Hiroshima rightfielder Jun Hirose belted a first inning grand slam and starter Shinji Sasaoka and his bullpen fended off several scoring chances by Hanshin to take a 5-1 victory at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium Sunday. Sasaoka went five shutout innings on eight hits and struckout three while walking none for his first win olf the year.

Atsushi Nomi started for Hanshin and stayed in for just three innings of five run, six hit ball to absorb his third defeat. 

Hiroshima shortstop Eishin Soyogi kicked off the bottom of the first with a single to left and centerfielder Soichiro Amaya singled to center. First baseman Kenta Kurihara, who finished the night at .294, singled to center to send Soyogi in. Third baseman Takahiro Arai singled to left to load the bases. One out later, Hirose clubbed a Nomi offering into the centerfield bleachers for his first career granny and a 5-0 lead. Nomi and the Hanshin pen scattered four hits the rest of the way. 

The Tigers used three two out singles to right in the second to pack the sacks, but Nomi was permitted to hit and flied out to left. Manager Akinobu Okada took some heat from the press afterward for not using a pinch hitter here. 

In the third, they had two on and nobody out before a strikeout, a popup and a flyout undermined the opportunity. 

Sasaoka subsequently surrendered a single and a double in the fourth, but they were sandwiched around a double play ball and thus didn't produce anything. 

The long in the tooth veteran was perfect in the fifth and said farewell for the night, the ball being ceded to Ryuji Yokoyama, who was touched for two singles with nobody out in the sixth. However, he induced a popup and two strikeouts to rebuff the Tigers.

They had two more on with two outs in the seventh against Yokoyama and leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto struckout to kill that off. 

In the ninth, though, Takaya Kawauchi was summoned from the Carp pen and he walked second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto. One out later, shortstop Takashi Toritani doubled to left. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to left to redeem Sekimoto and make it 5-1. Tomohiro Umetsu succeeded Kawauchi and struck first baseman Andy Sheets out. Closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa was then called on and he fanned Kanemoto to put it in the books. 

This was Sasaoka's first win against Hanshin in three years. 

Toritani was 3-5 to raise his average to .280. It was also his fourth three knocks or more effort of the young season. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-4 with three strikeouts and is at .269, Rightfielder Lin Wei-tzu was 2-4 and is at .333. 

Chunichi rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome slugged a pair of homers and drove in four runs, but Yokohama rose up for three in the third and a like number in the sixth to cop a 7-4 victory at Yokohama Stadium Sunday. The defeat rolled the Dragons down into third while the Bay Stars snatched sole possession of second for the first time in three years. 

Takeo Kawamura started for Yokohama and went four innings of three run, eight hit ball and so was given the hook in favor of Shigeki Ushida, who twirled two perfect frames for his second win. 

Kenichi Nakata started for Chunichi and flailed about for 111 pitches in five innings, during which he was tagged for four runs, two earned, on six hits and walked five to decline to 3-2. 

Both sides had two on and two out in the second and they loitered. But in the third, Dragons leftfielder Masahiko Morino singled to center with one out and Fukudome destroyed whatever it was that Kawamura threw him, the ball landing way back in the rightfield stands for a 2-0 lead. 

But that lasted as long as the career of the Starland Vocal Band. With one away, Yokohama shortstop Takuro Ishii's ground ball was kicked by his opposite number, Hirokazu Ibata. Leftfielder Takahiro Suzuki walked. Third baseman Shuichi Murata doubled to leftcenter and Ishii and Suzuki sprinted home. Rightfielder Takahiro Saeki walked. One out later, first baseman Yuki Yoshimura singled to center and Murata crossed to go in front 3-2. 

Chunichi, though, tied it in the fourth when Ibata singled to center with one out and Morino singled to right, Ibata sailing into third. Fukudome grounded to second and Ibata was in for a 3-3 standoff. They would get just one more hit over the remainder, though. 

So the score stayed that way until Suzuki singled to center in the fifth, moved to second on Murata's walk and, one out later, to third on a BB to centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo. Yoshimura grounded to second and Suzuki completed the circuit for a 4-3 edge. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa popped out to stand up the other two runners. 

Franklyn Gracesqui, who has been nails for the Nagoya crew, came on in the sixth and walked pinch hitter Hitoshi Taneda, who was advanced on a sacrifice. One out later, Suzuki walked. Murata singled to left to drive Taneda in. The runners moved up on a wild pitch. Saeki singled to right and Suzuki and Murata flew home to up it to 7-3. 

Fukudome homered to right with one out in the seventh to make it 7-4, but Joselo Diaz struckout the side in the eighth and fashioned a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save to shut the circus down. 

Chunichi has lost three straight despite the fact that Fukudome has seven rountrippers in his last seven contests. 

For Chunichi, first baseman Tyrone Woods was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .256. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee was 1-4 and is at .293. Gracesqui ultimately went three innings of three run, four hit pitching to "balloon" his ERA to 1.93. 

Yomiuri starter Yuya Kubo was average Sunday, six innings, three runs, four hits, but reliever Hiroki Sanada was also bullied for three and the Yakult Swallows prevailed 6-2 at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Kosuke Matsui, in his first start of the year, sparkled with six innings of two run (one earned) ball on five hits and struckout five while walking one for his initial 2007 win and his first since last May. 

Yomiuri went out to a temporary lead in the second when Swallows rightfielder Aaron Guiel dropped shortstop Tomohiro Nioka's fly ball, allowing Nioka to end up at second. One out later, second baseman Ryota Wakiya singled to right and Nioka tooled home. Wakiya stole second. Centerfielder Damon Hollins doubled into the leftfield corner and Wakiya found paydirt to make it 2-0. 

Guiel found a measure of redemption in the last of the third when he hit a two out Kubo delivery off the end of his bat and broke it, but still go enough lift to tuck it into the rightfield bleachers of the cozy confines to trim it to 2-1. 

Kubo retired seven straight to cap off five innings. However, in the sixth, Guiel walked and was erased on a double play. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki walked. Bothered by the speedster at first, Kubo left an 0-1 slider right in the middle of the plate for leftfielder Alex   Ramirez and he drilled it over the leftfield wall to push Yakult ahead 3-2. 

Sanada was substituted for Kubo in the seventh and pinch hitter Mitsuru Manaka singled to center and was pinch run for by Yasushi Iihara, who went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, pinch hitter Ryuji Miyade singled to center to pick Iihara up. Guiel singled to center to pump his average up to .222. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto toasted a shot up the leftcenter alley for a two run triple to hike it to 6-2. 

After Matsui departed, all the Giants mustered against the Swallows bullpen was a two out infield hit in the seventh, the last seven men going down consecutively to conclude it. 

So this was the first series that Yomiuri has lost in their last seven. 

Kubo was clocked at 91mph. 

Rookie Tetsuya Yamaguchi made his top level debut for the Giants after being taken off the taxi squad and added to the regular roster and spun a hitless eighth. He was clocked at 88mph. 

For Yakult, Guiel was 2-3 with a walk and perhpas his best game since coming to Japan. Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .344. 

For Yomiuri, first baseman Seung-yeop Lee was 1-4 and is at .273. Hollins was 1-4 and is at .282. 

Yomiuri Both second baseman Luis Gonzalez and outfielder Takayuki Shimizu will make rehab starts Monday in the Eastern League. 

Tetsuya Utsumi turned 25 Sunday. 

Miscellaneous Tomokazu Ohka won his 50th big league game Sunday, as he went seven innings of one run, five hit ball against Texas in a 7-3 final. He is the second Japanese to get to the half century mark in that department. 

Hideki Okajima tossed two scoreless innings against the Yankees Sunday on a hit while striking out four in a 7-4 Boston victory that won the three game series for the Red Sox. The former Yomiuri lefty has now been unscored upon in 11 straight appearances. Hideki Matsui was 0-4. . 

Before the game, Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 62 pitches in the bullpen. He will start on the 3rd against Seattle. 

Mariners centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki was 1-4 with an RBI in a 5-1 decision over Kansas City Sunday. 

Dodgers closer Takashi Saito spun two shutout innings Sunday in an 17 inning marathon with San Diego which Blue Crew won 5-4. 

Waseda University stomped Hosei University in Tokyo Big Six University action, as Waseda starter Yuki  Saito went seven innings of one run, four hit ball in fromt of 28,000 at Meiji Jingu Stadium to become the first man ever in the august 83 year history of that circuit to win his first two appearances of the spring schedule as a freshman. He also had two hits and drove in two runs and was clocked at 90mph. His next start will likely be against Rikkyo University on May 6th. 

By the way, it is the first time that a Tokyo Big Six game has drawn ,pre than 20,000 for anything other than a Waseda-Keio University game in 17 years. His mom Shizuko, who was at the game, is pretty hot. 

PL Gakuen High School denied Sunday that it had offered incoming baseball players athletic scholarships after they were named recently as being among those schools that do. A spokesman said that since the rules were changed they no longer bring players aboard under special finanical breaks. 

The school that finished second in the spring Koshien Tournament, Ogaki Nichidai High School, may forego playing games against other schools during the month of May due to the athletic scholarship issue. 

Shinjo High School, a fairly well known middle rank program, has withdrawn from its prefectural tournament over the controversy as well. 

Finally, my condolences to the family of St. Louis reliever Josh Hancock. But how did he not see that tow truck he ran into? Did he fall asleep at the wheel? Was he on a cellphone? Was he intoxicated? That's the nystery of the thing for me.