Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada shook up his lineup, removing rookie Takashi Toritani, who is in the midst of an 0-17 skid and moving rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama into the three hole and dropping Mike Kinkade, who would conclude this game by heading to a hospital, into the five slot and first baseman George Arias into the sixth position. They had their best chance in the second, when leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto leadoff with a walk and Kinkade singled to left. But Miura buckled down and struck Arias out, induced a fly ball from shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto, and then blew catcher Akihiro Yano away. 

Keiichi Yabu, who was being scrutinized by two Atlanta Braves scouts that were in the stands, wasn't quite as overpowering as Miura, but nevertheless held the Stars scoreless until the seventh, when Yokohama rallied for all of its tallies in a ten batter extravaganza. First baseman Tyrone Woods got aboard on an infield hit and third baseman Shuichi Murata went to the opposite field and crashed the ball off the rightfield wall. Rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo walked to load the bases. Takahiro Saeki was dispatched to pinch hit for second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa and grounded into a 4-2 force play. Aikawa ripped a fastball on the inner half to left to redeem Murata and Kinjo on the single. Yuki Kono, pinch hitting for Miura, singled to center. Hirotaka Egusa jogged in from the bullpen and wildpitched Saeki in. Shortstop Takuro Ishii struckout. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki walked to reload the bases. Rui Makino was called in from the pen. Centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura reached on an infield hit and Aikawa crossed to make it 4-0.

Eddie Gaillard fashioned a perfect eighth for Yokohama, but fellow reliever Takeharu Kato had someproblems in the ninth. Hiyama commenced it with a double to leftcenter. One out later, Kato beaned Kinkade and was promptly tossed, as is dictated by NPB rules. Kinkade took his base. Kazuhiro Sasaki was pressed into action and got
Arias to foul out to Aikawa and Fujimoto grounded out to secure the victory. Yokohama has prevailed in each of their last four, something they never did last season. Moreover, they are in first place. That makes them the Detroit Tigers of Japanese baseball. 

Yabu didn't fare so well with the Braves observers. "He's got a lot of pitches, but they're all average," said one.
He also elaborated that the righthander will have to step it up to have any hopes of pitching in MLB. Yabu was clocked at a high of 91mph.

Sasaki revealed that he is still working himself into shape. In his last appearance, he was clocked at around 88-89mph and this time 90mph.  "I'm at about 90%," the former Seattle closer stated. 

Hanshin	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	RE	ERA
Yabu  (L, 0-1)	6.1	27	93	6	0	6	2	4	4	5.68
Egusa	0.1	2	10	0	0	1	1	0	0	7.71
Makino	0.1	2	7	1	0	1	0	0	0	0.00
Riggan	1.0	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Hanshin	Imaoka (2B)	Akahoshi (CF)	Hiyama (RF)	Kanemoto (LF)	Kinkade (3B)	Arias (1B)	Fujimoto (SS)	Yano (C)	Yabu (P)	Egusa P	Makino P	Kataoka PH	Riggan P	Totals
AB	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	2	0	0	1	0	32
R	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5
RBI	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AVG	.296	.364	.222	.250	.143	.174	.125	.238	.500	.000	.000	.333	.000	.217

Yokohama	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	ER	ERA
Miura  (W, 1-1)	7.0	26	116	4	0	12	1	0	0	1.93
Gaillard	1.0	3	7	0	0	1	0	0	0	12.00
Kato	0.1	3	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.08
Sasaki (S, 2)	0.2	2	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00

Yokohama	Ishii (SS)	Suzuki (LF)	Manei 2B	Tamura (CF)	Woods (1B)	Tanaka PR, LF	Murata (3B)	Kinjo (RF)	Uchikawa (2B)	Saeki PH, 1B	Aikawa (C)	Miura (P)	Kono PH	Gaillard P	Kato P	Sasaki P	Totals
AB	4	3	0	4	2	1	4	3	2	2	3	2	1	0	0	0	31
R	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	4
H	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	7
RBI	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	3
Average	.435	.222	.000	.136	.333	.000	.261	.524	.381	.250	.304	.000	.500	.000	1.000	.000	.308

2B: S. Murata, Hiyama
K: Imaoka 2, Hiyama, Kanemoto, Kinkade 2, Arias 2, Fujimoto 2, A. Yano, Yabu, Kataoka, T. Ishii 2, T.N. Suzuki, H. Tamura, K.N. Tanaka, Kinjo, Uchikawa, Aikawa
BB: Kanemoto, Woods, Kinjo, T.N. Suzuki
WP: Egusa 
HBP: Kinkade (T.H. Kato)
LOB: Hanshin 7, Yokohama 6

Season Series: Hanshin 0, Yokohama 3

Game Time: 2:48
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Tani (HP), Sasaki (1B), Honda (2B), Watarida (3B)

Koji Uehara started for the kyojin and was superb for seven innings, limiting the Dragons to just three hits, two of
them the infield variety and striking out ten in that time. However, he tired in the eighth and the inning was also 
extended by an error and surrendered all three runs he was charged with. But you can't really blame manager 
Tsuneo Horiuchi for pushing his ace given yesterday's fiasco. 

Like 2003, Yomiuri is going to live or die by the home run ball (or lack thereof) and used it to notch its initial 
advantage in the third. With two outs, second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to center and leftfielder Takayuki 
Shimizu singled to left. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo went 3-2 and then put good wood to a slider and deposited
it into the leftfield seats for a 3-0 lead. 

In the sixth, they amassed two hits and a walk to jam the basepaths with two outs, but Chunichi starter Masahiro 
Yamamoto, who has given the Giants a bad time over his career, had Uehara line back to him for the third out. 

Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai decided to bring reliever Tsuyoshi Kawagishi in to begin the seventh and 
Shimizu doubled down the leftfield line with one away. Kawagishi plunked Kokubo. Rightfielder Yoshinobu 
Takahashi went the opposite way and pinged it off the leftfield fence to push both runners in and stretch their hold 
on this game to 5-0. First baseman Roberto Petagine grounded to second to move Takahashi over. Centerfielder 
Tuffy Rhodes singled to right to pick up the RBI and it was 6-0. 

Uehara is lucky to have emerged from this contest injury free. In the second, he deflected a line drive with his 
pitching hand and then in the bottom of the seventh, Omar Linares slid  into the first base bag as Uehara arrived to 
take the throw from Petagine and got tangled up with the Cuban star, tumbling to the ground. But he was okay
and tempted Kazuki Inoue into flying out to left to bring the curtain down on the frame. 

The eighth, though, was a little more than what Uehara could deal with. With one out, Mitsunobu Takahashi and 
shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to left. Second baseman Masahiro Araki also singled to left to load the bases. 
Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami grounded to Nishi, who threw it down the rightfield line and all three runners 
scored. Tatsunami was given an RBI on the ground ball while the remaining runs were unearned. One out later, 
centerfielder Alex Ochoa walked. Linares, though, fanned and that stopped the comeback in its tracks. Nevertheless, 
it was now Yomiuri 6, Chunichi 3. 

With two gone in the top of the ninth, Petagine hammered a shot into the rightfield stands to make it to lucky 7 
against Chunichi's 3. 

Okajima ascended the hill and Inoue just missed taking him out of the yard, the ball bounding off the leftfield fence 
for a two bagger. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige singled to center. Takayuki Onishi struckout. Ibata grounded to 
Nishi, who booted it and Inoue crossed. But Araki and Tatsunami both came up empty and it was see you later. 

Uehara now has 15 lifetime wins against the Dragons and has totaled up four straight shiroboshi at Nagoya Dome. 

Shimizu went 0-9 last season against Yamamoto, so his performace in this one was a big change. 

Chunichi rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome is zip for his last 14 with seven strikeouts. Ochiai isn't concerned. 

Yomiuri	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	ER	ERA
Uehara  (W, 1-0)	8.0	33	141	6	0	10	2	3	1	1.80
Okajima	1.0	6	32	2	0	3	0	1	1	6.75

Yomiuri	Nishi (2B)	Shimizu (LF)	Ide CF	Kokubo (3B)	Y.Takahashi (RF)	Petagine (1B)	Rhodes (CF)	Suzuki LF	Motoki (SS)	Abe (C)	Uehara (P)	Okajima P	Totals
AB	5	5	0	4	5	5	5	0	4	3	4	0	40
R	1	2	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
H	1	3	0	1	1	1	2	0	3	1	0	0	13
RBI	0	0	0	3	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7
AVG	.250	.308	.000	.217	.115	.250	.364	.000	.308	.158	.167	.000	.229

Chunichi	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	ER	ER
Yamamoto (L, 0-1)	6.0	27	95	8	1	6	1	3	3	4.50
Kawagishi	1.0	8	30	4	0	0	0	3	3	6.75
Miyagoe	1.0	3	11	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.00
Endo	1.0	4	19	1	1	0	0	1	1	3.38

Chunichi	Ibata (SS)	Araki (2B)	Tatsunami (3B)	Fukudome (RF)	Ochoa (CF)	Linares (1B)	Inoue (LF)	Tanishige (C)	Yamamoto (P)	Sekikawa PH	Kawagishi P	Miyagoe P	Takahashi PH	Kuramoto PR	Endo P	Onishi PH	Totals
AB	5	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	37
R	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
H	2	2	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	8
RBI	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
AVG	.261	.261	.273	.238	.217	.286	.474	.174	.000	.000	.000	.000	.333	.500	.000	.500	.259

 

Photo:  Koji Uehara About to Deliver Thursday Night

E: Nishi 2
SB: M. Araki
2B: Ibata, Y. Takahashi, K. Inoue
HR: Kokubo (3), Petagine (2)
K: Nishi 2, T. Shimizu, Kokubo 2, Rhodes, Uehara 3, M. Araki 2, Tatsunami 2, Fukudome 2, Ochoa, Linares 2, K. Inoue, M. Yamamoto, 
Sekikawa, T. Onishi
BB: Tatsunami, S. Abe, Ochoa
HBP: Kokubo (Kawagishi)
LOB: Yomiuri 8, Chunichi 8

Season Series: Yomiuri 2, Chunichi 1

Game Time: 3:29
Attendance: 35,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Kasahara (1B), Manabe (2B), Suginaga (3B)

Jason Beverlin started for Yakult and was solid for five innings, but he was then victimized for a pair in the sixth 
that knotted the game up and so he was left with a no decision.

Kan Otake started for Hiroshima while he only gave up four hits, but two of then drove in runs and by the end of his
six inning stint, he would be deemed responsible for three runs and didn't figure in the decison, either. 

Otake was behind from the outset, as he nailed shortstop Shinya Miyamoto with one down and third baseman 
Akinori Iwamura got a slider on the outer half of the plate and went with it, slicing it into the leftfield bleachers
for a 2-0 lead. 

Hiroshima leftfielder Tomonori Maeda replied with his side's first safety of the game, a shot into the rightfield
seats that made it 2-1 Swallows. 

Another hit batsman by Otake would aid Yakult in earning its third run in the fourth, as Iwamura singled to left and
Ramirez took a pitch off of his body. First baseman Ken Suzuki singled to left and Iwamura sped in to extend it to 
3-1 Yakult while Ramirez wheeled to third. Kosei Ono, starting in place of the injured Atsuya Furuta at catcher, flew
to rightfielder Shigenobu Shima. Ramirez tagged up and busted for the plate. Shima's peg, though, beat him for
a 9-2 double play. 

But Shigeru Morikasa, pinch hitting for Otake, would help get his hurler off the hook in the sixth when he singled to 
left and centerfielder Takuya Kimura walked. Shima, who had a total of 190 pro at bats in nine seasons before this 
spring, continues to surprise, as he singled to left to load the bases. Second baseman Greg LaRocca flied out to 
right and Morikasa tagged up and blazed in while Kimura slid into third safely. Shortstop Andy Sheets grounded to 
Iwamura, whose only play was to first and it was even at three all. 

In the seventh, Miyamoto mishandled first baseman Kenta Kurihara's grounder ansd he went to second on a sac
bunt. Ishihara decided to take a hack at a first pitch slider breaking over the inner part of the plate and steamed
it 405 feet into the leftcenterfield seats to put the Carp in front 5-3. There would be no other offense the rest of the
game and this one quickly came to a close. 

Yakult	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	ER	ERA
Beverlin	5.2	22	98	5	1	4	1	3	3	2.63
Yamabe (L, 0-1)	1.1	6	19	1	1	2	0	2	1	3.00
Yamamoto	1.0	3	12	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.00

Yakult	Inaba (RF)	Miyamoto (SS)	Iwamura (3B)	Ramirez (LF)	Suzuki (1B)	Ono (C0	Shiroishi (2B)	MiYade (CF)	Beverlin (P)	Yamabe P	Manaka PH	Yamanaka P	Totals
AB	4	3	4	3	2	3	3	3	2	0	1	0	28
R	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
H	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
RBI	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
AVG	.095	.318	.333	.217	.333	.000	.105	.167	.250	.000	.000	.000	.212

Hiroshima	IP	BF	PC	H	HR	K	BB	R	ER	ERA
Otake	6.0	22	78	4	1	7	0	3	3	3.38
Sawazaki (W, 1-1)	1.0	3	10	0	0	0	1	0	0	2.45
Sasaoka	1.0	3	9	0	0	1	0	0	0	0.00
Nagakawa (S, 2)	1.0	3	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.50

Hiroshima	T.Kimura (CF)	Shima (RF)	LaRocca (2B)	Nagakawa P	Sheets (SS)	Maeda (LF)	Sasaoka P	Higashide 2B	Kurihara (1B)	Nomura (3B)	Ishihara (C)	Nishiyama C	Otake (P)	Morikasa PH	Sawazaki P	K.Ogata PH	Okagami LF	Totals
AB	3	4	3	0	4	3	0	0	3	2	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	28
R	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	5
H	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	6
RBI	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
AVG	.238	.524	.167	.000	.250	.280	.000	.273	.188	.125	.409	.000	.000	.400	.000	.000	.000	.271

E: S. Miyamoto
HR: Iwamura (3), T. Maeda (1), Ishihara (1)
Sac: K. Nomura
SF: LaRocca
K: Inaba 3, S. Miyamoto, Iwamura, K. Suzuki, Shiroishi, Beverlin, T. Kimura, Shima, Sheets, T. Maeda, Kurihara, Ishihara, Otake
BB: T. Kimura, K. Suzuki
HBP: S. Miyamoto (Otake), Ramirez (Otake)
GIDP: LaRocca (5-4-3), Ramirez (6-4-3), Shiroishi (1-6-3)
LOB: Yakult 1, Hiroshima 2

Season Series: Yakult 1, Hiroshima 2

Game Time: 2:24
Attendance: 8,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), Mori (1B), Uemoto (2B), Kittaka (3B)

Now that the Giants bullpen is still up to its old tricks of blowing games, Watanabe is going to reconsider and maybe discuss the issue with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in the coming days.