A three run homer by Softbank third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda in the seventh inning off of Kentaro Nishimura overcame a 3-1 deficit and put his contingent up 4-3 on the way to a 6-4 triumph over Yomiuri at Fukuoka Dome Saturday. The Giants hit Hawks starter Kazumi Saito around a little bit, six hits and a run in three innings, because he was only using his fastball and curve, so Michinao Yamamura carted off the shiroboshi.

Chiang  Chien-ming started for Yomiuri and had his best outing this spring, weaving four shutout innings on two hits as he exhibited good control and was able to get his high 80's heater in on the hitters. 

Yomiuri had two on and one out in both the first and second and paralyzed them. But in the third, third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to center with one out and first baseman Seung-yeop Lee dropped in a single near the line in right, Ogasawara turning and burning for third. Second baseman Luis Gonzalez went up thinking about hitting the ball as far as he could so as to stay out of a possible double play and dispatched a fly ball to center. Ogasawara tagged up and scurried across for a 1-0 lead. 

Up through three, Chiang had permitted only one baserunner, and he was erased on a double play ball. However, Hawks shortstop Munenori Kawasaki doubled to right in the fourth, but that was as far as he got since Chiang induced a groundout and a flyout. Nishimura replaced him and produced two perfect frames.

In the meantime, the Giants pushed two more across in the fifth against first year man Masahiko Morifuku, as leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani reached on an infield hit with one down and, following another out, Lee toasted a double up the rightcenter alley via which Tani was able to navigate home. Gonzalez singled to left. DH Yoshinobu Takahashi seared a two bagger into the rightfield corner and Lee cruised in to heighten it to 3-0. 

Then Nishimura faltered in the seventh. With one out, reserve centerfielder Ryuma Kidokoro singled to right and, one out later, pinch hitter Tomoaki Egawa walked. Sub leftfielder Shotaro Ide singled to left to convert the runner. Matsuda clobbered a first pitch slider into the leftfield bleachers and Softbank was up 4-3. 

Yomiuri's offense went into dry dock, generating only one hit over the ensuing three frames.

That wasn't true of the Hawks, who went hunting for insurance in the eighth against Yuya Kubo. Scrubeenie shortstop Mitsuru Honma singled to center with one away and Kidokoro singled to right. First baseman Brian Buchanan doubled to left to score Honma. Egawa flew out to center and that welcomed Kidokoro in after tagging up to widen it to 6-3. 

The Giants used an HBP to backup leftfielder Tetsuya Matsumoto, a one out single to center by reserve second baseman Ryota Wakiya and a single to left by Takahashi off of second year righty Akihiro Yanase in the ninth for their final run, but a strikeout and a popup cut off the rally at the knees and put it in the books. 

Manager Tatsunori Hara was fuming after it was over and let his charges have it verbally in a closed door meeting. "Losing like that is the mark of a weak team," he barked. 

Chiang said that even with the fine results he obtained, he still thought that he left too many balls up in the zone. 

Kubo allowed that his problem is that he can't keep his front shoulder closed consistently, which will leave pitches in the "make me lots of money" zone for hitters. 

Noriyoshi Omichi, who was picked up this offseason by Yomiuri after being let go by the Hawks, pinch hit and struckout, but said that it felt like an intrasquad game to him. 

Hiroki Kokubo was the DH for the Fukuoka crew and grounded out twice, but it was the first time he had been in a Hawks uniform since March of 2003. 

This was the second straight year in which Matsuda drilled his team's first exhibition homer. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was 2-3 and is at .667. Gonzalez was 1-2 and is at .250. Damon Hollins started in right and singled in his three times up and is at .429. 

For Softbank, backup rightfielder Adam Hyzdu was 0-2 and is at .167. Buchanan was 1-2 and is at .400. 

Hiroshima outfielder Yoshinori Ogata has had his fledgeling career stymied by major injuries. But Saturday, he came back a hero, launching a solo homer to right off of Rakuten reliever Tsuyoshi Kawagishi for a walkoff 5-4 victory at Fukuyama. The Carp prevailed even though the Eagles flew around the basepaths for six steals, three of them off of knuckleballer Jared Fernandez.

Shinji Sasaoka started for the fish and went two shutout innings on one hit, but Fernandez succeeded him and was rocked for three runs on seven hits in three innings that tied things up. Consequently, it was reliever Tomohiro Umetsu who was accorded the win after a scoreless ninth. 

Lin Ying-che started for Rakuten and saw Carp third baseman  Takahiro  Arai circle the bases with two aboard in the first before retiring the next eight men in a row to wrap up his assignment. 

Hiroshima got rolling in the bottom of the first when second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to center with one away and leftfielder Tomonori Maeda walked. That brought up Arai, who went gorilla on a heater that was fat and not phat and deposited it well into the leftcenterfield seats for a quick 3-0 lead. That would also be all she wrote for the Hiroshima offense through five. 

Fernandez came on for the third and catcher Motohiro Shima laid down a picture perfect bunt near the third base line and beat Fernandez' hurried peg to first with a stupid headfirst slide. Fernandez then balked, which was important, because the next man grounded to short for what should have been a double play but wasn't. Shimizu stolr third. Leftfielder Akihisa Makita legged out a bleeder and Shimizu dashed across the plate to cut it to 3-1. Shortstop Tatsuya Shiokawa singled to left. Centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya walked to pack the sacks. Third baseman Jose Fernandez spanked a single to center and Makita was in. First baseman Kevin Witt singled to left and that plated Shiokawa to level it at three apiece. There was also an out in this sequence and rightfielder Koichi Isobe grounded out to end the inning. 

The Eagles bats also quieted down and it remained even. Hiroshima had a man on third on a one out double and a groundout in the sixth, but left him there. 

In the seventh, the Eagles created a run for themselves, as Makita singled to left and Shiotani walked against Satoshi Nibe. With reserve centerfielder Akihito Moritani at the plate, Makita and Shiotani successfully pulled the double steal. Nibe then unloaded a wild pitch and Makita hustled across to put Rakuten up 4-3. But a groundout and a strikeout kept Shiotani anchored at third. This would be big. 

Hiroshi Satom the ex-Giant, was summoned from the Eagles pen for the bottom portion and first baseman Kenta Kurihara lashed a one out double to left. Ogata singled to right. Sub catcher Naoki Nakato singled to right to usher Kurihara in and it was 4-4. A popup and a groundout maintained the standoff. 

Both sides went down in order in the eighth and Rakuten stranded a man at second in the top of the ninth. 

Kawagishi, who had worked that eighth, was back at it in the last of the ninth, putting away the first two men he faced on a groundout and a liner to short. Ogata was next and found something he liked, propelling it into the great wide open to put it to rest in his club's favor. 

Fernandez insisted that he hasn't shown everything he can do yet and manager Marty Brown actually said that the former Brewer's outing "was good." 

Rakuten has accumulated ten steals over the last two days and three off them were by Moritani. 

For Rakuten, Fernandez was 1-2 and is at .400. Witt was also 1-2 and is at .667. 

Hanshin Both Yuya Ando and Shinobu Fukuhara threw in the bullpen Saturday, the latter 84 pitches and the former 106. Fukuhara said that he is totally pain free while Ando asserted that he is at about 80%. Each man believes he will be ready by Opening Day. 

They have a mound that simulates the one at Nagoya Dome at the Tigers bullpen at Koshien Stadium and Ryan Vogelsong threw off of it Saturday for 49 pitches, pronouncing it no problem. Apparently, the hill at Nagoya is a little steeper than the ones at the Tigers lair as well as other NPB ballparks. 

Hiroshima Backup infielder Kazunori Okagami had elbow surgery to remove some bone spurs and some other thing I have no ability to translate for. 

Yakult The Swallows folded up thheir spring camp and will now hit the exhibition trail. Catcher/manager Atsuya Furuta said that rookie sidearmer Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi's presence has helped to light a fire under the pitching staff while outfielder Yasushi Iihara, who has been playing shortstop, has been suprisingly impressive at the new position. He is also gratified that the battle for the third base job among Ryuji Miyade, Hirobumi Watarai and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama "has been at a high level." He therefore gave this phase of the pre-season a 90 out of 100. 

Yomiuri Koji Uehara threw 101 pitches in the bullpen Saturday, approaching it as if he was facing hitters. He commented afterward that his control was "all over the place" due to not having thrown that much this spring after suffering two leg injuries. 

Miscellaneous After his debut appearance in a Boston uniform Friday, Daisuke Matsuzaka said that he wasn't happy with his performance despite being clocked at 92mph (the Japanese press says it was 94mph) and striking out three in two innings. He revealed that he will be doing more throwing in the coming days. He will next take the mound on the sixth against Florida, where he is scheduled for three innings. 

Scouts from four teams, including the Rangers and Twins, were there evaluating the $100 million man. One scout, who asked to remain anonymous, said that you can't tell the difference when Matsuzaka is delivering his forkball or his changeup, which gives him more deception. 

Matsuzaka souvenirs were selling so well that Sankei Sports dubbed it baka ure (moving so well it was stupid) and most of them were sold out before all the fans left the park. 

Johnny Ayres, the guy who got the leadoff hit for Boston College against Matsuzaka, told the press that he went up looking fastball and that the double off of the ex-Lions ace was the highlight of his baseball life thus far. 

By the way, if you want another idea of the press scrutiny of Matsuzaka, click on the photo here. 

Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui was 1-2 with a walk Saturday against Pittsburgh. 

Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui had a day like his last namesake, only he also stole a base. 

Oakland minor league righthander Kazuhito Tadano tossed a scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs on a walk. 

Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi batted sixth and went 0-3 against Arizona Saturday. 

Texas reliever Akinori Otsuka was in for an inning against Kansas City and was tagged for three hits and a walk, but only one run.

Tomokazu Ohka got roughed up Saturday for Toronto against Tampa Bay for five hits and four runs during his two innings. Akinori Iwamura did not play for the Rays. 

Centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 1-3 while catcher Kenji Johjima was 0-2 Saturday for Seattle against San Diego. 

Pirates minor league pitcher Masumi Kuwata threw 78 pitches in the bullpen Saturday in preparation for his MLB exhibition debut Sunday against Cincinnati. He then talked to pitching coach Jim Colborn about how to deal with Adam Dunn, who has abused Kuwata teammate Solomon Torres for five career homers. "He throws in the mid-90's and gets taken deep by Dunn. What is [Dunn] going to do when I throw it 83mph?" Kuwata joked. 

Former Seibu fireballer Taigen Kaku will be Taiwan's olympic baseball coach. Following the end of his stellar career with the Lions, Kaku has coached in the CPBL and also helped players from his country find positions with NPB squads.