A two run single with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth inning Thursday by backup shortstop Daisuke Kusano off of Yasuhiro Nakamura at Bochan Stadium in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture tied Rakuten with Hanshin 2-2 and that is how it ended, a 2-2 nine inning tie. Rakuten starter Kanehisa Arime permitted two runs on three hits in four innings before the bullpen took over and one hit the Tigers the rest of the way. 

Hirotaka Egusa started for Hanshin and couldn't consistently command his fastball, walking five over four innings while being tagged for just one hit and thus kept the Eagles off the scoreboard. 

Egusa walked the bases loaded with one out in the first. However, that opportunity evaporated when first baseman Shoji Ohiro grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. That's Eagles baseball for you. 

And the Tigers exacted a penalty for that non-conversion in the bottom half, as shortstop Takashi Toritani opened with a double down the rightfield line and went to third on a groundout. Second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto flew out to left and Toritani tagged up and hustled in for a 1-0 lead. 

Rakuten would engender more offensive frustration in the third when second baseman Yosuke Takasu doubled to left with one away and centerfielder Teppei Tsuchiya walked. One out later, Egusa issued a free pass to DH Yuji Yoshioka to repack the sacks. Ohiro, though, whiffed and that was that. 

And Hanshin penalized the Eagles again in their ups in the frame. Rightfielder Masato Akamatsu walked with one out and stole second. Toritani singled to center. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi flew out to left and Akamatsu tagged up and bolted home to make it 2-0. They would produce just two more hits the remainder of the day. 

A two on, one out chance for Rakuten in the sixth against reliever Kazuya Tsutsui was subverted when rightfielder Akihisa Makita slapped a comebacker to Tsutsui, who initiated a 1-6-3 double play. 

The Tigers maintained their advantage until the ninth, when Ohiro singled to left and Makita walked. Third baseman Yoshinori Okihara singled to center to juice the bags. Kusano singled to left to plate Ohiro and Makita and it was even at 2-2. But a strikeout and a lineout to first held it there. 

Tsuyoshi Kawagishi retired Hanshin in order in their final at bat to conclude the contest. 

Tigers reliever Kentaro Hashimoto tossed a perfect inning using just his fastball and changeup and hasn't given up an earned run in his last four times out. He was clocked at 88mph. His 2006 was hindered by a shoulder inflammation, which helped clear a spot for Darwin Cubillan in the bullpen. 

Rakuten is winless in their last five games. 

23 year old outfielder Kodai Sakurai, who the Tigers hoped would develop into a kind of Japanese Alex Cabrera, started in left and went 0-3 and is now hitless in all of his nine at bats this spring. Back to the minors for him. 

For Rakuten, leftfielder Rick Short was 0-3 and is at .294. 

For Hanshin, first baseman Lin Wei-tzu was 0-3 with a walk and is at .235.

The Seibu Lions fumbled a bases loaded, one out situation in the top of the ninth Thursday against Chunichi at Nagoya Dome. Thus it wound up as a scoreless deadlock. In fact, the only news that may have come out of this faceoff was that Dragons third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, who was written into the lineup with the rest of the team's projected regular batting order, cracked two hits and was hit in the elbow in his three plate appearances to solidify his place on the roster. 

Fumiya Nishiguchi started for Seibu and used up just 37 pitches during his three innngs of one hit ball. He was clocked at 85mph. 

Masafumi Hirai cemented his rotation bid when he started and went four innings on four hits and 56 pitches. 

Lions shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and first baseman Jeff Liefer each singled to left with two outs in the first, but DH Kazuhiro Wada grounded to short for the third out. 

Chunichi shortstop Hirokazu Ibata doubled to left to kick off the fourth. However, a popup, a ground ball back to the pitcher and a lineout to second deep sixed that. They wouldn't even get to second base after that. 

Seibu did even worse and so it went into the ninth, where Nakajima singled to left off of Joe Valentine and, one out later, Wada and leftfielder Takumi Kuriyama walked to pack the sacks. Unfortunately, reserve third baseman Naoto Ishibashi struckout and catcher Ginjiro Sumitani flew out to right. Lions reliever Shuichiro Osada worked a 1-2-3 home half and that was all she wrote. 

Chunichi Sports reported that Nakamura will probably be brought on to the 70 man roster just shy of Opening Day. Now he has to prove that he can stay healthy and be a run producer again after a miserable season last year. He was removed after he was plunked and x rayed. The examination showed nothing abnormal. 

For Seibu, Liefer was 3-4 and is at .480. 

For Chunichi, DH Tyrone Woods was 0-3 and is at .071. 

Righthander Shinobu Fukuhara threw 155 pitches in the bullpen Thursday and you will probably see him get into a game fairly soon. 

Yuya Ando will throw in a simulated game Friday. Thursday, he delivered 52 pitches in the pen. 

It will be all foreign hurlers in Friday's exhibition contest, though. Esteban Yan will go three, as will Ryan Vogelsong, who will be spelled by Darwin Cubillan for two innings and Jeff Williams will close. 

Yomiuri The Giants need 18 more wins to make it 5,000 total in club history. They are strongly considering using the same type of uniforms players wore when Yomiuri ran off its string of nine consecutive championships. 

Tetsuya Utsumi said Thursday that he won't use his changeup when he starts against Orix Friday because he wants to keep it fron the view of opposing scouts. Uh dude, I think they saw it last season. 

On the other hand, Chiang Chien-ming, realizing that other clubs already know his repetoire, will do what he always does when he starts against Hanshin on the tenth. 

Jeremy Powell will follow Chiang against the Tigers on the 11th. Thursday, he threw 70 pitches in the bullpen as a tuneup. 

Koji Uehara threw 71 pitches in batting practice and looked good. Pitching coach Takao Obana hopes that Uehara can appear in an exhibition game on the 17th. 

Rookie Norihito Kaneto is scheduled for four innings of relief on Saturday. 

Outfielder Kenji Yano, who had been out with a back problem, has rejoined the top team and will likely bat leadoff Friday against the Buffaloes. 

Miscellaneous Sankei Sports had some fun razzing the American baseball press Thursday over the whole Daisuke Matsuzaka-gyroball horseshit. They asked Matsuzaka about the pitch that one of the Marlins hitters thought was the gyroball and the Monster replied, "that was a cutter that backed up on me," indicating that it was a mistake and actually kind of a hanger. "I'm not a gyroballer," he continued. "That backup cutter isn't something I am consciously trying to throw. I'm not going to talk about this again, but the grip on the gyroball is different." He also allowed that when he leaves his slider up, it often "hops" and that has been true for years. He also asserts that nobody has hit it when it has done that.. 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura has now gone hitless in all four MLB exhibition games he has played in this season, as he was 0-2 with a walk Thursday. 

Rockies infielder Kazuo Matsui was 1-3 with a steal Thursday against the White Sox. Chicago second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 0-3 with a steal. 

Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi struckout in a pinch hit appearance Thursday against Minnesota. 

Toronto righthander Tomokazu Ohka tossed three shutout innings against Boston Thursday on a hit and struckout two. 

Masumi Kuwata is scheduled to appear Friday for Pittsburgh. 

Waseda University righthander Yuki Saito threw 153 pitches during his bullpen Thursday to make it 981 on their Okinawa spring camp. However, both Saito and his head coach believed that his balance was off. So he still has somethings to iron out before the Tokyo Big Six University League spring schedule begins. The team will have three intrasquad games beginning on the 12th and Saito is scheduled to go six innings between the two appearances he will make. 

The Japan High School Baseball Federation has issued a restriction on when and how long the press can interview Osaka Toin High slugger Sho Nakata, who has drawn interest from seven Japanese teams as well as the Mets and the Twins, during an upcoming tournament. Reporters will only be able to talk to Nakata and his team for five minutes after the end of their games

The administrator of Tohoku High School's baseball program was suspended for a year by the Japan Scholastic Baseball Association for not promptly reporting incidents of intrateam violence. The suspension his retroactive to last December. 

Also being suspended for a year by the same organization were the head coach and his staff of Chinzei High School in Kumamoto for repeated instances of them perpetrating violence on their players.