Hiroshima leftfielder Tomonori Maeda conked a three run homer in the sixth innings against Hanshin Monday to solidify what had been just a one run Carp lead and eventually take it 7-4 at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Hiroki Kuroda started for the fish and went eight innings of four run, eight hit ball in a performance he wasn't happy with but yet became his first win of the season at home. 

Tatsuya Kojima started for Hanshin and lasted only four innings of three run, three hit ball for his third loss before the bullpen entered and exacerbated things. 

Kuroda was lent a nice early cushion, as shortstop Eishin Soyogi singled to right and, one out later, first baseman Kenta Kurihara walked. Third baseman Takahiro Arai then socked a Kojima delivery into the rightfield seats for a 3-0 lead. Kojima plunked Maeda, but regrouped to retire nine of the next ten before he was pinch hit for in the fifth. 

Meanwhile, Kuroda permitted only a single through four. In the fifth, though, Tigers rightfielder Lin  Wei-tzu singled to center, as did catcher Keisuke Kano. Second baseman Atsushi Fujimoto singled to center to plate Lin and Ikuro Katsuragi, pinch hitting for Kojima, singled to left to redeem Kano and trim it to 3-2. But shortstop Takashi Toritani flew out to right and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi, probably the team's hottest hitter at the moment, grounded to second to halt the offensive progress. 

Kuroda was perfect in the sixth and was applauded for that in the bottom half when Kurihara doubled to left with one away and Arai walked. Maeda went gorilla on a first pitch fastball and deposited it in the rightfield bleachers to hike it to 6-2. Following another out, catcher Yoshikazu Kura homered to left and widened it to 7-2. 

Lin got a fastball up and out over the plate to commence the seventh and smashed it over the rightfield wall to cut it to 7-3, but Kuroda retired the next three men.

Unfortunately, Kuroda would have more trouble in the eighth, as Toritani doubled to right and Akahoshi, who finished the month with a .321 average, singled to right. First baseman Andy Sheets grounded to second to send Toritani in and make it 7-4. A strikeout and a groundout enabled Kuroda to hand it off to closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa, who was flawless in the ninth to wrap it up. 

Maeda needs 68 hits for 2000 and entry into the Meikyukai. That a guy who has had two procedures for torn Achilles tendons is still around to get there says something about the guy's determination. 

For Hanshin, Lin was 2-4 and is at .347. It will be interesting to see what the Tigers do with Lin after this season because if he puts in a memorable season and Osamu Hamanaka, who they are kind of fed up with, doesn't, it wouldn't be without the realm of possibility to see Hamanaka moved to the Pacific League, where he can DH, for a starting pitcher. Sheets was 0-4 and is at .259. 

The Yokohama lineup pushed across a run in both the first and second and then basically took the rest of the day off, as starter Yoshihiro Doi and four relievers bogged the Chunichi order down on a run and six hits for a 2-1 victory at Nagoya Dome. Doi went 5.1 innings on 85 pitches for his third consecutive win. 

Kazuki Yoshimi started for the Dragons and fought himself for two innings, throwing 41 pitches and surrendering two runs on five hits before he was asked to have a shower for his first loss of the year. 

Bay Stars second baseman Toshihisa Nishi kicked off the bottom of the first by crushing a shuuto into the leftfield seats for a 1-0 lead. It was his 21st lifetime leadoff first inning jack, eighth on the all time list, and his third this season. It also extended his on base streak to 24 games. 

After Doi neutralized a two on and two out problem in the top of the second, Yokohama improved thier position when catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. Nishi singled to center. Shortstop Takuro Ishii tapped a dribbler and all Yoshimi could do with it is go to first, Aikawa crossing on the out to make it 2-0. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki walked to load the bases. However, Yoshimi and the Chunichi bullpen retired ten of the next 11 to get their team through five. 

The Dragons had a man on second with nobody out in the third and didn't move him. They would finally get on the scoreboard in the fourth when Woods pounded a changeup into the centerfield stands to halve the deficit to 2-1. It was Woods' first dinger in 11 games. 

Yuichi Hisamoto did a superlative job taking over for Yoshimi by producing three scoreless innings. In the sixth, though, centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo's ground ball was muffed by third baseman Norihiro Nakamura. Kinjo was erased on a double play, but Hisamoto walked Aikawa, pinch hitter Seiichi Uchikawa and Nishi in succession to fill the bags. Ishii flied out to stand the runners up and that would be the last time Yokohama had a sniff at a scoring opportunity. 

Takumi Nasuno was brought in from the pen for the eighth for Yokohama and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata walked and went to third on an ensuing sacrifice and groundout. Woods and Nakamura walked to jam the pasepaths. However, Nasuno then struck centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee out and closer Mark Kroon, just back from seeing his new daughter, was perfect in the ninth and was clocked at 96mph to ultimately fend the Dragons off. The Nagoya outfit has dropped its last four and is now 2-5 in day games. 

This was the first time that Yokohama has swept Chunichi since September of 1998 at Yokohama Stadium. The Bay Stars won the Japan Series that year. This also gave Yokohama its first winning April since 2004. 

Nishi's average in his first bat of a game this season is .524. That will get it. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 2-3 with a walk and is at .270. Lee was 0-4 and is at .282. 

Yomiuri lefthander Hisanori  Takahashi  went seven innings of two run (one earned) ball on seven hits Monday for his fifth straight shiroboshi and his last namesake, rightfielder Yoshinobu   Takahashi, homered to the opposite field twice in a 9-3 Giants victory over Yakult at Meji Jingu Stadium to salvage the third of the three game set. Hisanori Takahashi thus became the first Yomiuri moundsman to win his first five appearances from the start of the regular schedule since Masumi Kuwata in 1989 and the first lefty to win five games in a month since Hisao Niura in 1979.

Masanori Ishikawa started for the Swallows and was blown out after 2.1 innings of five run, six hit ball to see his side into the Central League cellar. He is 0-3 personally in 2007. 

Yoshinobu Takahashi inaugurated the match by lambasting a 1-1 breaking ball on the outer half of the plate into the leftcenterfield seats for an immediate 1-0 lead. 

In the second, Yomiuri backstop Shinnosuke Abe thumped a shot into the leftcenterfield bleachers as well and it was 2-0. 

But in the bottom stanza, Yakult second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka singled to left and catcher Masakazu Fukukawa walked. Ishikawa singled to left to slingshot Tanaka in and put it at 2-1. Rightfielder Aaron Guiel flied out to center, though, to strand the runners. 

The Giants responded to that with singles to center by Hisanori Takahashi and, one out later, leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara to pack the sacks. First baseman Seung-yeop Lee singled to left to chase Takahashi in. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka walked to force Tani in and Masataka Endo replaced Ishikawa. Abe flew out to right and Ogasawara tagged up and busted in to make it 5-1. A popup ground things to a halt.

They assured themselves of emerging triumphant in the sixth, as backup centerfielder Takahiro Suzuki  singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. Yoshinobu Takahashi howitzered a forkball into the leftcenterfield bleachers and it was effectively over at 7-1.

Yakult mustered a run in their turn when shortstop Shinya Miyamoto beat out a ground ball and centerfielder Norichika Aoki singled to center. Miyamoto tagged up on a fly ball and advanced to third. First baseman Kazuhiro Hatakeyama grounded to short and Miyamoto crossed to reduce the disparity to 7-2. 

One step forward only to have two steps backward for the birds. In the seventh, Nioka singled to left and Nioka singled to right. One out later, Suzuki went gapping to rightcenter for a two run triple and a score of 9-2. 

Koji Uehara exited the bullpen in the ninth for only his third career relief appearance in the ninth and third baseman Hirobumi Watarai torched a double to leftcenter and tagged up and went to third on a flyout. Sub second baseman Yasushi Iihara doubled to leftcenter and that made it 9-3. Guiel struckout, however, and that was the ballgame. 

This was Yomiuri's 15th ten hits or more game and the top third of their order or either better than or pert near .300, as are their fifth and sixth hitters. They are batting .285 as a team. 

The Giants have 150 leadoff first inning homers as a ballclub in their history. The team single season record by one player is seven, by Toshihisa Nishi back in 2004. This was Takahashi's third time doing that this particular campaign and third career.

For Yakult, Guiel was 0-5 and is at .208. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .330. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was 1-4 with a walk and is at .272. Centerfielder Damon Hollins was 0-1 with a walk and is at .278. 

Miscellaneous Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui still can't run at 100% of full speed yet, so his return to the ballclub will be delayed by at least a couple of weeks. 

Pirates minor league pitcher Masumi Kuwata has begun jogging as he seekins to come back from a couple of torn ankle ligaments. 

St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi had a pinch hit double Monday in a 7-1 loss to Milwaukee. 

Sakushin Gakuin High, a fairly major program, has been cited for giving incoming players special financial treatment. No word on what the disposition of their case might be. 

Two programs out of Gifu Prefecture, Kiryu Number One High School, a national power, and the much lesser heralded Maebashi Ikuei, have also gotten caught up in the athletic scholarship issue. They have withdrawn from their prefectural tournament.