4/6/2004
4/6/2004
| Rhodes, Kokubo Homers, Kudoh Get Yomiuri First 2004 Victory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya The Yomiuri Giants, thanks
to some nifty work by veteran lefthander Kimiyasu Kudoh and homers by
third baseman Hiroki Kokubo and centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes, finally registered their first victory of the 2004 campaign Tuesday at Nagoya Dome, beating the Chunichi Dragons 8-3. Kudoh, with the start, is now tops all time in most years played by a hurler with 23. The home team, though, would grab the first lead of
the match, as third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami got an
The kyojin then went on the attack, as Rhodes singled
with two outs in the second and Dragons starter Masafumi
In the fourth, Rhodes crushed a forkball about 440
feet into the centerfield bleachers to widen that to 3-1. When
They tacked on another in the fifth when second baseman
Toshihisa Nishi walked with one away and leftfielder
However, he did ignite a rally in the eighth, as he
singled to right, Kawanaka seared one through the leftcenter gap
Kudoh would run out of gas in the bottom of the frame,
with Kazuki Inoue taking him over the leftfield wall. One
With one out in the top of the ninth, Kokubo buried
a pitch from reliever Makoto Kito into the centerfield stands.
Both Hirai and Kudoh obviously didn't have their best
stuff, as both men usually will be in the high 80's to low 90's.
Chunichi shot caller Hiromitsu Ochiai ran out to second
during the fifth to make his first protest of the year when
Tatsnami needs 211 more hits to pass Masaru Uno as tops in that category in Dragons annals.
E: Kawanaka
Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Chunichi 0 Game Time: 3:45
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| Sasaki Gets First Japanese Save in Years in 5-4 Yokohama Win Over Hanshin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yokohama Yokohama Bay Stars first
baseman Tyrone Woods unloaded a king size clout that may have been
one of the longest homers in Japanese history Tuesday, but all the ink went closer Kazuhiro Sasaki, who preserved a 5-4 victory over the Hanshin Tigers with a nine pitch perfect inning, partially thanks to a sensational catch by rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, for his first save in his homeland since doing it against Hanshin, ironically, at Koshien Stadium on August 1, 1999. This triumph also terminated the Tigers three game winning skein. Hideki Irabu started for the losers and was hit around for five runs on ten hits to absorb the defeat. At the center of the diamond for the Stars was lefthander
Yuji Yoshimi, who managed to hold Hanshin's lineup to
This was Yoshimi's first outing since his terrible
spring training and the Tigers gained an opportunity in perhaps
Yokohama would then run their way to a tally, as shortstop
Takuro Ishii got aboard on an infield hit and stole
In the second, they tripled that when Irabu nailed
Kinjo with a delivery and saw him get sacrificed to second.
Imaoka flambed another Yoshimi pitch, but this one
was halted only by a chair in the rightcenterfield bleachers in
The Stars then ran themselves out of a run in the fourth
when second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa tripled off the
Imaoka mugged Yoshimi once more, smacking one beyond
the centerfeld wall with one out in the fifth and it was 3-2
Irabu, unfortunately, couldn't refrain from serving
up longballs. In the home ups, leftfielder Takahiro Saeki
Hanshin would mount a comeback in the seventh on another
Imaoka double, a groundout, and Kinkade's RBI
In the eighth, Tigers pinch hitter Atsushi Kataoka
singled to left with one down and went to second on a groundout.
The last out, though, was a doozy. Kanemoto ripped
a liner to right. Kinjo turned his back to the plate and made a
It was Sasaki's 230th save in Japan. It was done on
a most appropriate night, since the Stars were celebrating
For Imaoka, it was his first four hit showing since last July 2nd, when he did it against Chunichi. Tigers Reliever Rui Makino, who had a rough 2003 with
Orix, was clocked at 94mph during his two scoreless
E: Uchikawa
Season Series: Hanshin 0, Yokohama 1 Game Time: 3:20
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| Ramirez Three Run Jack Puts it Out of Reach for Hiroshima in 7-1 Yakult Triumph | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiroshima Yakult Swallows leftfielder
Alex Ramirez thumped a three run homer in the third off of Hiroshima Carp
starter Ken Takahashi Tuesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium to pretty much put this one away quick for Swallows starter Katsutoshi Ishido in a 7-1 victory. Nuclear hot third baseman Akinori Iwamura also went deep for the birds. Hiroshima was on its heels from the outset, as Yakult
shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled with one out in the first
In the second, centerfielder Ryuji Miyade poleaxed
a slider into the leftfield seats and Yakult was looking down on
Prior to this game, Hiroshima rightfielder Shigenobu
Shima had one homer in his last five seasons, but he made it
Ramirez rejoindered by breaking it open and creating
an insurmountable disparity for the Swallows. Miyamoto
And he did. And so did four of Yakult's relievers,
who suffocated the Carp offense on one hit the final three innings
The Swallows did end up crossing the plate one more
time, that being in the fifth on Ramirez' double down the
Hiroshima has lost four in a row to begin the regular
schedule, the first time they have done that since 1979, the
2B: K. Takahashi, Ramirez, Kurihara
Season Series: Yakult 1, Hiroshima 0 Game Time: 2:47
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Team Reports
| Chunichi | |
| Reliever Hitoki Iwase and wife Asako had their first child Tuesday, a | son. Both mother and child are doing well. |
| Hiroshima | |
| Infielder Takahiro Arai, who went on the shelf with a bad left hand, and outfielder Koichi Ogata, who suffered a pulled hamstring, played in a Western League game Tuesday. Ogata homered while going 2-3 | and Arai cracked one hit in three times up. Backup catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura, who has been out with a broken jaw, is expected to make a minor league appearance Wednesday. |
