6/8/2004
6/8/2004
| Box Scores Here; Click on to Numbers on Scoreboard |
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| Fukui Prefecture Hanshin Tigers starter Keichi
Yabu has received a not so grand total of ten runs of supports in his first
eight starts, which is why that despite an ERA of 2.27, he is now only
3-5 after tossing a dominant three hit shutout Tuesday at Fukui Prefectural
Stadium in an 8-0 victory over the Hiroshima Carp. It was his first complete
game blanking in two years, that one also being against Hiroshima. However,
he is still six whiffs short of 1000 for his career, fanning just two in
this one.
Hiroki Kuroda started for Hiroshima and was terrible again, surrendering seven runs on seven hits in three innings to enlarge his ERA to 5.21. His record is now 4-5. Hanshin had the big guns blazing early, as leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto leadoff the second by hammering a forkball over the the rightfield wall, making it 28 ballparks that he has gone yard in for his career, the most of any active player and within four of the record of 32 held by former Hiroshima outfielder Koji Yamamoto and ex-Orix and Daiei outfielder Hiromitsu Kadota. Rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama singled to right. First baseman Ikuro Katsuragi got a 1-0 fastball and torqued it into the great wide open to right and it was 3-0 Tigers. In the third, shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto walked with one out and
second baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to left. Kanemoto singled to
Two innings later, Hiyama crushed a pitch from reliever Kenta Tamayama beyond the rightcenterfield fence. One out later, third baseman Kentaro Sekimoto walked. Catcher Akihiro Yano pinged one off the centerfield wall for a double to provide cover for Sekimoto to sprint home and stretch the lead to 8-0. Yabu had a no hitter for four innings before giving up an infield hit with two outs in the fifth. He didn't permit another one until two outs in the eighth, but the four of the next five Carp batters went down quietly and that was the ballgame. Thus, Hanshin's three game losing skid was terminated. The only team that Yabu, who has 13 career shutouts now, hasn't done that against is Yomiuri. Sekimoto has a .320 average (.818 OPS). How are they going to take him out of the lineup when Mike Kinkade and George Arias return? It needs to be noted, though, that his 25% strikeout rate is way too high for a guy who doesn't have any pop. |
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| Nagoya An RBI single to right by second baseman
Masahiro Araki drove in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth in a
6-5 victory by the Chunichi Dragons against the Yomiuri Giants Tuesday
at Nagoya Dome. It was the veteran infielder's first ever sayonara hit
and it lent Dragons reliever Eiji Ochiai his intial shiroboshi of 2004.
The start of the match was delayed by 15 minutes when a crow landed on a high tension power line in Kasugai (Ichiro's hometown), Aichi Prefecture and caused a power failure. Roasted crow anyone? The last time a power failure occurred at Nagoya Dome was in 1999. Hiroshi Kisanuki started for Yomiuri and had been humming along for seven innings, but in the eighth, he and reliever Brian Sikorsky couldn't protect a 5-1 lead and the Dragons rallied to tie it. Domingo Guzman started for Chunichi and was rocked for five runs on ten hits in seven innings while walking four. Yomuri rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi has had his power stroke
going lately and it was in evidence again in the first, as leftfielder
Takayuki Shimizu singled to center and centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes walked.
Takahashi belted a Guzman delivery into the centerfield seats
In the second, Yomiuri blew a two on, nobody out and bases loaded,
two out opportunity. So in the bottom of the inning, Guzman's tenacity
Guzman extracted himself out of a men on first and third, two out predicament in the fourth and had a relatively peaceful next couple of innings before Rhodes drilled one into the centerfield stands with one out in the seventh to put it at 4-1 Giants. Takahashi walked and went to second on a groundout. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo singled to center to chase Takahashi in and make it 5-1. But in the eighth, Chunichi third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right and rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome blasted a shot into the rightfield bleachers. Ochoa and leftfielder Kazuki Inoue singled to right. Sikorsky was summoned from the bullpen and got the next two men. However, Masahiko Morino ripped a fastball up the rightcenter alley and both runners toured the bases unmolested to knot it at five all. Matt Randel succeeded Sikorsky for the ninth and had the bases loaded with one out. Fortunately, he induced Inoue to bite on something he shouldn't have for an inning ending double play. Randel went out again for the tenth and walked Tsuchiya to kick it
off. A ground ball put Tsuchiya on second. Morino was intentionally walked
to put the doublre play in order. Araki spanked a Randel pitch to right
and Tsuchiya busted for the plate without a play and Chunichi
Kisanuki now leads the Central League with 48 runs given up. Giants shortstop Tomohiro Nioka has already in mid-season form after missing so much time with an injury, as he raised his average to .333 with three hits in four times up. Ochoa and Araki collected a trio of safeties for Chunichi. |
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| Yokohama Yakult Swallows starter Shugo Fujii's
command and velocity are both finally at about normal, as he was clocked
at 90-91mph and was able to throw his breaking pitches for strikes Tuesday
at Yokohama Stadium, but reliever Yu Sugimoto blew a 4-3 lead and Fujii
ended up with a no decision. However, a two run homer by Swallows third
baseman Akinori Iwamura put the team back up and closer Ryota Igarashi,
who was clocked again at 98mph, held on for a 6-5 victory against the Yokohama
Bay Stars.
Daisuke Miura started for Yokohama and had an off night after several recent excellent outings, as he was roughed up for four runs on nine hits in seven innings. But thanks to Sugimoto, he eluded responsibility for the defeat, which went to reliever Takeo Kawamura, who has been awful lately. Yakult jumped on Miura from the get go, as shortstop Shinya Miyamoto clocked a one out single to center and Iwamura walked. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to center to hail Miyamoto in. First baseman Ken Suzuki singled near the line in right to convert Iwamura. Catcher Atsuya Furuta singled to right to get Ramirez in for a 3-0 lead. They tacked on another in the second, as second baseman Katsuyuki
Dobashi singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice.
Yokohama had two on and one out in the third, but a flyout and a strikeout killed that off. However, in the fourth, Stars third baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to left and catcher Takeshi Nakamura flattened one into the rightfield bleachers to shrink the deficit to 4-2. Fujii then worked a perfect fifth and had struck the first two hitters of the sixth out, but rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo singled to left and Taneda walked. Manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu went to the bullpen and Ryu Kawabata obtained the third out to maintain the 4-2 advanatage. Sugimoto, though, squandered it in the eighth. Leftfielder Takahiro
Saeki singled to left. Reliever Takashi Tanaka was replaced by Sugimoto,
a former Bay Star. First baseman Tyrone Woods torched a double down the
rightfield line. Centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura
But Yakult reserve second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi singled to center leading off the ninth and went to second on a sac bunt. One out later, Iwamura thumped a Kawamura offering into the leftcenterfield seats and the Swallows had a 6-4 edge. Yokohama didn't let that go unnoticed, though, In the home portion, pinch hitter Takanori Suzuki walked and, one out later, second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled to center and Suzuki turned and burned for third. Saeki grounded to Shiroishi, who went to first for the out and Suzuki reported to the plate. Woods was intentionally walked. Tamura then popped out to Furuta and this one was a memory. Yakult is out of last again and two games under .500. Iwamura has eight homers in his last 15 games. He needs three more for 100 lifetime. |
Team Reports
| Yakult | |
| In a rather unusual development, fifth round draft pick Yukio Yoshida, an 18 year old pitcher, has asked to be let out of his contract due to what is being described as an internal problem that will require prolonged treatment. A Nikkan Sports report indicates that it may be a kind of chronic anemia. Yoshida had also done a tryout with San Diego before he was drafted by the Swallows last November and was reportedly offered a contract. However, due to the illness, | his pro career is now in jeopardy. A Yakult spokesman said that
they would be willing to give the kid another shot if he can get himself
sorted out at some future date. They have put him on the voluntarily retired
list. Yoshida has also returned his 40 million yen signing bonus on his
own volition (that's over $350,000) since he hasn't thrown an inning at
any level for Yakult. Odaiji ni Yoshida-kun!
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| Hiroshima | |
| Utility infielder Kazunori Okagami was diagnosed with an injury to an elbow ligament and won't even be able to throw for at least a | month. After that 30 day period passes, he will be re-examined and his rehab routine will be decided at that time. |
| Yokohama | |
| Reliever Eddie Gaillard has left for the states to have his elbow looked at. It is thought that he probably won't need surgery, but that | will be contingent on what his doctor in the U.S. says. If he needs to have some kind of procedure, he will likely be gone for the year. |
| Miscellaneous | |
| New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui went 1-4 Tuesday against
Colorado, his first knock in three games. The Yankees won it 2-1.
Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki's 14 game hitting streak ended Tuesday against Roger Clemens and the Houston Astros when he went 0-4. Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui made a critical error on a potential
double play ball Tuesday when he failed to get a good grip on a
Cleveland has brought Kazuhito Tadano back up after a number of recent failures by the team's pen. In the minors, he was 1-3 with a 4.55 ERA. St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi struckout in a pinch hit appearance
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Dodgers righthander Hideo Nomo made his first start since coming
off the disabled list and was tagged for five runs on six hits in five
innings against Toronto Tuesday for his fifth straight loss. The
defeat ties a personal worst for most consecutive kuroboshi. San Diego reliever Akinori Otsuka came on in the seventh inning Tuesday
against Boston with a man on third and two outs and was victimized by a
double down the rightfield line to allow what would
According to Sports Nippon, with the strggles of Billy Koch, the White Sox will now go to closer by committee, with the matchups determining who will get the closins assignment on a particular night. That means that righthander Shingo Takatsu will get some opportunities to do what he did in Japan with Yakult. Just in time for the Athens Olympics, the Cuban national team has
lost one of its most outstanding players, switch hitting outfielder Kendry
Morales, according to the Associated Press. Morales
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