Takahashi, who ended a three game losing streak with the shiroboshi, didn't walk anyone while permitting nine hits and a run over seven innings. Reliever Shinji Sasaoka then came on and allowed a run on two hits before Kan Otake ascended the hill in the ninth and retired three of the four men he faced to slam the door. 

In that pivotal first inning, centerfielder Koichi Ogata singled to center and rightfielder Shigenobu Shima singled to right. One out later, shortstop Andy Sheets walked to load the bases. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda torched a first pitch 89mph fastball off the centerfield wall for a two run double. First baseman Kenta Kurihara walked. Igawa plunked third baseman Kenjiro Nomura to force Sheets in to make it 3-0. The next two batters fanned to end the rally.

Hanshin lopped a run off of that deficit in the third when Igawa, batting in the eight hole, got aboard on an infield hit and third baseman Taichiro Kamisaka singled to center. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to left to plate Igawa. Shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto laid down a sac bunt. Catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara got to it and chose to throw to third, where Kamisaka was in ahead of the peg and the sacks were packed. However, normally automatic with runners in scoring position second baseman Makoto Imaoka slapped a comebacker to Takahashi, who initiated a 1-2-3 double play. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto struckout and Takahashi would cruise into the seventh. 

It was that seventh, though, that provided a modicum of controversy. Catcher Akihiro Yano singled to left. Hiroshi Yagi was sent up to pinch hit for reliever Masashi Sajikihara and grounded to Greg LaRocca at second, who flipped it to shortstop Andy Sheets. However, Sheets dropped it. But the umpire thought that Sheets did it while attempting to make the throw to first and called Yano out. Tigers skipper Akinobu Okada jumped out of the dugout and made a beeline for the arbiter and argued that Sheets hadn't caught the ball. Two minutes later, he was back in the dugout as his assertion fell on deaf ears. This would be important because the next hitter, Kamisaka, singled to center. The runners moved up on a groundout. Fujimoto grounded out and a potential score went by the wayside. 

The following inning, Hanshin did push a man across, as Kanemoto pinged a shot off the centerfield wall for a double with one out and, one out later, rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama wacked a shot off of LaRocca's glove and into right to bring Kanemoto in to make it a one run game at 3-2. 

Hanshin would get a two out knock in the ninth from Akahoshi, but Fujimoto struckout to turn out the lights. 

By the way, the umpire said that Okada wasn't particularly tough on him during their argument. 

Igawa's not exactly a great hitter for a pitcher, so it's hard to say why Okada chose to insert him into the eight hole. It is the first time a Hanshin hurler has batted other than ninth since 4/8/1985. 

It was also the first time that Igawa has lost a game out in regions that don't have pro teams.

Kawakami went 6.2 innings of two run ball on six hits, striking out seven in being hung with a frustrating loss. 

Yomiuri leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu outran a roller out toward short and centerfielder Tuffy Rhodes blasted a 1-2 forkball into the leftfield bleachers for a 2-0 lead. 

The Dragons responded with a double off the centerfield fence by centerfielder Alex Ochoa for a leadoff double and, two outs later, catcher
Motonobu Tanishige whistled a double into the rightfield corner for the RBI to make it 2-1 Giants. 

In the third, the Giants missed a chance to break it open when Shimizu singled to right with two outs and Kawakami walked Rhodes and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi to load the bases. However, first baseman Roberto Petagine grounded to short to short circuit the uprising. 

They had another opportunity in the fourth when they had two on and nobody out, but shortstop Tomohiro Nioka lined into a double play and Hayashi struckout. 

Chunichi, though, would then be denied thanks to a sterling defensive play in the home half. Ochoa walked. One out later, first baseman Hiroyuki Watanabe singled to right, Ochoa speeding to third on the play. Tanishige lifted a fly ball down the rightfield  line. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi angled over and caught the ball and then wheeled and fired a strike to catcher Shinnosuke Abe, who applied the tag on Ochoa to snuff that comeback endeavor. It was rather reminiscent of a somewhat similar play Nishi made in the 2000 Japan Series that turned things around for the kyojin, except that effort was on a ground ball. The Dragons would barely be heard from again until it was time to go home. 

In their following turn at bat, the Giants had two on and nobody out once more, but Kawakami induced a flyout, a strikeout and groundout to extinguish the threat. But it didn't matter, since Hayashi had Chunichi under his spell. 

Overall, Hayashi is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in eight games when facing the Nagoya nine. But his numbers at the dome are unreal, permitting only 14 hits and three runs in 22 innings. Fukudome is 2-20 lifetime against Hayashi. 

Rhodes has homered in three consecutive contests. 

Rookie Ryo Kawashima started for Yakult and was not sharp, as he may have had trouble with his footing on the mound, the condition of which he described as "terrible." So his stats read, six innings, six hits, three runs, six strikeouts, two walks and a two hit batters. 

Scott Mullen started for Yokohama and saw five runners cross the plate in five innings, but only one of those was earned, though the four unearned tallies was due to his own error. 

Yakult grabbed all their runs in one big gulp, as Furuta doubled down the leftfield line with one out and went to third on centerfielder Atsunori Inaba's sac bunt. However, Mullen threw wide of first on that play and Inaba was safe. Second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi singled to right to hail Furuta in. Kawashima singled to left for an RBI. Ryuji Miyade walked to load the bases. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto grounded to short and Dobashi crossed. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura doubled into the rightfield corner for a two run double and a 5-0 lead. 

But Kawashima had a breakdown in the fifth when rightfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo doubled down the rightfield line and third baseman Hitoshi Taneda singled to right to cash Kinjo in. One out later, Katsuaki Furuki went down and got a forkball and socked it into the leftcenterfield stands to make it 5-3 Yakult. Shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to left. One out later, leftfielder Takahiro Saeki singled to right. First baseman Tyrone Woods walked to pack the sacks. Centerfielder Hitoshi Tamura, though, popped out in four territory and Kawashima survived. 

In the seventh, Yokohama pulled even when second baseman Seiichi Uchikawa singled to to right off of reliever Ryu Kawabata. Saeki grounded to first baseman Ken Suzuki, who went to Miyamoto, who turned it back to Suzuki, and Saeiki as called safe. Wakamatsu came out of the dugout like he was shot out of the cannon and he eventually got the gate and, hopefully, he will also receive a suspension. Ryota Igarashi was dispatched to the hill and Woods pasted one into the rightfield seats to level it at five all. 

During that inning, there had had already been four stoppages due to the rain for a total of  70 minutes. In the bottom of the inning, the Swallows had two on and one out when it was called. The reason cited by the umpires was that there was no more extra dirt on hand to fix the mound, but that was contradicted by the head groundkeeper, who said that there was plenty, though his understanding was that a part time employee had informed the officials that they had indeed run out. Furuta didn't think it was raining hard enough to call it off, but it was. 

Woods now has 18 dingers and is on the same pace he was in 2003, when he and Goerge Arias tied for the league title. 

St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi was sent down to the minors Wednesday after making a start in rightfield and slugging a triple and walking in five times up against the Chicago Cubs. He has hit .258 in 44 games. The reason for his demotion is that they want to make room for another pitcher. 

Dodgers righthander Hideo Nomo will start on the 13th against Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox. 

New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui went 0-3 with a walk Wednesday against Colorado. He is batting .167 for the month of 

New York Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui struckout three times Wednesday as part of an 0-4 night against Minnesota. 

Seattlke Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki saw his team absorb another loss Wednesday against Houston in the rubber game of the series between the two clubs. Ichiro went 1-4 to extend his on base skein to 37 games. 

Seikei University head baseball coach Kazumi Koike died suddenly Wednesday while hitting fungoes tohis third and fourth string players before a game. Koike had suffered a stroke five years ago and was hospitalized for two months. The cause of death was listed as a form of internal bleeding, though I don't know enough Japanese medical terminology to say any more than that. Suffice to say, our condolences to his family and his players.