Masahiro Yamamoto started for Chunichi and surrendered just four hits in six innings, but two three run bombs resulted in him being charged for six runs. 

The Dragons muscled their way to an early lead, as rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome leadoff the second by massacring either a slider or a 
cutter around 490 feet into the upper deck in right to make it 1-0. 

Yamamoto had a no hitter going after three innings, but in the fourth, Giants second baseman Toshihisa Nishi ripped a shot off the leftfield wall for a long single and Yamamoto plunked leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu. Following two strikeouts, Yamamoto tried to waste an 83mph fastball off the outside corner to first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara, but he left it over the plate instead and the veteran slugger parked it in the rightcenterfield bleachers for a 3-1 Yomiuri advantage.

Sato then found himself in a bad predicament in the sixth. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata and third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right. Fukudome struckout. Giants shot caller Tsuneo Horiuchi dialed local for Brian Sikorsky, who promptly nailed centerfielder Alex Ochoa to load the bases. However, Takayuki Onishi grounded into an inning ending twin killing to maintain the 3-1 Yomiuri edge. 

In the Giants half of the inning, Nishi walked and Shimizu singled to left. One out later, rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi yanked one into the rightfield stands. Yamamoto was removed and Masataka Endo inserted in his place. One out later, third baseman Hiroki Kokubo went yard to rightcenter and it was 7-1 Yomiuri. 

Sikorsky survived a two on, two out dilemma in the seventh, but in the eighth, Yukinaga Maeda saw Tatsunami slap his 1500th lifetime single (14th all time), this one to center. He was pinch run for by Teppei Tsuchiya. Fukudome whistled a shot into the rightfield corner for
a double. Ochoa singled to center on a slider to redeem both Tsuchiya and Fukudome to trim the deficit to 7-3. 

But the Giants got those back during their time at bat. Centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes reached on an infield hit and was pinch run for by Tatsuya Ide. Takahashi singled to center, Ide motoring to third. Kiyohara singled to center for his fourth RBI. Kokubo rifled a bullet into the leftfield corner to pick Takahashi up and make it 9-3. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe flew out to left. Kiyohara tagged up and tried to score. But Tsuchiya's throw beat him and he was tagged out.

Hideki Okajima came on to close and after walking the first man he faced, he retired the next three to put it in the books. It was the Giants eighth straight shiroboshi. 

Kiyohara now has 1999 hits and may have had his 2000th if a fly ball that was caught right at the fence in the first had just a little more carry on it. 

Sato's first victory will me accompanied by some laughs when he retells the story of it. Horiuchi had decided between innings to put Sato in, but he was nowhere to be found. They frantically looked all over for him and finally found him sitting on the john. 

Kiyohara likes seeing Yamamoto on the hill. Lifetime, he is 26-72 against the screwballing lefty, a .361 clip. 

For you hardcore statheads who werre wondering, Isao Harimoto is tops all time in singles with 2089. Tatsunami needs 55 more to break into the top ten. 

When asked about taking a sound whipping at the hands of the Giants, Dragons manager Hiromitsu Ochiai lamely grumbled, "we were beaten by the ballpark." In other words, the balls that Kiyohara and Takahashi hit out wouldn't have left if they weren't in Tokyo Dome, where the ball carries well. It's rather suprising to hear that from somebody like Ochiai. 

Shinobu Fukuhara started for Hanshin and his hard times continue, as he went seven innings of four run ball on nine hits in taking the loss. 

The Swallows went on top to stay in the second, when first baseman Ken Suzuki singled to left and was erased on a 6-4 force off the bat of 
catcher Atsuya Furuta. Rightfielder Atsunori Inaba singled to right. Second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi singled to left on a slider and Furuta rumbled in for a 1-0 lead. 

In the third, third baseman Akinori Iwamura got a first pitch hanging curve ball and socked it into the rightfield stands to make it 2-0. It was his first homer in five games. 

An inning later, Inaba singled to center and stole second. One out later, Kawashima aided his cause with a single to center that cashed 
Inaba in for a 3-0 advantage.

Kawashima struckout the side in the fifth between surrendering a pair of singles. 

In the seventh, centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka singled to center and went to second on a sac bunt. One out later, leftfielder Alex Ramirez walked. Suzuki singled to right and Manaka blazed around to put the Swallows in the driver's seat at 4-0.

Hanshin rookie Masashi Sajikihara was summoned from the bullpen to commence the eighth and Inaba mortared one into the rightfield bleachers to enhance the Swallows hegemony to 5-0. 

Kawashima, who was clocked at 92mph, fanned the last two hitters of the eighth to finish off his night and turned it over to fireballer Ryota Igarashi. With one out in the ninth, third baseman Takashi Toritani rolled a changeup through the hole between first and second for a single. Catcher Akihiro Yano struckout. First baseman Kentaro Sekimoto walked. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto clocked a fourth pitch forkball into center to invite Toritani home. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to left to plate Sekimoto. That brought up second baseman Makoto Imaoka. On the third pitch to the 2003 CL batting champ, the radar gun registered 158km/h (98mph), tying Igarashi with Orix' Kazuo Yamaguchi and Hideki Irabu for the hardest fastball ever recorded since the introduction of the device. Imaoka flied out to right and Yakult had the W in pocket. 

Kawashima displayed a good forkball. He had learned the pitch in spring training. 

Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto made a leaping catch against the leftfield wall in the fourth on a fly ball from shortstop Shinya Miyamoto. At least the veteran outfielder's slump at the dish hasn't hurt his defense. 

On Miyamoto, he made his first start after missing eight games with a bad calf muscle. 

Hiroshima centerfielder Koichi Ogata leadoff the bottom of the first by slamming a Mullen pitch into the righcenterfield seats, his 23rd first inning top of the order big fly, putting him alone in sixth place in that department all time, for a 1-0 lead. 

Yokohama, though, retorted with a one out second inning single to center by leftfielder Takahiro Saeki and a trip out to the leftcenterfield bleachers from centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura on a high fastball to make it 2-1 Stars. 

They then had two on and nobody out in the third, but Tamayama struck the next two men out and the third man grounded out to squander 
the opportunity. 

However, in the home episode, Ogata walked and, one out later, LaRocca creamed one beyond the centerfield wall for his 17th of the year 
and a 3-2 lead. 

Ogata, his next time up, leadoff with a single to left in the fifth and rightfielder Shigenobu Shima legged out an infield hit. LaRocca grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Shortstop Andy Sheets laced a double into the leftcenter alley to usher Ogata in. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda doubled to to rightcenter and Sheets scampered in to make it 5-2 Carp. 

Koichi Amano ascended the hill in the sixth for Hiroshima and Yokohama first baseman Tyrone Woods exited to the lefthand side to close
it to 5-3 Hiroshima. 

Yasuhiro Oyamada has blown a few games in his time and he almost did it in the seventh. Hitoshi Taneda doubled down the rightfield line and catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to right. Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara was substituted for Oyamada and Takanori Suzuki grounded to third. The only play was to first as Taneda crossed to put it at 5-4 Hiroshima. One out later, Shigeo Tamaki replaced Kikuchihara and second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled to left. But Katsuaki Furuki grounded to second to terminate the uprising. 

Yokohama mustered a mere one hit from that point forward, Kan Otake delivering a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. 

Ogata's homer was his third initial inning leadoff circuit clout of the campaign. He is second to Makoto Imaoka's four. 

It looks like closer Jeff Williams will be allowed to compete in the

Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui went 0-3 with a walk Thursday against Florida to end his seven game hitting streak. However, he has now reached base at least once in each of his last 13 contests. 

Dodgers righthander Hideo Nomo made a minor league rehab start for Las Vegas against Edmonton Thursday and went five innings, giving up three runs on five hits. One of the hits was a two run homer. He is tentatively scheduled to make a start against Toronto 
on the eighth. 

Angels farmhand Yoshitaka Mizuo threw 2.2 innings of one run ball on three hits against Tucson Thursday. 

Former Chiba Lotte Marines infielder Julio Franco slugged an opposite field grand slam in the first inning at Turner Field 
Thursday for Atlanta off of Phillies righthander Josh Hancock. It is Franco's seventh bases loaded roundtripper of his long career and it makes him the oldest player ever to launch a bases loaded jack in MLB AT 45 years and 285 days. 

St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi made a start in centerfield Thursday and went 0-3 against Pittsburgh. 

Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki will be playing against the Chicago White Sox, who have former Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu. Ichiro faced Takatsu once in the Japan Series and three times in all star action and ended up 1-4. In addition, in the ninth inning of one all star game, Ichiro was brought in to pitch and Katsuya Nomura, at the time  Yakult's skipper, who was helming the Central League all star contingent then, felt it was an insult and sent Takatsu up to pinch hit.
Ichiro retired him.