4/7/2004
4/7/2004
| Mullen, Yokohama Destroy Tigers 17-0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yokohama The euphoria in Osaka
after the Hanshin Tigers swept the Yomiuri Giants in the opening series
of the season crashed hard Wednesday, as Scott Mullen induced scads of
double play balls to keep the Tigers offense away from reaching even second
base and catcher Ryoji Aikawa drove in seven runs to basically exterminate
the Osaka favorite sons 17-0. It was the first time since March 30th, 2001
that the Tigers had been clobbered for so many opposition tallies.
The main victim of this bombardment was, surprise surprise, former Kintetsu lefty Katsuhiko Maekawa, who had been a favorite batting practice pitcher for other Pacific League outfits for a few years before the Buffaloes finally got wise and unloaded him. That Maekawa isn't a civilian is amazing. So let's document the carnage, shall we? Yokohama drew first blood in the second, as first baseman Tyrone Woods walked and third baseman Shuichi Murata singled off the rightfield wall, Woods hustling to third. One out later, second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa grounded to second and Woods scored to make it 1-0. In the third, shortstop Takuro Ishii belted a slider into the rightfield bleachers to widen that two 2-0. They would double that in the fourth when Murata walked with one away and, one out later, Uchikawa got on due to an infield hit. Aikawa thunked a shot off the centerfield wall to convert both runners and it was 4-0 Yokohama. They tacked on another three in the fifth on a single to right by Ishii, who was sacrificed to second, and a one out walk to Woods. Murata crushed a fastball into the rightcenterfield seats to make it 7-0 Yokohama. And it just kept on coming. In the sixth, with Hirotaka Egusa now on the hill, Uchikawa blooped a double to center and Aikawa torched a pitch beyond the rightcenterfield bleachers and this one was effectively already over at 9-0. Makoto Yoshino, manager Akinobu Okada's number one
lefthanded reliever, then got stomped. Rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo singled
to center and Uchikawa singled to left. Aikawa whistled a double down the
rightfield line for two more. Masakuni Odajima reached on an infield hit.
Ishii singled to center to plate Aikawa. One out later, centerfielder Hitoshi
Tamura walked to load the bases. Woods rolled a ball several feet
away from the plate and
Appropriately, this game ended for Hanshin on a 5-4-3 double play hit into by Mike Kinkade with a man on in the ninth, Kinkade's secolnd GIDP of the match and the eighth overall between the two sides, tying a Central League record that has been pulled off six times. The NPB record for twin killings turned in one game is nine, set by the Nishitetsu Lions and the Takahashi Unions on March 31, 1954. Both Aikawa and Murata credit their production in this game to a focus on going the other way. It had been five years since the last time the Stars offense accumulated that many runs. Rookie shortstop Takashi Toritani had a special pre-game hitting session, as he came into this one zero for his last 15 with seven strikeouts. It didn't do much good, though, as he went 0-2. "He's worse now than he was during the spring," Okada grumbled. Yokohama now goes for a humiliating sweep of the 2003 CL champs Thursday.
E: S. Murata, Kanemoto
Season Series: Hanshin 0, Yokohama 2 Game Time: 2:54
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| Ochoa Walks Off With Dragons Win Againt Giants 5-3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya After they had thought
that they had turned this game around in their favor in the top of the
ninth on first baseman Roberto Petagine's three run homer to grab a 3-1
edge, the Yomiuri bullpen squandered that lead in the bottom of the frame,
culminating in Chunichi Dragons centerfielder Alex Ochoa's two out walkoff
three run bomb to win it for the Nagoya side 5-3.
Masanori Hayashi started for the Giants and pitched well, going seven two hit, one run innings, though he left the game down 1-0. That was because Chunichi starter Domingo Guzman had a one hit shutout before being pulled with nobody out and two on in the ninth. So the victory was vultured by reliever Hitoki Iwase, who was tagged for the Petagine goner. Both pitchers were relentlessly piling up outs until
the fifth, when Petagine got aboard on an infield hit. Guzman sawed leftfielder
Tuffy Rhodes off. The bat and the ball headed for Guzman, who avoid the
bat shard and gloved the
The Dragons then swooped in for the game's initial
run, as first baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe singled to cneter with two outs
and was cashed in on a liner up the leftcenter alley by leftfielder Kazuki
Inoue that went for an RBI double
It stayed that way in this classic pitcher's duel until
Guzman tired in the final stanza. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled
to center and third baseman Hiroki Kokubo walked. Iwase was brought in
from the bullpen. One out later,
Yomiuri's closer of the momemt, Brian Sikorsky, came
on to attempt to seal it. Takayuki Onishi lashed one off of
For Ochoa, it was his first walkoff homer since he was in the minor leagues more than a decade ago. Now it goes to the rubber game of the series, where ace Koji Uehara will go for the Giants.
E: Tatsunami
Season Series: Yomiuri 1, Chunichi 1 Game Time: 2:57
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| Kawauchi Surpasses Solid Mounce Effort in 3-2 Carp Victory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiroshima Yakult Swallows starter
Tony Mounce had by far his best outing since coming to Japan, as he held
the Hiroshima Carp to two runs on six hits and five unsightly walks, but
was easily outpitched by Carp starter Takaya
Kawauchi and went down to a 3-2 defeat. Kawauchi, who appears to be coming into his own now, went seven strong innings of one run, five hit ball and struckout ten while walking three. Kawauchi sidestepped a two on, two out jam in the first
and then struckout the side in the second. Carp first baseman
Mounce singled to open the third and was advanced to
second on a sacrifice, but Kawauchi was up to the task once
The Carp added on in the fourth, as leftfielder Tomonori
Maeda singled to right and went to second on a one out groundout. Catcher
Yoshiyuki Ishihara was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher's spot.
Unfortunately,
Mounce then had two on with nobody out in the fifth,
but induced a double play ball from shortstop Andy Sheets
Yakult finally got on the big board in the seventh
on a walk to first baseman Ken Suzuki, a single to left by catcher Atsuya
Furuta and a one out single to center by centerfielder Ryuji Miyade that
redeemed Suzuki and made it 2-1
But the Carp got it back during their turn, as Takuya
Kimura doubled down the rightfield line and rightfielder Shigenori Shima
clocked a single off the glove of Suzuki and Kimura motored around to third
before the ball was retrieved on what was ruled an infield single. Second
baseman Greg Larocca then flew to left and Kimrua tagged up and crossed
Suzuki took Carp closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa into the leftcenterfield seats leading off the ninth and second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi walked with one out. However, both Miyade and Hirobumi Watarai whiffed to put it in the books. Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta took a foul tip off
his right thumb and experienced some internal bleeding there, so
2B: T. Kimura
Season Series: Yakult 1, Hiroshima 1 Game Time: 2:47
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Team Reports
| Yomiuri | |
| Former Yomiuri manager Shigeo Nagashima, in hospital recovering from a stroke, watched Kazuo Matsui make his debut with the Mets om tv and was pleased with the results. Nagashima managed Matsui this past November at the Asian zone tournament to qualify for participation at the Athens Olympic Games. "He can use this as | something to build on," he averred, after the former Lions homered,
doubled and was even intentionally walked at one point, the latter especially surprising the hall of famer. There haven't been any substantial changes in Nagashima's condition in the last couple of days. |
| Hiroshima | |
| Outfielder Koichi Ogata made a minor league rehab appearance Wednesday and went 2-3 with an RBI. He will likely be promoted to | the top team on Thursday. |