Takaya Kawauchi started for Hiroshima and just flat out couldn't put the ball where he wanted it and was roundly punished for it in his 4.2 inning, seven run stint to accept blame for the defeat. 

Both Nishi and leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu walked to open the contest  and, one out later, rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi singled to right to plate Nishi. First baseman Roberto Petagine then made it 200 homers for his Japanese career when he crushed a first pitch slider 455 feet into the centerfield bleachers to expand it to 4-0. The Venezuelan slugger is the 79th to attain that figure in Japanese annals. 

The Carp dented that advantage a bit when they stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the frame, as  rightfielder Shigenobu Shima singled to left and Kisanuki plunked second baseman Greg LaRocca. Shortstop Andy Sheets singled to center to bring Shima in to reduce the deficit to 4-1 Yomiuri.

But in the second, Nishi belted one into the leftfield seats with two outs to retsore a four run disparity at 5-1.

However, Hiroshima would put on its own longball show in the home portion when third baseman Kenjiro Nomura smacked a shot beyond the leftfield wall and catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara singled to right. Kawauchi sacrificed him to second. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata socked one into the leftcenterfield stands and it was 5-4. 

Horiuchi inserted Misawa in the third and leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to right with one out. First baseman Kenta Kurihara singled to center. Nomura mortared a missile off the centerfield wall that propelled Maeda home with the tying run on the double to make it 5-5. Ishihara was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher's spot and setup a force at every base. It worked, because Kawauchi bounced into an inning ending double play. 

The Giants went back on the offensive in the fifth, with Nishi walking and then trotting around the bases on Shimizu's bomb into the rightcenterfield seats that provided Yomiuri with a 7-5 lead. They put three more men on in that inning, but it was all sandwiched around a double play that sabotaged a potentially much bigger inning. 

An inning later, they grew that to 8-5 when Nishi reached on a one out  error by Kurihara, a groundout, and centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes converted him with an RBI single to left. 

LaRocca, though, grabbed that back when he torched a Brian Sikorsky offering into the leftcenterfield bleachers in the seventh to make it 8-6 Giants.

Nishi responded with another journey to the seats, this time to dead center, and it was 9-6 Yomiuri.

Junichi Kawahara jogged in from the bullpen to try to close it out in the ninth and served up a fat one to Ogata, who deposited it in the stands in left that made it 9-7. But the next three men went down in order and that was your ballgame. 

LaRocca has been quite a surprise, as he has a 1.061OPS and is on pace for more than 40 homers and 90 RBIs. 

Former pitcher Takenori Emoto, now a commentator for Sankei Sports, said Saturday that Kisanuki's mechanics are all screwed up. His elbow position isn't where it should be, his arm speed is down and he is opening up too early, causing his fastball to back up into the middle of the zone. 

Petagine collected this 200 roundtrippers in 664 games, third fastest to that number all time behind Ralph Bryant and Randy Bass. His first one was against Yokohama on April 2, 1999 off of Michiya Yokoyama. 

Yomiuri extended its homer streak to 30 games and the team is on pace for 312. 

Hanshin squandered a chance to seize the upper hand in the third, as catcher Akihiro Yano singled to left and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi doubled off the rightfield fence. But Yano was cut down at the plate and shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto flied out to center to terminate the uprising. 

Kanemoto doubled down the leftfield line with one out in the sixth, but he was stranded. Chunichi would then raise its lone threat of the evening when centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to left with one away and so did leftfielder Kazuaki Inoue. Yabu attempted to pick Ochoa off of second, but threw it away and Ochoa moved to third. First baseman Masahiko Morino walked to load the bases. However, catcher Motonobu Tanishige grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and that was that.

Jeff Williams succeeded Yabu in the ninth and third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome tapped one to Williams, who wheeled to throw to second, but his peg went wide of the bag. Only an alert backup by Akahoshi kept Tatsunami from going to third. Williams kept the runners right there and it remained scoreless. 

Kanemoto was the first man to bat in the bottom of the inning. Kawakami got behind 2-0 and didn't want to make it 3-0, so he elevated his forkball a little too much and Kanemoto got a good look at it and airmailed it halfway up the leftcenterfield bleachers for the game winner as the crowd went bonkers. 

It was Kanemoto's first sayonara homer since 9/14/2001 and his fourth lifetime. 

A Minnesota scout was in the stands watching Yabu, who had his first ten strikeout outing in two years and his fourth overall, and assessed that "he had good movement on his fastball and good stamina. He also has a nice forkball and a lot of teams will be interested in that." Yabu's ERA was reduced 1.83.

On his problems in the ninth, Williams said that he hadn't been in a game in a week and was too pumped up. 

Takashi Saito started for Yokohama and despite being 18-10 lifetime against the Swallows, he was shelled this time around for five runs in four innings in accepting the loss. 

Yakult was in front before the seats were barely warm, as centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka walked to commence the first and second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi jacked one into the leftfield bleachers for a 2-0 lead. Ironically, Dobashi had failed to get a sac bunt down earlier in tha at bat. 

They doubled that in the second when rightfielder Atsunori Inaba doubled to leftcenter and shortstop Yoshiyuki Noguchi singled to center. Kawashima slapped one into left for an RBI single. Manaka bunted one out toward the mound. Saito attempted to nail Noguchi at third and failed, loading the bases. Dobashi flew out to right and Noguchi tagged up and crossed to make it 4-0. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura walked to pack the sacks once again. But leftfielder Alex Ramirez popped up to second and first baseman Ken Suzuki struckout to keep a lid on any further scoring.

Next time up, Yakult widened their advantage when catcher Atsuya Furuta singled to left and Inaba singled to right. One out later, Kawashima moved the runners up with a sac bunt. Manaka spanked a changeup into right and Furuta loped in, the scoreboard reading Swallows 5, Bay Stars 0. 

In the fifth, Yakult had the bases loaded with two outs, but Dobashi grounded out against reliever Atsushi Kizuka to bring the curtain down on that scoring attempt.

Yokohama finally pressed Kawashima in the seventh when centerfielder Katsuaki Furuki singled to center with one out and Kawashima nailed rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo with a pitch. But the next two men flied out and struckout respectively and 5-0 it still was. 

The Swallows then went after Teruaki Yoshikawa in their half, as Furuta walked and Inaba singled to right, Furuta motoring to third. Noguchi reached on an infield hit while Furuta rumbled in. Kawashima moved Inaba over with a ground ball to the right side and Manaka recalled him with a groundout to first to make it 7-0. 

Kawashima ran out of gas in the eighth, though. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki singled to center as did shortstop Takuro Ishii. Two outs later, first baseman Tyrone Woods buried a Kawashima pitch in the rightcenterfield seats and it was 7-3. 

Manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu dispatched righthander Ryota Igarashi to the mound for the ninth and struckout two of the three men he saw
in a perfect frame and it was over. 

After a terrible spring, Woods has rounded into mid-season form, as his OPS is now a hardy .989 and is on track for a 30 homer, 90 RBI year. 

Iwamura walked four times in this game, hiking his OBP to .395. On the other hand, he is also on pace for about 150 strikeouts and needs to do something about that to find more offensive consistency. 

Noguchi has been outstanding since incumbent Shinya Miyamoto went down with a calf injury, posting a .368/.435/.737 in nine games. By the same token, though, he also has seven strikeouts in 23 plate appearances and has to reduce them if he wants to see more playing time. 
He is certainly athletic enough to do a viable switch to third next season should Iwamura head off to MLB. 

Reliever Jerrod Riggan has fully recovered from his back injury and will be put back on the roster perhaps as early as Tuesday. 

Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka made a minor league rehab start and went

The Yankees faced off against Seattle Saturday and the New Yorkers came out on top 6-0. Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suuzki went 2-4 to lengthen his hit streak to eight. Both knocks were singles to center and they raised his average to .296. 

Hideki Matsui took the collar (0-4). 

In Montreal, Tomokazu Ohka threw eight scoreless innings for his first win of the season. He struckout six and scattered three hits against St. Louis. Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi grounded out in a pinch hit appearance. 

Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui went 0-5 Saturday against Milwaukee in a 6-4 loss. His 33 strikeouts lead the team and boos were heard at Shea against him for the first time. "No doubt about it, he's really 

In the Tokyo Metropolitan University League, Kansai University used a pinch hitter that wasn't on the official roster and thus it was declared a forfeit after the inning had ended when a backup umpire noticed the problem. It is reportedly the first ever forfeit in league history. Kansai's head coach attributed the mistake to a misunderstanding by an underling who submitted the roster. 

In the U.S. minors, Indians farmhand Kazuhito Tadano was lit up for three runs on two hits and two walks to get hung with a loss against Toledo.

Back in the majors, Dodgers righthander Hideo Nomo allowed three runs in six innings against Pittsburgh, but didn't figure in the decision. L.A. ultimately won 4-3. 

San Diego righthander Akinori Otsuka tossed a scoreless ninth inning Saturday against Florida with two groundouts and a strikeout and then his teammats rallied for three in the top of the tenth to lend him his third victory.