6/2/2004
6/2/2004
| Box Scores Here; Click on to Numbers on Scoreboard |
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| Tokyo Down 3-1 to the Chunichi Dragons Wednesday
at Tokyo Dome, the Yomiuri Giants rallied for four runs in the seventh
and reliever Brian Sikorsky picked up a win with two shutout innings in
a 5-3 victory. The kyojin have now taken their last seven.
Masanori Hayashi started for Yomiuri and went six decent innings of three run ball on four hits, three walks and a hit batter, but didn't figure in the decision. Kenshin Kawakami, who normally eats the Giants alive, started for
Chunichi and had allowed only a run on three hits through six before
The Dragons pulled in front in the first when shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to right with one away and Hayashi plunked third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome singled to right to load the bases. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa flied out to right and Ibata tagged up and hustled across for the 1-0 lead. Leftfielder Takayuki Onishi walked to repack the sacks. But that brought up weak hitting first baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe (OPS under .500), and he flied out to center. In the third, Ibata walked, went to second on a groundout, advanced to third by tagging up on a flyout to left and, one out later, scored on a single to center by Ochoa and it was 2-0 Dragons. Two innings later, second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to center. With Ibata up at the plate, manager Hiromitsu Ochiai called for the hit and run. Araki took off for second. Ibata squared around as if to bunt then pulled the bat back and tapped one between the mound and the plate. Hayashi fielded it and went to first. However, Araki never slowed down and turned for third, sliding in safely headfirst. Tatsunami flied out to right and Araki tagged up and was in to make it 3-0 Chunichi. Now THAT is manufacturing a run! Yomiuri finally responded in the sixth, as Takahiro Suzuki, pinch
hitting for Hayashi, torched a double down the leftfield line. Second baseman
Toshihisa Nishi flied out and Suzuki tagged up and went to third. Leftfielder
Takayuki Shimizu grounded to first and Suzuki
And then it would be lucky seven for the home side. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi got an 0-1 cutter and jackhammered it into the second deck in right about 455 feet away. One out later, Akira Etoh singled to left. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe singled to right. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to center to redeem Etoh. Pinch hitter Roberto Petagine walked to juice the bags. Tatsuya Ide jogged in to pinch run for Petagine. Kawakami ran an 88mph fastball up to the plate and Nishi parachuted a Texas leaguer into left for a single and Abe and Nioka motored to the dish for a 5-3 Giants advantage. Sikorsky was summoned from the bullpen for the eighth and Ibata singled to center and Tatsunami walked to put the tying run aboard. But the former Lotte righty induced a groundout, a strikeout and a foul out to wriggle out of the jam. Yomiuri first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara struckout all three times he faced Kawakami, but with Marc Valdez on the hill for Chunichi in the eighth, he laced a 3-2 slider on the outer half of the plate down the third base line for a double. It was also his 1997th career knock. Sikorsky then tempted the Dragons lineup into two groundouts and a whiff to seal it and put the Giants in first place. Don't ask why the win was bestowed on Sikorsky and not Hideki Okajima, who was the last Yomiuri hurler to be in the game when the winning runs were pushed across. Only the official scorer knows his reasons. While Hayashi was able to keep the Dragons from really going wild with the stick, his performace coupled with the imminent return of Hisanori Takahashi resulted in him being demoted to the bullpen. Statistical oddity of the day: the Giants have won the last ten games
in which Kiyohara has had at least one hit.
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| Hiroshima The Yokohama Bay Stars brought out
the heavy artillery Wednesday and lobbed four homers at the Hiroshima Carp,
ultimately prevailing by a 9-6 margin. Rookie Teruaki Yoshikawa, in his
second pro start, was credited with his first ever shiroboshi after six
innings of three run ball on seven hits.
Ken Takahashi started for the fish and was out of there after three innings and seven runs, serving up three of the Bay Stars' roundtrippers to earn respomsibility for the negative outcome. Yokohama wasted no time in bullying Takahashi. Shortstop Takuro Ishii
opened the contest with a walk and second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled
to left. Leftfielder Katsuaki Furuki crushed a ball into the leftfield
seats and it was 3-0. First baseman Tyrone Woods singled to left. Leftfielder
Takahiro Saeki grounded into a 4-6 force. Centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura
walked. Third baseman Hitoshi Taneda
Hiroshima answered with a walk to centerfielder Koichi Ogata, but rightfielder Shigenobu Shima grounded into a twin killing. Second baseman Greg Larocca buried a Yoshikawa delivery into the rightfield stands to cut the deficit to 6-1. In the third, though, Tamura rocketed one beyond the centerfield wall to make it 7-1. They tacked another one on in the fourth, as Woods monstered a Shigeo Tamaki pitch into the centerfield seats for an 8-1 lead. In the home portion, the Carp would score, but they were pretty inefficient
about it. Shortstop Andy Sheets leadoff with a double into the rightcenter
alley and went to third on a groundout. First baseman Kenta Kurihara flied
out to right and Sheets tagged up and busted home.
In the fifth, Tamura singled to center and Taneda walked. Catcher Takeshi Nakamura singled to left to drive Tamura in to grow the advantage to 9-2. Ogata went yard to center commencing the bottom of the inning to make it 9-3. Nevertheless, Hiroshima endeavored to make a real game of it in the
seventh against reliever Atsushi Kizuka. With one out, Shima whistled a
double down the rightfield line LaRocca was hit by a pitch. Sheets doubled
to leftcenter and both Shima and LaRocca took the
Yasuhiro Oyamada, Hiroshima's onetime closer who had elbow surgery in February, made his first appearance in the seventh and wove a perfect inning. For manager Koji Yamamoto, Oyamada could be the shot int he arm his bullpen has needed. But we'll see if that works out to be the case. |
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| Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture The Hanshin Tigers
were in the midst of two dismal streaks. They had dropped their last four
games. They were also zip for their last seven Wednesdays. Both ended when
Tigers lefthander Kei Igawa tossed a complete game shutout at Koshien Stadium
in a 6-0 triumph. Igawa walked six as he focused on going with his 91mph
fastball and got his team back to the .500 mark.
Shugo Fujii made his second start since coming off of elbow surgery for Yakult and got clocked for four runs on nine hits and five walks in five innings, again showing that he is not quite in game shape yet and he was splattered with the loss as a result. Hanshin did the biggest damage in the first, as shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi walked and, two outs later, first baseman George Arias also walked to load the bases. Rightfielder Kenichiro Hayakawa grounded a 2-2 pitch slowly to shortstop Noriyuki Shiroishi, who went to second, but Arias was safe by an eyelash and Fujimoto crossed. Third baseman Kentaro Sekimoto singled to center and Akahoshi and Arias were in. Catcher Akihiro Yano singled to left to plate Hayakawa for a 4-0 lead. The Tigers cracked a trio of singles in the second and had zip to show for it and the same was true in the fifth, when Fujii walked another pair and surrendered a hit. In the sixth, Hanshin spanked two hits and another man walked to load the bases with two outs, but again, the clutch hit wasn't forthcoming against reliever Masaru Sato. It didn't really matter, though, since Yakult wasn't doing enough at the plate to really press Igawa. The Tigers did get back on the big board, though, in the eighth, as second baseman Makoto Imaoka walked and, one out later, Arias got a hold of a fastball from Masato Hanada and basted it into the leftfield seats to make it 6-0. Igawa retired three of the four men he faced in the ninth and that was it. |
Team Reports
| Chunichi | |
| Here's one for you. A Chunichi training coach recommends that to
prevent muscle aches and pains after a strenuous workout, that you
eat...wait for it...kimchi. Of course, we here at Japan Baseball Daily
see any excuse to gobble down a bowl or two of the spicy fermented Korean delicacy (and I'm not talking about the weak kneed Japanese version of it) as one not to be missed. But the coach says that the |
reason kimchi is so effective is that it has a lot of alkoloids
in it and that helps to neutralize lactic acids that build up when muscles
are exerted. However, we have no idea if the trainer's claim is true. But
if you decide to try it, just make sure you eat a mint afterward since one of the main ingredients in kimchi is garlic. |
| Yomiuri | |
| The Giants traded veteran reliever Takayuki Kawamoto to Nippon Ham for once promising hurler Hayato Nakamura. Both men will be | used in their new team's respective bullpens.
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| Yakult | |
| Tampa Bay pitcher Dicky Gonzalez has reportedly largely reached
agreement on a contract with the Swallows and will arrive in Japan on the
seventh to workout with the team. He will then go to Guam to pick up his
work visa before officially joining the ballclub.
According to Sankei Sports, the righthander will make $250,000 plus incentives. |
With catcher Atsuya Furuta turning 38 and his knees questionable, the Swallows may use their number two draft selection to bring Hiroshima native and Asia University receiver Ryohei Kawamoto aboard this November. Kawamoto is a 5'10" 160 pound righthand hitter who reportedly has good speed, a strong arm and knows how to work hitters inside. Sugiuchi makes inthe nieghborhood of $475,000. |
| Miscellaneous | |
| New York Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui had a double to left in five
at bats Wednesday against Philadelphia in a ten inning 5-3 victory. Matsui
thus extended his hitting streak to seven games.
And in a pathtic bit of overhype, Hochi Sports is positing that Matsui will end up on the National League all star team since he is already third in the balloting at the position. Huh? They reason that some outlets that will be taking all star ballots in Japan haven't yet put them out, but once they do, votes for the former Lions will put him over the top. This will no doubt engender more wining about the Japanese stuffing the ballot boxes, but if you look at the AL tallies, Nomar Garciappara, who has yet to play an inning for his club this season, leads everybody at his position. That's an even bigger joke than Matsui being voted in. Boston fans should be ashamed of themselves. Seattle rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 2-5 with a steal Wednesday
against Toronto in a 5-3 defeat. He now has a ten game hit streak
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San Diego reliever Akinori Otsuka entered from the bullpen in the
eighth inning with one out and a man on second against Colorado
and tossed 1.2 shutout innings on one hit, striking out four, to preserve a 1-1 deadlock. The Padres went on to prevail 2-1 in ten innings. St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi went reached on an error in his one
New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui went 0-4 with an RBI
Chicago White Sox reliever Shingo Takatsu stretched his personal
scoreless binge to 16 innings Wednesday with a perfect eighth
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