The Hanshin Tigers benefited from the wildness of Hiroshima rookie Michito Miyazaki in the seventh inning Saturday to dissolve a 2-2 deadlock and the three headed relief hydra that is Jeff Williams, Tomoyuki Kubota and closer Kyuji Fujikawa took it from there, Kubota being credited for the W, in a 3-2 victory at Osaka Dome. 

Atsushi Nomi started for the home side and was no great shakes, as he required 99 pitches and walked four while permitting three hits in five innings on the way to being tagged for two runs in a no decision. 

On the hill for the Carp was Takahiro Aoki and he did decently, going six innings on 91 pitches and being touched for two runs on five hits and striking out three with only one walk. 

The Tigers had men on second and third with two out in the first and third baseman Makoto Imaoka stranded them with a popup to second. They were punished for that because in the top of the second, Hiroshima third baseman Takahiro Arai smoked a shot over the rightcenterfield wall for a 1-0 lead. 

But in the bottom of the third, Hanshin shortstop Takashi Toritani singled to right and, two outs later, leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto got a fastball up and in and tomahawked it into the fifth level in right approximately 455 feet away to lend his squad a 2-1 advantage. 

Nomi wouldn't be able to defend it. In the fourth, Carp second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to right and leftfielder Tomonori Maeda, just back from a leg injury, singled to left, Higashide speeding into third. Arai flew out to center and Higashide tagged up and scuttled across to level it at 2-2. Nomi then walked rightfielder Shigenobu Shima and first baseman Kenta Kurihara to load the bases. However, catcher Yoshikazu Kura grounded to short to cashier the uprising.

The fish also blew a two on and one out opportunity in the sixth against Kubota because centerfielder Koichi Ogata grounded into a twin killing. 

Miyazaki was called on to work the seventh and retired the first two hitters, but then walked second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto. Lin Wei-tzu, pinch hitting for Kubota, doubled down the rightfield line. Kenta Satake stood in for Miyazaki and Toritani walked to pack the sacks. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi also walked and that forced Sekimoto in to put it at 3-2. First baseman Andy Sheets grounded out.

Hanshin wasted a two on and two out chance in the eighth and it was Fujikawa time. A strikeout and a flyout had him on the verge of sealing it in the ninth. But Ogata walked and backup catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara singled to center. Yoshinori Ogata was dispatched to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot and Fujikawa blew him away to put it in the books. 

Kubota and Williams, who spun a perfect eighth, were clocked at 93mph and Fujikawa at 94mph. 

Hanshin, in their last 30 Opening Days, have gone 5-24-1. But in years over that span in which they have dropped the first regular season tilt and come back to take the second, they have won the Central League pennant (1985, 2003, 2005). Make of that what you will. Also keep in mind that Chunichi has never garnered consecutive circuit flags. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-4 and is at .000. Lin was 1-1 and is at 1.000. 

Yokohama lefthander Yoshihiro Doi was ineffective last season and apparently really pissed off the locals, as the faithful at Yokohama Stadium booed him loudly as he initially toed the rubber. But he silenced them by going eight stellar shutout innings on just 85 pitches and the Stars grabbed a pair in the eighth for a 2-0 victory against Yomiuri that evened the three game series. Former Yokohama righthander Ken Kadokura started for the Giants and was dominating for seven innings before he weakened in the eighth and incurred the tough defeat.

Yomiuri second baseman Luis Gonzalez doubled to the wall in center in the second and advanced to third on a one out groundout, but rotted there as centerfielder Takahiro Suzuki grounded to first. 

In the fourth, a two out walk and an infield hit had Yokohama threatening, but leftfielder Takahiro Suzuki flied to center to monkey wrench that. 

Yomiuri then left a man at second in the fifth and neither side made much headway afteward until the eighth, when Katsuaki Furuki went up to pinch hit for rightfielder Seiichi Uchikawa and drove a 1-0 slider on the inner half of the plate to right. It got up in the strong breeze that was blowing out and glanced off the foul pole for a 1-0 lead. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to left and was sacrificed to second. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, the ex-Giant, lined an eighth pitch belt high hanging forkball to the wall in center and Aikawa navigated home to make it 2-0 on the double. That also knocked Kadokura out of the contest in favor of Yukinaga Maeda, who got the next two men. 

Mark Kroon took over for Doi in the ninth and leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara both singled to right. First baseman Seung-yeop Lee, still feeling the effects of a sore shoulder, grounded into a 4-6 force. Gonzalez grounded to shortstop Takuro Ishii, who shoveled it to Nishi, who fired to first and this baby was a memory. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was 1-4 and is at .333. Gonzalez was 1-4 and is at .286. 

Kenta Asakura was a little wild, but he bound the Yakult Swallows on two hits over seven innings and even drove in two runs himself to lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 6-0 victory at Nagoya Dome. Asakura used only 89 pitches before manager Hiromitsu Ochiai decided that his bullpen needed work and he doled out one third of an inning to each of three of them before Franklyn Gracesqui fashioned a perfect ninth to wrap it up. 

Seth Greisinger started for the Swallows in his regular season Japan debut and was perfect for three innings, but he got racked up the second time through the order and that was effectively the ballgame. His final line was five innings, four runs, six hits, six strikeouts, no walks, 80 pitches and a loss. 

Yakult was just never in it even with the free passes, so this will mostly be a Chunichi scoring summary. Dragons shortstop Hirokazu Ibata ignited the fourth inning revolt with a double to right as Greisinger's pitches began to float up in the zone. Ibata skated home on second baseman Masahiro Araki's single to center for a 1-0 edge. Araki moved to second on a one out groundout and then came around on a single to right by centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee to make it 2-0. 

In the fifth, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura lined a double up the leftcenter alley and leftfielder Masahiko Morino reached on an infield hit. One out later, Asakura cranked a two bagger to leftcenter and Morino tailed Nakamura in all the way from first to hike it to 4-0. 

Nakamura subsequently catalyzed a rally in the seventh with a single to right off of rookie Hidenori Itoh and Morino doubled to left. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige grounded to short and Nakamura dashed in. Kazuyoshi Tatsunami pinch hit for Asakura and singled to left to redeem Morino and it was 6-0. Chunichi had also realized three RBIs out of the nine hole, which is pretty sweet. It was the last time a Dragon would reach base and this one drew quietly to a close. 

Araki got the news that his 90 year old grandmother Minako had died that morning shortly before he headed to the ballpark, so he did well under the circumstances with the 1-4 effort. 

For Yakult, first baseman Adam Riggs was 0-4 and is at .125. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .250. Rightfielder Aaron Guiel was 1-2 with two walks and is at .333. Greisinger was 0-2 and is at .000. 

For Chunichi, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .000. Lee was 1-4 and is at .250. 

Yokohama Kimiyasu Kudoh will make his first start as a Bay Star Sunday against Yomiuri after former Yokohama pitcher started Saturday for Yomiuri against his old team. 

Koshien Tournament Unsung Tokoha Gakuen Kikugawa High defeated one of the premier high school programs in Japan Saturday when they scored a run in the eighth off of Osaka Toin High starter Sho Nakata to tie it at one all and another in the ninth, that one with two outs, to pull off a huge upset in a 2-1 final and move into the semifinals. Tokoha ace Kenjiro Tanaka went the distance on a five hitter for the win and was nearly taken deep by Nakata in the eighth on a high fastball, but the drive died on the track in left because he hit it off the end of the bat. 

Nakata went 0-3 with a walk at the plate and threw 134 pitches on the hill in a complete game seven hitter. He was clocked at a high of 89mph. 

Nakata and Toin will now head off for a prefectural tournament to try to qualify for the summer Koshien tourney. 

Kumamoto Kogyo High also advanced to the semis by taking advantage of the wildness of Muroto High ace Yuta Morisawa to come up with a four spot in the third and register an eventual 5-3 victory. Morisawa walked or hit five batters in that critical frame, the lone hit he was touched for in that instance being a two run single. 5/6" lefthanded centerfielder Koshiro Imamura relieved starter Tomoya Kumabe with two outs in the sixth and men on second and third. He walked the first hitter but then retired the next man after that on a fly to left. 

Miscellaneous Daisuke Matsuzaka will be starring in a new Nike commercial that will begin airing in Japan on April 3rd. It was shot during the Red Sox spring training camp. No word on whether it will be aired in the U.S., though. Hochi Sports quoted a Nike flack as raising the possibility of Matsuzaka doing a spot in the future with Tiger Woods and/or Ronaldinho. However, that will dependent on how Matsuzaka does in his debut MLB season. 

Unforutnately, Matsuzaka didn't do very well against Philadelphia Sunday, as he walked four in four innings and threw 82 pitches while giving up three runs on two hits and striking out seven. One of the hits he permitted was a two run homer to Pat Burrell. 

For you Yankee fans, I had earlier alluded to how Kei Igawa had gotten lit up during day games while with Hanshin. Well, his composite ERA in those appearances with the Tigers was 7.09. His career ERA at night was 3.00. By contrast, The disparity for Daisuke Matsuzaka is that he is a run better at night than during the day. Nobody has been able to explain why that is. Consequently, Igawa has been put in the four spot in the rotation, where he will see almost exclusively night time assignments. 

Sunday against Detroit, Igawa went six innings and coughed up three runs on six hits while striking out three and not walking anyone. All three of the runs Igawa was charged with came in the fourth. 

Yankees centerfielder Hideki Matsui was 1-2. 

Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi had kind of an unorthodox day. He lifted two sac flies before being pulled in the fifth. 

Mariners centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki was 0-1 before he was benched against Chicago in one last tuneup before Opening Day while catcher Kenji Johjima was 1-2. 

Speaking of Johjima, Japanese olympic baseball team head coach Senichi Hoshino told Chunichi Sports Saturday that he badly wants the M's backstop to catch for him at Beijing in 2008. Unfortunately, unless Seattle is out of the pennant chase (which could happen) and feels it would be a good developmental opportunity for minor league prospect Jeff Clement, that is unlikely to happen. So is Hoshino hoping the Mariners will tank it that season? Hmmmm....

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura was 2-4 Saturday against the Mets. 

After he was pretty much thrown out with the garbage by Seattle, Carlos Guillen has found a home in Detroit, with whom he just signed a four year, $48 million deal. Guillen drove Mariners front office people and fans nuts with his inconsistency and lack of focus. When he was arrested for a DUI that was the last straw. Since moving east, though, he has been pretty serviceable. But c'mon, $12 million per? That's nuts for a guy who will be 32 this year with a career OPS of .798 and only one season with an OBP of over .400 and who made 28 errors last season. So now the shortstop market is out of wack just the like pitching is? Mama mia!

On a much sillier note, former porn star Ai Iijima has announced her retirement from the media personality racket back in Japan. Iijima, who dropped out of high school, moved into porn in her late teens. This all later became the subject of a best selling book she authored (with a ghost writer) called Platoni Sex.  She got a cohosting gig on the notorious late night tv program Gilgamesh Night before being invited to do regular talk show appearances, where her rather frank and at times airheaded speaking style won her considerable public attention beyond even when she was the biggest adult actress of the 1990's. She was also the bane of parents groups who decried her as eroding public morality by being a bad example for girls once she became a regular presence on regular tv. But hey, tacky and lurid sells. Thus so did Ai-chan, who has had some kidney problems over the last few years and her health issues are reportedly what provoked her into giving up the spotlight. 

Shobi Gakuen University is looking for players for its women's baseball team. It is located in Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture. You can find some info about it in Japanese Here.