Kaneko continues victory
Chihiro Kaneko has been as hot as this year’s sticky summer.
The hurler, who was the top Pacific League pitcher of July with five wins, picked up his fifth of August with 6.1 innings of work Tuesday in an 8-4 win over the host Saitama Seibu Lions in a regional game at Maebashi.
It was the first time in 32 years -- since Yutaro Imai -- that a pitcher from the club, then known as Hankyu, has won five games in back-to-back months. Kaneko (14-7) gave up five hits and walked two, while fanning nine.
The sixth-year righty extended his career-best win total to14 with help from three relievers.
Mamoru Kishida escaped a bases-loaded, potentially game-tying jam in the ninth, by fanning Jose Fernandez to end the game.
EAGLES 8, MARINES 2
Hisashi Iwakuma (9-8) worked six shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks, to earn his 100th win as Rakuten topped host Lotte.
Ryo Hijirizawa was a homer shy of the cycle and had three RBIs to back Iwakuma, who reached the milestone in 205 games.
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
D. J. Houlton (8-6) went 5.1 and the SoftBank bullpen shut down Nippon Ham the rest of the way as the Hawks won at Sapporo Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 12, GIANTS 8
Ryuji Aikawa and Shingo Kawabata each had three hits and three RBIs to lead an 18-hit attack that gave Yakult a 12-2 lead, and it held off Yomiuri at Kanazawa.
The Swallows beat the Giants for the first straight time, the first time they’ve done that since 2003.
Kyohei Muranaka (10-7) allowed seven runs over 6.2 innings (and 146 pitches) and earned double digits in wins for the first time in his four-plus-year career.
TIGERS 13, BAYSTARS 1
Takashi Toritani led a 22-hit night at Koshien Stadium, collecting his club record 43rd hit this month as the Tigers clubbed Yokohama.
It was the third time in a week the Tigers have had at least 20 hits.
Slugger Craig Brazell drilled his 39 th homer, putting him three behind CL leader Alex Ramirez of Yomiuri.
DRAGONS 9, CARP 3
Chen Wei-yin (11-9) gave up two early runs but found a groove, as did Chunichi’s offense, in a romp over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki’s bases-clearing triple in the fourth gave Chunichi the lead, and Chen made it stand up by tossing two-run ball over seven innings.
Second-year import Tony Blanco had his first four-hit game in Japan, while Hiroshima rookie skipper Kenjiro Nomura got the boot for the first time.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Lions let out roar ...
Uemoto hits walk-off jack to lift Seibu, snap skid
Tatsuyuki Uemoto doesn’t get much playing time. The 79 games he has been in this represent his career high.
The backup catcher had different kind of career “high” on Sunday, slugging a walk-off homer to bring the Seibu Lions from the brink of defeat to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Seibu Dome.
Uemoto, who had four homers last year, matched his 2010 total with a three-run shot off Shinichiro Koyama (3-3).
It was his second sayonara hit, but his first walk-off homer and it halted a seven-game slide.
“I have a feeling this game will be a turning point for us,” said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe, whose third-place Lions were in first before the skid.
HAWKS 2, MARINES 1
In what looks like it will be a Climax Series preview, SoftBank showed off its shutdown bullpen, protecting a one-run lead over four innings to edge visiting Lotte.
Five of the Hawks’ 10 hits were infield singles -- two of them from Hitoshi Tamura, who beat out a roller to short for an RBI in the fourth that put SoftBank on top.
Takahiro Mahara finished it off for his 28th save.
BUFFALOES 9, FIGHTERS 6
Makoto Moriyama snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and Mitsutaka Goto followed with a triple as Orix rallied for three late runs to beat Nippon Ham at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Alex Cabrera had four hits to raise his average to .340, inching to two points behind PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka (.342) of Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 12, CARP 11
Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs, and Alex Ramirez had three hits and a run batted in as Yomiuri piled on the runs and held off host Hiroshima.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara hit his 29th longball to lead three others with two hits and two RBIs.
Micheal Nakamura relieved closer Marc Kroon in the ninth and earned his first CL save, his last one was Sept. 27, 2008, with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
BAYSTARS 2, DRAGONS 1
Tomokazu Oka (5-7) scattered eight hits over seven innings as Yokohama edged visiting Chunichi.
The Dragons had 10 hits, but hit into a pair of late-inning double plays to spoil their scoring chances.
TIGERS 12, SWALLOWS 5
Takashi Toritani went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, and Kenji Jojima went deep twice as Hanshin tore up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Craig Brazell cracked his 38th homer, one of 20 Hanshin hits, to move three shy of the CL lead.
Tatsuyuki Uemoto doesn’t get much playing time. The 79 games he has been in this represent his career high.
The backup catcher had different kind of career “high” on Sunday, slugging a walk-off homer to bring the Seibu Lions from the brink of defeat to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Seibu Dome.
Uemoto, who had four homers last year, matched his 2010 total with a three-run shot off Shinichiro Koyama (3-3).
It was his second sayonara hit, but his first walk-off homer and it halted a seven-game slide.
“I have a feeling this game will be a turning point for us,” said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe, whose third-place Lions were in first before the skid.
HAWKS 2, MARINES 1
In what looks like it will be a Climax Series preview, SoftBank showed off its shutdown bullpen, protecting a one-run lead over four innings to edge visiting Lotte.
Five of the Hawks’ 10 hits were infield singles -- two of them from Hitoshi Tamura, who beat out a roller to short for an RBI in the fourth that put SoftBank on top.
Takahiro Mahara finished it off for his 28th save.
BUFFALOES 9, FIGHTERS 6
Makoto Moriyama snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and Mitsutaka Goto followed with a triple as Orix rallied for three late runs to beat Nippon Ham at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Alex Cabrera had four hits to raise his average to .340, inching to two points behind PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka (.342) of Nippon Ham.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 12, CARP 11
Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs, and Alex Ramirez had three hits and a run batted in as Yomiuri piled on the runs and held off host Hiroshima.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara hit his 29th longball to lead three others with two hits and two RBIs.
Micheal Nakamura relieved closer Marc Kroon in the ninth and earned his first CL save, his last one was Sept. 27, 2008, with the Nippon Ham Fighters.
BAYSTARS 2, DRAGONS 1
Tomokazu Oka (5-7) scattered eight hits over seven innings as Yokohama edged visiting Chunichi.
The Dragons had 10 hits, but hit into a pair of late-inning double plays to spoil their scoring chances.
TIGERS 12, SWALLOWS 5
Takashi Toritani went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, and Kenji Jojima went deep twice as Hanshin tore up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Craig Brazell cracked his 38th homer, one of 20 Hanshin hits, to move three shy of the CL lead.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Ace gone wild ...
Sugiuchi walks 6 as Marines stroll past Hawks
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi went wild on Saturday, giving up a career-worst nine runs against the Lotte Marines.
His team battled back after falling behind by eight, but the result was a 9-6 win for the Marines, who pulled even with the Hawks in the Pacific League standings.
Lotte didn’t have to do much but sit back and watch Sugiuchi (15-6) self-destruct.
The southpaw, the league leader in wins and strikeouts, had six walks -- three with the bases loaded -- and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The only real damage from the Marines came from Shoitsu Omatsu, who made Sugiuchi pay for walking two in the first inning by blasting his 16th homer, a three-run shot.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits and a walk, and scored two runs to help torment Sugiuchi, who managed to strike out five.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (6-5) held the Hawks to a run over the first five innings, but gave up a two-run homer to Hitoshi Tamura, his 22nd, in a three-run sixth before departing.
BUFFALOES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Shinya Nakayama (1-2) shut down Hokkaido Nippon Ham over seven as the Orix won at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Nakayama, a fifth-year lefty making his third start this season, limited the Fighters to a run on five hits, while walking two and fanning three for his first win since June 7, 2008.
EAGLES 5, LIONS 5, 12 INNINGS
Seibu scored the game-tying run on Shinichiro Koyama’s wild pitch in the eighth and neither the Lions nor Rakuten could score another run in this year's longest PL game at 5 hours, 23 minutes.
The Lions are winless in their last eight.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Giancarlo Alvarado (6-6) and four relievers combined to hold Yomiuri to one run on 10 hits as Hiroshima won at The Zoom.
The Carp had just two hits, including a two-run homer by Jun Hirose in the sixth.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 3
Kazuhiro Wada hit a three-run and Masahiro Yamamoto (3-0) tossed 6.2 sharp innings as Chunichi topped host Yokohama.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 2
Matt Murton had four hits, including his 16th homer, Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each had three hits and two RBIs as Hanshin routed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi went wild on Saturday, giving up a career-worst nine runs against the Lotte Marines.
His team battled back after falling behind by eight, but the result was a 9-6 win for the Marines, who pulled even with the Hawks in the Pacific League standings.
Lotte didn’t have to do much but sit back and watch Sugiuchi (15-6) self-destruct.
The southpaw, the league leader in wins and strikeouts, had six walks -- three with the bases loaded -- and couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The only real damage from the Marines came from Shoitsu Omatsu, who made Sugiuchi pay for walking two in the first inning by blasting his 16th homer, a three-run shot.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka had two hits and a walk, and scored two runs to help torment Sugiuchi, who managed to strike out five.
Lefty Yuji Yoshimi (6-5) held the Hawks to a run over the first five innings, but gave up a two-run homer to Hitoshi Tamura, his 22nd, in a three-run sixth before departing.
BUFFALOES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Shinya Nakayama (1-2) shut down Hokkaido Nippon Ham over seven as the Orix won at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Nakayama, a fifth-year lefty making his third start this season, limited the Fighters to a run on five hits, while walking two and fanning three for his first win since June 7, 2008.
EAGLES 5, LIONS 5, 12 INNINGS
Seibu scored the game-tying run on Shinichiro Koyama’s wild pitch in the eighth and neither the Lions nor Rakuten could score another run in this year's longest PL game at 5 hours, 23 minutes.
The Lions are winless in their last eight.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Giancarlo Alvarado (6-6) and four relievers combined to hold Yomiuri to one run on 10 hits as Hiroshima won at The Zoom.
The Carp had just two hits, including a two-run homer by Jun Hirose in the sixth.
DRAGONS 5, BAYSTARS 3
Kazuhiro Wada hit a three-run and Masahiro Yamamoto (3-0) tossed 6.2 sharp innings as Chunichi topped host Yokohama.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 2
Matt Murton had four hits, including his 16th homer, Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each had three hits and two RBIs as Hanshin routed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Taking flight …
Hawks rise to top of PL
Hitoshi Tamura is having his best season in years and because of his contributions, the SoftBank Hawks have their eyes on the Pacific League title.
Tamura Friday drilled a three-run homer with two on and two out in the first inning and the Hawks held off the Lotte Marines 4-2 at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
It was homer No. 21 Tamura, his highest total since hitting 40 in 2004 with the Yokohama BayStars.
The win put the Hawks alone atop the standings for the first time in 20 days, but heading into the final month three teams bunched together. Tamura said the Hawks will drive hard to take the title.
“We have to make it happen, it won’t just happen by itself,” he said. “We have to work together as a team over the last 20 or so games and that’s what we aim to do.”
Fourth-year hurler Mitsuhiko Morifuku (1-0) got his first pro win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames. The shutdown trio of Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and Takahiro Mahara saved it for him with a scoreless inning each.
EAGLES 11, LIONS 3
Daisuke Kusano had three hits, including two doubles, and tied his career high with five RBIs as visiting Rakuten beat up on Seibu.
The Lions, who have lost seven straight, fell to a game behind league-leading SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 3, FIGHTERS 3, 12 INNINGS
Aarom Baldiris’ sac fly in the sixth inning was the last run scored as Orix and Nippon Ham tied at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 9, GIANTS 7, 11 INNINGS
Soichiro Amaya blasted a fastball from Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-2) into th e stands in right, a two-run, three-run shot and the second blast of the inning, for a walk-off win over Yomiuri at The Zoom.
Takahiro Iwamoto opened the inning with a video-review homer, a solo shot to center that hit a hand-held fan of a spectator whom the Giants thought was leaning over the fence. Umpires determined the fan was not in the field of play, and Yomiuri’s lead was cut to one.
Nomaguchi walked two before Amaya clubbed his sixth longball of the season.
SWALLOWS 6, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (8-5) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base, tossing a six-hitter for his second shutout and fifth straight victory as Yakult downed Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers lost for the sixth time in seven games, but stayed in second place.
BAYSTARS 3, DRAGONS 2, 12 INNINGS
Shinji Niinuma stroked a sayonara single off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-3) as host Yokohama edged the Dragons.
Hitoshi Tamura is having his best season in years and because of his contributions, the SoftBank Hawks have their eyes on the Pacific League title.
Tamura Friday drilled a three-run homer with two on and two out in the first inning and the Hawks held off the Lotte Marines 4-2 at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
It was homer No. 21 Tamura, his highest total since hitting 40 in 2004 with the Yokohama BayStars.
The win put the Hawks alone atop the standings for the first time in 20 days, but heading into the final month three teams bunched together. Tamura said the Hawks will drive hard to take the title.
“We have to make it happen, it won’t just happen by itself,” he said. “We have to work together as a team over the last 20 or so games and that’s what we aim to do.”
Fourth-year hurler Mitsuhiko Morifuku (1-0) got his first pro win in relief, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames. The shutdown trio of Tadashi Settsu, Brian Falkenborg and Takahiro Mahara saved it for him with a scoreless inning each.
EAGLES 11, LIONS 3
Daisuke Kusano had three hits, including two doubles, and tied his career high with five RBIs as visiting Rakuten beat up on Seibu.
The Lions, who have lost seven straight, fell to a game behind league-leading SoftBank.
BUFFALOES 3, FIGHTERS 3, 12 INNINGS
Aarom Baldiris’ sac fly in the sixth inning was the last run scored as Orix and Nippon Ham tied at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 9, GIANTS 7, 11 INNINGS
Soichiro Amaya blasted a fastball from Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-2) into th e stands in right, a two-run, three-run shot and the second blast of the inning, for a walk-off win over Yomiuri at The Zoom.
Takahiro Iwamoto opened the inning with a video-review homer, a solo shot to center that hit a hand-held fan of a spectator whom the Giants thought was leaning over the fence. Umpires determined the fan was not in the field of play, and Yomiuri’s lead was cut to one.
Nomaguchi walked two before Amaya clubbed his sixth longball of the season.
SWALLOWS 6, TIGERS 0
Shohei Tateyama (8-5) didn’t allow a runner to reach second base, tossing a six-hitter for his second shutout and fifth straight victory as Yakult downed Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers lost for the sixth time in seven games, but stayed in second place.
BAYSTARS 3, DRAGONS 2, 12 INNINGS
Shinji Niinuma stroked a sayonara single off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-3) as host Yokohama edged the Dragons.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The rise and fall ...
Marines boot Lions from top spot
The Lotte Marines left boot prints on the Seibu Lions after 2-1 victory Thursday at Chiba Marine Stadium that completed a three-game sweep.
The Marines booted the Lions out of first place in the Pacific League, and ended up in a tie for the top spot when SoftBank and Orix later tied.
The Marines hadn’t swept Seibu in three straight since 2005, but third-year righty Yuki Karakawa (6-3) allowed a first-inning run, then got in a grove and held the Lions to a run on five hits and a walk over eight innings for his career-high sixth victory.
Ikuhiro Kiyota’s scoring flyball in the eighth plated pinch-runner Yoshifumi Okada to give the Marines the lead, and Masahide Kobayashi worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save to send the Lions to their sixth straight loss.
The Marines, who have won six of seven, moved atop the standings for the first time in more than a month.
“We did it the way we usually do and that’s with everyone contributing. It was a nice game,” said Lotte skipper Norifumi Nishimura.
The Lions, meanwhile, dropped into third place in the crowded PL, 2 percentage point behind the leaders.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s RBI singled off host SoftBank closer Takahiro Mahara in the ninth and Orix as the Hawks played to a 12-inning tie.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 10, DRAGONS 4
Alex Ramirez led a six-homer barrage against Chunichi, five off starter Kazuki Yoshimi (11-7), and reached the 100-RBI plateau for the sixth straight season as Yomiuri cruised at Tokyo Dome and moved back into first place.
Ramirez cracked a mammoth three-run shot off the back wall in left field, and added a two-run shot in the seventh, his CL-best 41st, to give him 1,084 RBIs here in Japan.
It was the 40th longball for Ramirez, who has hit that figure three times.
Hayato Sakamoto hit Yoshimi’s first pitch for a homer, and added a solo blast in the second to give him 25. Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 18th and Michihiro Ogasawara hit his 27th.
CARP 6, TIGERS 1
Eric Stults (5-9) scattered six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 8.1 innings to beat Yakult at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Masato Akamatsu had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs to lead the Carp.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 3
Shuichi Murata had three hits and an RBI, and Terrmel Sledge homered to back Hitoshi Fujie (2-2), who went 6.2 strong innings as Yokohama beat up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
The Lotte Marines left boot prints on the Seibu Lions after 2-1 victory Thursday at Chiba Marine Stadium that completed a three-game sweep.
The Marines booted the Lions out of first place in the Pacific League, and ended up in a tie for the top spot when SoftBank and Orix later tied.
The Marines hadn’t swept Seibu in three straight since 2005, but third-year righty Yuki Karakawa (6-3) allowed a first-inning run, then got in a grove and held the Lions to a run on five hits and a walk over eight innings for his career-high sixth victory.
Ikuhiro Kiyota’s scoring flyball in the eighth plated pinch-runner Yoshifumi Okada to give the Marines the lead, and Masahide Kobayashi worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save to send the Lions to their sixth straight loss.
The Marines, who have won six of seven, moved atop the standings for the first time in more than a month.
“We did it the way we usually do and that’s with everyone contributing. It was a nice game,” said Lotte skipper Norifumi Nishimura.
The Lions, meanwhile, dropped into third place in the crowded PL, 2 percentage point behind the leaders.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s RBI singled off host SoftBank closer Takahiro Mahara in the ninth and Orix as the Hawks played to a 12-inning tie.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 10, DRAGONS 4
Alex Ramirez led a six-homer barrage against Chunichi, five off starter Kazuki Yoshimi (11-7), and reached the 100-RBI plateau for the sixth straight season as Yomiuri cruised at Tokyo Dome and moved back into first place.
Ramirez cracked a mammoth three-run shot off the back wall in left field, and added a two-run shot in the seventh, his CL-best 41st, to give him 1,084 RBIs here in Japan.
It was the 40th longball for Ramirez, who has hit that figure three times.
Hayato Sakamoto hit Yoshimi’s first pitch for a homer, and added a solo blast in the second to give him 25. Hisayoshi Chono slugged his 18th and Michihiro Ogasawara hit his 27th.
CARP 6, TIGERS 1
Eric Stults (5-9) scattered six hits with no walks and five strikeouts over 8.1 innings to beat Yakult at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Masato Akamatsu had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs to lead the Carp.
BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 3
Shuichi Murata had three hits and an RBI, and Terrmel Sledge homered to back Hitoshi Fujie (2-2), who went 6.2 strong innings as Yokohama beat up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A muffled roar …
Lions get slugger back, but can’t stop slide
The Seibu Lions got their slugger back and looked ready to bite back in the Pacific League pennant chase.
Instead, the Lotte Marines left them with a bad taste in their mouths at Chiba Marine Stadium on Wednesday.
Saburo Omura’s solo shot off reliever Kimiyasu Kudo (0-2) broke a tie in the eighth inning and gave the Marines a 3-2 win over the front-running Lions, who dropped their fifth straight.
Lotte has won five of six and moved a game behind the Lions and a half-game back of the Fukuoka Hawks. The Lions, who have been decimated by injuries, saw the return of cleanup man Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura -- out much of the season after opting to have surgery on his right elbow.
The slugger doubled and singled, but Saburo connected for his 16th longball, his only hit in four at-bats, while Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits and scored on a wild pitch for the Marines.
Kudo, a 47-year-old lefty in his 29th year, has been ineffective, to say the most.
His WHIP coming into the game was 2.44 and his ERA after .2 innings climbed to 10.50. He has allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings this season.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 2
Chihiro Kaneko scattered four hits over eight innings to win his ninth straight decision, giving him a career-best 13th victory as Orix topped SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera and Tomotaka Sakaguchi each had two hits and an RBI to back Kaneko (13-7), who fanned a career-best-tying 12.
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano added to his league-leading RBI total, driving in three with a double and two singles as visiting Nippon Ham downed Rakuten.
TIGERS 22, CARP8
A five-run deficit was not much of a roadblock for Hanshin, which scored a club-record 22 runs on 20 hits to come back and smash Hiroshima at Kyocera Dome Osaka to halt a four-game skid.
Tomoaki Kanemoto highlighted a seven–run seventh with a go-ahead grand slam, and Takashi Toritani and Kenji Jojima added two of Hanshin’s five longballs in a win that moved the Tigers back into first place.
DRAGONS 5, GIANTS 2
Daisuke Yamai (6-4) worked 7.1 sharp innings, and Masahiko Morino doubled in the eventual game-winning run to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning as Chunichi beat host Yomiuri for the fourth time in five meetings.
SWALLOWS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and host Yakult held off a late Yokohama rally to win its third straight.
The Seibu Lions got their slugger back and looked ready to bite back in the Pacific League pennant chase.
Instead, the Lotte Marines left them with a bad taste in their mouths at Chiba Marine Stadium on Wednesday.
Saburo Omura’s solo shot off reliever Kimiyasu Kudo (0-2) broke a tie in the eighth inning and gave the Marines a 3-2 win over the front-running Lions, who dropped their fifth straight.
Lotte has won five of six and moved a game behind the Lions and a half-game back of the Fukuoka Hawks. The Lions, who have been decimated by injuries, saw the return of cleanup man Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura -- out much of the season after opting to have surgery on his right elbow.
The slugger doubled and singled, but Saburo connected for his 16th longball, his only hit in four at-bats, while Tsuyoshi Nishioka had three hits and scored on a wild pitch for the Marines.
Kudo, a 47-year-old lefty in his 29th year, has been ineffective, to say the most.
His WHIP coming into the game was 2.44 and his ERA after .2 innings climbed to 10.50. He has allowed six runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings this season.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 2
Chihiro Kaneko scattered four hits over eight innings to win his ninth straight decision, giving him a career-best 13th victory as Orix topped SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Alex Cabrera and Tomotaka Sakaguchi each had two hits and an RBI to back Kaneko (13-7), who fanned a career-best-tying 12.
FIGHTERS 11, EAGLES 4
Eiichi Koyano added to his league-leading RBI total, driving in three with a double and two singles as visiting Nippon Ham downed Rakuten.
TIGERS 22, CARP8
A five-run deficit was not much of a roadblock for Hanshin, which scored a club-record 22 runs on 20 hits to come back and smash Hiroshima at Kyocera Dome Osaka to halt a four-game skid.
Tomoaki Kanemoto highlighted a seven–run seventh with a go-ahead grand slam, and Takashi Toritani and Kenji Jojima added two of Hanshin’s five longballs in a win that moved the Tigers back into first place.
DRAGONS 5, GIANTS 2
Daisuke Yamai (6-4) worked 7.1 sharp innings, and Masahiko Morino doubled in the eventual game-winning run to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning as Chunichi beat host Yomiuri for the fourth time in five meetings.
SWALLOWS 7, BAYSTARS 6
Norichika Aoki went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and host Yakult held off a late Yokohama rally to win its third straight.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
What a difference ...
Giants move back into 1st
Less than a week ago, the Yomiuri Giants had fallen into third place in the Central League and were kicking themselves.
After beating the Chunichi Dragons 6-4 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome, the three-time defending league champs were kicking back and enjoying the view from first place.
Yomiuri's fourth consecutive victory, coupled with the Hanshin Tigers’ loss, put the Giants back atop the standings.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara busted up a tie with his 26th homer, a solo blast, and rookie Hisayoshi Chono collected his third hit--an RBI single--in a two-run eighth that lifted the Giants past Chunichi.
“I just wanted to take good swings and happened to get a hold of that one,” said Ogasawara, who is four longballs from hitting the 30 mark for the sixth straight season.
It wasn’t all good news for the Giants. Starter Seth Greisinger allowed four runs in the fifth inning, lasting 4.2 frames before departing. The trainer came out to the mound after Tony Blanco led off with a loud solo shot, and Kei Nomoto made a loud out on a one-hopper to second base.
Greisinger stayed in and got one more out before letting the Dragons tie the score at 4-4.
Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara refused to give details of why he removed the right-hander, who is coming off elbow surgery in the offseason.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb in the fifth when he argued a close play at first base for more than the five-minute limit.
The Dragons, who moved into second place with a three-game sweep of the Giants last week, are in third, 4.5 games ahead of Yakult in the race the third and final Climax Series spot.
CARP 6, TIGERS 5
Shigenobu Shima took Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-2) deep with one out in the ninth inning, and Ryuji Yokoyama put the tying and go-ahead runs on before recording his sixth save as Hiroshima won at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers fell out of at least a tie for first place for the first time since Aug. 14.
SWALLOWS 13, BAYSTARS 5
Josh Whitesell had two hits, including his 11th homer, and drove in a pair of runs, and visiting Yokohama contributed two big errors as Yakult won a laugher at home to get back to .500 after being as many as 19 games under in June.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 9, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura had a tie-breaking two-run single in a five-run fifth, and Saburo Omura capped the rally with his 16th longball, a two-run shot as host Lotte routed front-running Seibu.
The Marines moved to within two games of the top spot after the Lions lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Seibu’s Yasuyuki Kataoka became the fifth player to steal 50 bases over three straight seasons when he swiped second in the first inning.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 4
Hitoshi Tamura slugged his first grand slam since 2004 when he was with Yokohama--and just the second of his 16-year career, as SoftBank edged Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome to move to within a half-game of the top spot.
Tamura reached the 20-homer mark for the first time in five years to back D.J. Houlton (7-6), who won for the first time since July 19.
EAGLES 4, FIGHTERS 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (8-8) scattered four hits over eight innings, and Takeshi Yamasaki knocked in a pair of runs as Rakuten topped visiting Nippon Ham.
It was victory No. 99 for Iwakuma.
Less than a week ago, the Yomiuri Giants had fallen into third place in the Central League and were kicking themselves.
After beating the Chunichi Dragons 6-4 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome, the three-time defending league champs were kicking back and enjoying the view from first place.
Yomiuri's fourth consecutive victory, coupled with the Hanshin Tigers’ loss, put the Giants back atop the standings.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara busted up a tie with his 26th homer, a solo blast, and rookie Hisayoshi Chono collected his third hit--an RBI single--in a two-run eighth that lifted the Giants past Chunichi.
“I just wanted to take good swings and happened to get a hold of that one,” said Ogasawara, who is four longballs from hitting the 30 mark for the sixth straight season.
It wasn’t all good news for the Giants. Starter Seth Greisinger allowed four runs in the fifth inning, lasting 4.2 frames before departing. The trainer came out to the mound after Tony Blanco led off with a loud solo shot, and Kei Nomoto made a loud out on a one-hopper to second base.
Greisinger stayed in and got one more out before letting the Dragons tie the score at 4-4.
Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara refused to give details of why he removed the right-hander, who is coming off elbow surgery in the offseason.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai got the thumb in the fifth when he argued a close play at first base for more than the five-minute limit.
The Dragons, who moved into second place with a three-game sweep of the Giants last week, are in third, 4.5 games ahead of Yakult in the race the third and final Climax Series spot.
CARP 6, TIGERS 5
Shigenobu Shima took Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-2) deep with one out in the ninth inning, and Ryuji Yokoyama put the tying and go-ahead runs on before recording his sixth save as Hiroshima won at Koshien Stadium.
The Tigers fell out of at least a tie for first place for the first time since Aug. 14.
SWALLOWS 13, BAYSTARS 5
Josh Whitesell had two hits, including his 11th homer, and drove in a pair of runs, and visiting Yokohama contributed two big errors as Yakult won a laugher at home to get back to .500 after being as many as 19 games under in June.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 9, LIONS 2
Kazuya Fukuura had a tie-breaking two-run single in a five-run fifth, and Saburo Omura capped the rally with his 16th longball, a two-run shot as host Lotte routed front-running Seibu.
The Marines moved to within two games of the top spot after the Lions lost for the sixth time in eight games.
Seibu’s Yasuyuki Kataoka became the fifth player to steal 50 bases over three straight seasons when he swiped second in the first inning.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 4
Hitoshi Tamura slugged his first grand slam since 2004 when he was with Yokohama--and just the second of his 16-year career, as SoftBank edged Orix at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome to move to within a half-game of the top spot.
Tamura reached the 20-homer mark for the first time in five years to back D.J. Houlton (7-6), who won for the first time since July 19.
EAGLES 4, FIGHTERS 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (8-8) scattered four hits over eight innings, and Takeshi Yamasaki knocked in a pair of runs as Rakuten topped visiting Nippon Ham.
It was victory No. 99 for Iwakuma.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Going the distance …
Takeda shuts down Lions for career-best 11th win
A consistent contributor to Nippon Ham’s three Pacific League titles the past four seasons, Masaru Takeda had never won more than 10 games.
He reached his career-high 11th win on Sunday, shutting down the front-running Seibu Lions over the distance in a 4-1 win at Sapporo Dome.
The fifth-year pro, who has six losses, fired just 89 pitches to set down the Lions, allowing five hits with no walks, while fanning six.
He surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth.
Eiichi Koyano and Tomohiro Nioka each had two-run singles in a four-run first inning as the Fighters won their fourth straight.
Koyano moved into the PL lead for RBIs with 92.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada cracked his 29th and 30th homers, the latter in a four-run sixth that lifted Orix past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Keiji Obiki’s single put the Buffaloes up and helped them avoid a sweep.
EAGLES 4, HAWKS 0
Masahiro Tanaka (11-5) scattered 10 hits with no walks and nine Ks to record his first shutout since May 20 last year as Rakuten avoided a sweep to SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.
The Eagles scored three in the first with the help of four walks from Hawks starter Shinsuke Ogura (4-7), who got just two outs, and two errors.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, TIGERS 0
Hideki Asai (2-1) tossed six scoreless innings, and Hayato Sakamoto continued his best power season, smacking his 24 th homer as host Yomiuri completed a sweep of Hanshin.
The Giants moved to within percentage points of first place, in a virtual tie with the Tigers atop the standings.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Yashushi Iihara slapped a bases-loaded single to right to cap a two-run, ninth inning off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-2) as Yakult rallied to win at Nagoya Dome.
Hiroyasu Tanaka’s dribbler to short against a drawn-in infield tied the score. Lim Chang Yong loaded the bases in the ninth before recording his 26th save.
CARP 6, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose homered and Yuki Saito (3-4) scattered eight hits and two walks as Hiroshima routed Yokohama at The Zoom.
A consistent contributor to Nippon Ham’s three Pacific League titles the past four seasons, Masaru Takeda had never won more than 10 games.
He reached his career-high 11th win on Sunday, shutting down the front-running Seibu Lions over the distance in a 4-1 win at Sapporo Dome.
The fifth-year pro, who has six losses, fired just 89 pitches to set down the Lions, allowing five hits with no walks, while fanning six.
He surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth.
Eiichi Koyano and Tomohiro Nioka each had two-run singles in a four-run first inning as the Fighters won their fourth straight.
Koyano moved into the PL lead for RBIs with 92.
BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada cracked his 29th and 30th homers, the latter in a four-run sixth that lifted Orix past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Keiji Obiki’s single put the Buffaloes up and helped them avoid a sweep.
EAGLES 4, HAWKS 0
Masahiro Tanaka (11-5) scattered 10 hits with no walks and nine Ks to record his first shutout since May 20 last year as Rakuten avoided a sweep to SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.
The Eagles scored three in the first with the help of four walks from Hawks starter Shinsuke Ogura (4-7), who got just two outs, and two errors.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, TIGERS 0
Hideki Asai (2-1) tossed six scoreless innings, and Hayato Sakamoto continued his best power season, smacking his 24 th homer as host Yomiuri completed a sweep of Hanshin.
The Giants moved to within percentage points of first place, in a virtual tie with the Tigers atop the standings.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Yashushi Iihara slapped a bases-loaded single to right to cap a two-run, ninth inning off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-2) as Yakult rallied to win at Nagoya Dome.
Hiroyasu Tanaka’s dribbler to short against a drawn-in infield tied the score. Lim Chang Yong loaded the bases in the ninth before recording his 26th save.
CARP 6, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose homered and Yuki Saito (3-4) scattered eight hits and two walks as Hiroshima routed Yokohama at The Zoom.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Tigers fall down in showdown ...
Abe hits 37th as Giants power toward top
The Hanshin Tigers are riding high as the Central League front-runners, but they had to send a rookie debutant to the mound Saturday in a showdown against the three-time defending league champion Yomiuri Giants.
Hanshin righty Takumi Akiyama (0-1) flopped as Ryota Wakiya tripled in a pair of runs in the sixth to put Yomiuri in the lead, and Giants won going away 8-3 to shave the Tigers’ CL lead to one game.
Shinnosuke Abe cracked his 37th homer, a three-run blast in the seventh, and Yasunori Takagi (1-0), an offseason pickup from the Orix Buffaloes, earned his first CL win with a socreless sixth.
Wakiya, whose wife delivered a daughter on Thursday, made up for being hitless in a recent three-game sweep to the third-place Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya.
He added a sinlge in the eighth to raise his average to .296.
Matt Murton’s solo shot in the third got the Tigers even, and Tomoaki Kanemoto hit a solo blast to give Hanshin the a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
But Akiyama, who allowed four runs on six hits and three walks, couldn’t hold the lead.
DRAGONS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Lefty Masahiro Yamamoto (2-0) wobbled through 5.1 innings, but got the win as Tony Blanco homered and Kyohei Oda hit a scoring flyball in a three-run second to power Chunichi past Yakult at Nagoya Dome.
A day after having their 12-game home winning streak snapped, the Dragons bounced back to win on only fout hits.
The 45-year-old Yamamoto became the first hurler since 1948 to win back-to-back decisions at his age.
CARP 5, BAYSTARS 4
Soichiro Amaya’s RBI single in the sixth capped a four-run rally, and Hiroshima hung up to edge Yokohama at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 7, BUFFALOES 6, 11 INNINGS
Shoitsu Omatsu capped a comeback from an early five-run deficit with his first walk-off homer as Lotte ended a 4-hour, 37-minute struggle with Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Tadahito Iguchi answered Francisco Caraballo’s fourth-inning grand slam with a bases-loaded shot of his own in the fifth to power the Marines.
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 4
Sho Nakata broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth with a scoring flyball as Nippon Ham edged front-running Seibu at Sapporo Dome.
The Lions’ lead is down 1.5 games over SoftBank, which beat Rakuten.
HAWKS 13, EAGLES 1
Tomoaki Egawa led four players with two hits by driving in three as SoftBank routed Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
The Hanshin Tigers are riding high as the Central League front-runners, but they had to send a rookie debutant to the mound Saturday in a showdown against the three-time defending league champion Yomiuri Giants.
Hanshin righty Takumi Akiyama (0-1) flopped as Ryota Wakiya tripled in a pair of runs in the sixth to put Yomiuri in the lead, and Giants won going away 8-3 to shave the Tigers’ CL lead to one game.
Shinnosuke Abe cracked his 37th homer, a three-run blast in the seventh, and Yasunori Takagi (1-0), an offseason pickup from the Orix Buffaloes, earned his first CL win with a socreless sixth.
Wakiya, whose wife delivered a daughter on Thursday, made up for being hitless in a recent three-game sweep to the third-place Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya.
He added a sinlge in the eighth to raise his average to .296.
Matt Murton’s solo shot in the third got the Tigers even, and Tomoaki Kanemoto hit a solo blast to give Hanshin the a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
But Akiyama, who allowed four runs on six hits and three walks, couldn’t hold the lead.
DRAGONS 3, SWALLOWS 2
Lefty Masahiro Yamamoto (2-0) wobbled through 5.1 innings, but got the win as Tony Blanco homered and Kyohei Oda hit a scoring flyball in a three-run second to power Chunichi past Yakult at Nagoya Dome.
A day after having their 12-game home winning streak snapped, the Dragons bounced back to win on only fout hits.
The 45-year-old Yamamoto became the first hurler since 1948 to win back-to-back decisions at his age.
CARP 5, BAYSTARS 4
Soichiro Amaya’s RBI single in the sixth capped a four-run rally, and Hiroshima hung up to edge Yokohama at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 7, BUFFALOES 6, 11 INNINGS
Shoitsu Omatsu capped a comeback from an early five-run deficit with his first walk-off homer as Lotte ended a 4-hour, 37-minute struggle with Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Tadahito Iguchi answered Francisco Caraballo’s fourth-inning grand slam with a bases-loaded shot of his own in the fifth to power the Marines.
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 4
Sho Nakata broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth with a scoring flyball as Nippon Ham edged front-running Seibu at Sapporo Dome.
The Lions’ lead is down 1.5 games over SoftBank, which beat Rakuten.
HAWKS 13, EAGLES 1
Tomoaki Egawa led four players with two hits by driving in three as SoftBank routed Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Friday, August 20, 2010
All good things …
Birds swoop in, halt Dragons’ streak
The Chunichi Dragons’ winning streaks and climb toward the top of the Central League standings came to fiery end on Friday at Nagoya Dome.
Shohei Tateyama handcuffed the Dragons on four hits over the distance, and Norichika Aoiki homered and walked to help the fourth-place Yakult Swallows halt Chunichi’s club-record-tying home winning streak at 12 in a 3-0 shutout.
The win was the sixth straight for Yakult over Chunichi, which in turn had its seven-game winning string snapped.
The Dragons’ short stint in second place, a half-game ahead of the three-time defending CL champion Yomiuri Giants, lasted less than 24 hours.
Tateyama (7-5) won for the fifth time in six starts, fanning six and walking none. He retired his last nine batters, punching out four along the way.
Chunichi starter Maximo Nelson (2-2) wasn’t sharp, allowing three runs on four hits, four walks and three hit batters in 5.1 innings.
Two of three Chunichi relievers each a batter as the Dragons tied the single-game CL record with five.
GIANTS 12, TIGERS 5
Alex Ramirez went 3-for-4, hit his CL-best 39th homer and drove in three, and Edgar Gonzalez homered and also had three RBIs as Yomiuri crushed Hanshin at Tokyo Dome.
The win moved the Giants back into second place, a half-game ahead of Chunichi.
Shinnosuke Abe extended his career-best longball total to 36 with a solo blast in the fifth, and Hayato Sakamoto increased his career-high homer total to 23 with a two-run shot in the second.
BAYSTARS 4, CARP 3
Toshiki Kurobane's two-run single to center in the seventh were his first runs driven in as a pro and gave Yokohama the lead, and the BayStars got four scoreless innings of relief to edge Hiroshima at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 4, 10 INNINGS
Yuji Iiyama slugged a clutch game-tying, three-run homer in the ninth off Seibu closer Brian Sikorski, and Takayuki Takaguchi drove in the game-winner with a 10th-inning, walk-off double as Nippon Ham came back at Sapporo Dome.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Kazuya Fukuura had a two-run single in the fourth and Tadahito Iguchi singled in a run in the fifth to back Yoshihisa Naruse (10-10), who pitched one-run ball over 7.2 innings for a win over Orix at Chiba Marines Stadium.
HAWKS 5, EAGLES 2
Hiroki Kokubo went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and four RBIs to lead SoftBank past Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
The Chunichi Dragons’ winning streaks and climb toward the top of the Central League standings came to fiery end on Friday at Nagoya Dome.
Shohei Tateyama handcuffed the Dragons on four hits over the distance, and Norichika Aoiki homered and walked to help the fourth-place Yakult Swallows halt Chunichi’s club-record-tying home winning streak at 12 in a 3-0 shutout.
The win was the sixth straight for Yakult over Chunichi, which in turn had its seven-game winning string snapped.
The Dragons’ short stint in second place, a half-game ahead of the three-time defending CL champion Yomiuri Giants, lasted less than 24 hours.
Tateyama (7-5) won for the fifth time in six starts, fanning six and walking none. He retired his last nine batters, punching out four along the way.
Chunichi starter Maximo Nelson (2-2) wasn’t sharp, allowing three runs on four hits, four walks and three hit batters in 5.1 innings.
Two of three Chunichi relievers each a batter as the Dragons tied the single-game CL record with five.
GIANTS 12, TIGERS 5
Alex Ramirez went 3-for-4, hit his CL-best 39th homer and drove in three, and Edgar Gonzalez homered and also had three RBIs as Yomiuri crushed Hanshin at Tokyo Dome.
The win moved the Giants back into second place, a half-game ahead of Chunichi.
Shinnosuke Abe extended his career-best longball total to 36 with a solo blast in the fifth, and Hayato Sakamoto increased his career-high homer total to 23 with a two-run shot in the second.
BAYSTARS 4, CARP 3
Toshiki Kurobane's two-run single to center in the seventh were his first runs driven in as a pro and gave Yokohama the lead, and the BayStars got four scoreless innings of relief to edge Hiroshima at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 4, 10 INNINGS
Yuji Iiyama slugged a clutch game-tying, three-run homer in the ninth off Seibu closer Brian Sikorski, and Takayuki Takaguchi drove in the game-winner with a 10th-inning, walk-off double as Nippon Ham came back at Sapporo Dome.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Kazuya Fukuura had a two-run single in the fourth and Tadahito Iguchi singled in a run in the fifth to back Yoshihisa Naruse (10-10), who pitched one-run ball over 7.2 innings for a win over Orix at Chiba Marines Stadium.
HAWKS 5, EAGLES 2
Hiroki Kokubo went 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and four RBIs to lead SoftBank past Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The mighty have fallen … into 3rd place ...
Dragons sweep Giants, move into 2nd
Back in May JBD predicted a boring Central League regular season with the Yomiuri Giants powering their way to the regular-season title.
The plug was pulled on that theory last month when Giants lacked run prevention, and it seems the backup generators have gone out after a 3-0 shutout loss at Nagoya Dome on Thursday.
Kazuki Yoshimi (11-6) notched his first shutout of the season, the seventh of his career, tossing a five-hitter in the Chunichi Dragons’ second three-game sweep of Yomiuri at their dome this year.
The Dragons became the first CL team to win 60 games and pushed the Giants into third place. The victory was Chunichi’s 12th straight at home, tying a franchise record set in 1954 (a Japan Series championship year), and their seventh straight win overall to move a season-best 11 games over .500 for a half-game lead over Yomiuri. It's their longest winning streak at Nagoya Dome.
Yoshimi fanned a career-best-tying 11, while walking one. He was perfect through 4.2 innings until Edgar Gonzalez scratched out a single.
Yoshimi’s biggest jam came in the sixth when he struck out Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara with runners on second and third to end the inning. The Giants put two on in the seventh, but Yoshimi retired Ryota Wakiya and Yoshiyuki Kamei to escape that pinch.
Masahiro Araki had three hits, including a second-inning, two-run single, and Kohei Oda doubled in Naomichi Donoue with two outs in the seventh to back Yoshimi.
SWALLOWS 7, CAPR 2
Shinya Miyamoto capped a five-run first with a three-run homer, and Yoshinori Sato (9-6) made it through eight innings on a career-high 144 pitches as Yakult routed Hiroshima at The Zoom.
TIGERS 10, BAYSTARS 4
Takahiro Arai cracked a two-run homer and had a career-high six RBIs as front-running Hanshin won its fifth straight in a rout at Yokohama.
Hanshin plays host to Yomiuri in a three-game weekend set.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 5, HAWKS 1
Jose Fernandez cracked his fifth homer, a solo blast n the fourth, and added a two-run single in the fifth as Seibu shut down SoftBank at Seibu Dome.
The first-place Lions moved 17 games over .500 and pushed their PL lead over SoftBank 3.5 games.
BUFFALOES 6, EAGLES 5
Shinji Shimoyama took Hiroshi Katayama (1-2) deep for his first homer of the season to give Orix a walk-off win over Rakuten at Skymark Stadium.
Tomotaka Sakaguchi had three hits and two RBIs for Orix, which moved back to .500.
MARINES 7, FIGHTERS 0
Yuki Karakawa (5-3) fired a four-hitter, and Saburo Omura belted his fourth career grand slam as Lotte blanked host Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
Back in May JBD predicted a boring Central League regular season with the Yomiuri Giants powering their way to the regular-season title.
The plug was pulled on that theory last month when Giants lacked run prevention, and it seems the backup generators have gone out after a 3-0 shutout loss at Nagoya Dome on Thursday.
Kazuki Yoshimi (11-6) notched his first shutout of the season, the seventh of his career, tossing a five-hitter in the Chunichi Dragons’ second three-game sweep of Yomiuri at their dome this year.
The Dragons became the first CL team to win 60 games and pushed the Giants into third place. The victory was Chunichi’s 12th straight at home, tying a franchise record set in 1954 (a Japan Series championship year), and their seventh straight win overall to move a season-best 11 games over .500 for a half-game lead over Yomiuri. It's their longest winning streak at Nagoya Dome.
Yoshimi fanned a career-best-tying 11, while walking one. He was perfect through 4.2 innings until Edgar Gonzalez scratched out a single.
Yoshimi’s biggest jam came in the sixth when he struck out Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara with runners on second and third to end the inning. The Giants put two on in the seventh, but Yoshimi retired Ryota Wakiya and Yoshiyuki Kamei to escape that pinch.
Masahiro Araki had three hits, including a second-inning, two-run single, and Kohei Oda doubled in Naomichi Donoue with two outs in the seventh to back Yoshimi.
SWALLOWS 7, CAPR 2
Shinya Miyamoto capped a five-run first with a three-run homer, and Yoshinori Sato (9-6) made it through eight innings on a career-high 144 pitches as Yakult routed Hiroshima at The Zoom.
TIGERS 10, BAYSTARS 4
Takahiro Arai cracked a two-run homer and had a career-high six RBIs as front-running Hanshin won its fifth straight in a rout at Yokohama.
Hanshin plays host to Yomiuri in a three-game weekend set.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 5, HAWKS 1
Jose Fernandez cracked his fifth homer, a solo blast n the fourth, and added a two-run single in the fifth as Seibu shut down SoftBank at Seibu Dome.
The first-place Lions moved 17 games over .500 and pushed their PL lead over SoftBank 3.5 games.
BUFFALOES 6, EAGLES 5
Shinji Shimoyama took Hiroshi Katayama (1-2) deep for his first homer of the season to give Orix a walk-off win over Rakuten at Skymark Stadium.
Tomotaka Sakaguchi had three hits and two RBIs for Orix, which moved back to .500.
MARINES 7, FIGHTERS 0
Yuki Karakawa (5-3) fired a four-hitter, and Saburo Omura belted his fourth career grand slam as Lotte blanked host Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Oh, no ... no no-no ...
Yamai comes close … again
The Chunichi Dragons’ Daisuke Yamai didn’t just flirt with a no-hitter, he proposed.
But the 32-year-old righty, who went eight perfect innings in Chunichi’s Game 5 Japan Series clincher in 2007, had to settle for a wait-and-see after he carried a no-no into the ninth inning before giving up a solo shot in the Dragons' 3-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants 3-1 on Wednesday at Nagoya Dome.
Yamai (5-4) hung a slider to Hayato Sakamoto, who drove it out to left for his 22nd longball. Skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai then went to closer Hitoki Iwase, who walked a batter before slamming the door for his 32nd save.
It was a Nagoya Dome-record 11th straight win (their sixth straight overall), but the first thing Yamai did was poke fun at himself.
“It figures -- I could only go eight innings. I apologize for that,” said Yamai, who admitted thinking about a no-no.
“I had walked some guys and hit a guy, but around the sixth or seventh inning, I was aware I had a no-hitter," said Yamai, who walked two and hit one, while fanning eight.
“We found a way to win yesterday and we wanted to win today to clinch the series against the Giants, who are above us in the standings, so we can overtake them. That was my mindset when I took the mound today.”
Yamai was yanked in Game 5 of the Series, with long-suffering Chunichi fans dying to see a championship on home turf after a drought of more than 50 years, so Ochiai went to his closer that day. This time, Yamai -- who was missing catcher Motonobu Tanishige’s target badly in the eighth but got through -- had his chance but couldn’t make history.
The Dragons, who were eight games back of then-front-running Yomiuri on Aug. 1, pulled to within a half-game of the second-place Giants in the Central League, and can shove them into third with a series sweep.
Yamai, the had been up and down the first half of the season, but was the hurler who kicked off Chunichi’s club- and league-record string of five consecutive shutouts and a NPB-record 50 straight scoreless innings pitched in July.
He was trying to be the first hurler in Japan to toss a no-no since teammate Masahiro Yamamoto no-hit Hanshin at Nagoya Dome on Sept. 16, 2006.
SWALLOWS 14, CARP 5
Norichika Aoki had four hits and four RBIs, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered and drove in four as Yakult toyed with Hiroshima at The Zoom.
TIGERS 11, BAYSTARS 2
Craig Brazell and Lin Wei-chu each homered twice as front-running Hanshin pounded host Yokohaha senseless.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 4, HAWKS 3
Kazuhisa Ishii (7-4) went 6.1 innings for his first win since May 26 and Brian Sikorski survived a double and a walk in the ninth inning to earn his 30th save as front-running Seibu topped SoftBank and increased its PL lead over the Hawks to 2.5 games.
The Lions improved to 4-1 against PL wins co-leader Tsuyoshi Wada (14-6) with a four-run fourth, capped by Takumi Kuriyama’s two-run single.
FIGHTERS 7, MARINES 5
Yoshio Itoi had two hits, including his 14th homer -- one off his career best -- and Nippon Ham used two three-run innings to top Lotte in a home game at Tokyo Dome.
EAGLES 11, BUFFALOES 1
Teppei Tsuchiya had three hits and two RBIs, and one of Takeshi Yamasaki’s two hits was his 22nd homer, a two-run shot that helped Rakuten batter Orix at Skymark Stadium.
The Chunichi Dragons’ Daisuke Yamai didn’t just flirt with a no-hitter, he proposed.
But the 32-year-old righty, who went eight perfect innings in Chunichi’s Game 5 Japan Series clincher in 2007, had to settle for a wait-and-see after he carried a no-no into the ninth inning before giving up a solo shot in the Dragons' 3-1 win over the Yomiuri Giants 3-1 on Wednesday at Nagoya Dome.
Yamai (5-4) hung a slider to Hayato Sakamoto, who drove it out to left for his 22nd longball. Skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai then went to closer Hitoki Iwase, who walked a batter before slamming the door for his 32nd save.
It was a Nagoya Dome-record 11th straight win (their sixth straight overall), but the first thing Yamai did was poke fun at himself.
“It figures -- I could only go eight innings. I apologize for that,” said Yamai, who admitted thinking about a no-no.
“I had walked some guys and hit a guy, but around the sixth or seventh inning, I was aware I had a no-hitter," said Yamai, who walked two and hit one, while fanning eight.
“We found a way to win yesterday and we wanted to win today to clinch the series against the Giants, who are above us in the standings, so we can overtake them. That was my mindset when I took the mound today.”
Yamai was yanked in Game 5 of the Series, with long-suffering Chunichi fans dying to see a championship on home turf after a drought of more than 50 years, so Ochiai went to his closer that day. This time, Yamai -- who was missing catcher Motonobu Tanishige’s target badly in the eighth but got through -- had his chance but couldn’t make history.
The Dragons, who were eight games back of then-front-running Yomiuri on Aug. 1, pulled to within a half-game of the second-place Giants in the Central League, and can shove them into third with a series sweep.
Yamai, the had been up and down the first half of the season, but was the hurler who kicked off Chunichi’s club- and league-record string of five consecutive shutouts and a NPB-record 50 straight scoreless innings pitched in July.
He was trying to be the first hurler in Japan to toss a no-no since teammate Masahiro Yamamoto no-hit Hanshin at Nagoya Dome on Sept. 16, 2006.
SWALLOWS 14, CARP 5
Norichika Aoki had four hits and four RBIs, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered and drove in four as Yakult toyed with Hiroshima at The Zoom.
TIGERS 11, BAYSTARS 2
Craig Brazell and Lin Wei-chu each homered twice as front-running Hanshin pounded host Yokohaha senseless.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 4, HAWKS 3
Kazuhisa Ishii (7-4) went 6.1 innings for his first win since May 26 and Brian Sikorski survived a double and a walk in the ninth inning to earn his 30th save as front-running Seibu topped SoftBank and increased its PL lead over the Hawks to 2.5 games.
The Lions improved to 4-1 against PL wins co-leader Tsuyoshi Wada (14-6) with a four-run fourth, capped by Takumi Kuriyama’s two-run single.
FIGHTERS 7, MARINES 5
Yoshio Itoi had two hits, including his 14th homer -- one off his career best -- and Nippon Ham used two three-run innings to top Lotte in a home game at Tokyo Dome.
EAGLES 11, BUFFALOES 1
Teppei Tsuchiya had three hits and two RBIs, and one of Takeshi Yamasaki’s two hits was his 22nd homer, a two-run shot that helped Rakuten batter Orix at Skymark Stadium.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tighter than ever ...
Dragons keep string going, top Giants
Tony Blanco made a triumphant return, Chen Wei-yin returned to last-season’s form and the Chunichi Dragons smoked the Yomiuri Giants 6-1 on Tuesday at Nagoya Dome.
Blanco, who was activated for the series after a slump landed him on the farm team, slugged his 24th homer -- a three-run shot in the fourth -- and Chen fired eight innings of one-run ball as the Dragons won their fifth straight overall and 10th in a row at home.
The Dragons also moved a season-best nine games over .500, and trail the Central League’s second-place Giants by a game and the front-running Hanshin Tigers by 2.5 games.
Chunichi sent Yomiuri starter Seth Greisinger (0-1), in his second start this season after elbow surgery, to his first loss.
The righty allowed six hits and a walk before being chased after five innings.
Chen (10-9) limited the hard-hitting Giants to three hits, while walking one and fanning eight in one of his best outings this year to earn his career-high 10th win.
The CL’s leading hitter, Kazuhiro Wada went 3-for-4 with a homer and matched last year’s homer total by cracking his 29th. His career high is 33, which the 14th-year veteran hit in 2002 while with the Seibu Lions and Wada raised his average to .361.
TIGERS 12, BAYSTARS 8
Craig Brazell’s sac fly completed a Hanshin comeback, breaking an 8-8 tie, and rookie Shunsuke Fujikawa followed by capping a four-run ninth inning with a his first pro homer-- a three-run shot -- in a win over host Yokohama
Takahiro Arai also had a three-run blast for the Tigers to go with Fujikawa, who homered on his birthday.
CARP 2, SWALLOWS 1, 10 INNINGS
Junpei Shinoda’s eight innings of shutout pitching went to waste when he allowed a ninth-inning solo shot, but Soichiro Amaya’s infield RBI single lifted Hiroshima to a sayonara extra-inning win over visiting Yakult.
Ryuji Yokoyama (2-1) swooped in to get the win with a scoreless 10th.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, LIONS 4
Munenori Kawasaki got SoftBank even with an eighth-inning RBI double, and Nobuhiro Matsuda tripled him in for the game-winner in a win over host Seibu.
The Lions failed to win their ninth straight.
BUFFALOES 3, EAGLES 0
Chihiro Kaneko (12-7) went the distance on a four-hitter to win his eighth straight decision and earn his career-best 12th victory as Orix blanked visiting Rakuten.
MARINES 3, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi slugged a tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth, and drove in all three runs as Lotte edged host Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
Tony Blanco made a triumphant return, Chen Wei-yin returned to last-season’s form and the Chunichi Dragons smoked the Yomiuri Giants 6-1 on Tuesday at Nagoya Dome.
Blanco, who was activated for the series after a slump landed him on the farm team, slugged his 24th homer -- a three-run shot in the fourth -- and Chen fired eight innings of one-run ball as the Dragons won their fifth straight overall and 10th in a row at home.
The Dragons also moved a season-best nine games over .500, and trail the Central League’s second-place Giants by a game and the front-running Hanshin Tigers by 2.5 games.
Chunichi sent Yomiuri starter Seth Greisinger (0-1), in his second start this season after elbow surgery, to his first loss.
The righty allowed six hits and a walk before being chased after five innings.
Chen (10-9) limited the hard-hitting Giants to three hits, while walking one and fanning eight in one of his best outings this year to earn his career-high 10th win.
The CL’s leading hitter, Kazuhiro Wada went 3-for-4 with a homer and matched last year’s homer total by cracking his 29th. His career high is 33, which the 14th-year veteran hit in 2002 while with the Seibu Lions and Wada raised his average to .361.
TIGERS 12, BAYSTARS 8
Craig Brazell’s sac fly completed a Hanshin comeback, breaking an 8-8 tie, and rookie Shunsuke Fujikawa followed by capping a four-run ninth inning with a his first pro homer-- a three-run shot -- in a win over host Yokohama
Takahiro Arai also had a three-run blast for the Tigers to go with Fujikawa, who homered on his birthday.
CARP 2, SWALLOWS 1, 10 INNINGS
Junpei Shinoda’s eight innings of shutout pitching went to waste when he allowed a ninth-inning solo shot, but Soichiro Amaya’s infield RBI single lifted Hiroshima to a sayonara extra-inning win over visiting Yakult.
Ryuji Yokoyama (2-1) swooped in to get the win with a scoreless 10th.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, LIONS 4
Munenori Kawasaki got SoftBank even with an eighth-inning RBI double, and Nobuhiro Matsuda tripled him in for the game-winner in a win over host Seibu.
The Lions failed to win their ninth straight.
BUFFALOES 3, EAGLES 0
Chihiro Kaneko (12-7) went the distance on a four-hitter to win his eighth straight decision and earn his career-best 12th victory as Orix blanked visiting Rakuten.
MARINES 3, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi slugged a tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth, and drove in all three runs as Lotte edged host Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
With a little extra ...
Dragons win back-to-back, extra-inning walk-offs
Masahiko Morino was having a day to forget, and the Dragons looked like they couldn’t remember how to hit.
Morino had left six runners on base before an error and an intentional walk put the cleanup man with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Morino, who benefitted from a drawn-in outfield, gave the Dragons a 3-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome for their fourth straight win and 10th walk-off this season.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai told Morino a hit meant the Dragons wouldn’t have to practice on Monday.
“I guess he really didn’t want to practice tomorrow,” the manager quipped about Morino, who was 1-for-9 in the series before getting the game-winning hit.
Righty set-up man Takuya Asao (8-3) picked up his career-best eighth win with a scoreless 10th, working around an error by shortstop Masahiro Araki.
Araki, though, didn’t get much help from first baseman Ryota Arai, whose footwork on a throw wide of the bag left a lot to be desired. In fact, Ochiai yanked the fifth-year infielder -- who let a ball through his legs in the second to allow both Carp runs, from the game at that point -- later saying he has to work on his defense.
BAYSSTARS 5, GIANTS 1
Tomokazu Oka (4-6) limited Yomiuri to a run on four hits and two walks over 7.2 innings, and Shun Yamaguchi fanned all four batters he faced to nail down the save as the BayStars topped the Giants to avoid a sweep at Tokyo Dome.
Yamaguchi whiffed Michihiro Ogasawara, Alex Ramirez, Yoshinobu Takahashi and recently hot Edgar Gonzalez to close it out.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 5
Tomoaki Kanemoto had three hits and three RBIs as Hanshin won the rubber game of a three-game set at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Takayama belted homers in back-to-back trips to the plate for the first time in nine seasons to give him six longballs, and Fumiya Nishiguchi (2-2), in his first start since June 1, tossed six scoreless as Seibu topped host Orix.
Nishiguchi extended his Japan pro baseball record, making his 85th consecutive start without going the distance.
MARINES 6, EAGLES 3
Toshiaki Imae’s three-run walk-off homer lifted host Lotte over Rakuten as the Marines kept pace with first-place Seibu.
FIGHTERS 9, HAWKS 5
Eiichi Koyano sparked a five-run sixth with his career-best 12th homer, a two-run shot, and Yoshio Itoi added a go-ahead RBI double as Nippon Ham added late runs to win going away over host SoftBank.
Masahiko Morino was having a day to forget, and the Dragons looked like they couldn’t remember how to hit.
Morino had left six runners on base before an error and an intentional walk put the cleanup man with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Morino, who benefitted from a drawn-in outfield, gave the Dragons a 3-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome for their fourth straight win and 10th walk-off this season.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai told Morino a hit meant the Dragons wouldn’t have to practice on Monday.
“I guess he really didn’t want to practice tomorrow,” the manager quipped about Morino, who was 1-for-9 in the series before getting the game-winning hit.
Righty set-up man Takuya Asao (8-3) picked up his career-best eighth win with a scoreless 10th, working around an error by shortstop Masahiro Araki.
Araki, though, didn’t get much help from first baseman Ryota Arai, whose footwork on a throw wide of the bag left a lot to be desired. In fact, Ochiai yanked the fifth-year infielder -- who let a ball through his legs in the second to allow both Carp runs, from the game at that point -- later saying he has to work on his defense.
BAYSSTARS 5, GIANTS 1
Tomokazu Oka (4-6) limited Yomiuri to a run on four hits and two walks over 7.2 innings, and Shun Yamaguchi fanned all four batters he faced to nail down the save as the BayStars topped the Giants to avoid a sweep at Tokyo Dome.
Yamaguchi whiffed Michihiro Ogasawara, Alex Ramirez, Yoshinobu Takahashi and recently hot Edgar Gonzalez to close it out.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 5
Tomoaki Kanemoto had three hits and three RBIs as Hanshin won the rubber game of a three-game set at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Takayama belted homers in back-to-back trips to the plate for the first time in nine seasons to give him six longballs, and Fumiya Nishiguchi (2-2), in his first start since June 1, tossed six scoreless as Seibu topped host Orix.
Nishiguchi extended his Japan pro baseball record, making his 85th consecutive start without going the distance.
MARINES 6, EAGLES 3
Toshiaki Imae’s three-run walk-off homer lifted host Lotte over Rakuten as the Marines kept pace with first-place Seibu.
FIGHTERS 9, HAWKS 5
Eiichi Koyano sparked a five-run sixth with his career-best 12th homer, a two-run shot, and Yoshio Itoi added a go-ahead RBI double as Nippon Ham added late runs to win going away over host SoftBank.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Flight ends for Swallows ...
Hanshin halts Yakult’s winning streak at 10
Yakult’s longest winning streak since 2002 couldn’t stand up to Jason Standridge.
The righty held the red-hot Swallows, who had won 10 straight, to two runs over six-plus innings as Hanshin won 4-3 at Kyocera Dome Osaka and kept pace with the Central League’s front-running Yomiuri Giants.
Standridge (8-2) allowed five hits and walked three, while fanning one to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.
Takahiro Arai had an RBI groundout in the first and a run-scoring single in the third, and Kenji Jojima’s RBI single in the sixth proved to be the difference as Hanshin won to stay one game back of Yomiuri.
Kyuji Fujikawa worked around a walk and an infield single in the ninth for his 20th save, the fourth straight year he has closed out at least that many games.
The Swallows also saw their consecutive game streak with double digits in hits snapped at seven.
DRAGONS 4, SWALLOWS 3, 12 INNINGS
Masahiro Araki pulled off the butcher-boy, pulling the bat back before whistling a single down the right-field line to give Chunichi a sayonara win over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
Six Chunichi relievers combined to toss seven scoreless innings, and closer Hitoki Iwase (1-1) won for the first time since last Aug. 29 with a perfect 12th.
GIANTS 5, BAYSTARS 2
Fourth-year shortstop Hayato Sakamoto extended his career-best homer total to 21 with a first-inning shot, Alex Ramirez cracked his league-leading 38 th, and Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara and Edgar Gonzalez also homered as Yomiuri blasted visiting Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
In one of the strangest games of the season, Toshiya Sugiuchi (14-5) fanned 12 and walked three in a two-hitter as SoftBank blanked visiting Nippon Ham.
The Hawks had just three hits, all in a two-run second inning in which Hidenori Tanoue doubled with the bases loaded and Yuya Hasegawa was gunned down at the plate for the final out of the frame.
Three Fighters relievers combined for five perfect innings after starter Ryo Sakakibara (5-1) allowed two runs in four innings.
LIONS 8, BUFFALOES 3
Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled twice and drove in two, and Jose Fernandez had two hits and a pair of RBIs to lead first-place Seibu past visiting Orix for its season-best sixth straight win.
MARINES 3, EAGLES 2
Kohei Hasebe (3-3) uncorked a bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth to plate the tying and go-ahead runs as Rakuten fell to host Lotte.
Yakult’s longest winning streak since 2002 couldn’t stand up to Jason Standridge.
The righty held the red-hot Swallows, who had won 10 straight, to two runs over six-plus innings as Hanshin won 4-3 at Kyocera Dome Osaka and kept pace with the Central League’s front-running Yomiuri Giants.
Standridge (8-2) allowed five hits and walked three, while fanning one to win for the sixth time in seven decisions.
Takahiro Arai had an RBI groundout in the first and a run-scoring single in the third, and Kenji Jojima’s RBI single in the sixth proved to be the difference as Hanshin won to stay one game back of Yomiuri.
Kyuji Fujikawa worked around a walk and an infield single in the ninth for his 20th save, the fourth straight year he has closed out at least that many games.
The Swallows also saw their consecutive game streak with double digits in hits snapped at seven.
DRAGONS 4, SWALLOWS 3, 12 INNINGS
Masahiro Araki pulled off the butcher-boy, pulling the bat back before whistling a single down the right-field line to give Chunichi a sayonara win over Hiroshima at Nagoya Dome.
Six Chunichi relievers combined to toss seven scoreless innings, and closer Hitoki Iwase (1-1) won for the first time since last Aug. 29 with a perfect 12th.
GIANTS 5, BAYSTARS 2
Fourth-year shortstop Hayato Sakamoto extended his career-best homer total to 21 with a first-inning shot, Alex Ramirez cracked his league-leading 38 th, and Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara and Edgar Gonzalez also homered as Yomiuri blasted visiting Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 2, FIGHTERS 0
In one of the strangest games of the season, Toshiya Sugiuchi (14-5) fanned 12 and walked three in a two-hitter as SoftBank blanked visiting Nippon Ham.
The Hawks had just three hits, all in a two-run second inning in which Hidenori Tanoue doubled with the bases loaded and Yuya Hasegawa was gunned down at the plate for the final out of the frame.
Three Fighters relievers combined for five perfect innings after starter Ryo Sakakibara (5-1) allowed two runs in four innings.
LIONS 8, BUFFALOES 3
Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled twice and drove in two, and Jose Fernandez had two hits and a pair of RBIs to lead first-place Seibu past visiting Orix for its season-best sixth straight win.
MARINES 3, EAGLES 2
Kohei Hasebe (3-3) uncorked a bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth to plate the tying and go-ahead runs as Rakuten fell to host Lotte.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Flight of the Swallow ...
Yakult keeps streak going on Friday the 13th
The Yakult Swallows are streaking harder than Will Farrell in “Old School.”
Yakult got run-scoring hits from seven players, including a three-run homer from Hiroyasu Tanaka and topped the Hanshin Tigers 9-6 at Kyocera Dome on Friday to win their 10th straight.
It’s the club’s longest winning streak since it won 11 straight in 2002. Proof of how hot the Swallows are: they racked up double figures in hits for a franchise-tying seventh consecutive game.
Josh Whitesell and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama each knocked in first-inning runs, and Tanaka capped a five-run sixth inning with his third longball this year to bury the Tigers, who fell a game back of the front-running Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings.
Shohei Tateyama (6-5), who doubled in a run in the sixth, held the Tigers to three runs over 6.2 innings to earn the victory.
DRAGONS 5, CARP 1
Kazuki Yoshimi (10-6) held Hiroshima to a run on five hits and two walks over seven innings and Chunichi pulled away late to cruise at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki had two hits and two RBIs, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had RBIs to pace the Dragons.
GIANTS 8, BAYSTARS 6
Yoshinobu Takahashi, Hayato Sakamoto and Michihiro Ogasawara all hit solo shots and Alex Ramirez had four hits as Yomiuri outlasted visiting Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 4, MARINES 0
Second-year righty Darrell Rasner (4-7) enjoyed his best start in Japan, tossing one-hit ball over seven innings as Rakuten blanked Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Akihisa Makida had three hits, including a homer, to back Rasner, who fanned seven.
Kazuya Fukuura had the only hit for the Marines, a one-out single in the seventh.
LIONS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Yasuyuki Kataoka had three hits and an RBI, and Hideaki Wakui (13-6) tossed 6.1 shapr innings as Seibu topped Orix at Seibu Dome to win its sixth straight.
HAWKS 5, FIGHTERS 1
Munenori Kawasaki had three hits and two RBIs and Roberto Petagine homered as SoftBank battered Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish (10-6) for 11 hits in eight innings to cruise at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
The Yakult Swallows are streaking harder than Will Farrell in “Old School.”
Yakult got run-scoring hits from seven players, including a three-run homer from Hiroyasu Tanaka and topped the Hanshin Tigers 9-6 at Kyocera Dome on Friday to win their 10th straight.
It’s the club’s longest winning streak since it won 11 straight in 2002. Proof of how hot the Swallows are: they racked up double figures in hits for a franchise-tying seventh consecutive game.
Josh Whitesell and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama each knocked in first-inning runs, and Tanaka capped a five-run sixth inning with his third longball this year to bury the Tigers, who fell a game back of the front-running Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings.
Shohei Tateyama (6-5), who doubled in a run in the sixth, held the Tigers to three runs over 6.2 innings to earn the victory.
DRAGONS 5, CARP 1
Kazuki Yoshimi (10-6) held Hiroshima to a run on five hits and two walks over seven innings and Chunichi pulled away late to cruise at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki had two hits and two RBIs, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had RBIs to pace the Dragons.
GIANTS 8, BAYSTARS 6
Yoshinobu Takahashi, Hayato Sakamoto and Michihiro Ogasawara all hit solo shots and Alex Ramirez had four hits as Yomiuri outlasted visiting Yokohama.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 4, MARINES 0
Second-year righty Darrell Rasner (4-7) enjoyed his best start in Japan, tossing one-hit ball over seven innings as Rakuten blanked Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Akihisa Makida had three hits, including a homer, to back Rasner, who fanned seven.
Kazuya Fukuura had the only hit for the Marines, a one-out single in the seventh.
LIONS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Yasuyuki Kataoka had three hits and an RBI, and Hideaki Wakui (13-6) tossed 6.1 shapr innings as Seibu topped Orix at Seibu Dome to win its sixth straight.
HAWKS 5, FIGHTERS 1
Munenori Kawasaki had three hits and two RBIs and Roberto Petagine homered as SoftBank battered Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish (10-6) for 11 hits in eight innings to cruise at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Swallowing up the competition ...
Yakult stays on roll, beats Yomiuri for 9th straight
The Yakult Swallows eating up the competition on a daily basis, and it has them headed for new heights.
Yasushi Iihara slugged his third homer in two nights, a two-run shot, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama also went deep to power the Central League’s fourth-place Swallows past front-running the Yomiuri Giants to complete a three-game sweep 6-3 at Jingu Stadium on Thursday.
It was the first time the Swallows have swept three straight series since 1997.
Red-hot Yoshinori Sato (8-6), worked into the eighth inning for his third straight win, as Yakult won its ninth straight at home and beat the Giants for the fourth straight time. The third-year righty extended his career-best win total, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and four walk, while fanning nine in 7.2 innings.
The Swallows smacked around Shun Tone (12-4) for six runs, four earned, on nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in six innings.
DRAGONS 1, BAYSTARS 0
Maximo Nelson (3-4) worked 6.2 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and five walks with two strikeouts, and Masahiko Morino plated the game’s only run with a seventh-inning sac fly as Chunichi avoided a sweep at Yokohama.
TIGERS 10, CAPR 6
Kenji Jojima had two of Hanshin’s five homers, and Yasutomo Kubo (10-5) earned double digits in wins for the first time in five years as Hanshin cruised at The Zoom.
The Tigers, who hits three homers when they scored seven runs in the sixth, came from behind for the win.
PAICIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi’s RBI single in the first sparked a four-run outburst, and Yuki Karakawa (4-3) went six strong innings as Chiba topped Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium.
BUFFALOES 6, HAWKS 6
Alex Cabrera slugged a grand slam in the sixth inning after hitting a solo shot in the fourth, and Mitsutaka Sakaguchi’s infield RBI single in the seventh tied it as Orix and SoftBank played to a 12-inning deadlock.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 3
Reserve catcher Tatsuyuki Uemoto got a rare start and used it to blast his third homer of the season in the seventh inning, putting Seibu back up after it lost a 3-2 lead in the bottom as the Lions edged Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
The Yakult Swallows eating up the competition on a daily basis, and it has them headed for new heights.
Yasushi Iihara slugged his third homer in two nights, a two-run shot, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama also went deep to power the Central League’s fourth-place Swallows past front-running the Yomiuri Giants to complete a three-game sweep 6-3 at Jingu Stadium on Thursday.
It was the first time the Swallows have swept three straight series since 1997.
Red-hot Yoshinori Sato (8-6), worked into the eighth inning for his third straight win, as Yakult won its ninth straight at home and beat the Giants for the fourth straight time. The third-year righty extended his career-best win total, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on seven hits and four walk, while fanning nine in 7.2 innings.
The Swallows smacked around Shun Tone (12-4) for six runs, four earned, on nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in six innings.
DRAGONS 1, BAYSTARS 0
Maximo Nelson (3-4) worked 6.2 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and five walks with two strikeouts, and Masahiko Morino plated the game’s only run with a seventh-inning sac fly as Chunichi avoided a sweep at Yokohama.
TIGERS 10, CAPR 6
Kenji Jojima had two of Hanshin’s five homers, and Yasutomo Kubo (10-5) earned double digits in wins for the first time in five years as Hanshin cruised at The Zoom.
The Tigers, who hits three homers when they scored seven runs in the sixth, came from behind for the win.
PAICIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 2
Tadahito Iguchi’s RBI single in the first sparked a four-run outburst, and Yuki Karakawa (4-3) went six strong innings as Chiba topped Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium.
BUFFALOES 6, HAWKS 6
Alex Cabrera slugged a grand slam in the sixth inning after hitting a solo shot in the fourth, and Mitsutaka Sakaguchi’s infield RBI single in the seventh tied it as Orix and SoftBank played to a 12-inning deadlock.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 3
Reserve catcher Tatsuyuki Uemoto got a rare start and used it to blast his third homer of the season in the seventh inning, putting Seibu back up after it lost a 3-2 lead in the bottom as the Lions edged Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Winging out ...
Swallows on the fly after 8th straight win
The Swallows haven’t been this high in seven years.
Yakult’s Yasushi Iihara homered twice to offset a pair bombs by Shinnosuke Abe as the Swallows came back from an early deficit to top the Yomiuri Giants 7-5 and run their season-high winning streak to eight.
Abe hit his 34th and career-high 35th longballs, the second in the third inning to give the Giants a 5-2 lead, but Iihara drove in a career-best-tying five runs.
The Swallows haven’t been this hot since winning eight straight in September 2003. They moved to within 3.5 games of the third-place Chunichi Dragons for the third and final playoff spot.
It was the first two-homer game for Iihara since July 7, 2007.
BAYSTARS 9, DRAGONS 6
Jose Castillo belted two homers and Brett Harper doubled and homered, and each drove in three runs to help Yokohama down visiting Chunichi.
Second-year righty Yota Kosugi (1-1) earned his first pro win, lasting the minimum and allowing four runs.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, MARINES 3
Eiichi Koyano had three hits and an RBI, and Sho Nakata’s fifth-inning triple, his first as a pro, plated the run that proved to be the difference as Nippon Ham edged Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Rookie Masaru Muranaka (1-0) won in his first pro start, holding Lotte to a run on three hits and three walks with six punchouts over five innings.
HAWKS 7, BUFFALOES 2
Tsuyoshi Wada (14-5) fanned 10 en route to his PL-best 14th win to help Softbank snap its six-game skid with a win over visiting Orix.
The 14 wins tie Wada’s single-season best, and he was backed by Hitoshi Tamura, who doubled twice to drive in two runs.
The Tigers and Carp were rained out at The Zoom, while the Lions and Eagles were rained out at The Kleenex Box.
The Swallows haven’t been this high in seven years.
Yakult’s Yasushi Iihara homered twice to offset a pair bombs by Shinnosuke Abe as the Swallows came back from an early deficit to top the Yomiuri Giants 7-5 and run their season-high winning streak to eight.
Abe hit his 34th and career-high 35th longballs, the second in the third inning to give the Giants a 5-2 lead, but Iihara drove in a career-best-tying five runs.
The Swallows haven’t been this hot since winning eight straight in September 2003. They moved to within 3.5 games of the third-place Chunichi Dragons for the third and final playoff spot.
It was the first two-homer game for Iihara since July 7, 2007.
BAYSTARS 9, DRAGONS 6
Jose Castillo belted two homers and Brett Harper doubled and homered, and each drove in three runs to help Yokohama down visiting Chunichi.
Second-year righty Yota Kosugi (1-1) earned his first pro win, lasting the minimum and allowing four runs.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, MARINES 3
Eiichi Koyano had three hits and an RBI, and Sho Nakata’s fifth-inning triple, his first as a pro, plated the run that proved to be the difference as Nippon Ham edged Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Rookie Masaru Muranaka (1-0) won in his first pro start, holding Lotte to a run on three hits and three walks with six punchouts over five innings.
HAWKS 7, BUFFALOES 2
Tsuyoshi Wada (14-5) fanned 10 en route to his PL-best 14th win to help Softbank snap its six-game skid with a win over visiting Orix.
The 14 wins tie Wada’s single-season best, and he was backed by Hitoshi Tamura, who doubled twice to drive in two runs.
The Tigers and Carp were rained out at The Zoom, while the Lions and Eagles were rained out at The Kleenex Box.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
7th Heaven ...
Birds get walk-off for seventh straight win
It hurt so good for Kazuki Fukuchi on Tuesday at Jingu Stadium, but it felt a lot better for his teammates.
Fukuchi got plunked with the bases loaded as the Swallows extended their season-best winning streak to seven games with a walk-off win over the three-time Central League champion Yomiuri Giants 4-3 in 11 innings.
Jamie D’Antona started the rally by beating out an infield single -- yes, Jamie D’Antona with an Ichiro. With bags packed, Fukuchi never had a chance to avoid a fastball from Tetsuya Yamaguchi (5-3), forcing in Norichika Aoki with the winning run.
Michihiro Ogasawara put the Giants on top in the eighth inning, belting his 23rd of the season to make it 3-2. Little-used outfielder Yoshitomo Tani helped preserve the lead, at least for an inning, by gunning down a runner at the plate in the bottom of the frame.
The Swallows eventually tied it in the ninth on a one-our solo shot by Aoki, his ninth.
CARP 7, TIGERS 6
Lefty Junpei Shinoda (6-4) tripled over a drawn-in outfield to clear the bases and break a tie as Hiroshima scored four in the fourth and held off Hanshin at The Zoom.
Shinoda held the Tigers to three runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter over seven innings.
BAYSTARS 4, DRAGONS 0
Brett Harper and Kazuya Fujita each hit solo blasts, and Naoyuki Shimizu (9-9) tossed eight scoreless innings as host Yokohama blanked Chunichi.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 9, EAGLES 3
Jose Fernandez had a solo blast and a two-run single, and Hiroyuki Nakajima and Hideto Asamura each had solo shots -- the first pro homer for Asamura -- as Seibu lit up Rakuten ace Hisashi Iwakuma (7-7) to cruise at The Kleenex Box.
The Lions extended their PL lead to 1.5 games.
FIGHTERS 3, MARINES 1
Atsunori Inaba tripled in a run and scored on Eiichi Koyano’s double in the first and Bobby Keppel (12-4) made those runs stand up, holding Lotte to a run over seven-plus innings at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Inaba also singled in an insurance run in the seventh.
BUFFALOES 5, HAWKS 4
Alex Cabrera doubled in a pair of runs in the first and cracked a two-run blast in the fifth after Aarom Baldiris put Orix ahead with a second-inning solo blast, and SoftBank couldn’t rally at home.
It hurt so good for Kazuki Fukuchi on Tuesday at Jingu Stadium, but it felt a lot better for his teammates.
Fukuchi got plunked with the bases loaded as the Swallows extended their season-best winning streak to seven games with a walk-off win over the three-time Central League champion Yomiuri Giants 4-3 in 11 innings.
Jamie D’Antona started the rally by beating out an infield single -- yes, Jamie D’Antona with an Ichiro. With bags packed, Fukuchi never had a chance to avoid a fastball from Tetsuya Yamaguchi (5-3), forcing in Norichika Aoki with the winning run.
Michihiro Ogasawara put the Giants on top in the eighth inning, belting his 23rd of the season to make it 3-2. Little-used outfielder Yoshitomo Tani helped preserve the lead, at least for an inning, by gunning down a runner at the plate in the bottom of the frame.
The Swallows eventually tied it in the ninth on a one-our solo shot by Aoki, his ninth.
CARP 7, TIGERS 6
Lefty Junpei Shinoda (6-4) tripled over a drawn-in outfield to clear the bases and break a tie as Hiroshima scored four in the fourth and held off Hanshin at The Zoom.
Shinoda held the Tigers to three runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter over seven innings.
BAYSTARS 4, DRAGONS 0
Brett Harper and Kazuya Fujita each hit solo blasts, and Naoyuki Shimizu (9-9) tossed eight scoreless innings as host Yokohama blanked Chunichi.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 9, EAGLES 3
Jose Fernandez had a solo blast and a two-run single, and Hiroyuki Nakajima and Hideto Asamura each had solo shots -- the first pro homer for Asamura -- as Seibu lit up Rakuten ace Hisashi Iwakuma (7-7) to cruise at The Kleenex Box.
The Lions extended their PL lead to 1.5 games.
FIGHTERS 3, MARINES 1
Atsunori Inaba tripled in a run and scored on Eiichi Koyano’s double in the first and Bobby Keppel (12-4) made those runs stand up, holding Lotte to a run over seven-plus innings at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Inaba also singled in an insurance run in the seventh.
BUFFALOES 5, HAWKS 4
Alex Cabrera doubled in a pair of runs in the first and cracked a two-run blast in the fifth after Aarom Baldiris put Orix ahead with a second-inning solo blast, and SoftBank couldn’t rally at home.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Lions eat up Hawks ...
Nakajima uses arm, bat to down Hawks
Seibu showed the heart of a Lion on Sunday night, coming back from three runs down to beat the SoftBank Hawks and move back into first place, thanks to Hiroyuki Nakajima.
The All-Star shortstop made a key relay throw to nail the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the plate in the eighth inning and put the Lions ahead in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double that keyed a three-run rally giving the Lions a 7-4 win and a sweep of three at Seibu Dome.
The Lions are a half-game ahead of the Hawks in the Pacific League.
Takumi Kuriyama led off the eighth with a double off Brian Falkenborg (3-2), who had only allowed two runs in his previous 42 games, and Nakajima doubled him home. Jose Fernandez doubled in Nakajima and Dee Brown’s single capped the rally.
With the score tied in eighth and a runner on second, more often than not hitters are asked to lay one down. Not the Lions' No. 3 hitter.
“The skipper didn’t ask me to bunt, so I really wanted to take advantage of a situation in which he let me swing away,” said Nakajima, who also had an RBI single in the fifth.
“This was a big game, so I’m just really very happy.”
Brian Sikorski extended his career-best save total by retiring the side in order for his 27th.
EAGLES 7, FIGHTERS 1
Sho Nakata stayed hot, homering for the fourth straight game, but that was the only run off Masahiro Tanaka (10-6), who scattered seven hits, walked none and fanned 11 as Rakuten knocked off Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
Takeshi Yamasaki had three hits and drove in three, and Teppei Tsuchiya also had three hits and an RBI.
The red-hot Nakata has eight homers in 11 games.
MARINES 8, BUFFALOES 6
Kazuya Fukuura homered, doubled and drove in three to help Lotte, which saw its 6-1 lead shrink to one in the seventh, held off Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 7, CARP
Rakuten castoff Hideki Asai tossed seven scoreless innings in his season debut, and Alex Ramirez stroked his lead-high 36th homer as the Giants extended their CL lead to 1.5 games by avoiding a sweep by lowly Hiroshima.
SWALLOWS 11, BAYSTARS 4
Ryoji Aikawa had a two three-run homers and an RBI single for a career-best seven RBIs as Yakult swept host Yokohama.
The BayStars dropped to 30 games under .500, allowing 55 hits in a series in which they gave up double digits in runs over three games for the first time since June 1984.
DRAGONS 10, TIGERS 0
Kenichi Nakata (4-2) fired his second shutout, a four-hitter, and Hidenori Kuramoto tripled and drove in three as Chunichi swept Hanshin at Nagoya Dome.
Seibu showed the heart of a Lion on Sunday night, coming back from three runs down to beat the SoftBank Hawks and move back into first place, thanks to Hiroyuki Nakajima.
The All-Star shortstop made a key relay throw to nail the potential go-ahead run at the plate in the plate in the eighth inning and put the Lions ahead in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double that keyed a three-run rally giving the Lions a 7-4 win and a sweep of three at Seibu Dome.
The Lions are a half-game ahead of the Hawks in the Pacific League.
Takumi Kuriyama led off the eighth with a double off Brian Falkenborg (3-2), who had only allowed two runs in his previous 42 games, and Nakajima doubled him home. Jose Fernandez doubled in Nakajima and Dee Brown’s single capped the rally.
With the score tied in eighth and a runner on second, more often than not hitters are asked to lay one down. Not the Lions' No. 3 hitter.
“The skipper didn’t ask me to bunt, so I really wanted to take advantage of a situation in which he let me swing away,” said Nakajima, who also had an RBI single in the fifth.
“This was a big game, so I’m just really very happy.”
Brian Sikorski extended his career-best save total by retiring the side in order for his 27th.
EAGLES 7, FIGHTERS 1
Sho Nakata stayed hot, homering for the fourth straight game, but that was the only run off Masahiro Tanaka (10-6), who scattered seven hits, walked none and fanned 11 as Rakuten knocked off Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.
Takeshi Yamasaki had three hits and drove in three, and Teppei Tsuchiya also had three hits and an RBI.
The red-hot Nakata has eight homers in 11 games.
MARINES 8, BUFFALOES 6
Kazuya Fukuura homered, doubled and drove in three to help Lotte, which saw its 6-1 lead shrink to one in the seventh, held off Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 7, CARP
Rakuten castoff Hideki Asai tossed seven scoreless innings in his season debut, and Alex Ramirez stroked his lead-high 36th homer as the Giants extended their CL lead to 1.5 games by avoiding a sweep by lowly Hiroshima.
SWALLOWS 11, BAYSTARS 4
Ryoji Aikawa had a two three-run homers and an RBI single for a career-best seven RBIs as Yakult swept host Yokohama.
The BayStars dropped to 30 games under .500, allowing 55 hits in a series in which they gave up double digits in runs over three games for the first time since June 1984.
DRAGONS 10, TIGERS 0
Kenichi Nakata (4-2) fired his second shutout, a four-hitter, and Hidenori Kuramoto tripled and drove in three as Chunichi swept Hanshin at Nagoya Dome.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Seems like older times ...
44-year-old Yamamoto shuts down Tigers
Mired in a pitching slump last season Masahiro Yamamoto was banished to the farm team last September.
He resurfaced to make his season debut on Saturday at Nagoya Dome, tossing six innings of one-run ball and leading the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-1 win over the Central League’s second-place Hanshin Tigers. With the victory, he tied 47-year-old Seibu Lions lefty Kimiyasu Kudo’s record of posting a victory over 23 consecutive seasons.
Yamamoto didn’t allow a hit until a one-out single in the fourth inning by Takashi Toritani. The southpaw allowed a run in the sixth before departing, and the bullpen retired nine of 10 to close it out, with Hitoki Iwase collecting his CL-best 30th save. It was the sixth straight season Iwase has record at least 30 saves.
Yamamoto, a 25-year vet, posted his 45th victory over the Tigers and became the player with the longest career after Kudo [in his 29th season] and Katsuya Nomura [who played 26 years].
The second-place Tigers remained a half-game back in the standings.
CARP 8, GIANTS 2
Hiroshima beat up Yomiuri starter Satoshi Fukuda (2-3) for seven straight hits in the second inning to take the first two of a three-game set at Tokyo Dome.
Kenta Kurihara, back after being out injured for two months, returned with a bang, cracking his eighth homer to go with a single to power the Carp past the front-running Giants.
SWALLOWS 10, BAYSTARS 7
Josh Whitesell had a homer, a double and three RBIs to power host Yakult past lowly Yokohama.
Shinichi Takeuchi had three hits and two RBIs, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama added a pair of hits and drove in two for Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 8, EAGLES 3
Sho Nakata blasted his seventh homer in 10 games, and Shota Ono led a trio of others with three hits by doubling twice and singling in a run.
Masaru Takeda (9-6) surrendered 10 hits over eight innings, but walked none and fanned 10 to earn the win.
MARINES 4, BUFFALES 0
Yuji Yoshimi (4-5) fired a six-hitter, walking two and fanning eight, for his first shutout (the fourth of his career) since June 19, 2007, as Lotte blanked Orix at Skymark Stadium.
Tadahito Iguchi and Kim Tae Kyun both homered and drove in two runs each for the Marines, who clinched their first series win in three matchups.
LIONS 5, HAWKS 4
Takumi Kuriyama had three hits and two RBIs, and Hiroyuki Nakajima also had three hits and drove in a run to lead Seibu past SoftBank for the second straight night at Seibu Dome.
It was the fifth straight loss for SoftBank.
Mired in a pitching slump last season Masahiro Yamamoto was banished to the farm team last September.
He resurfaced to make his season debut on Saturday at Nagoya Dome, tossing six innings of one-run ball and leading the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-1 win over the Central League’s second-place Hanshin Tigers. With the victory, he tied 47-year-old Seibu Lions lefty Kimiyasu Kudo’s record of posting a victory over 23 consecutive seasons.
Yamamoto didn’t allow a hit until a one-out single in the fourth inning by Takashi Toritani. The southpaw allowed a run in the sixth before departing, and the bullpen retired nine of 10 to close it out, with Hitoki Iwase collecting his CL-best 30th save. It was the sixth straight season Iwase has record at least 30 saves.
Yamamoto, a 25-year vet, posted his 45th victory over the Tigers and became the player with the longest career after Kudo [in his 29th season] and Katsuya Nomura [who played 26 years].
The second-place Tigers remained a half-game back in the standings.
CARP 8, GIANTS 2
Hiroshima beat up Yomiuri starter Satoshi Fukuda (2-3) for seven straight hits in the second inning to take the first two of a three-game set at Tokyo Dome.
Kenta Kurihara, back after being out injured for two months, returned with a bang, cracking his eighth homer to go with a single to power the Carp past the front-running Giants.
SWALLOWS 10, BAYSTARS 7
Josh Whitesell had a homer, a double and three RBIs to power host Yakult past lowly Yokohama.
Shinichi Takeuchi had three hits and two RBIs, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama added a pair of hits and drove in two for Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 8, EAGLES 3
Sho Nakata blasted his seventh homer in 10 games, and Shota Ono led a trio of others with three hits by doubling twice and singling in a run.
Masaru Takeda (9-6) surrendered 10 hits over eight innings, but walked none and fanned 10 to earn the win.
MARINES 4, BUFFALES 0
Yuji Yoshimi (4-5) fired a six-hitter, walking two and fanning eight, for his first shutout (the fourth of his career) since June 19, 2007, as Lotte blanked Orix at Skymark Stadium.
Tadahito Iguchi and Kim Tae Kyun both homered and drove in two runs each for the Marines, who clinched their first series win in three matchups.
LIONS 5, HAWKS 4
Takumi Kuriyama had three hits and two RBIs, and Hiroyuki Nakajima also had three hits and drove in a run to lead Seibu past SoftBank for the second straight night at Seibu Dome.
It was the fifth straight loss for SoftBank.
Friday, August 6, 2010
The ‘Sho’ is finally on ...
Nataka’s 2 blasts power Fighters past Eagles
Third-year Nippon Ham slugger Sho Nakata was the talk of the town before he ever took a swing in Japan pro baseball. Unfortunately for him it was all talk.
But he’s being talked about now for all the right reasons. The 21-year-old had his first two-homer game, cracking a pair of longballs in back-to-back at-bats Friday and driving in four to help the Fighters come back to top the Rakuten Eagles 10-4 at Sapporo Dome.
Nakata’s sixth homer over his past 10 games backed Yu Darvish, who went eight innings to earn double digits in victories for the fifth straight season.
“Up to now, he [Darvish] has just gotten mad at me all the time. So I thought he was going to say something nice to me after the game, but he just said, ‘Don’t be satisfied with two homers,’” said Nakata, who fanned in his first two trips to the plate.
“I struck out easily my first two at-bats, so I just wanted to get on base and I wanted to take a good swing,” he said of his third at-bat.
Darvish (10-5) needed the support. He wasn’t sharp, allowing seven hits, two walks and hitting two. The righty fanned 12 and is five behind PL leader Toshiya Sugiuchi of SoftBank with 155.
The only negative for the Fighters came when Kensuke Tanaka had to leave the game in the eighth after being hit in the head by a throw while running the bases. He was removed for precautionary reasons. Tanaka had played every inning of every game since 2007, but that string was snapped.
LIONS 10, HAWKS 4
Hiroyuki Nakajima homered, doubled and drove in five runs as Seibu beat up SoftBank at Seibu Dome.
Ace Hideaki Wakui (12-6), coming off his worst beating as a pro, wasn’t his usual dominant self but worked around nine hits and a walk with a half-dozen Ks to earn the win.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Rookie Ikuhiro Kiyota’s three-run double in the ninth -- after Hiroshi Kisanuki (9-7) walked the bases loaded -- broke a scoreless tie and lifted Lotte over Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Yoshihisa Naruse (9-9) went the distance, allowing Alex Cabrera’s two-run homer in the ninth before closing out the Buffaloes to snap a seven^game skid.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Kenta Maeda (12-5) battled through eight innings and Soichiro Amaya belted a two-run homer to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth as Hiroshima downed Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Maeda, tied for the league lead in victories, has all three of the Carp’s wins over the Giants this season. He allowed seven hits and a walk, while punching out three.
The Giants, who remained in first place, left four runners at third base.
DRAGONS 4, TIGERS 1
Kazuhiro Wada, the CL’s leading hitter at .364, doubled in the tie-breaking run in the fifth and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had RBIs as third-place Chunichi topped second-place Hanshin to stop a five-game slide.
Kazuki Yoshimi (9-6) went 7.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits and two walks, while fanning five.
SWALLOWS 16, BAYSTARS 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama had a homer among his three hits, and even starter Shohei Tateyama (5-5) went deep as visiting Yakult embarrassed Yokohama.
Third-year Nippon Ham slugger Sho Nakata was the talk of the town before he ever took a swing in Japan pro baseball. Unfortunately for him it was all talk.
But he’s being talked about now for all the right reasons. The 21-year-old had his first two-homer game, cracking a pair of longballs in back-to-back at-bats Friday and driving in four to help the Fighters come back to top the Rakuten Eagles 10-4 at Sapporo Dome.
Nakata’s sixth homer over his past 10 games backed Yu Darvish, who went eight innings to earn double digits in victories for the fifth straight season.
“Up to now, he [Darvish] has just gotten mad at me all the time. So I thought he was going to say something nice to me after the game, but he just said, ‘Don’t be satisfied with two homers,’” said Nakata, who fanned in his first two trips to the plate.
“I struck out easily my first two at-bats, so I just wanted to get on base and I wanted to take a good swing,” he said of his third at-bat.
Darvish (10-5) needed the support. He wasn’t sharp, allowing seven hits, two walks and hitting two. The righty fanned 12 and is five behind PL leader Toshiya Sugiuchi of SoftBank with 155.
The only negative for the Fighters came when Kensuke Tanaka had to leave the game in the eighth after being hit in the head by a throw while running the bases. He was removed for precautionary reasons. Tanaka had played every inning of every game since 2007, but that string was snapped.
LIONS 10, HAWKS 4
Hiroyuki Nakajima homered, doubled and drove in five runs as Seibu beat up SoftBank at Seibu Dome.
Ace Hideaki Wakui (12-6), coming off his worst beating as a pro, wasn’t his usual dominant self but worked around nine hits and a walk with a half-dozen Ks to earn the win.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Rookie Ikuhiro Kiyota’s three-run double in the ninth -- after Hiroshi Kisanuki (9-7) walked the bases loaded -- broke a scoreless tie and lifted Lotte over Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Yoshihisa Naruse (9-9) went the distance, allowing Alex Cabrera’s two-run homer in the ninth before closing out the Buffaloes to snap a seven^game skid.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 4, GIANTS 1
Kenta Maeda (12-5) battled through eight innings and Soichiro Amaya belted a two-run homer to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth as Hiroshima downed Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome.
Maeda, tied for the league lead in victories, has all three of the Carp’s wins over the Giants this season. He allowed seven hits and a walk, while punching out three.
The Giants, who remained in first place, left four runners at third base.
DRAGONS 4, TIGERS 1
Kazuhiro Wada, the CL’s leading hitter at .364, doubled in the tie-breaking run in the fifth and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had RBIs as third-place Chunichi topped second-place Hanshin to stop a five-game slide.
Kazuki Yoshimi (9-6) went 7.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits and two walks, while fanning five.
SWALLOWS 16, BAYSTARS 4
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama had a homer among his three hits, and even starter Shohei Tateyama (5-5) went deep as visiting Yakult embarrassed Yokohama.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Knock-down, drag-out ...
Giants pull out series finale, move back atop CL
The Giants got a much-needed quality start from Shun Tono and production from Yoshinobu Takahashi, who hit a three-run homer, to take the series finale over the Hanshin Tigers 9-1 Thursday at Tokyo Dome.
Tono limited the Tigers to one run over 6.2 innings for his Central League-leading 12th win as the Giants took the rubber game in a three-game set to move a half-game ahead of Hanshin atop the standings.
Tono (12-3), Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara’s whipping boy at times last season, allowed five hits and four walks, while fanning 11. He hasn’t lost in seven career appearances against Hanshin.
Yomiuri’s Ryota Wakiya broke the CL record for consecutive games with a run, scoring in his 15th straight. Wakiya singled in the second inning and came home on Tetsuya Matsumoto’s double just inside the left-field line.
Wakiya broke Takao Sato's record of 14 set in 1952 with the Kokutetsu Swallows.
“This is the kind of record you can’t set on your own, so I want to take the time to thank my teammates for this,” Wakiya said.
SWALLOWS 5, DRAGONS 0
A week after tossing his first career complete game, third-year righty Yoshinori Sato hurled a five-hitter in his first shutout as Yakult blanked third-place Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.
The 20-year-old Sato (7-6), who fanned eight and walked one, was helped by four double plays and Shinichi Takeuchi’s three-run homer in the first to send the Dragons to their fifth straight loss.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 0
Former Los Angeles Dodger Eric Stults (4-7) had his best performance in Japan, firing eight scoreless innings as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at The Zoom.
Stults allowed one hit, walked two and fanned nine, and got support from Jun Hirose and Akihiro Higashide each had two hits and an RBI.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 9, MARINES 3
Daisuke Kusano and Suguru Ino each three hits, and Satoshi Nagai (7-7) tossed his first complete game of the season as Rakuten topped Lotte again at The Kleenex Box.
The Marines, who saw skipper rookie Norifumi Nishimura get his first ejection for grabbing an umpire while arguing a call, lost their 13th consecutive game at The Kleenex Box and their season-worst seventh straight overall.
The Marines fell into fourth place.
BUFFALOES 9, LIONS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada slugged a pair of homers, his 27th and 28th, and drove in four to take over the PL lead in RBIs to power Orix past Seibu for their fourth straight win, lifting it into third place.
Francisco Caraballo also slugged a two-run homer for the Buffaloes, who are five games over .500.
The Giants got a much-needed quality start from Shun Tono and production from Yoshinobu Takahashi, who hit a three-run homer, to take the series finale over the Hanshin Tigers 9-1 Thursday at Tokyo Dome.
Tono limited the Tigers to one run over 6.2 innings for his Central League-leading 12th win as the Giants took the rubber game in a three-game set to move a half-game ahead of Hanshin atop the standings.
Tono (12-3), Yomiuri skipper Tatsunori Hara’s whipping boy at times last season, allowed five hits and four walks, while fanning 11. He hasn’t lost in seven career appearances against Hanshin.
Yomiuri’s Ryota Wakiya broke the CL record for consecutive games with a run, scoring in his 15th straight. Wakiya singled in the second inning and came home on Tetsuya Matsumoto’s double just inside the left-field line.
Wakiya broke Takao Sato's record of 14 set in 1952 with the Kokutetsu Swallows.
“This is the kind of record you can’t set on your own, so I want to take the time to thank my teammates for this,” Wakiya said.
SWALLOWS 5, DRAGONS 0
A week after tossing his first career complete game, third-year righty Yoshinori Sato hurled a five-hitter in his first shutout as Yakult blanked third-place Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.
The 20-year-old Sato (7-6), who fanned eight and walked one, was helped by four double plays and Shinichi Takeuchi’s three-run homer in the first to send the Dragons to their fifth straight loss.
CARP 4, BAYSTARS 0
Former Los Angeles Dodger Eric Stults (4-7) had his best performance in Japan, firing eight scoreless innings as Hiroshima topped Yokohama at The Zoom.
Stults allowed one hit, walked two and fanned nine, and got support from Jun Hirose and Akihiro Higashide each had two hits and an RBI.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 9, MARINES 3
Daisuke Kusano and Suguru Ino each three hits, and Satoshi Nagai (7-7) tossed his first complete game of the season as Rakuten topped Lotte again at The Kleenex Box.
The Marines, who saw skipper rookie Norifumi Nishimura get his first ejection for grabbing an umpire while arguing a call, lost their 13th consecutive game at The Kleenex Box and their season-worst seventh straight overall.
The Marines fell into fourth place.
BUFFALOES 9, LIONS 4
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada slugged a pair of homers, his 27th and 28th, and drove in four to take over the PL lead in RBIs to power Orix past Seibu for their fourth straight win, lifting it into third place.
Francisco Caraballo also slugged a two-run homer for the Buffaloes, who are five games over .500.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Back in the saddle ...
Tigers trounce Giants to regain CL’s top spot
The three-time defending Central League champion Yomiuri Giants were the runaway favorites to repeat this year. Now they’re running into trouble.
The Tigers banged out five hits in a four-run second inning, and first-year import Randy Messenger went seven innings in his longest outing as Hanshin retook first place by a half-game, pounding the Giants 8-4 on Wednesday at Tokyo Dome.
Keiichi Hirano had three hits, including a three-run bomb -- his first of the season -- and had four RBIs to back Messenger (3-1).
Alex Ramirez drilled his league-high 35 th homer, a solo shot in the fourth.
Messenger hit a drive to left in the second inning that was initially ruled a homer but umpires used video review to change the call to a double. Messenger eventually scored Takashi Toritani’s clutch single to make it 3-0 Tigers.
Yomiuri’s Ryota Wakiya blasted a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give him 14 consecutive games with a run scored, tying the CL record.
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 2
Masanori Ishikawa (7-8) shut down Chunichi over 6.2 innings as host Yakult sent the Dragons to their fourth straight loss.
BAYSTARS 6, CARP 5
Tatsuhiko Kinjo’s fly to right was just deep enough to score Shingo Nonaka from third in the ninth inning of a four-hour, 23-minute struggle with Hiroshima that Yokohama won at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 5, MARINES 3
Takeshi Yamasaki broke a 3-3 tie with his 20th homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth inning as Rakuten downed visiting Lotte, which lost its season-worst sixth straight.
The Eagles had just seen the potential go-ahead run called out at the plate when Teppei Tsuchiya doubled into the right-field corner with runners on first and second. Shunsuke Uchimura was ruled to have slid past the plate and Lotte catcher Tomoya Satozaki applied the late tag to keep the score tied.
Yamasaki made up for that, taking Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-4) deep to left for a clutch game-winning homer, making it four straight years -- his 10th time overall -- he has hit at least 20 longballs. He is the third player in NPB history to hit at least 20 at 42 years old.
FIGHTERS 6, HAWKS 4
Eiichi Koyano took over the PL RBI lead by slugging his career-best 11th homer, and three others went deep to beat SoftBank at Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
SoftBank’s Tsuyoshi Wada (13-5) saw his personal four-game winning streak snapped after getting battered for a career-worst four long balls.
Nippon Ham’s 42-year-old righty Masao Kida (5-1) won his third straight start with five solid innings.
BUFFALOES 6, LIONS 5, 11 INNINGS
Orix slugger Takahiro “T.O.” Okada drove in the winning run with the fourth straight single off 47-year-old Seibu hurler Kimiyasu Kudo, who didn’t retire a batter in the 11th at Kyocera Dome.
The three-time defending Central League champion Yomiuri Giants were the runaway favorites to repeat this year. Now they’re running into trouble.
The Tigers banged out five hits in a four-run second inning, and first-year import Randy Messenger went seven innings in his longest outing as Hanshin retook first place by a half-game, pounding the Giants 8-4 on Wednesday at Tokyo Dome.
Keiichi Hirano had three hits, including a three-run bomb -- his first of the season -- and had four RBIs to back Messenger (3-1).
Alex Ramirez drilled his league-high 35 th homer, a solo shot in the fourth.
Messenger hit a drive to left in the second inning that was initially ruled a homer but umpires used video review to change the call to a double. Messenger eventually scored Takashi Toritani’s clutch single to make it 3-0 Tigers.
Yomiuri’s Ryota Wakiya blasted a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give him 14 consecutive games with a run scored, tying the CL record.
SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 2
Masanori Ishikawa (7-8) shut down Chunichi over 6.2 innings as host Yakult sent the Dragons to their fourth straight loss.
BAYSTARS 6, CARP 5
Tatsuhiko Kinjo’s fly to right was just deep enough to score Shingo Nonaka from third in the ninth inning of a four-hour, 23-minute struggle with Hiroshima that Yokohama won at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 5, MARINES 3
Takeshi Yamasaki broke a 3-3 tie with his 20th homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth inning as Rakuten downed visiting Lotte, which lost its season-worst sixth straight.
The Eagles had just seen the potential go-ahead run called out at the plate when Teppei Tsuchiya doubled into the right-field corner with runners on first and second. Shunsuke Uchimura was ruled to have slid past the plate and Lotte catcher Tomoya Satozaki applied the late tag to keep the score tied.
Yamasaki made up for that, taking Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-4) deep to left for a clutch game-winning homer, making it four straight years -- his 10th time overall -- he has hit at least 20 longballs. He is the third player in NPB history to hit at least 20 at 42 years old.
FIGHTERS 6, HAWKS 4
Eiichi Koyano took over the PL RBI lead by slugging his career-best 11th homer, and three others went deep to beat SoftBank at Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
SoftBank’s Tsuyoshi Wada (13-5) saw his personal four-game winning streak snapped after getting battered for a career-worst four long balls.
Nippon Ham’s 42-year-old righty Masao Kida (5-1) won his third straight start with five solid innings.
BUFFALOES 6, LIONS 5, 11 INNINGS
Orix slugger Takahiro “T.O.” Okada drove in the winning run with the fourth straight single off 47-year-old Seibu hurler Kimiyasu Kudo, who didn’t retire a batter in the 11th at Kyocera Dome.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Yomiuri finishes with a kick …
Giants win despite having starter KO’d by comebacker
The Yomiuri Giant lost starter Seth Greisinger in the second inning, but hit back to jump back into first place.
Michihiro Ogasawara homered and had an RBI single, and recently activated Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-0) fired four scoreless innings in relief as the Giants downed the Hanshin Tigers 6-2 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome.
Greisinger was forced to leave the game after a one-hopper off the bat of Hanshin’s Craig Brazell nailed him in the leg. Nomaguchi held the Tigers to three hits, while walking two for his first win in two years.
The Giants edged ahead of the Tigers into first place in the Central League by a half-game for the first time since the All-Star break.
Shinnosuke Abe, who came on late in the game to catch, clubbed a three-run shot in the eighth -- his career-best-tying 32nd -- to put the game out of reach.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi, the fourth reliever, worked 1.2 innings, but needed help from Daisuke Ochi to close it out.
Ryota Wakiya scored in a Yomiuri club-record 13th straight game.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Josh Whitesell, hitting .311 since being picked up on June 18, hit a two-run homer -- his seventh -- to cap a three-run first inning that carried Yakult past visiting Chunichi.
Kyohei Muranaka (8-7) held the Dragons to a run over 6.2 innings to earn the win.
CARP 5, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose and Akihiro Higashide each homered and Junpei Shinoda (5-4) pitched six innings of one-run ball as Hiroshima topped Yokohama to halt a six-game skid at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
ORIX 6, LIONS 5
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped a pair of homers and drove in three, and Chihiro Kaneko (10-7) went six strong innings as Orix outlasted visiting Seibu.
Aarom Baldiris and Mitsutaka Goto also homered to offset two longballs and four RBIs from Seibu’s Dee Brown.
FIGHTERS 13, HAWKS 4
Hichori Morimoto had four hits and two RBIs, and Atsunori Inaba had two hits and two RBIs on his 38th birthday as Nippon Ham topped SoftBank at Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
EAGLES 5, MARINES 3
Norihiro Nakamura’s clutch three-run homer in the fourth helped Rakuten top Lotte at The Kleenex Box.
The Yomiuri Giant lost starter Seth Greisinger in the second inning, but hit back to jump back into first place.
Michihiro Ogasawara homered and had an RBI single, and recently activated Takahiko Nomaguchi (1-0) fired four scoreless innings in relief as the Giants downed the Hanshin Tigers 6-2 on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome.
Greisinger was forced to leave the game after a one-hopper off the bat of Hanshin’s Craig Brazell nailed him in the leg. Nomaguchi held the Tigers to three hits, while walking two for his first win in two years.
The Giants edged ahead of the Tigers into first place in the Central League by a half-game for the first time since the All-Star break.
Shinnosuke Abe, who came on late in the game to catch, clubbed a three-run shot in the eighth -- his career-best-tying 32nd -- to put the game out of reach.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi, the fourth reliever, worked 1.2 innings, but needed help from Daisuke Ochi to close it out.
Ryota Wakiya scored in a Yomiuri club-record 13th straight game.
SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Josh Whitesell, hitting .311 since being picked up on June 18, hit a two-run homer -- his seventh -- to cap a three-run first inning that carried Yakult past visiting Chunichi.
Kyohei Muranaka (8-7) held the Dragons to a run over 6.2 innings to earn the win.
CARP 5, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose and Akihiro Higashide each homered and Junpei Shinoda (5-4) pitched six innings of one-run ball as Hiroshima topped Yokohama to halt a six-game skid at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
ORIX 6, LIONS 5
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped a pair of homers and drove in three, and Chihiro Kaneko (10-7) went six strong innings as Orix outlasted visiting Seibu.
Aarom Baldiris and Mitsutaka Goto also homered to offset two longballs and four RBIs from Seibu’s Dee Brown.
FIGHTERS 13, HAWKS 4
Hichori Morimoto had four hits and two RBIs, and Atsunori Inaba had two hits and two RBIs on his 38th birthday as Nippon Ham topped SoftBank at Asahikawa, Hokkaido.
EAGLES 5, MARINES 3
Norihiro Nakamura’s clutch three-run homer in the fourth helped Rakuten top Lotte at The Kleenex Box.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Part-time player, big-time contributor ...
Sato takes advantage of rare start to KO Fighters
Tomoaki Sato doesn’t get much playing time, but he had four hits and played a big-time role in Sunday’s 7-6 stress-filled victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Obihiro Forest Stadium in Hokkaido.
The Lions took a 6-0 lead only to have the Fighters come back to even things up with two in the seventh inning.
Sato took a fastball from Kazumasa Kikuchi (1-0) and shot it to the wall in left to score the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
“I felt like if we hadn’t have scored then, we weren’t going to get another chance,” said Sato, who only had 84 at-bats going into the game.
It was the first time in six years that the 10th-year veteran had four hits in a game.
Toru Hosokawa had a two-run homer, his seventh, and Dee Brown slugged his 19th to stake the Lions to a six-run lead early.
EAGLES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Masahiro Tanaka (9-6), making his first start in start in a month, held Orix to two runs over six-plus innings as last-place Rakuten won the finale of a three-game set at The Kleenex Box.
Randy Ruiz hit a solo blast in the second and Ryo Hijirisawa knocked in a run in a two-run third to back Tanaka.
HAWKS 12, MARINES 9
Hitoki Tamura had three hits, including his 16th homer, six others each had two hits as SoftBank came up with a 20-hit attack for a comeback win at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 8, DRAGONS 7
Takashi Toritani’s two-run single in the sixth inning turned out to be the winning runs as Hanshin held off Chunichi at Koshien Stadium.
Masahiko Morino had three of Chunichi’s six solo homers, and Kazuhiro Wada stroked his 28th longball -- the 250th of his career -- but the Dragons couldn’t get baserunners. Every hit was a homer until the ninth inning, when two singles put the go-ahead runners on base but they were stranded.
GIANTS 13, CARP 2
Alex Ramirez blasted his league-best 34th homer and Edgar Gonzalez continued his recent hot streak with three hits, including his eighth longball, as Yomiuri cruised past Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Michihiro Ogasawara had two hits, including his 21st homer.
BAYSTARS 3, SWALLOWS 1
Shuichi Murata drove in an eighth-inning run after the go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch as visiting Yokohama beat Yakult.
Tomoaki Sato doesn’t get much playing time, but he had four hits and played a big-time role in Sunday’s 7-6 stress-filled victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Obihiro Forest Stadium in Hokkaido.
The Lions took a 6-0 lead only to have the Fighters come back to even things up with two in the seventh inning.
Sato took a fastball from Kazumasa Kikuchi (1-0) and shot it to the wall in left to score the winning run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
“I felt like if we hadn’t have scored then, we weren’t going to get another chance,” said Sato, who only had 84 at-bats going into the game.
It was the first time in six years that the 10th-year veteran had four hits in a game.
Toru Hosokawa had a two-run homer, his seventh, and Dee Brown slugged his 19th to stake the Lions to a six-run lead early.
EAGLES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Masahiro Tanaka (9-6), making his first start in start in a month, held Orix to two runs over six-plus innings as last-place Rakuten won the finale of a three-game set at The Kleenex Box.
Randy Ruiz hit a solo blast in the second and Ryo Hijirisawa knocked in a run in a two-run third to back Tanaka.
HAWKS 12, MARINES 9
Hitoki Tamura had three hits, including his 16th homer, six others each had two hits as SoftBank came up with a 20-hit attack for a comeback win at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 8, DRAGONS 7
Takashi Toritani’s two-run single in the sixth inning turned out to be the winning runs as Hanshin held off Chunichi at Koshien Stadium.
Masahiko Morino had three of Chunichi’s six solo homers, and Kazuhiro Wada stroked his 28th longball -- the 250th of his career -- but the Dragons couldn’t get baserunners. Every hit was a homer until the ninth inning, when two singles put the go-ahead runners on base but they were stranded.
GIANTS 13, CARP 2
Alex Ramirez blasted his league-best 34th homer and Edgar Gonzalez continued his recent hot streak with three hits, including his eighth longball, as Yomiuri cruised past Hiroshima at The Zoom.
Michihiro Ogasawara had two hits, including his 21st homer.
BAYSTARS 3, SWALLOWS 1
Shuichi Murata drove in an eighth-inning run after the go-ahead run scored on a wild pitch as visiting Yokohama beat Yakult.
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