Nippon Professional Baseball had hoped to salvage the final game of the six in this all star series with Major League Baseball, but Jose Reyes homered to right with a man on in the bottom of the tenth inning to cap off a five game sweep (six, if you include the exhibition tilt against Yomiuri) with a 5-3 verdict at Fukuoka Dome. Scott Shields obtained the final out of the top of the tenth with men on second and third and was bestowed with the win. 

Tsuyoshi  Wada started for Japan and went five solid innings of one run, four hit ball while striking out six in a no decision by doing largely what Kei Igawa did, use his fastball to setup his changeup. 

John Lackey started for for the stateside crew and had nearly identical stats to those of Wada, except that he surrendered two runs on four hits in his five innings. 

Wada was perfect for the first four innings and Lackey was tagged for only two hits, one of them of the infield variety,.over the initial three. But in the bottom of the fourth, NPB DH Takahiro Arai got a changeup on the inner half and belted it into the leftfield seats for a 1-0 lead. Two outs later, third baseman Shuichi Murata punished a fastball into the leftfield stands to make it 2-0. 

That was halved in the fifth when first baseman Ryan Howard singled to right and went to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, third baseman David Wright singled to left. Catcher Kenji Johjima, in something of a homecoming for him, singled to right and drove Howard in to shave it to 2-1. Leftfielder Bill Hall singled to left and Wright made the turn toward home, but leftfielder Teppei Tsuchiya shot him down to bail Wada out. Wada had actually broken a blister on his pitching hand toward the end of the fourth and that may have played a role in this inning, though Wada himself wasn't using it as an excuse to the press afterward. 

Katsuhiro Nagakawa, Hiroshima's closer, stood in for Wada in the sixth and he struck Reyes out, but the ball got past catcher Tomoya Satozaki and he made it to first safely. Nagakawa plunked second baseman Tadahito Iguchi. One out later, Howard conked a shot against the rightfield wall for an RBI double. Centerfielder Andruw Jones flew out to center and Iguchi tagged up and crossed to put MLB up 3-2. DH Joe Mauer grounded out to second for the third out and MLB would produce only two infield knocks over the ensuing three innings. 

NPB endeavored to knot it in the eighth, as centerfielder Norichika Aoki tripled up the rightcenter gap off of Clay Hensley with two away  and Arai walked. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura smoked one right on the screws, only it was right at his opposite number and the uprising was snuffed.

In the ninth, though, with Brian Fuentes on the hill for MLB, Murata cracked a one out single to right and, one out later, Tomohiro Nioka pinch hit for second baseman Atsushi Fujimoto and singled to center and was pinch run for by Yosuke Takasu. Rightfielder Naoyuki Omura blooped a ball over third and Murata galloped home to level it at three apiece. Joe Nathan supplanted Fuentes  and shortstop Eishin Soyogi struckout and thus it went into extra innings. 

Nathan retired the first two men of the tenth, but Fukuura singled to right. Satozaki doubled down the rightfield line. Shields took the ball from Nathan and Murata flied out to right to keep the runners stationary. 

Rakuten reliever Hisashi Ogura mosied to the center of the diamond and was greeted by Hall's single to left. Reyes then got a pitch that was letter high and out over the plate and crushed it well into the rightfield bleachers and that was the ballgame. 

This was the first extra inning game in NPB-MLB all star play since a faceoff between Yomiuri and Kansas City in 1981. 

Howard, who hit .556 with four homers and eight RBIs in the five matches, was named MVP. That also brought him a three million yen check (about $25,000).

For sweeping the Japanese, the MLB squad picked up a 140 million yen (about $1.2 million) bonus. It was the first time since 1934 that a Japanese team had filed to win at least one game against a big league contingent.

After this tournament, Iguchi will fly to the states and visit the Japanese consulate in Chicago on the 16th and then will go to a Japanese school in the suburbs of that city on the 17th.

The tough loss left NPB manager Katsuya Nomrua grousing about the players who decided to pull out of the series, positing that he didn't feel that there was that much of a disparity between MLB and Japan's baseballers and with a true all star team featuring Kazumi Saito or Kosuke Fukudome or Nobuhiko Matsunaka the outcome could have been different. But on the other hand, Nomura glossed over the fact that he didn't have to see Johan Santana, Barry Bonds, John Smoltz or Derek Jeter.  

E: Capuano
SB: Omura, Reyes
WP: Wada, Nagakawa
LOB: NPB 10, MLB 5

Game Time: 2:43
Attendance: 27,377
Umpires: Eddings (HP), Tamba (1B), ? (2B), Suginaga

It also appears that the announcement of Igawa being given permission to leave via the posting system could now be as early as the 13th. 

The Tigers might replace Igawa with 27 year old LaNew Bears (Taiwan) southpaw  Hsu  Yu-weh (here's to hoping a transliterated that correctly), who throws in the low 90's and has a good changeup like Igawa. Yakult is also said to be interested. However, he has missed most of the past season with an injury and has pitched in just 33 games since being drafted on the second round by the Bears in 2002 and has compiled a record of 1-6 with a 5.23 ERA. So he has a ways to go forma developmental standpoint.  

Hiroshima Lefthander Ken Takahashi will make the same 35 million yen in 2007 that he did this past season. That is about $300,000. 

Yakult What happened with Josh Barfield? They shipped him off to Cleveland for two promising minor leaguers. One has to think that it is due to some clubhouse issue. Otherwise, I just don't see any reason to make that deal. It's even harder to see how this figures in their interest in Swallows third baseman Akinori Iwamura since one of the guys they got from the Tribe, Kevin Kouzmanoff, is a third baseman. So are they going to put Iwamura at second? Or is Kouzmanoff is insurance in case Iwamura tanks?

One team thought to want to bid on Iwamura, the Philadelphia Phillies, are going to sit it out, says Sports Nippon. 

He has also received a bit of advice from Kazuhisa Ishii, who claims that American rice sucks. So Iwamura should being some with him when he goes to MLB. 

Yokohama Newly acquired second baseman Toshihisa Nishi had his introductory press conference Wednesday. Man, that's going to be weird writing about him as a Bay Star. 

It was also announced that former Nippon Ham reliever Yukiya Yokoyama, who began his career in Yokohama, will workout with the club during its fall camp that begins Thursday. He is working with batting instructor Koju Hirohashi, who helped Kazuo Matsui learn how to hit form both sides while he was with Seibu. 

Yomiuri Manager Tatsunori Hara said that he will personally participate in the initial negotiating session with Nippon Ham free agent first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara. "He's a player we have got to have," he said. 

New addition Yoshitomo Tani had his introductory press conference Wednesday and said that he would like to get some personal hitting instruction from Hara. He hasn't been given a number as yet. 

Minor league pitcher Yasuaki Aida has dropped from a sidearm to a submarine delivery during the team's fall camp and went five innings in a practice game against Hiroshima Wednesday and permitted three runs on six hits, but only one of those runs was earned. He also induced 11 ground balls, but was clocked at just a bit over 80mph. 

Satoshi Fukuda replaced Aida and throew two innings and was done for two runs and four hits. 

Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka had an MRI Wednesday and was diagnosed with a left knee injury, so he won't be participating in the Giants fall camp. 

Yomiuri is thought to be considering acquiring Orix free agent catcher Takeshi Hidaka to back up incumbent Shinnosuke Abe. Hidaka threw out nearly 41% of all runners who tried to steal off of him last season, but he isn't much of a hitter. Softbank is also looking at him. 

Miscellaneous The Gold Glove recipients in NPB were announced Wednesday. They are as follows:
 

I can't say that I'm suprised by any of these nominations.  

The 2007 schedules for both leagues were also issued. Japan Ball should have them up at some point if they don't already. 

The Oakland A's will reportedly build a new self financed 40,000 seat ballpark in Fremont, California and move there once its completed. After over three decades in the abomination that is Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, they will finally have a real baseball oriented facility to play in.. The only question is what they will call themselves. God forbid it is some ungainly nonsense like the Oakland Athletics of Fremont. 

But worst of all, former Boston Braves and Yankees great Johnny Sain died at age 89 Wednesday. A great pitcher, an outstanding coach and a stellar human being, by all accounts. My sincere best wishes to his family.