragons nonetheless.
Kenji Jojima’s solo shot in the fourth inning broke a tie and closed out the scoring on a 3-2 win at Koshien Stadium as the Tigers sent Chunichi away licking their wounds.
The Tigers parlayed their 12 hits -- 11 of them singles -- into their third straight victory following the All-Star break.
Yasutomo Kubo (9-4) allowed two first-inning runs before setting down. He went 7.2 innings, allowing five hits with two walk and 12 punchouts.
Kyuji Fujikawa came on in the eighth inning to escape trouble and closed it out in the ninth for his 18th save.
Chunichi starter Kazuki Yoshimi (8-6) got pounded for 11 hits and three runs in seven innings to suffer the loss.
The Tigers kept their one-game lead in the CL with the win.
GIANTS 8, CARP 5
Edgar Gonzalez belted a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to lead Yomiuri to a comeback win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Giants battered CL wins, ERA and strikeout leader Kenta Maeda (11-5), touching him up for all eight runs. Hayato Sakamoto followed Gonzalez with a solo shot, his 19th, to close the scoring and saddle Maeda with a career-worst-tying eight runs allowed.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, MARINES 0
Hiroki Yamada, a guy who started the season with a triple-digit number -- meaning he wasn’t a first-team member at camp -- blanked host Lotte over five innings to earn his second pro win.
Yamada (2-2), who was on the developmental squad until signing a contract on March 17, celebrated his 22nd birthday by fanning seven, while walking four and surrendering four hits.
BUFFALOES 6, EAGLES 4
Tomotaka Sakaguchi’s two-run single in a four-run sixth helped Orix come back to top Rakuten at The Kleenex Box to extend the fourth-place Buffaloes’ winning streak to six games.
The Hanshin Tigers didn’t kill the ball, but the Central League’s front-runners knocked out the Chunichi Dragons nonetheless.
Kenji Jojima’s solo shot in the fourth inning broke a tie and closed out the scoring on a 3-2 win at Koshien Stadium as the Tigers sent Chunichi away licking their wounds.
The Tigers parlayed their 12 hits -- 11 of them singles -- into their third straight victory following the All-Star break.
Yasutomo Kubo (9-4) allowed two first-inning runs before setting down. He went 7.2 innings, allowing five hits with two walk and 12 punchouts.
Kyuji Fujikawa came on in the eighth inning to escape trouble and closed it out in the ninth for his 18th save.
Chunichi starter Kazuki Yoshimi (8-6) got pounded for 11 hits and three runs in seven innings to suffer the loss.
The Tigers kept their one-game lead in the CL with the win.
GIANTS 8, CARP 5
Edgar Gonzalez belted a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to lead Yomiuri to a comeback win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Giants battered CL wins, ERA and strikeout leader Kenta Maeda (11-5), touching him up for all eight runs. Hayato Sakamoto followed Gonzalez with a solo shot, his 19th, to close the scoring and saddle Maeda with a career-worst-tying eight runs allowed.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, MARINES 0
Hiroki Yamada, a guy who started the season with a triple-digit number -- meaning he wasn’t a first-team member at camp -- blanked host Lotte over five innings to earn his second pro win.
Yamada (2-2), who was on the developmental squad until signing a contract on March 17, celebrated his 22nd birthday by fanning seven, while walking four and surrendering four hits.
BUFFALOES 6, EAGLES 4
Tomotaka Sakaguchi’s two-run single in a four-run sixth helped Orix come back to top Rakuten at The Kleenex Box to extend the fourth-place Buffaloes’ winning streak to six games.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
It’s not that lonely at the top ...
Dragons shoot down Giants
They say it’s lonely at the top, but opponents are really cramping the style of the three-time Central League defending champs.
Nelson Maximo carried a shutout inot the sixth inning, and Kazuhiro Wada homered and doubled to help the third-place Dragons shoot down the second-place Giants 3-2 Thursday at Tokyo Dome.
Nelson (1-0), in his third season in Japan, allowed six hits and three walks, surrending a two-run homer to light-hitting Ryota Wakiya before leaving with two out in the sixth.
The win left the Dragons just two games behind the Giants, who are a game back of the front-running Hanshin Tigers. Chunichi and Hanshin each have 50 wins, while Yomiuri has 51.
“I’m very happy and I want to keep doing what I can to contribute to the team,” said Nelson, who was suspended by the club for the first three months of the season because of a bullet found in his luggage when he entered the country for spring training.
He fired 99 pitches and fanned five in his first win as a starter, his longest outing as a Dragon.
“I just wanted to do like the pitching coach said, which was if I locate my pitches I can manage their power hitters,” said Nelson, who credited the four relievers who didn’t give up a hit to the final 12 batters.
“The pitchers behind me did a great job and that’s why I was able to get the win.”
Wada doubled and scored on Naomichi Donoue’s single in the second inning for an early 1-0 lead.
Wada blasted his 27th longbal -- off CL wins leader Shun Tono (11-3) -- with Masahiko Morino aboard in the six to make it 3-0 Dragons.
Wakiya’s third longball, a two-out shot after Yoshinobu Takahashi walked, closed out the scoring in the bottom of the inning.
SWALLOWS 9, CARP 3
Third-year righty Yoshinori Sato (6-6) tossed his first career complete game, firing 142 pitches to send Hiroshima to its eighth loss in nine games.
Yasushi Ihara homered and doubled to drive in two, and Josh Whitesell had two hits and two RBIs to back Sato and give the Swallows their fourth straight victory.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 12, MARINES 6
Jose Fernandez sparked a comeback from five runs down by blasting a three-run homer in a six-run fourth as Seibu snapped a six-game slide by downing Lotte at Seibu Dome.
EAGLES 8, HAWKS 2
Takeshi Yamasaki hit his 19th blast, and Norihiro Nakamura and Randy Ruiz hit back-to-back solo shots as Rakuten halted SoftBank’s nine-game winning streak and its own five-game skid with a win at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The Hanshin Tigers and Yokohama BayStars were rained out at Koshien, while the Orix Buffaloes-Nippon Ham Fighters’ game was washed out at Skymark Stadium.
They say it’s lonely at the top, but opponents are really cramping the style of the three-time Central League defending champs.
Nelson Maximo carried a shutout inot the sixth inning, and Kazuhiro Wada homered and doubled to help the third-place Dragons shoot down the second-place Giants 3-2 Thursday at Tokyo Dome.
Nelson (1-0), in his third season in Japan, allowed six hits and three walks, surrending a two-run homer to light-hitting Ryota Wakiya before leaving with two out in the sixth.
The win left the Dragons just two games behind the Giants, who are a game back of the front-running Hanshin Tigers. Chunichi and Hanshin each have 50 wins, while Yomiuri has 51.
“I’m very happy and I want to keep doing what I can to contribute to the team,” said Nelson, who was suspended by the club for the first three months of the season because of a bullet found in his luggage when he entered the country for spring training.
He fired 99 pitches and fanned five in his first win as a starter, his longest outing as a Dragon.
“I just wanted to do like the pitching coach said, which was if I locate my pitches I can manage their power hitters,” said Nelson, who credited the four relievers who didn’t give up a hit to the final 12 batters.
“The pitchers behind me did a great job and that’s why I was able to get the win.”
Wada doubled and scored on Naomichi Donoue’s single in the second inning for an early 1-0 lead.
Wada blasted his 27th longbal -- off CL wins leader Shun Tono (11-3) -- with Masahiko Morino aboard in the six to make it 3-0 Dragons.
Wakiya’s third longball, a two-out shot after Yoshinobu Takahashi walked, closed out the scoring in the bottom of the inning.
SWALLOWS 9, CARP 3
Third-year righty Yoshinori Sato (6-6) tossed his first career complete game, firing 142 pitches to send Hiroshima to its eighth loss in nine games.
Yasushi Ihara homered and doubled to drive in two, and Josh Whitesell had two hits and two RBIs to back Sato and give the Swallows their fourth straight victory.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 12, MARINES 6
Jose Fernandez sparked a comeback from five runs down by blasting a three-run homer in a six-run fourth as Seibu snapped a six-game slide by downing Lotte at Seibu Dome.
EAGLES 8, HAWKS 2
Takeshi Yamasaki hit his 19th blast, and Norihiro Nakamura and Randy Ruiz hit back-to-back solo shots as Rakuten halted SoftBank’s nine-game winning streak and its own five-game skid with a win at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The Hanshin Tigers and Yokohama BayStars were rained out at Koshien, while the Orix Buffaloes-Nippon Ham Fighters’ game was washed out at Skymark Stadium.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tigers keep paws on 1st ...
6-run innings helps Hanshin chug past Yokohama
The Tigers couldn’t scratch out much over the first six innings on Wednesday night at Koshien Stadium. They tore it up in the seventh.
Kenji Jojima’s RBI single gave the Central League's new front-runners the lead, and they went on to pound out eight hits in a six-run seventh inning that propelled the Tigers to a 6-3 win over last-place the Yokohama BayStars.
The eight straight hits in the inning were one short of the club’s 64-year-old record for knocks in an inning.
CL batting leader Matt Murton had two base-knocks in the frame, and Craig Brazell had a two-run single in the frame for the Tigers, who moved into first the previous day.
Randy Messenger went six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, while fanning six.
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-8), who held the Tigers to two hits for two-thirds of the game, surrendered six of the eight hits in the seventh to suffer the loss.
GIANTS 7, DRAGONS 4, 11 INNINGS
Hayato Sakamoto took reliever Masafumi Hirai to the upper deck in the outfield seats to emphatically end an extra-inning battle at Tokyo Dome.
It was Sakamoto’s second walk-off homer this season (his 18th overall), and helped the Giants stay a half-game behind Hanshin.
The Dragons, who had won seven straight, hit three solo homers to take a 3-2 lead by the fourth inning, and scratched out a run to tie the score at 4-4 in the seventh. Chunichi’s Motonobu Tanishige became the eighth player, the second catcher, to play in 2,500 games.
SWALLOWS 12, CARP 2
Josh Whitesell doubled three times and drove in five to lead an easy win over Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 2
Hidenori Tanoue’s three-run blast capped a four-run second inning, and Tsuyoshi Wada went the minimum to earn his Japan-leading 13th win as SoftBank won at home to stretch its winning streak to nine games.
Wada (13-4) did just enough, allowing two runs on six hits, before getting the hook. Closer Takahiro Mahara finished it out for the 21st time this season, becoming the ninth pitcher to reach 150 saves.
MARINES 9, LIONS 4
Tadahito Iguchi homered and doubled, and three others had two hits each to lead Lotte past host Seibu, which lost its season-long sixth straight.
The injury-depleted Lions also lost shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who went out of the game after hurting his left shoulder in the seventh inning. He is day to day.
BUFFALOES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Kazuki Kondo (5-6) carried a shutout into the eighth and settled for the win as Orix took down Nippon Ham in the rain at Skymark Stadium for its season-high fifth straight win.
The Tigers couldn’t scratch out much over the first six innings on Wednesday night at Koshien Stadium. They tore it up in the seventh.
Kenji Jojima’s RBI single gave the Central League's new front-runners the lead, and they went on to pound out eight hits in a six-run seventh inning that propelled the Tigers to a 6-3 win over last-place the Yokohama BayStars.
The eight straight hits in the inning were one short of the club’s 64-year-old record for knocks in an inning.
CL batting leader Matt Murton had two base-knocks in the frame, and Craig Brazell had a two-run single in the frame for the Tigers, who moved into first the previous day.
Randy Messenger went six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, while fanning six.
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-8), who held the Tigers to two hits for two-thirds of the game, surrendered six of the eight hits in the seventh to suffer the loss.
GIANTS 7, DRAGONS 4, 11 INNINGS
Hayato Sakamoto took reliever Masafumi Hirai to the upper deck in the outfield seats to emphatically end an extra-inning battle at Tokyo Dome.
It was Sakamoto’s second walk-off homer this season (his 18th overall), and helped the Giants stay a half-game behind Hanshin.
The Dragons, who had won seven straight, hit three solo homers to take a 3-2 lead by the fourth inning, and scratched out a run to tie the score at 4-4 in the seventh. Chunichi’s Motonobu Tanishige became the eighth player, the second catcher, to play in 2,500 games.
SWALLOWS 12, CARP 2
Josh Whitesell doubled three times and drove in five to lead an easy win over Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 2
Hidenori Tanoue’s three-run blast capped a four-run second inning, and Tsuyoshi Wada went the minimum to earn his Japan-leading 13th win as SoftBank won at home to stretch its winning streak to nine games.
Wada (13-4) did just enough, allowing two runs on six hits, before getting the hook. Closer Takahiro Mahara finished it out for the 21st time this season, becoming the ninth pitcher to reach 150 saves.
MARINES 9, LIONS 4
Tadahito Iguchi homered and doubled, and three others had two hits each to lead Lotte past host Seibu, which lost its season-long sixth straight.
The injury-depleted Lions also lost shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who went out of the game after hurting his left shoulder in the seventh inning. He is day to day.
BUFFALOES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Kazuki Kondo (5-6) carried a shutout into the eighth and settled for the win as Orix took down Nippon Ham in the rain at Skymark Stadium for its season-high fifth straight win.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The mighty have fallen ...
Persistent pitching problems push Giants into predicament
The way the Giants’ arms are going, they won’t have a leg to stand on.
Dicky Gonzalez was the latest starter to get knocked around, adding to his career-worst loss total as Chunichi battered the righty and sent the three-time defending Central League champs out of first place with a 10-3 win.
The third-place Dragons, meanwhile, are riding a season-high seven-game winning streak and season-best eight games over .500 after Tuesday’s win in Nagano in the first game after the All-Star break.
Masahiko Morino led a 16-hit attack -- nine coming off Gonzalez -- with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs.
Kazuhiro Wada also had three hits, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had two RBIs for Chunichi, which saw every starter have at least one hit for the first time this season.
The Giants needed four relievers to clean up after Gonzalez (3-9) allowed seven runs in 4.2 innings.
Chunichi starter Chen Wei-yin (9-7) won his second straight start, working eight strong innings. He pitched around nine hits -- including Shinnouske Abe’s CL-best 31st homer -- two walks and a hit batter.
The Hanshin Tigers won to send the Giants out of first place for the first time since May 2. The Dragons are 2.5 back of Hanshin.
TIGERS 3, BAYSTARS 3
Craig Brazell clubbed his CL-best-tying 31st and 32nd homers as Hanshin topped lowly Yokohama at Koshien Stadium and took over the CL lead.
Kenji Jojima also had two RBIs to back Jason Standridge (7-1), who allowed one run on three hits and a walks while fanning 11 over seven innings.
SWALLOWS 7, CARP 3
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered twice and doubled to drive in three and power host Yakult past Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 3
Yuichi Honda’s seventh-inning two-run triple off Hisashi Iwakuma (6-6) lifted SoftBank past host Rakuten and pushed the Hawks’ streak to eight games, their longest winning in three years.
The win also moved SoftBank atop the PL standings.
BUFFALOES 6, FIGHTERS 2
Alex Cabrera had four hits, including two doubles, as Orix pounded Nippon Ham at Skymark Stadium.
MARINES 5, LIONS 3
Tomoya Satozaki, Kazuya Fukuura and Shoitsu Omatsu all homered and Bill Murphy (9-2) tossed 6.1 innings of two-run ball as Lotte knocked Seibu out of first with a win at Seibu Dome.
The way the Giants’ arms are going, they won’t have a leg to stand on.
Dicky Gonzalez was the latest starter to get knocked around, adding to his career-worst loss total as Chunichi battered the righty and sent the three-time defending Central League champs out of first place with a 10-3 win.
The third-place Dragons, meanwhile, are riding a season-high seven-game winning streak and season-best eight games over .500 after Tuesday’s win in Nagano in the first game after the All-Star break.
Masahiko Morino led a 16-hit attack -- nine coming off Gonzalez -- with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs.
Kazuhiro Wada also had three hits, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had two RBIs for Chunichi, which saw every starter have at least one hit for the first time this season.
The Giants needed four relievers to clean up after Gonzalez (3-9) allowed seven runs in 4.2 innings.
Chunichi starter Chen Wei-yin (9-7) won his second straight start, working eight strong innings. He pitched around nine hits -- including Shinnouske Abe’s CL-best 31st homer -- two walks and a hit batter.
The Hanshin Tigers won to send the Giants out of first place for the first time since May 2. The Dragons are 2.5 back of Hanshin.
TIGERS 3, BAYSTARS 3
Craig Brazell clubbed his CL-best-tying 31st and 32nd homers as Hanshin topped lowly Yokohama at Koshien Stadium and took over the CL lead.
Kenji Jojima also had two RBIs to back Jason Standridge (7-1), who allowed one run on three hits and a walks while fanning 11 over seven innings.
SWALLOWS 7, CARP 3
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered twice and doubled to drive in three and power host Yakult past Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 3
Yuichi Honda’s seventh-inning two-run triple off Hisashi Iwakuma (6-6) lifted SoftBank past host Rakuten and pushed the Hawks’ streak to eight games, their longest winning in three years.
The win also moved SoftBank atop the PL standings.
BUFFALOES 6, FIGHTERS 2
Alex Cabrera had four hits, including two doubles, as Orix pounded Nippon Ham at Skymark Stadium.
MARINES 5, LIONS 3
Tomoya Satozaki, Kazuya Fukuura and Shoitsu Omatsu all homered and Bill Murphy (9-2) tossed 6.1 innings of two-run ball as Lotte knocked Seibu out of first with a win at Seibu Dome.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Good evening …
2nd All-Star game ends in tie
The Seibu Lions’ Yasuyuki Kataoka had four hits to grab his first All-Star MVP award, and that was the highlight of a 5-5 tie at Niigata on Saturday.
The Central League came back from four runs down to even the score, but the Pacific League’s Brian Sikorski shut them down with a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the first tie since Game 1 of the 2003 series.
“I never imagined I’d be able to win this, so I’m very happy,” said Kataoka, who became the first PL player since Ichiro Suzuki in 1999 to have four hits in an All-Star game. “I’m just very happy to be able to do this on a stage like this,” said Kataoka, in his sixth season.
Kataoka doubled twice, scored twice and had a steal, but the PL lost Game 1 on Friday and couldn’t hold the lead in the finale.
Craig Brazell’s solo shot in the eighth inning off Rakuten’s Tsuyoshi Kawagishi got the CL even. Yakult’s Norichika Aoki had three hits, including a triple, and two RBIs to lead the CL’s comeback.
The PL pounded on Yomiuri starter Shun Tono to build a 4-0 lead. Nippon Ham’s Astunori Inaba singled in a run in the opening frame before Rakuten’s Takeshi Yamasaki hit a solo blast -- his second of the series -- and Lotte’s Tomoya Satozaki cracked a two-run shot in the second.
The PL leads the all-time series 75-70-9.
The Seibu Lions’ Yasuyuki Kataoka had four hits to grab his first All-Star MVP award, and that was the highlight of a 5-5 tie at Niigata on Saturday.
The Central League came back from four runs down to even the score, but the Pacific League’s Brian Sikorski shut them down with a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the first tie since Game 1 of the 2003 series.
“I never imagined I’d be able to win this, so I’m very happy,” said Kataoka, who became the first PL player since Ichiro Suzuki in 1999 to have four hits in an All-Star game. “I’m just very happy to be able to do this on a stage like this,” said Kataoka, in his sixth season.
Kataoka doubled twice, scored twice and had a steal, but the PL lost Game 1 on Friday and couldn’t hold the lead in the finale.
Craig Brazell’s solo shot in the eighth inning off Rakuten’s Tsuyoshi Kawagishi got the CL even. Yakult’s Norichika Aoki had three hits, including a triple, and two RBIs to lead the CL’s comeback.
The PL pounded on Yomiuri starter Shun Tono to build a 4-0 lead. Nippon Ham’s Astunori Inaba singled in a run in the opening frame before Rakuten’s Takeshi Yamasaki hit a solo blast -- his second of the series -- and Lotte’s Tomoya Satozaki cracked a two-run shot in the second.
The PL leads the all-time series 75-70-9.
Friday, July 23, 2010
The brightest star ...
(No coverage for our paper, so I barely got a few glimpses on TV before leaving the cave -– otherwise known as the office.)
Abe shines as CL takes Game 1 of All-Star series
Perhaps the player having the best season powered the Central Leaguers past the Pacific League in Game 1 of the two-game All-Star series on Friday at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Abe went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to earn the MVP award -- the second time in his 10-year career -- in a 4-1 win.
The Chunichi Dragons’ Masahiko Morino went 4-for-5 with an RBI and was named the top batter in the victory, which brought the all-time series to 75-70-8 in favor of the PL.
Morino became just the 15th player to have four hits in an All-Star game.
CL starter Kenta Maeda tossed two perfect innings for the win. The CL held the Pacific Leaguers to four hits.
For the PL, the Rakuten Eagles’ Takeshi Yamasaki became the second-oldest player to homer at 41 years, eight months. He hit a pinch-hit solo shot in the eighth for the PL's only run.
Abe shines as CL takes Game 1 of All-Star series
Perhaps the player having the best season powered the Central Leaguers past the Pacific League in Game 1 of the two-game All-Star series on Friday at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Abe went 2-for-3 with two RBIs to earn the MVP award -- the second time in his 10-year career -- in a 4-1 win.
The Chunichi Dragons’ Masahiko Morino went 4-for-5 with an RBI and was named the top batter in the victory, which brought the all-time series to 75-70-8 in favor of the PL.
Morino became just the 15th player to have four hits in an All-Star game.
CL starter Kenta Maeda tossed two perfect innings for the win. The CL held the Pacific Leaguers to four hits.
For the PL, the Rakuten Eagles’ Takeshi Yamasaki became the second-oldest player to homer at 41 years, eight months. He hit a pinch-hit solo shot in the eighth for the PL's only run.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Nothing doing ...
’Stars shoot down Dragons’ streak
Kazuki Yoshimi started with the burden of 47 consecutive scoreless innings on his shoulders and it took three frames before the weight was too much.
The Chunichi Dragons hurler allowed four runs on 10 hits over six innings but the Dragons still won, coming from behind to take down Yokohama 5-4 at Nagoya Dome on Wednesday. Chunichi’s scoreless string ended at a Central League-record 50 innings.
The third-place Dragons took a 3-0 lead the home half of the first inning, but Yokohama newcomer Brett Harper went down and got an offspeed pitch, smacking it over the wall in right for his sixth homer to cut it to 3-2.
The shot left Chunichi tied with the 1966 Yomiuri Giants for the longest scoreless streak in CL history, falling two innings short of the NPB record.
The Dragons moved a season-high seven games over .500.
SWALLOWS 4, GIANTS 3
Josh Whitesell belted a two-run homer to give Yakult the lead, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s RBI double off the wall in left in the sixth was the difference as the Swallows beat Yomiuri at the Big Egg.
Lim Chang Yang worked the final two innings for his 20th save.
The front-running Giants still lead the Hanshin Tigers by a half-game.
CARP 7, TIGERS 4
Takahiro Iwamoto had three hits, including a homer, and drove in two runs as Hiroshima beat Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Carp snapped a five-game skid to Hanshin, while halting the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 6, LIONS 4. 11 INNINGS
Roberto Petagine slugged a two-run walk-off homer to send SoftBank to its seven straight victory, its longest winning streak in three years.
It’s the first time the Hawks have swept a pair of three-game series in six years. The Lions lost their fourth straight.
MARINES 6, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi had three hits, including a solo blast, and Saburo Omura had a two-run shot to lead Lotte past Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Hirotoshi Kitagawa’s two-run homer in the sixth inning put Orix ahead and the bullpen held off Rakuten at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Kazuki Yoshimi started with the burden of 47 consecutive scoreless innings on his shoulders and it took three frames before the weight was too much.
The Chunichi Dragons hurler allowed four runs on 10 hits over six innings but the Dragons still won, coming from behind to take down Yokohama 5-4 at Nagoya Dome on Wednesday. Chunichi’s scoreless string ended at a Central League-record 50 innings.
The third-place Dragons took a 3-0 lead the home half of the first inning, but Yokohama newcomer Brett Harper went down and got an offspeed pitch, smacking it over the wall in right for his sixth homer to cut it to 3-2.
The shot left Chunichi tied with the 1966 Yomiuri Giants for the longest scoreless streak in CL history, falling two innings short of the NPB record.
The Dragons moved a season-high seven games over .500.
SWALLOWS 4, GIANTS 3
Josh Whitesell belted a two-run homer to give Yakult the lead, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s RBI double off the wall in left in the sixth was the difference as the Swallows beat Yomiuri at the Big Egg.
Lim Chang Yang worked the final two innings for his 20th save.
The front-running Giants still lead the Hanshin Tigers by a half-game.
CARP 7, TIGERS 4
Takahiro Iwamoto had three hits, including a homer, and drove in two runs as Hiroshima beat Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Carp snapped a five-game skid to Hanshin, while halting the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 6, LIONS 4. 11 INNINGS
Roberto Petagine slugged a two-run walk-off homer to send SoftBank to its seven straight victory, its longest winning streak in three years.
It’s the first time the Hawks have swept a pair of three-game series in six years. The Lions lost their fourth straight.
MARINES 6, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi had three hits, including a solo blast, and Saburo Omura had a two-run shot to lead Lotte past Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
BUFFALOES 5, EAGLES 4
Hirotoshi Kitagawa’s two-run homer in the sixth inning put Orix ahead and the bullpen held off Rakuten at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Raging Tigers ...
Hanshin gives up two in top of 10th, gets 3 in bottom for walk-off
Takeshi Toritani and the Hanshin Tigers never say die. Instead, they’re focused on the kill.
Toritani blasted a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the10th inning on Tuesday as the Tigers rallied after falling two runs behind for a 5-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien Stadium.
Pinch-hitter Lin Wei-chu opened the inning with a solo blast, his first longball, off Hirofumi Ueno (0-1), and Kentaro Toritani followed with a single before Toritani ended the game with his 11th homer.
“I didn’t go up there looking to hit one out. I just wanted to get on base for the next guy. I got the hit sign, so I just wanted to be aggressive. I thought it was gone when I hit it and I’m glad it went out,” Toritani said of his third career sayonara blast.
The Carp had taken a 4-2 lead on the Tigers in the top of the inning on Masato Akamatsu’s two-run double. But Ueno faced three in the ninth and didn’t retire a batter.
“In principal, I would like us to avoid getting tied or giving up the lead, and be able to close out wins,” said skipper Akinobu Mayumi, whose team has won four straight.
The Tigers moved a season-best 13 games over .500.
DRAGONS 1, BAYSTARS 0, 11 INNINGS
The Dragons used seven pitchers to keep Yokohama scoreless for an NPB-record fifth straight shutout, and Kazuhiro Wada singled home the game-winner for a walk-off in a win at Nagoya Dome.
The Dragons stretched their consecutive scoreless string to a club-record 47 innings. Maximo Nelson started and went five scoreless before handing it over to the bullpen. Masafumi Hirai (2-1) got the win with a 1-2-3 11th as Chunichi won its fifth straight.
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 3, 10 INNINGS
Righty Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi (1-3) picked up Hayato Sakamoto’s bunt and fired it wildly down the third-base line, allowing the winning run to come around from second as Yomiuri outlasted Yakult at Tokyo Dome.
The third CL walk-off win of the night kept the Giants in first place, a half-game in front of the Tigers.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, LIONS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (12-4) tossed a four-hitter, fanning 10 along the way, as SoftBank moved to within 1.5 games of front-running Seibu with a win over the Lions at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Seibu’s 47-year-old lefty Kimiyasu Kudo got two outs to pitch in his NPB record 29th season.
BUFFALOES 11, EAGLES 7
Aarom Baldiris went 4-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and Takahiro T.O. Okada homered twice and had four RBIs and Orix topped visiting Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 12, MARINES 6
Atsunori Inaba had three hits and four RBIs, and three others had homers as Nippon Ham hammered Lotte at Sapporo Dome to halt a three-game skid.
Takeshi Toritani and the Hanshin Tigers never say die. Instead, they’re focused on the kill.
Toritani blasted a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the10th inning on Tuesday as the Tigers rallied after falling two runs behind for a 5-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Koshien Stadium.
Pinch-hitter Lin Wei-chu opened the inning with a solo blast, his first longball, off Hirofumi Ueno (0-1), and Kentaro Toritani followed with a single before Toritani ended the game with his 11th homer.
“I didn’t go up there looking to hit one out. I just wanted to get on base for the next guy. I got the hit sign, so I just wanted to be aggressive. I thought it was gone when I hit it and I’m glad it went out,” Toritani said of his third career sayonara blast.
The Carp had taken a 4-2 lead on the Tigers in the top of the inning on Masato Akamatsu’s two-run double. But Ueno faced three in the ninth and didn’t retire a batter.
“In principal, I would like us to avoid getting tied or giving up the lead, and be able to close out wins,” said skipper Akinobu Mayumi, whose team has won four straight.
The Tigers moved a season-best 13 games over .500.
DRAGONS 1, BAYSTARS 0, 11 INNINGS
The Dragons used seven pitchers to keep Yokohama scoreless for an NPB-record fifth straight shutout, and Kazuhiro Wada singled home the game-winner for a walk-off in a win at Nagoya Dome.
The Dragons stretched their consecutive scoreless string to a club-record 47 innings. Maximo Nelson started and went five scoreless before handing it over to the bullpen. Masafumi Hirai (2-1) got the win with a 1-2-3 11th as Chunichi won its fifth straight.
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 3, 10 INNINGS
Righty Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi (1-3) picked up Hayato Sakamoto’s bunt and fired it wildly down the third-base line, allowing the winning run to come around from second as Yomiuri outlasted Yakult at Tokyo Dome.
The third CL walk-off win of the night kept the Giants in first place, a half-game in front of the Tigers.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, LIONS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (12-4) tossed a four-hitter, fanning 10 along the way, as SoftBank moved to within 1.5 games of front-running Seibu with a win over the Lions at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Seibu’s 47-year-old lefty Kimiyasu Kudo got two outs to pitch in his NPB record 29th season.
BUFFALOES 11, EAGLES 7
Aarom Baldiris went 4-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, and Takahiro T.O. Okada homered twice and had four RBIs and Orix topped visiting Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 12, MARINES 6
Atsunori Inaba had three hits and four RBIs, and three others had homers as Nippon Ham hammered Lotte at Sapporo Dome to halt a three-game skid.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Feel the burn ...
Fire-hot Dragons post record-tying 4th straight shutout
The Dragons’ pitchers are torching batters.
The Central League’s third-place team posted its fourth straight shutout, second-year right-hander Shinji Iwata (1-0) winning his first pro start by holding the Yokohama BayStars to three hits over 7.1 innings in a 5-0 win at Nagoya Dome.
It was the 17th time in Japan pro baseball -- the third time for the Dragons -- a team has won four straight shutouts.
Kohei Oda’s bases-clearing double in the sixth broke a scoreless tie, and Iwata carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
He allowed a clean single with one out in the seventh to Jose Castillo before getting the next two batters.
“It wasn’t on my mind,” Iwata said of the notion of a no-hitter. “I figured I’d give up a hit at some point, so I just pitched.”
The native of nearby Gifu Prefecture departed after allowing one-out back-to-back singles in the eighth. Takuya Asao got him out of that jam and Akifumi Takahashi walked one before getting a groundout to end the game.
The BayStars didn’t get a runner past season base.
GIANTS 14, SWALLOWS 8
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 15th homer and drove in five runs as Yomiuri came back to down Yakult at the Big Egg.
Chono’s 15 longballs tie him for fifth on the franchise list for most by a rookie. He also had a two-run single in a seven-run sixth that brought Yomiuri back from a 7-4 hole.
Reliever Micheal Nakamura (1-0) worked a perfect seventh inning to earn his first win in more than a year.
The Giants, though, allowed five or more runs for the 10th straight game, a franchise worst.
TIGERS 2, CARP 0
Jason Standridge (6-1) extended Hiroshima’s run of scoreless futility to a club-record-tying 36 innings by tossing a two-hitter as Hanshin edged the Carp at Koshien Stadium.
The Carp tied their own record for consecutive shutout losses, set in May 1959, and fell a season-worst 16 games under .500.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 3
Tadahito Iguchi led three others with two hits and added two RBIs as Lotte topped Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
HAWKS 11, LIONS 4
Munenori Kawasaki went 3-for-3 with an RBI, and D.J. Houlton (6-4) tossed six sharp innings as SoftBank won at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
BUFFALOES 11, EAGLES 8
Aarom Baldiris’ second hit of the game was a clutch bases-clearing double in the eighth that lifted Orix past Rakuten at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The Dragons’ pitchers are torching batters.
The Central League’s third-place team posted its fourth straight shutout, second-year right-hander Shinji Iwata (1-0) winning his first pro start by holding the Yokohama BayStars to three hits over 7.1 innings in a 5-0 win at Nagoya Dome.
It was the 17th time in Japan pro baseball -- the third time for the Dragons -- a team has won four straight shutouts.
Kohei Oda’s bases-clearing double in the sixth broke a scoreless tie, and Iwata carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
He allowed a clean single with one out in the seventh to Jose Castillo before getting the next two batters.
“It wasn’t on my mind,” Iwata said of the notion of a no-hitter. “I figured I’d give up a hit at some point, so I just pitched.”
The native of nearby Gifu Prefecture departed after allowing one-out back-to-back singles in the eighth. Takuya Asao got him out of that jam and Akifumi Takahashi walked one before getting a groundout to end the game.
The BayStars didn’t get a runner past season base.
GIANTS 14, SWALLOWS 8
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 15th homer and drove in five runs as Yomiuri came back to down Yakult at the Big Egg.
Chono’s 15 longballs tie him for fifth on the franchise list for most by a rookie. He also had a two-run single in a seven-run sixth that brought Yomiuri back from a 7-4 hole.
Reliever Micheal Nakamura (1-0) worked a perfect seventh inning to earn his first win in more than a year.
The Giants, though, allowed five or more runs for the 10th straight game, a franchise worst.
TIGERS 2, CARP 0
Jason Standridge (6-1) extended Hiroshima’s run of scoreless futility to a club-record-tying 36 innings by tossing a two-hitter as Hanshin edged the Carp at Koshien Stadium.
The Carp tied their own record for consecutive shutout losses, set in May 1959, and fell a season-worst 16 games under .500.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 3
Tadahito Iguchi led three others with two hits and added two RBIs as Lotte topped Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
HAWKS 11, LIONS 4
Munenori Kawasaki went 3-for-3 with an RBI, and D.J. Houlton (6-4) tossed six sharp innings as SoftBank won at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
BUFFALOES 11, EAGLES 8
Aarom Baldiris’ second hit of the game was a clutch bases-clearing double in the eighth that lifted Orix past Rakuten at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
A whole lot of nothing ...
Dragons blank Carp for third straight game
Three straight days fans crowded into Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium and three days they saw nothing from the Carp’s offense.
Chen Wei-yin (8-7) blanked the Carp on three hits in a 6-0 win to become the third consecutive Dragons hurler to toss a shutout as Chunichi swept Hiroshima.
It was the first time three pitchers tossed back-to-back shutouts for a team since 1970.
“[Daisuke] Yamai got it all started when he set the tone with that first shutout,” said Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai.
Chen fanned eight and walked one, while firing 145 pitches.
Tony Blanco anchored the attack, bashing his 21st homer and driving in three runs. Kazuhiro Wada blasted his 25th longball and Motonobu Tanishige hit his seventh -- both solo shots -- to back Chen.
The Carp’s best chance to score came in the seventh inning. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out, but Tetsuya Kokubo fanned and Yoshikazu Kura chased a ball out of the zone on a 3-2 pitch to strike out.
Chen fanned the side in the eighth and the leadoff man in the ninth while retiring the last six.
BAYSTARS 8, GIANTS 7
Brett Harper blasted a dramatic walk-off grand slam off closer Marc Kroon (2-2) as Yokohama came back to edge visiting Yomiuri.
Harper, added the roster on June 25, went 4-for-5 to raise his average to .487. It was his fifth homer and helped the BayStars win consecutive games for the first time in two months.
Yomiuri scored seven runs in the sixth inning, but a single and two walks from Kroon set up Harper, who became the 34th CL player to hit a walk-off slam.
TIGERS 11, SWALLOWS 4
CL leading batter Marr Murton slugged a three-run homer to highlight a sixth-run seventh inning as Hanshin moved to within a half-game of the top spot by downing host Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 3, FIGHTERS 2
Takeshi Yamasaki went deep for the second day in a row, hitting his 18th, and Todd Linden cracked his fifth as Rakuten took an early lead and held off Nippon Ham at the Kleenex Box.
Satoshi Nagai (5-7) won his first game in a month, allowing one run over seven innings.
MARINES 9, LIONS 1
Bill Murphy (8-2) scattered four hits and four walks, while fanning 10 for his first complete game in Japan as host Lotte topped Seibu.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Hiroki Kokubo drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth, and four relievers each threw a scoreless inning at Kyocera Dome Osaka to preserve Yang Yao-hsun’s second career win.
Three straight days fans crowded into Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium and three days they saw nothing from the Carp’s offense.
Chen Wei-yin (8-7) blanked the Carp on three hits in a 6-0 win to become the third consecutive Dragons hurler to toss a shutout as Chunichi swept Hiroshima.
It was the first time three pitchers tossed back-to-back shutouts for a team since 1970.
“[Daisuke] Yamai got it all started when he set the tone with that first shutout,” said Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai.
Chen fanned eight and walked one, while firing 145 pitches.
Tony Blanco anchored the attack, bashing his 21st homer and driving in three runs. Kazuhiro Wada blasted his 25th longball and Motonobu Tanishige hit his seventh -- both solo shots -- to back Chen.
The Carp’s best chance to score came in the seventh inning. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out, but Tetsuya Kokubo fanned and Yoshikazu Kura chased a ball out of the zone on a 3-2 pitch to strike out.
Chen fanned the side in the eighth and the leadoff man in the ninth while retiring the last six.
BAYSTARS 8, GIANTS 7
Brett Harper blasted a dramatic walk-off grand slam off closer Marc Kroon (2-2) as Yokohama came back to edge visiting Yomiuri.
Harper, added the roster on June 25, went 4-for-5 to raise his average to .487. It was his fifth homer and helped the BayStars win consecutive games for the first time in two months.
Yomiuri scored seven runs in the sixth inning, but a single and two walks from Kroon set up Harper, who became the 34th CL player to hit a walk-off slam.
TIGERS 11, SWALLOWS 4
CL leading batter Marr Murton slugged a three-run homer to highlight a sixth-run seventh inning as Hanshin moved to within a half-game of the top spot by downing host Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 3, FIGHTERS 2
Takeshi Yamasaki went deep for the second day in a row, hitting his 18th, and Todd Linden cracked his fifth as Rakuten took an early lead and held off Nippon Ham at the Kleenex Box.
Satoshi Nagai (5-7) won his first game in a month, allowing one run over seven innings.
MARINES 9, LIONS 1
Bill Murphy (8-2) scattered four hits and four walks, while fanning 10 for his first complete game in Japan as host Lotte topped Seibu.
HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Hiroki Kokubo drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth, and four relievers each threw a scoreless inning at Kyocera Dome Osaka to preserve Yang Yao-hsun’s second career win.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Eagles rise up against Darvish ...
Yamasaki’s 3-run shot helps Rakuten top Nippon Ham
The Pacific League’s bottom-feeders had a taste of the high life on Saturday, beating Yu Darvish and the defending league champs at The Kleenex Box.
Veteran Takeshi Yamasaki slugged a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give them the lead and Kohei Hasebe (3-1) and a mountain of relievers made it stand up in a 4-2 win.
The relievers, who all have mountain (or yama) in their names, worked a combined 3.1 scoreless frames to close it out. Koji Aoyama started the relief effort with 1.1 perfect innings, Hiroshi Katayama got two outs in the eighth and Shinichiro Koyama notched his fifth save, getting the final four outs.
But it was Yamasaki’s first longball in about a month that got drew the loudest cheers. He took Darvish (9-5) deep to center with the Eagles down 1-0.
“I just closed my eyes, swung, and the ball hit the bat,” joked the 41-year-old Yamasaki, who’s in his 24th season.
“My lower back and back have been feeling better recently, so I figured I’d have a homer sometime soon. To get a homer off a pitcher who is the face of the league gives even a 24th-grader like me confidence.”
Hasebe, whose bad knee kept him off the first team for three months, scattered six hits with no walks over 5.2 innings.
LIONS 9, MARINES 3
Jose Fernandez had three hits, including two homers, and three RBIs to power Seibu past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Fernandez, in his second stint with the Lions, hit his first homers since being brought back last month and activated on Wednesday.
HAWKS 9, BUFFALOES 2
Yuichi Honda had three hits and four RBIs, and Hidenori Tanoue doubled and homered to drive in four as SoftBank drubbed Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Tsuyoshi Wada (12-4) held Orix to a run over six innings to become Japan’s first 12-game winner.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BAYSTARS 7, GIANTS 5
Closer Shun Yamaguchi made his third pro hit count, rapping a bases-loaded chopper to right, and worked the final two innings for the win as host Yokohama stopped a three-game skid by downing Yomiuri.
Hitoshi Fumie wriggled out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh, allowing just one run to score to set up the BayStars.
DRAGONS 4, CARP 0
Kenichi Nakata (3-2) scattered eight hits and two walks over the distance his first shutout outside of Nagoya Dome, blanking Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Mr. Three Run, Masahiko Morino, belted a three-run shot to back Nakata, who fired a 148 pitches.
The Pacific League’s bottom-feeders had a taste of the high life on Saturday, beating Yu Darvish and the defending league champs at The Kleenex Box.
Veteran Takeshi Yamasaki slugged a three-run homer in the sixth inning to give them the lead and Kohei Hasebe (3-1) and a mountain of relievers made it stand up in a 4-2 win.
The relievers, who all have mountain (or yama) in their names, worked a combined 3.1 scoreless frames to close it out. Koji Aoyama started the relief effort with 1.1 perfect innings, Hiroshi Katayama got two outs in the eighth and Shinichiro Koyama notched his fifth save, getting the final four outs.
But it was Yamasaki’s first longball in about a month that got drew the loudest cheers. He took Darvish (9-5) deep to center with the Eagles down 1-0.
“I just closed my eyes, swung, and the ball hit the bat,” joked the 41-year-old Yamasaki, who’s in his 24th season.
“My lower back and back have been feeling better recently, so I figured I’d have a homer sometime soon. To get a homer off a pitcher who is the face of the league gives even a 24th-grader like me confidence.”
Hasebe, whose bad knee kept him off the first team for three months, scattered six hits with no walks over 5.2 innings.
LIONS 9, MARINES 3
Jose Fernandez had three hits, including two homers, and three RBIs to power Seibu past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Fernandez, in his second stint with the Lions, hit his first homers since being brought back last month and activated on Wednesday.
HAWKS 9, BUFFALOES 2
Yuichi Honda had three hits and four RBIs, and Hidenori Tanoue doubled and homered to drive in four as SoftBank drubbed Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Tsuyoshi Wada (12-4) held Orix to a run over six innings to become Japan’s first 12-game winner.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BAYSTARS 7, GIANTS 5
Closer Shun Yamaguchi made his third pro hit count, rapping a bases-loaded chopper to right, and worked the final two innings for the win as host Yokohama stopped a three-game skid by downing Yomiuri.
Hitoshi Fumie wriggled out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh, allowing just one run to score to set up the BayStars.
DRAGONS 4, CARP 0
Kenichi Nakata (3-2) scattered eight hits and two walks over the distance his first shutout outside of Nagoya Dome, blanking Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Mr. Three Run, Masahiko Morino, belted a three-run shot to back Nakata, who fired a 148 pitches.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Almost perfect …
Yamai brings back memories with shutout
Daisuke Yamai, the man who threw eight perfect innings in the 2007 Japan Series clincher only to get the hook in the ninth because of a bleeding blister, fired a five-hitter for his first shutout in six years on Friday at The Zoom.
Yamai (4-2) walked a pair and fanned five, going the distance in a 4-0 victory over Hiroshima for his second career shutout -- his first also came against the Carp on Sept. 12, 2004.
Dionys Cesar knocked in a first-inning run with an RBI single and another run came across on Noamichi Donoue’s double play to stake Yamai, who won his third straight decision, to an early lead.
Kazuhiro Wada slugged his team-high 24th longball, a two-run shot in the seventh, as the Dragons halted a two-game skid. Wada went 2-for-4, raising his average to .351 and moving him back atop the Central League.
Carp cleanup man Kenta Kurihara, who was selected as an all-star, will be replaced by teammate Jun Hirose.
GIANTS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Alex Ramirez moved into sole possession of the home lead by belting a pair of longballs, Nos. 30 and 31, to help lift Yomiuri past host Yokohama.
Hayato Sakamoto’s two-run double in the eighth proved to be the difference for the front-running Giants, who lead Hanshin by 2.5 games.
Ramirez became the third foreign player to hit at least 30 homers in three straight seasons, matching his total from last year in his 86th game.
The Giants also stopped their club-worst string of double digits in hits allowed at 12, using six pitchers to hold the BayStars to eight hits.
SWALLOWS 3, TIGERS 1
Ryoji Aikawa’s tiebreaking two-run triple in the sixth helped boost Yakult past Hanshin at Jingu Stadium.
Masanori Ishikawa (4-8) scattered five hits over seven innings for the victory, the Swallows’ season-best sixth straight.
Tomoaki Kanemoto, who had been reduced to pinch-hitting and DHing since a shoulder injury took him out of the Tigers' lineup on April 11 and broke his consecutive-innings streak, started in left but went 0-for-4.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 2, MARINES 0
Ace Hideaki Wakui (11-5) scattered seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts as Seibu blanked Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Takumi Kuriyama and pinch-hitter Yoshihito Ishii knocked in runs in the eighth to break a scoreless tie.
FIGHTERS 5, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano knocked in two early runs with a double and Yoshio Itoi homered as Nippon Ham edged Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
HAWKS 6, BUFFALOES 1
Jose Ortiz cracked his PL-leading 21st homer and Hidenori Tanoue and Nobuhiro Matsuda also went deep as SoftBank topped Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Daisuke Yamai, the man who threw eight perfect innings in the 2007 Japan Series clincher only to get the hook in the ninth because of a bleeding blister, fired a five-hitter for his first shutout in six years on Friday at The Zoom.
Yamai (4-2) walked a pair and fanned five, going the distance in a 4-0 victory over Hiroshima for his second career shutout -- his first also came against the Carp on Sept. 12, 2004.
Dionys Cesar knocked in a first-inning run with an RBI single and another run came across on Noamichi Donoue’s double play to stake Yamai, who won his third straight decision, to an early lead.
Kazuhiro Wada slugged his team-high 24th longball, a two-run shot in the seventh, as the Dragons halted a two-game skid. Wada went 2-for-4, raising his average to .351 and moving him back atop the Central League.
Carp cleanup man Kenta Kurihara, who was selected as an all-star, will be replaced by teammate Jun Hirose.
GIANTS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Alex Ramirez moved into sole possession of the home lead by belting a pair of longballs, Nos. 30 and 31, to help lift Yomiuri past host Yokohama.
Hayato Sakamoto’s two-run double in the eighth proved to be the difference for the front-running Giants, who lead Hanshin by 2.5 games.
Ramirez became the third foreign player to hit at least 30 homers in three straight seasons, matching his total from last year in his 86th game.
The Giants also stopped their club-worst string of double digits in hits allowed at 12, using six pitchers to hold the BayStars to eight hits.
SWALLOWS 3, TIGERS 1
Ryoji Aikawa’s tiebreaking two-run triple in the sixth helped boost Yakult past Hanshin at Jingu Stadium.
Masanori Ishikawa (4-8) scattered five hits over seven innings for the victory, the Swallows’ season-best sixth straight.
Tomoaki Kanemoto, who had been reduced to pinch-hitting and DHing since a shoulder injury took him out of the Tigers' lineup on April 11 and broke his consecutive-innings streak, started in left but went 0-for-4.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 2, MARINES 0
Ace Hideaki Wakui (11-5) scattered seven hits with no walks and eight strikeouts as Seibu blanked Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Takumi Kuriyama and pinch-hitter Yoshihito Ishii knocked in runs in the eighth to break a scoreless tie.
FIGHTERS 5, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano knocked in two early runs with a double and Yoshio Itoi homered as Nippon Ham edged Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
HAWKS 6, BUFFALOES 1
Jose Ortiz cracked his PL-leading 21st homer and Hidenori Tanoue and Nobuhiro Matsuda also went deep as SoftBank topped Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Roar of the young Lions ...
Youth powers Seibu past Fighters
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama--The Nippon Ham Fighters came to Tokorozawa red hot. They left red-faced.
Third-year righty Masamitsu Hirano tossed a three-hitter for his second pro win and second-year outfielder Ryo Sakata and Masahiro Abe both went deep as the Seibu Lions blanked the Fighters 7-0 at Seibu Dome.
The Lions won the three-game set --after dropping the opener -- and kept their three-game lead in the Pacific League.
Hirano (1-1) walked one and plunked one, while fanning five, in a 130-pitch effort that made his first career complete game a memorable one.
Hirano took a comebacker off his left shin in the eighth inning but got treatment and came back out to finish the game, his first win since July 23, 2008.
“I had a great chance to close it out and they let me do it,” Hirano said. “We have a stretch of nine games in nine days, so the fact that I was able to go the distance and not put a strain on the bullpen is a positive.”
The left-handed-hitting Sakata ripped his fifth homer in eight games, a solo shot in the third inning, off third-year lefty Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-3).
“The fact that I got the chance to be in the lineup against a left-hander makes me very happy. So does the fact that I performed,” said Sakata, who isn’t sure how long he’ll be around on the big squad.
“Each night, I’m going to work hard to get a hit or just reach base anyway I can -- do whatever I can to stay on the first team.”
Jose Fernandez, who recently came back to the Lions after stints with two other teams, reportedly got on the wrong train and arrived to the ballpark late. He had an RBI single in the sixth and an RBI double in the eighth.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Aarom Baldiris had a game to forget, kicking two harmless grounders that led to the tying run scoring in the fifth and go-ahead run coming home in the sixth as Lotte topped visiting Orix.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (3-4), who was acquired in a trade with Yokohama in May, scattered three hits and four walks over six innings for his first win over a PL team in three years.
The Eagles and Hawks were rained out.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 9, DRAGONS 4
Norichika Aoki ran his hitting streak to 15 games by going 4-for-5 with an RBI as Yakult won its fifth straight, taking down Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.
Yasushi Ihara had two doubles and an RBI to help power the Swallows.
CAPR 12, BAYSTARS 6
Jun Hirose broke out with a 4-for-5 game, hitting one of Hiroshima’s five homers and driving in two as the Carp routed host Yokohama.
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama--The Nippon Ham Fighters came to Tokorozawa red hot. They left red-faced.
Third-year righty Masamitsu Hirano tossed a three-hitter for his second pro win and second-year outfielder Ryo Sakata and Masahiro Abe both went deep as the Seibu Lions blanked the Fighters 7-0 at Seibu Dome.
The Lions won the three-game set --after dropping the opener -- and kept their three-game lead in the Pacific League.
Hirano (1-1) walked one and plunked one, while fanning five, in a 130-pitch effort that made his first career complete game a memorable one.
Hirano took a comebacker off his left shin in the eighth inning but got treatment and came back out to finish the game, his first win since July 23, 2008.
“I had a great chance to close it out and they let me do it,” Hirano said. “We have a stretch of nine games in nine days, so the fact that I was able to go the distance and not put a strain on the bullpen is a positive.”
The left-handed-hitting Sakata ripped his fifth homer in eight games, a solo shot in the third inning, off third-year lefty Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-3).
“The fact that I got the chance to be in the lineup against a left-hander makes me very happy. So does the fact that I performed,” said Sakata, who isn’t sure how long he’ll be around on the big squad.
“Each night, I’m going to work hard to get a hit or just reach base anyway I can -- do whatever I can to stay on the first team.”
Jose Fernandez, who recently came back to the Lions after stints with two other teams, reportedly got on the wrong train and arrived to the ballpark late. He had an RBI single in the sixth and an RBI double in the eighth.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Aarom Baldiris had a game to forget, kicking two harmless grounders that led to the tying run scoring in the fifth and go-ahead run coming home in the sixth as Lotte topped visiting Orix.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (3-4), who was acquired in a trade with Yokohama in May, scattered three hits and four walks over six innings for his first win over a PL team in three years.
The Eagles and Hawks were rained out.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 9, DRAGONS 4
Norichika Aoki ran his hitting streak to 15 games by going 4-for-5 with an RBI as Yakult won its fifth straight, taking down Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.
Yasushi Ihara had two doubles and an RBI to help power the Swallows.
CAPR 12, BAYSTARS 6
Jun Hirose broke out with a 4-for-5 game, hitting one of Hiroshima’s five homers and driving in two as the Carp routed host Yokohama.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Cats scratch one out …
Ishii’s homer and ugly 9th-inning rally lift Lions
Beset by injuries and struggling daily to fight off the competition, the Seibu Lions scratched out a win over the red-hot Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday.
Yoshihito Ishii slugged a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh inning to tie the score, and a pair of hit batters, a single loaded the bases before an error gave the Lions a 3-2 walk-off win at Seibu Dome.
Playing in, second baseman Kensuke Tanaka couldn’t come up with Hisashi Takayama’s bases-loaded grounder cleanly to let the winning cross home, making the Pacific League’s front-running Lions the first team to 50 wins.
The Fighters, who had charged back into the PL’S top three after spending the first three months in last place, had won eight of 11 coming into the game. They fell back into fourth place.
They even took a 2-0 lead early, thanks to a scoring flyball ball Eiichi Koyano in the first and an RBI single from Tanaka in the second.
But Hiroshi Hirao doubled home a run in the third and Ishii’s homer got the Lions even. Their bullpen did the rest. Atsushi Okamoto worked 2.1 scoreless innings, Shuichiro Osada kept the Fighters off the scoreboard in the eighth and Brian Sikorski (1-2) loaded the bases with two out before escaping a ninth-inning jam to get the win.
The Lions stopped a four-game skid and are three games ahead of Lotte.
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 0
Hiroki Kokubo hit a solo shot and Hitoshi Tamura blasted a two-run job to back Shinsuke Ogura (4-5), who blanked host Rakuten on four hits over six innings for the win.
The Hawks moved a game ahead of the Fighters for sole possession of third in the PL.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 0
Chihiro Kaneko (7-7) fired his third straight shutout, a seven-hitter, as Orix blanked Lotte at a windy Chiba Marine Stadium.
It was the righty’s fifth shutout this season and he became the first PL pitcher to toss three straight shutouts in 15 years -- the first Orix pitcher to do it in 35 years.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 2, DRAGONS 1
Kyohei Muranaka (6-7) blanked host Chunichi over seven innings, and closer Lim Chang Yang escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth by allowing one run as Yakult topped the Dragons.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 2
Giancarlo Alvarado (3-4) held Yokohama to a run over seven innings, scattering three hits with no walks and eight Ks as Hiroshima won on the road.
The Giants and Tigers were rained out.
Beset by injuries and struggling daily to fight off the competition, the Seibu Lions scratched out a win over the red-hot Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday.
Yoshihito Ishii slugged a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh inning to tie the score, and a pair of hit batters, a single loaded the bases before an error gave the Lions a 3-2 walk-off win at Seibu Dome.
Playing in, second baseman Kensuke Tanaka couldn’t come up with Hisashi Takayama’s bases-loaded grounder cleanly to let the winning cross home, making the Pacific League’s front-running Lions the first team to 50 wins.
The Fighters, who had charged back into the PL’S top three after spending the first three months in last place, had won eight of 11 coming into the game. They fell back into fourth place.
They even took a 2-0 lead early, thanks to a scoring flyball ball Eiichi Koyano in the first and an RBI single from Tanaka in the second.
But Hiroshi Hirao doubled home a run in the third and Ishii’s homer got the Lions even. Their bullpen did the rest. Atsushi Okamoto worked 2.1 scoreless innings, Shuichiro Osada kept the Fighters off the scoreboard in the eighth and Brian Sikorski (1-2) loaded the bases with two out before escaping a ninth-inning jam to get the win.
The Lions stopped a four-game skid and are three games ahead of Lotte.
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 0
Hiroki Kokubo hit a solo shot and Hitoshi Tamura blasted a two-run job to back Shinsuke Ogura (4-5), who blanked host Rakuten on four hits over six innings for the win.
The Hawks moved a game ahead of the Fighters for sole possession of third in the PL.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 0
Chihiro Kaneko (7-7) fired his third straight shutout, a seven-hitter, as Orix blanked Lotte at a windy Chiba Marine Stadium.
It was the righty’s fifth shutout this season and he became the first PL pitcher to toss three straight shutouts in 15 years -- the first Orix pitcher to do it in 35 years.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 2, DRAGONS 1
Kyohei Muranaka (6-7) blanked host Chunichi over seven innings, and closer Lim Chang Yang escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth by allowing one run as Yakult topped the Dragons.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 2
Giancarlo Alvarado (3-4) held Yokohama to a run over seven innings, scattering three hits with no walks and eight Ks as Hiroshima won on the road.
The Giants and Tigers were rained out.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Recovery length ...
(Still have a sore left arm and hand from beating up on the SUV, but the baseball show must go on. Thank you for well wishes!)
Eagles take down Sugiuchi
Rakuten Eagles No. 2 starter Masahiro Tanaka is down, but second-year import Darrell Rasner is stepping it up.
Rasner, who won just four games in 15 first-team starts last season, notched his third straight quality start, working seven strong innings in a 4-1 home win over the SoftBank Hawkson Tuesday.
Takeshi Yamasaki was 1-for-3 with a double and walked with the bases loaded in the second inning to push across the second run. The Eagles scores another run in the second on an error for a 3-0 lead to back Rasner (3-7).
The former Yankee held SoftBank to four hits and a walk, while fanning four to help the Eagles snap a six-game losing streak to the Hawks.
Hawks starter Toshiya Sugiuchi (11-4) allowed four runs, three earned, over six innings, surrendering eight hits and three walks. He fanned seven to move to 141 and take over the Pacific League lead in punchouts.
MARINES 1, BUFFALOES 0
Bryan Corey (1-2) worked six shutout innings and three relievers finished off Lotte’s lowest hit total allowed in a combined three-hit shutout of Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Corey allowed two hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts to win his first game in Japan since July 6, 2004, when he was with the Yomiuri Giants.
Hard-luck loser Hiroshi Kisanuki (8-6) went the distance, allowing just three hits with four walks and a hit batter.
FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 1
Shinya Tsuruoka had a three-run double and Eiichi Koyano had two hits and three RBIs as Nippon Ham won at Seibu to move into a tie for third place.
It’s the first time the Fighters, who have beaten front-running Seibu four straight, have been in the league’s top three all season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 7, TIGERS 6, 12 INNINGS
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono slugged a three-run homer, his 13th, in the top of the 12th inning in the rain at Koshien Stadium and Marc Kroon barely hung on as Yomiuri edged Hanshin.
The Tigers pounded out 13 hits, making it 12 straight games Giants pitchers have allowed double digits in hits to tie a 60-year-old CL record.
BAYSTARS 4, CARP 3
Recent addition Brett Harper hit a solo blast and added an RBI single as Yokohama held off visiting Hiroshima.
The Dragons and Swallows were rained out.
Eagles take down Sugiuchi
Rakuten Eagles No. 2 starter Masahiro Tanaka is down, but second-year import Darrell Rasner is stepping it up.
Rasner, who won just four games in 15 first-team starts last season, notched his third straight quality start, working seven strong innings in a 4-1 home win over the SoftBank Hawkson Tuesday.
Takeshi Yamasaki was 1-for-3 with a double and walked with the bases loaded in the second inning to push across the second run. The Eagles scores another run in the second on an error for a 3-0 lead to back Rasner (3-7).
The former Yankee held SoftBank to four hits and a walk, while fanning four to help the Eagles snap a six-game losing streak to the Hawks.
Hawks starter Toshiya Sugiuchi (11-4) allowed four runs, three earned, over six innings, surrendering eight hits and three walks. He fanned seven to move to 141 and take over the Pacific League lead in punchouts.
MARINES 1, BUFFALOES 0
Bryan Corey (1-2) worked six shutout innings and three relievers finished off Lotte’s lowest hit total allowed in a combined three-hit shutout of Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Corey allowed two hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts to win his first game in Japan since July 6, 2004, when he was with the Yomiuri Giants.
Hard-luck loser Hiroshi Kisanuki (8-6) went the distance, allowing just three hits with four walks and a hit batter.
FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 1
Shinya Tsuruoka had a three-run double and Eiichi Koyano had two hits and three RBIs as Nippon Ham won at Seibu to move into a tie for third place.
It’s the first time the Fighters, who have beaten front-running Seibu four straight, have been in the league’s top three all season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 7, TIGERS 6, 12 INNINGS
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono slugged a three-run homer, his 13th, in the top of the 12th inning in the rain at Koshien Stadium and Marc Kroon barely hung on as Yomiuri edged Hanshin.
The Tigers pounded out 13 hits, making it 12 straight games Giants pitchers have allowed double digits in hits to tie a 60-year-old CL record.
BAYSTARS 4, CARP 3
Recent addition Brett Harper hit a solo blast and added an RBI single as Yokohama held off visiting Hiroshima.
The Dragons and Swallows were rained out.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Accidents happen ...
Today JBD is taking off. A man-vs.-car situation slowed me down. I'm OK, but you should see the car!!!
LOL!!
Just need to take some time to heal after collision.
-j.e.g.
LOL!!
Just need to take some time to heal after collision.
-j.e.g.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Eagles on the rise ...
Last-place Rakuten takes down front-running Seibu
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama -- Randy Ruiz helped the last-place Rakuten Eagles rise above the first-place Seibu Lions on Saturday.
We’ll have to see if they can stretch their four-game winning streak to a season-long five on Sunday.
Ruiz took Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui (10-5) deep with two aboard in the eighth inning to help the Eagles past the Lions 7-1 before 29,104 at Seibu Dome.
Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk against last year’s Sawamura Award winner, driving a high slider out to center on Wakui’s 120th pitch.
Eagles ace Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4) got the win, holding down the Lions after allowing a first-inning unearned run.
The game seemed destined to hinge on a base-running faux pas involving Ruiz and third-base coach Atsuhiro Motonish.
Ruiz opened the second inning with a single and Norihiro Nakamura followed with a double down the left-field line.
Ruiz chugged around second and started to shut it down, with no outs. But Motonishi saw a bobble in the outfield, and after putting up the stop sign, he cranked up the arm again. Ruiz, a 1.85-meter, 112-kilogram infielder couldn’t get the engine back in high gear, and was nailed at the plate.
But Iwakuma allowed just one hit after the first inning, and finished a three-hit, two-walk, four-punchout performance with a strikeout on his 107th pitch.
The Eagles added three runs in the ninth.
HAWKS 1, MARINES 0, 11 innings
Jose Ortiz knocked in the game-winning run with a single to break a scoreless game with a walk-off.
Tsuyoshi Wada of SoftBank and Lotte’s Yoshihisa Naruse each tossed nine scoreless innings.
FIGHTERS 5, BUFFALOES 2
Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish (8-4) fanned 13 over the distance, and Shinya Tsuruoka had two hits and two RBIs as the Fighters beat Orix at Sapporo Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, GIANTS 1
Daisuke Yamai (3-2) fanned 10 -- reaching double digits in punchouts for the first time in six years-- and held Yomiuri to a run over 6.1 innings as Chunichi cruised at Nagoya Dome.
The Dragons collected 11 hits, extending Yomiuri’s dubious club record for consecutive games allowing double digits in hits to 10.
SWALLOWS 5, CARP 2
Masanori Ishikawa (3-8) held Hiroshima to two runs over seven innings as Yakult topped the Carp at Jingu Stadium.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs to back Ishikawa, who hadn’t won since June 12.
BAYSTARS 4, TIGERS 3
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-7) went 8.1 strong innings as Yokohama stopped a nine-game skid in one-run games with a win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama -- Randy Ruiz helped the last-place Rakuten Eagles rise above the first-place Seibu Lions on Saturday.
We’ll have to see if they can stretch their four-game winning streak to a season-long five on Sunday.
Ruiz took Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui (10-5) deep with two aboard in the eighth inning to help the Eagles past the Lions 7-1 before 29,104 at Seibu Dome.
Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a walk against last year’s Sawamura Award winner, driving a high slider out to center on Wakui’s 120th pitch.
Eagles ace Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4) got the win, holding down the Lions after allowing a first-inning unearned run.
The game seemed destined to hinge on a base-running faux pas involving Ruiz and third-base coach Atsuhiro Motonish.
Ruiz opened the second inning with a single and Norihiro Nakamura followed with a double down the left-field line.
Ruiz chugged around second and started to shut it down, with no outs. But Motonishi saw a bobble in the outfield, and after putting up the stop sign, he cranked up the arm again. Ruiz, a 1.85-meter, 112-kilogram infielder couldn’t get the engine back in high gear, and was nailed at the plate.
But Iwakuma allowed just one hit after the first inning, and finished a three-hit, two-walk, four-punchout performance with a strikeout on his 107th pitch.
The Eagles added three runs in the ninth.
HAWKS 1, MARINES 0, 11 innings
Jose Ortiz knocked in the game-winning run with a single to break a scoreless game with a walk-off.
Tsuyoshi Wada of SoftBank and Lotte’s Yoshihisa Naruse each tossed nine scoreless innings.
FIGHTERS 5, BUFFALOES 2
Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish (8-4) fanned 13 over the distance, and Shinya Tsuruoka had two hits and two RBIs as the Fighters beat Orix at Sapporo Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, GIANTS 1
Daisuke Yamai (3-2) fanned 10 -- reaching double digits in punchouts for the first time in six years-- and held Yomiuri to a run over 6.1 innings as Chunichi cruised at Nagoya Dome.
The Dragons collected 11 hits, extending Yomiuri’s dubious club record for consecutive games allowing double digits in hits to 10.
SWALLOWS 5, CARP 2
Masanori Ishikawa (3-8) held Hiroshima to two runs over seven innings as Yakult topped the Carp at Jingu Stadium.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs to back Ishikawa, who hadn’t won since June 12.
BAYSTARS 4, TIGERS 3
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-7) went 8.1 strong innings as Yokohama stopped a nine-game skid in one-run games with a win over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Fired up …
Dragons take down 1st-place Giants
Chunichi ace Kazuki Yoshimi held the first-place Yomiuri Giants down long enough for the Dragons to get into their opponent's bullpen and light a seventh-inning five-run fire.
And Kazuhiro Wada sparked the flames with his 23rd home run, a solo shot that broke a tie in the seventh inning, and the Dragons went on for a 6-3 win at Nagoya Dome.
Yoshimi (8-4) scattered four hits and a walk, while fanning six over seven innings. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.
The third-place Dragons, who are 6.5 games back of the three-time Central League-winning Giants, have beaten Yomiuri seven straight at Nagoya Dome.
“We have to beat the teams above us in order to move up, so I had that on my mind when I took the ball,” said Yoshimi, who worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth.
“I just tried to hang in there and keep the game where it was, and the guys came through with some runs late.”
The Dragons helped the Giants set a franchise record for consecutive games with double digits in hit allowed, stretching the streak to nine with 12 hits off five pitchers.
And it was Wada, who had made four outs in his first two bats by wrapping into a pair of double plays.
“My at-bat, and my second at-bat, I hit into double plays. As a batter, it was the worst thing I could have done,” said Wada, hitting cleanup for the Dragons.
“In my third at-bat, I just wanted to do something to make up for that.”
Michihiro Ogasawara hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but Hitoki Iwase came on in the ninth inning to nail it down for his 25th save.
Yomiuri starter Dicky Gonzalez (3-8) lost his career-worst eighth game before the All-Star break. His previous worst was seven as a Yakult Swallow in 2006.
TIGERS 6, BAYSTARS 5
Pinch-runner Hiroki Uemoto scored all the way from first base on an errant throw to second on his attempted steal, breaking a 5-5 tie and lifting second-place Hanshin past visiting Yokohama.
The BayStars got another homer from June 25 signee Brett Harper, his second, but Hanshin’s Matt Murton doubled three times raised his CL-leading average to .353.
Takahiro Arai went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Swallows and Carp were rained out at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Eiichi Koyano had a two-run homer in a four-first inning that propelled Nippon Ham past Orix at Sapporo Dome in the PL’s only scheduled game.
Shota Ono and Yang Zhang-sho also added RBI hits in the first inning, in support of spot-starter Masao Kida (3-0). The 41-year-old righty went five innings, allowing three hits and a walk and two punchouts.
Chunichi ace Kazuki Yoshimi held the first-place Yomiuri Giants down long enough for the Dragons to get into their opponent's bullpen and light a seventh-inning five-run fire.
And Kazuhiro Wada sparked the flames with his 23rd home run, a solo shot that broke a tie in the seventh inning, and the Dragons went on for a 6-3 win at Nagoya Dome.
Yoshimi (8-4) scattered four hits and a walk, while fanning six over seven innings. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.
The third-place Dragons, who are 6.5 games back of the three-time Central League-winning Giants, have beaten Yomiuri seven straight at Nagoya Dome.
“We have to beat the teams above us in order to move up, so I had that on my mind when I took the ball,” said Yoshimi, who worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth.
“I just tried to hang in there and keep the game where it was, and the guys came through with some runs late.”
The Dragons helped the Giants set a franchise record for consecutive games with double digits in hit allowed, stretching the streak to nine with 12 hits off five pitchers.
And it was Wada, who had made four outs in his first two bats by wrapping into a pair of double plays.
“My at-bat, and my second at-bat, I hit into double plays. As a batter, it was the worst thing I could have done,” said Wada, hitting cleanup for the Dragons.
“In my third at-bat, I just wanted to do something to make up for that.”
Michihiro Ogasawara hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but Hitoki Iwase came on in the ninth inning to nail it down for his 25th save.
Yomiuri starter Dicky Gonzalez (3-8) lost his career-worst eighth game before the All-Star break. His previous worst was seven as a Yakult Swallow in 2006.
TIGERS 6, BAYSTARS 5
Pinch-runner Hiroki Uemoto scored all the way from first base on an errant throw to second on his attempted steal, breaking a 5-5 tie and lifting second-place Hanshin past visiting Yokohama.
The BayStars got another homer from June 25 signee Brett Harper, his second, but Hanshin’s Matt Murton doubled three times raised his CL-leading average to .353.
Takahiro Arai went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Swallows and Carp were rained out at Jingu Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Eiichi Koyano had a two-run homer in a four-first inning that propelled Nippon Ham past Orix at Sapporo Dome in the PL’s only scheduled game.
Shota Ono and Yang Zhang-sho also added RBI hits in the first inning, in support of spot-starter Masao Kida (3-0). The 41-year-old righty went five innings, allowing three hits and a walk and two punchouts.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tearing up at The Box ...
Linden’s late HR lift Eagles past Marines
The Rakuten Eagles gave the Chiba Lotte Marines a reason to want a box of Kleenex tissues.
A guy who hadn’t homered since April took a guy who is arguably their best reliever deep on Thursday to win a game at the Kleenex Box.
Talk about a tearjerker.
Todd Linden smacked a two-run shot, his fourth, to dead center off Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-2) as the Eagles came back from an early 3-0 deficit that grew to 4-0 in the fifth inning.
It was the 11th straight loss for Lotte at the Kleenex Box. The Eagles, who made the playoffs for the first time in their young history last season, are in the Pacific League cellar.
“We were kind of in this situation last year, and we turned it up a little bit in these later months, and hopefully we do it again this year,” said Linden, whose last homer came on April 11.
“We’re just going to go out and fight ever day and give it our all and see we’re at come September.”
Right-handed reliever Koji Aoyama (3-1) got the win with a scoreless eighth, and Shinichiro Koyama worked a 1-2-3 ninth, retiring Tadahito Iguchi for the final out and his third save.
FIGHTERS 7, HAWKS 0
Yoshio Itoi had a two-run blast, Hichori Morimoto added a three-run shot, and Masaru Takeda (6-6) tossed eight scoreless innings as Nippon Ham won its second straight home game at Tokyo Dome.
SoftBank wasted scoring chances in the first, putting runners on second and third with one out, and the fifth, when they had three singles, and got blanked for the fifth time this season.
BUFFALOES 6, LIONS 0
Chihiro Kaneko (6-7) came up with his second-straight and Japan-best fourth shutout, firing a three-hitter to beat front-running Seibu at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Kaneko walked one and fanned a half-dozen, and got support from Aarom Baldiris, who had two hits -- including a solo blast -- and drove in two.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 10, TIGERS 6
Third-year lefty Mikinori Kato (1-2) went five innings for his first pro win, backed by a seven-run fourth inning capped by a grand slam off the bat of Kazuhiro Hatakeyama.
Kato allowed three runs on six hits and two walks, but the Swallows batted around in the fourth, including Kato helping his own cause with an RBI infield single to put the Swallows ahead.
Craig Brazell hit his 29th longball in the ninth to take over the CL lead in homers.
BAYSTARS 6, DRAGONS 3
Stephen Randolph continued his dominance over Chunichi, and slugger Shuichi Murata cracked a pair of homers -- including one out of the stadium -- as Yokohama topped the visiting Dragons to snap a five-game slide.
In about one full season in Japan, Randolph (2-7) has seven victories, four against the Dragons.
The Rakuten Eagles gave the Chiba Lotte Marines a reason to want a box of Kleenex tissues.
A guy who hadn’t homered since April took a guy who is arguably their best reliever deep on Thursday to win a game at the Kleenex Box.
Talk about a tearjerker.
Todd Linden smacked a two-run shot, his fourth, to dead center off Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-2) as the Eagles came back from an early 3-0 deficit that grew to 4-0 in the fifth inning.
It was the 11th straight loss for Lotte at the Kleenex Box. The Eagles, who made the playoffs for the first time in their young history last season, are in the Pacific League cellar.
“We were kind of in this situation last year, and we turned it up a little bit in these later months, and hopefully we do it again this year,” said Linden, whose last homer came on April 11.
“We’re just going to go out and fight ever day and give it our all and see we’re at come September.”
Right-handed reliever Koji Aoyama (3-1) got the win with a scoreless eighth, and Shinichiro Koyama worked a 1-2-3 ninth, retiring Tadahito Iguchi for the final out and his third save.
FIGHTERS 7, HAWKS 0
Yoshio Itoi had a two-run blast, Hichori Morimoto added a three-run shot, and Masaru Takeda (6-6) tossed eight scoreless innings as Nippon Ham won its second straight home game at Tokyo Dome.
SoftBank wasted scoring chances in the first, putting runners on second and third with one out, and the fifth, when they had three singles, and got blanked for the fifth time this season.
BUFFALOES 6, LIONS 0
Chihiro Kaneko (6-7) came up with his second-straight and Japan-best fourth shutout, firing a three-hitter to beat front-running Seibu at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Kaneko walked one and fanned a half-dozen, and got support from Aarom Baldiris, who had two hits -- including a solo blast -- and drove in two.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 10, TIGERS 6
Third-year lefty Mikinori Kato (1-2) went five innings for his first pro win, backed by a seven-run fourth inning capped by a grand slam off the bat of Kazuhiro Hatakeyama.
Kato allowed three runs on six hits and two walks, but the Swallows batted around in the fourth, including Kato helping his own cause with an RBI infield single to put the Swallows ahead.
Craig Brazell hit his 29th longball in the ninth to take over the CL lead in homers.
BAYSTARS 6, DRAGONS 3
Stephen Randolph continued his dominance over Chunichi, and slugger Shuichi Murata cracked a pair of homers -- including one out of the stadium -- as Yokohama topped the visiting Dragons to snap a five-game slide.
In about one full season in Japan, Randolph (2-7) has seven victories, four against the Dragons.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Maybe it’s in the stars ...
Fighters come up with Tanabata victory
The Nippon Ham Fighters celebrated Tanabata day by striking with a hidden star for a 6-2 win over SoftBank at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday.
Tanabata, the day reserved for star-crossed lovers to meet in the heavens, brought the defending Pacific League champs some good fortune as No. 9 hitter Makoto Kaneko’s two-run single highlighted a four-run seventh in a comeback win.
It was only the second time in 30 games in which the Fighters, who have struggled all season, have come back to win when trailing after six innings.
And they got to one off the league’s top relievers, Tadashi Settsu, last year’s top rookie for their first win in six tries at the Big Egg.
Settsu is the PL leader in holds with 23 and had a 1.90 ERA coming in, but he had the worst outing of his career as the Fighters knocked him around for four runs on five hits and a hit batter.
The Fighters moved into sole possession of fourth place in the PL. The Hawks remain safely in third, 2.5 games back of SoftBank.
EAGLES 6, MARINES 4
Ryo Hijirisawa cracked his first career grand slam, and four Rakuten relievers combined to toss 6.2 scoreless innings in a win at the Kleenex Box.
Rakuten’s 24-year veteran Takeshi Yamasaki whiffed in the second inning to become just the ninth player in Japanese baseball history to strike out 1,500 times.
LIONS 11, BUFFALOES 7
Takyua Hara’s bases-clearing double in the fifth gave Seibu the lead, and four relievers kept Orix off the board over four innings in a win at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Dee Brown had two hits and two RBIs, and Ryo Sakata had two hits, including his second longball, and three RBIs to lead the Lions.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Kentaro Sekimoto hit a pinch-hit homer, his second of the season and fifth of his career, to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth and lift Hanshin past visiting Yakult.
It was his 10th straight pinch-hit appearance in which he reached base, one off the Japan pro baseball record.
The Tigers’ Matt Murton had three hits -- his 11th game with three or more hits-- to take over the CL batting lead with a .350 average.
CARP 8, GIANTS 2
Kenta Maeda (11-3) proved his all-star value, holding host Yomiuri to two runs on six hits and two walks over seven innings as Hiroshima topped Yomiuri.
Justin Huber and Tetsuya Kokubo each four hits and an RBI.
The Dragons were rained out at the BayStars.
The Nippon Ham Fighters celebrated Tanabata day by striking with a hidden star for a 6-2 win over SoftBank at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday.
Tanabata, the day reserved for star-crossed lovers to meet in the heavens, brought the defending Pacific League champs some good fortune as No. 9 hitter Makoto Kaneko’s two-run single highlighted a four-run seventh in a comeback win.
It was only the second time in 30 games in which the Fighters, who have struggled all season, have come back to win when trailing after six innings.
And they got to one off the league’s top relievers, Tadashi Settsu, last year’s top rookie for their first win in six tries at the Big Egg.
Settsu is the PL leader in holds with 23 and had a 1.90 ERA coming in, but he had the worst outing of his career as the Fighters knocked him around for four runs on five hits and a hit batter.
The Fighters moved into sole possession of fourth place in the PL. The Hawks remain safely in third, 2.5 games back of SoftBank.
EAGLES 6, MARINES 4
Ryo Hijirisawa cracked his first career grand slam, and four Rakuten relievers combined to toss 6.2 scoreless innings in a win at the Kleenex Box.
Rakuten’s 24-year veteran Takeshi Yamasaki whiffed in the second inning to become just the ninth player in Japanese baseball history to strike out 1,500 times.
LIONS 11, BUFFALOES 7
Takyua Hara’s bases-clearing double in the fifth gave Seibu the lead, and four relievers kept Orix off the board over four innings in a win at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Dee Brown had two hits and two RBIs, and Ryo Sakata had two hits, including his second longball, and three RBIs to lead the Lions.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Kentaro Sekimoto hit a pinch-hit homer, his second of the season and fifth of his career, to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth and lift Hanshin past visiting Yakult.
It was his 10th straight pinch-hit appearance in which he reached base, one off the Japan pro baseball record.
The Tigers’ Matt Murton had three hits -- his 11th game with three or more hits-- to take over the CL batting lead with a .350 average.
CARP 8, GIANTS 2
Kenta Maeda (11-3) proved his all-star value, holding host Yomiuri to two runs on six hits and two walks over seven innings as Hiroshima topped Yomiuri.
Justin Huber and Tetsuya Kokubo each four hits and an RBI.
The Dragons were rained out at the BayStars.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Like Fish out of water ...
Carp can’t hold lead as Giants come back
The Hiroshima Carp were headed for a win until their bullpen got in the way. Actually, it was Alex Ramirez’s bat that smacked their hopes in an 8-7 win for Yomiuri at Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
The Carp had leads of 5-2 and 7-4, but Ramirez capped a four-run seventh with a two-run go-ahead blast that shocked the Fish seemingly out of the water.
Yuya Kubo fanned two in the eighth, and Marc Kroon struck out one in the ninth while nailing down his 15th save as the Giants stole one.
The shot tied Ramirez with two others, including teammate Shinnosuke Abe, for the Central League lead in longballs with 28.
Hideki Kishimoto allowed two runs in 1.2 innings, and Koji Hiroike (0-1) served up Ramirez’s line-drive homer before recording his only out.
Michihiro Ogasawara’s two-run single got the Giants within one in the eighth. Edgar Gonzalez also had his fifth homer, a two-run shot in the second, for Yomiuri, which was outhit 13-6.
Satoshi Fukuda (1-1) worked two scoreless innings in relief to pich up his first win since April 30 last year.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 4
Chen Wei-yin (6-7) held Yokohama to a run on eight hits and two walks to send the BayStars to their fifth-straight loss.
Pinch-hitter Takehiro Naomichi’s two-run double in the eighth was the difference.
Yokohama newcomer Brett Harper homered in his debut.
TIGERS 6, SWALLOWS 1
Second-year righty Jason Standridge (5-1) won his fourth straight decision, pitching around 10 hits, two hit batters and a walk for his first complete game in Japan as host Hanshin beat Yakult.
Standridge, who was with SoftBank the past two seasons, tossed a career-high 145 pitches, fanning eight along the way.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, BUFFALOES 6
Dee Brown slugged a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning as Seibu came back to top Orix at Kyocera Dome and move two games above Lotte in the PL.
The Buffaloes scored four times in the eighth inning to take the lead, but Mamoru Kishida (5-5) couldn’t get the final out before Brown slugged his 18th homer.
EAGLES 6, MARINES 0
Darrell Rasner (2-7) scattered four hits and fanned nine over seven scoreless innings and stopped a personal four-game skid at the Kleenex Box.
Randy Ruiz had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth for all the runs Rasner would need for his first win since April 23.
HAWKS 12, FIGHTERS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (11-3) dominated Nippon Ham, allowing seven hits and walking one, while fanning nine as SoftBank got a shutout out Tokyo Dome.
Hitoshi Tamura had three of SoftBank’s 16 hits and three RBIs to back Sugiuchi, who didn’t allow a runner to reach third.
The Hiroshima Carp were headed for a win until their bullpen got in the way. Actually, it was Alex Ramirez’s bat that smacked their hopes in an 8-7 win for Yomiuri at Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
The Carp had leads of 5-2 and 7-4, but Ramirez capped a four-run seventh with a two-run go-ahead blast that shocked the Fish seemingly out of the water.
Yuya Kubo fanned two in the eighth, and Marc Kroon struck out one in the ninth while nailing down his 15th save as the Giants stole one.
The shot tied Ramirez with two others, including teammate Shinnosuke Abe, for the Central League lead in longballs with 28.
Hideki Kishimoto allowed two runs in 1.2 innings, and Koji Hiroike (0-1) served up Ramirez’s line-drive homer before recording his only out.
Michihiro Ogasawara’s two-run single got the Giants within one in the eighth. Edgar Gonzalez also had his fifth homer, a two-run shot in the second, for Yomiuri, which was outhit 13-6.
Satoshi Fukuda (1-1) worked two scoreless innings in relief to pich up his first win since April 30 last year.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 4
Chen Wei-yin (6-7) held Yokohama to a run on eight hits and two walks to send the BayStars to their fifth-straight loss.
Pinch-hitter Takehiro Naomichi’s two-run double in the eighth was the difference.
Yokohama newcomer Brett Harper homered in his debut.
TIGERS 6, SWALLOWS 1
Second-year righty Jason Standridge (5-1) won his fourth straight decision, pitching around 10 hits, two hit batters and a walk for his first complete game in Japan as host Hanshin beat Yakult.
Standridge, who was with SoftBank the past two seasons, tossed a career-high 145 pitches, fanning eight along the way.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, BUFFALOES 6
Dee Brown slugged a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning as Seibu came back to top Orix at Kyocera Dome and move two games above Lotte in the PL.
The Buffaloes scored four times in the eighth inning to take the lead, but Mamoru Kishida (5-5) couldn’t get the final out before Brown slugged his 18th homer.
EAGLES 6, MARINES 0
Darrell Rasner (2-7) scattered four hits and fanned nine over seven scoreless innings and stopped a personal four-game skid at the Kleenex Box.
Randy Ruiz had two hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth for all the runs Rasner would need for his first win since April 23.
HAWKS 12, FIGHTERS 0
Toshiya Sugiuchi (11-3) dominated Nippon Ham, allowing seven hits and walking one, while fanning nine as SoftBank got a shutout out Tokyo Dome.
Hitoshi Tamura had three of SoftBank’s 16 hits and three RBIs to back Sugiuchi, who didn’t allow a runner to reach third.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Come back swinging ...
Takahashi hits 2 HRs as Giants avoid sweep
The Hanshin Tigers had made the Central League’s top dogs look like lost dogs in the first two games of their three-game set at Tokyo Dome. But the Giants took a few bites out of Casey Fossum and avoided a sweep with a 10-2 thrashing of Hanshin on Sunday.
Yoshinobu Takahashi belted a pair of homers and drove in five, and pesky Tetsuya Matsumoto had four hits, his first base knocks since being sidelined with a thigh injury on April 25, and the Giants responded to skipper Tatsunori Hara’s call to match Hanshin’s intensity.
The victory stopped a five-game skid to the Kansai Cats, who fell to three games back in the standings.
Takahashi took Fossum (2-5) deep with one on in the second, and cracked his ninth of the season in his next at-bat with a pair on for a 7-0 Giants lead.
Lost in the shuffle, mostly be he pouted off the field with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, was CL win leader Shun Tono (11-2). The right-hander allowed just two runs, none earned, on seven hits and a walk, while punching out two.
Tono got the hook when he, and an error behind him, worked himself into a jam that Tetsuya Yamaguchi extracted him from to limit the damage.
Thanks to a season-high 16 hits to support him, Tono took over the league lead in wins.
In the meantime, hot-hitting Shinnosuke Abe -- who hit .375 with 14 homers in June -- smacked his 28th longball to tie for the CL lead.
DRAGONS 8, SWALLOWS 5
Dionys Cesar had three hits and two RBIs and Kazuhiro Wada added two hits and a pair of RBIs as Chunichi downed Yakult in Akita.
Yakult’s Norichika Aoki doubled in the sixth inning to become the 258th player to reach the 1,000-hit plateau. He reached the figure in 770 games, second fastest behind Ichiro Suzuki.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 2
Jun Hirose broke a 2-2 deadlock with an RBI single in the sixth inning, and Takahiro Iwamoto hit his first pro homer and drove in two as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at the Zoom.
Takuro Ishii had two hits to move past Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai and into the 10th on the all-time hits list with his 2,373rd.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 5
Kensuke Tanaka homered in a six-run ninth inning and had four RBIs to help lift Nippon Ham past Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
Shinya Tsuruoka led three others with three hits in a 19-hit attack.
MARINES 9, LIONS 7
Saburo Omura keyed a five-run eighth-inning rally with an RBI single, and Tadahito Iguchi had two hits and two RBIs to lead Lotte past front-running Seibu.
BUFFALOES 9, HAWKS 1
Alex Cabrera had three hits and three RBI to lead Orix past SoftBank at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The Hanshin Tigers had made the Central League’s top dogs look like lost dogs in the first two games of their three-game set at Tokyo Dome. But the Giants took a few bites out of Casey Fossum and avoided a sweep with a 10-2 thrashing of Hanshin on Sunday.
Yoshinobu Takahashi belted a pair of homers and drove in five, and pesky Tetsuya Matsumoto had four hits, his first base knocks since being sidelined with a thigh injury on April 25, and the Giants responded to skipper Tatsunori Hara’s call to match Hanshin’s intensity.
The victory stopped a five-game skid to the Kansai Cats, who fell to three games back in the standings.
Takahashi took Fossum (2-5) deep with one on in the second, and cracked his ninth of the season in his next at-bat with a pair on for a 7-0 Giants lead.
Lost in the shuffle, mostly be he pouted off the field with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, was CL win leader Shun Tono (11-2). The right-hander allowed just two runs, none earned, on seven hits and a walk, while punching out two.
Tono got the hook when he, and an error behind him, worked himself into a jam that Tetsuya Yamaguchi extracted him from to limit the damage.
Thanks to a season-high 16 hits to support him, Tono took over the league lead in wins.
In the meantime, hot-hitting Shinnosuke Abe -- who hit .375 with 14 homers in June -- smacked his 28th longball to tie for the CL lead.
DRAGONS 8, SWALLOWS 5
Dionys Cesar had three hits and two RBIs and Kazuhiro Wada added two hits and a pair of RBIs as Chunichi downed Yakult in Akita.
Yakult’s Norichika Aoki doubled in the sixth inning to become the 258th player to reach the 1,000-hit plateau. He reached the figure in 770 games, second fastest behind Ichiro Suzuki.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 2
Jun Hirose broke a 2-2 deadlock with an RBI single in the sixth inning, and Takahiro Iwamoto hit his first pro homer and drove in two as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at the Zoom.
Takuro Ishii had two hits to move past Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai and into the 10th on the all-time hits list with his 2,373rd.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 5
Kensuke Tanaka homered in a six-run ninth inning and had four RBIs to help lift Nippon Ham past Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
Shinya Tsuruoka led three others with three hits in a 19-hit attack.
MARINES 9, LIONS 7
Saburo Omura keyed a five-run eighth-inning rally with an RBI single, and Tadahito Iguchi had two hits and two RBIs to lead Lotte past front-running Seibu.
BUFFALOES 9, HAWKS 1
Alex Cabrera had three hits and three RBI to lead Orix past SoftBank at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Hear them roar ...
Tigers set up chance to sweep while gaining ground on Giants
The Hanshin Tigers mean business, and they showed it with their fifth straight win over the front-running Yomiuri Giants on Saturday on Tokyo Dome.
Craig Brazell launched his Central League-leading 28th homer in a five-run fourth inning that propelled the Tigers past the three-time defending CL champs 8-2.
Takashi Toritani belted his ninth, and Kenji Jojima cracked his 14th and added an RBI double in the ninth as the Tigers won their second straight at the Big Egg, their third straight overall.
Right-hander Naoto Tsuru, the team’s top pick in 2005, earned just his second pro win with 5.2 effective innings. He also had his first pro hit, an infield single on a bunt, for his first RBI.
The Giants have dropped three straight and their lead over the Tigers has slipped to two games.
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 2
Josh Whitesell doubled in two in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie as Yakult took down visiting Chunichi.
The game between Hiroshima and Yokohama was rained out at the Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, MARINES 2
Hiroyuki Nakajima slid into the cleanup spot for the first time this season, and slugged a solo blast, his 12th homer, and two RBIs to lead Seibu past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
The Lions cracked three two-out homers in the fifth inning. Dee Brown hit a two-run shot, his 17th, followed by Hiroshi Hirao, who hit his second.
FIGHTERS 2, EAGLES 1
Yu Darvish (8-4) fired a 132-pitch five-hitter to beat Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
Darvish fanned 10 and walked two for his 25th career complete game.
HAWKS 3, BUFFALOES 1
Tsuyoshi Wada (11-4) scattered four hits and walk over seven innings as SoftBank downed Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Hidenori Tanoue’s RBI groundout in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie, and Jose Ortiz hit his 19th homer in the eighth.
The Hanshin Tigers mean business, and they showed it with their fifth straight win over the front-running Yomiuri Giants on Saturday on Tokyo Dome.
Craig Brazell launched his Central League-leading 28th homer in a five-run fourth inning that propelled the Tigers past the three-time defending CL champs 8-2.
Takashi Toritani belted his ninth, and Kenji Jojima cracked his 14th and added an RBI double in the ninth as the Tigers won their second straight at the Big Egg, their third straight overall.
Right-hander Naoto Tsuru, the team’s top pick in 2005, earned just his second pro win with 5.2 effective innings. He also had his first pro hit, an infield single on a bunt, for his first RBI.
The Giants have dropped three straight and their lead over the Tigers has slipped to two games.
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 2
Josh Whitesell doubled in two in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie as Yakult took down visiting Chunichi.
The game between Hiroshima and Yokohama was rained out at the Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 7, MARINES 2
Hiroyuki Nakajima slid into the cleanup spot for the first time this season, and slugged a solo blast, his 12th homer, and two RBIs to lead Seibu past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
The Lions cracked three two-out homers in the fifth inning. Dee Brown hit a two-run shot, his 17th, followed by Hiroshi Hirao, who hit his second.
FIGHTERS 2, EAGLES 1
Yu Darvish (8-4) fired a 132-pitch five-hitter to beat Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.
Darvish fanned 10 and walked two for his 25th career complete game.
HAWKS 3, BUFFALOES 1
Tsuyoshi Wada (11-4) scattered four hits and walk over seven innings as SoftBank downed Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Hidenori Tanoue’s RBI groundout in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie, and Jose Ortiz hit his 19th homer in the eighth.
Friday, July 2, 2010
The good, the mad and the ugly ...
Raukten’s newcomer slugs winning shot, skipper gets, gives thumb
Randy Ruiz was at his best and skipper Marty Brown was at his maddest.
Ruiz broke an eighth-inning tie with a three-run blast, while Brown’s angry antics got his tossed for a record 11th time in a 5-2 win over Nippon Ham at the Kleenex Box on Friday.
Brown got the thumb after Motohiro Shima was called out while trying to score from second on a double by Teppei Tsuchiya in the fifth inning. It was Brown’s third ejection this season and his teams are 8-3 when he gets the boot.
The Eagles snapped Nippon Ham’s six-game winning streak, and put the brakes on their own five-game skid.
Ruiz, signed on May 25, took Takehiro Kato deep with two on after Masaru Takeda (5-6) held the Eagles to two runs over seven innings. Takeda allowed a single to Tsuchiya to open the eighth and got the hook. Kato walked Norihito Nakamura and Ruiz hit his second longball of the season.
The defending Pacific League champion Fighters are still in fifth place, three games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Eagles.
MARINES 7, LIONS 1
Kim Tae Kyung and Yoshifumi Okada each had three hits -- including a double -- and drove in two, and Yoshihisa Naruse (8-7) went the distance as host Lotte smashed Seibu.
The Marines topped Seibu ace and last year’s Sawamura Award winner Hideaki Wakui (10-4) as Naruse tossed a five-hitter with 10 punchouts.
BUFFALOES 5, HAWKS 2
Alex Cabrera had a two-run homer and Shogo Akada had two hits and two RBIs to lead Orix past host SoftBank.
The Buffaloes won their fourth straight, their longest winning streak since the first week of the season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 10, GIANTS 8
Craig Brazell ripped his 27th homer, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, to give Hanshin the lead, and Takashi Toritani added a two-run shot in the ninth inning to finish off a wild win over Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Shinnosuke Abe popped his CL-best 27th homer in a two-run fourth, but Brazell tied him with his shot and the second-place Tigers moved to within three games of the Giants.
CARP 2, BAYSTARS 1
Yoshiyuki Ishihara’s RBI double in the seventh was the difference as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at the Zoom.
Randy Ruiz was at his best and skipper Marty Brown was at his maddest.
Ruiz broke an eighth-inning tie with a three-run blast, while Brown’s angry antics got his tossed for a record 11th time in a 5-2 win over Nippon Ham at the Kleenex Box on Friday.
Brown got the thumb after Motohiro Shima was called out while trying to score from second on a double by Teppei Tsuchiya in the fifth inning. It was Brown’s third ejection this season and his teams are 8-3 when he gets the boot.
The Eagles snapped Nippon Ham’s six-game winning streak, and put the brakes on their own five-game skid.
Ruiz, signed on May 25, took Takehiro Kato deep with two on after Masaru Takeda (5-6) held the Eagles to two runs over seven innings. Takeda allowed a single to Tsuchiya to open the eighth and got the hook. Kato walked Norihito Nakamura and Ruiz hit his second longball of the season.
The defending Pacific League champion Fighters are still in fifth place, three games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Eagles.
MARINES 7, LIONS 1
Kim Tae Kyung and Yoshifumi Okada each had three hits -- including a double -- and drove in two, and Yoshihisa Naruse (8-7) went the distance as host Lotte smashed Seibu.
The Marines topped Seibu ace and last year’s Sawamura Award winner Hideaki Wakui (10-4) as Naruse tossed a five-hitter with 10 punchouts.
BUFFALOES 5, HAWKS 2
Alex Cabrera had a two-run homer and Shogo Akada had two hits and two RBIs to lead Orix past host SoftBank.
The Buffaloes won their fourth straight, their longest winning streak since the first week of the season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 10, GIANTS 8
Craig Brazell ripped his 27th homer, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, to give Hanshin the lead, and Takashi Toritani added a two-run shot in the ninth inning to finish off a wild win over Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Shinnosuke Abe popped his CL-best 27th homer in a two-run fourth, but Brazell tied him with his shot and the second-place Tigers moved to within three games of the Giants.
CARP 2, BAYSTARS 1
Yoshiyuki Ishihara’s RBI double in the seventh was the difference as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at the Zoom.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Maeda steps up ...
Soon-to-be All-Star top Giants
Kenta Maeda is showing why fans voted him into the All-Star for the first time.
The fourth-year Hiroshima Carp starter gave the front-running Yomiuri Giants a firsthand look at his work, dominating them in a 5-1 win Thursday at the Zoom.
The right-hander scattered four hits and a hit batter over the distance, firing 117 pitches for his third complete game.
Maeda (10-3) reached double digits in wins for the first time in his career, and matched Yomiuri’s Shun Tono as the Central League's only 10-game winners.
Akihiro Higashide had three hits and an RBI to help Maeda win his fifth straight at the Zoom. Maeda lowered his CL-leading ERA to 1.56 and fanned eight to improve his strikeout total to a league-best 104.
Masato Akamatsu got the Carp out in front in the first, tripling in a run with one out. Shigenobu Shima followed with an RBI base knock for a 2-0 advantage and Hiroshima eventually made it 5-0 before the Giants scored in the sixth inning.
TIGERS 5, DRAGONS 1
Matt Murton tied the score with an RBI single in the eighth inning, and Kenji Jojima capped a five-run rally with a two-run homer as Hanshin came back to beat Chunichi at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers had just three hits off Chunichi righty Kazuki Yoshimi (7-4) over seven innings, but Takahiro Arai followed Murton’s hit with a two-run single for the Tigers’ fourth straight hit.
Murton has hit safely in 16 straight games.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 7
Atsunori Inaba led four players with three hits, driving in two as Nippon Ham outlasted host Seibu to win their season-best sixth straight.
PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka had two hits, including a homer, and three RBIs as the defending league champs punched out a season-high 19 hits to reach .500 for the first time this season.
MARINES 7, HAWKS 2
Shunsuke Watanabe, the Sub-Marine, tossed his 26th career complete game, his second this year.
The righty scattered eight hits and a walk, while punching out five as Lotte won back-to-back games for the first time in a month.
BUFFALOES 10, EAGLES 0
Alex Cabrera hoomered twice and drove in six, and Takahiro Okada had his first career two-homer game as Orix pounded Rakuten at Kyocera Dome.
Chihiro Kaneko (5-7) fired a four-hitter, walking one and fanning seven for his third shutout this season.
Kenta Maeda is showing why fans voted him into the All-Star for the first time.
The fourth-year Hiroshima Carp starter gave the front-running Yomiuri Giants a firsthand look at his work, dominating them in a 5-1 win Thursday at the Zoom.
The right-hander scattered four hits and a hit batter over the distance, firing 117 pitches for his third complete game.
Maeda (10-3) reached double digits in wins for the first time in his career, and matched Yomiuri’s Shun Tono as the Central League's only 10-game winners.
Akihiro Higashide had three hits and an RBI to help Maeda win his fifth straight at the Zoom. Maeda lowered his CL-leading ERA to 1.56 and fanned eight to improve his strikeout total to a league-best 104.
Masato Akamatsu got the Carp out in front in the first, tripling in a run with one out. Shigenobu Shima followed with an RBI base knock for a 2-0 advantage and Hiroshima eventually made it 5-0 before the Giants scored in the sixth inning.
TIGERS 5, DRAGONS 1
Matt Murton tied the score with an RBI single in the eighth inning, and Kenji Jojima capped a five-run rally with a two-run homer as Hanshin came back to beat Chunichi at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers had just three hits off Chunichi righty Kazuki Yoshimi (7-4) over seven innings, but Takahiro Arai followed Murton’s hit with a two-run single for the Tigers’ fourth straight hit.
Murton has hit safely in 16 straight games.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 7
Atsunori Inaba led four players with three hits, driving in two as Nippon Ham outlasted host Seibu to win their season-best sixth straight.
PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka had two hits, including a homer, and three RBIs as the defending league champs punched out a season-high 19 hits to reach .500 for the first time this season.
MARINES 7, HAWKS 2
Shunsuke Watanabe, the Sub-Marine, tossed his 26th career complete game, his second this year.
The righty scattered eight hits and a walk, while punching out five as Lotte won back-to-back games for the first time in a month.
BUFFALOES 10, EAGLES 0
Alex Cabrera hoomered twice and drove in six, and Takahiro Okada had his first career two-homer game as Orix pounded Rakuten at Kyocera Dome.
Chihiro Kaneko (5-7) fired a four-hitter, walking one and fanning seven for his third shutout this season.
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