Yomiuri second year pitcher Satoshi Fukuda made his first career top level start Tuesday and was knocked around for five runs on six hits in five innings, but the Giants offense rallied for four runs in the seventh to overcome a 5-3 deficit and notch a 9-5 victory over Chunichi at Nagoya Dome. Masahiro Yamamoto started for the Dragons and left with a lead after six innings of three run (two earned) ball on five hits only to see the bullpen blow it. 

The Giants went up top in the third when centerfielder Damon Hollins hit a ground ball to the left of Tyrone Woods and it went under his glove and into right for an error. Hollins went to second in a sacrifice. After advancing to third on a groundout, Hollins completed the circuit on leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani's single to right for a 1-0 advantage. That would be their last hit through five. 

But Fukuda walked Chunichi shortstop Hirokazu Ibata with one out in the bottom portion and he also did so with second baseman Masahiro Araki. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome singled to center and Ibata sped home. Woods doubled to the wall in center and Araki and Fukudome both crossed for a 2-1 edge. 

They enhanced that in the fifth, as Ibata singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. Fukudome doubled to rightcenter and cashed Ibata in. One out later, leftfielder Masahiko Morino singled to right and Fukudome made the journey home to put it at 5-1. They would muster just two more hits afterward as former Dragon Shigeki  Noguchi entered to toss two scoreless innings and snatch the win. 

Yomiuri chipped away at that disparity in the sixth when Tani singled to left and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara singled to center. One out later, shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to right and ushered Tani in while Ogasawara motored to third. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe grounded out to first and Ogasawara hit paydirt to trim it to 5-3. 

Yuya Ishii replaced Yamamoto for the seventh and Hollins walked and was pinch run for by Takahiro Suzuki. Kenji Yano went up to pinch hit for Noguchi. He got an eighth pitch fastball on the inner half and wrapped it around the leftfield foul pole to knot it at 5-5. One out later, Tani walked. Takuya Asao was handed the ball for Chunichi and Ogasawara sliced a shot down the leftfield line for a double that sprung Tani in. One out later, Ogasawara moved to third on a wild pitch and then headed home on an infield hit by Nioka to get the Giants a 7-5 lead.

They tacked on another in the eighth on a single to right by Suzuki, who advanced to second on a sacrfice. One out later, Tani walked. Ogasawara singled to right and Suzuki crossed to make it 8-5. 

In the ninth, Yomiuri backup shortstop Makoto Kosaka was hit by a pitch and, one out later, stole second. Following another out, Suzuki singled to right and propelled Kosaka in and that was how it ended, 9-5. 

Koji Uehara closed for the second straight night and was perfect in the ninth and his team now has 4,999 victories in its history. 

Noguchi finally picked up a shiroboshi in his second year as a Giant and it was his first since July, 2005. He also knocked the Dragons back down to .500. 

No Dragons starter has won any of his team's last 12 games. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 3-4 and is at .290. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee was 0-3 with a walk and is at .274.

For Yomiuri, first baseman Seung-yeop Lee was 0-5 with three strikeouts and is at .259. Hollins was 0-2 with a walk and is at .272. 

Yakult rightfielder Aaron Guiel homered twice and drove in four runs and catcher Tomohito Yoneno also went yard and totaled up four RBIs to demolish the Hiroshima Carp 14-8 Tuesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Kazuhisa Ishii started for the Swallows and was tattooed for five runs on ten hits and 110 pitches, but he scooped up a win anyway. 

Starting for Hiroshima was Takahiro Aoki and he was burned for seven runs, six earned, on seven hits in 3.1 innings and he is now 0-5. 

Guiel stepped up to leadoff the first and clubbed an Aoki pitch into the rightfield seats. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to center. He somehow advanced to second (passed ball?) and went to third on a groundsout. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez grounded to second and Miyamoto crossed for as 2-0 lead.

But the Carp then attempted to drown Ishii in their turn. Second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to right with one out and first baseman Kenta Kurihara socked an Ishii offering into the leftfield bleachers. Third baseman Arai got a fastball in his wheelhouse and took Ishii over the leftfield wall. One out later, rightfielder Koichi Ogata doubled to right. Leftfielder Shigeru Morikasa singled to left and Ogata travelled to the promised land for a 4-2 advantage.

That was nullified in the top of the second when Aoki plunked second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka and Yoneno pasted a shot into the leftcenterfield stands to make it 4-4. 

Hiroshima got a man to third with one out in the last of the second and stranded him. Yakult had a man on third with two gone inthe third and they allowed that chance to go to waste. 

But in the fourth, third baseman Yasushi Iihara doubled to left and Tanaka singled to right. Yoneno doubled to right and both Iihara and Tanaka blazed to the plate. One out later, Aoki was exchanged for Ken Takahashi and Guiel singled to right to turn Yoneno in and hike it to 7-4. 

The fish had two more on with two gone in the home edition and that went by the wayside on a flyout. 

However, in the fifth, Arai got a 1-2 cutter and homered to left to shrink it to 7-5. From there, they would generate only an infield hit through seven. 

Yakult had blown a bases loaded situation in the fifth, but they blew up the Carp in the sixth. Pinch hitter Hirobumi Watarai grounded to shortstop Eishin Soyogi, who booted it. Guiel singled to left. The runners advanced on a sacrifice. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki grounded to short and Watarai attempted to score, but he was gunned down at home. Ramirez singled to center. First baseman Kazuhiro Hatakeyama doubled to right and drove Guiel crossed. Iihara walked to load the bases. Tanaka tripled to right and cleaned up the community and then somehow he scored as well in the inning to raise it to 12-5. 

In the seventh, Victor Marte climbed the hill for the Carp and reliever Shohei Tateyama singled to right. Guiel mashed a shot to leftcenter for two more to make it 14-5. 

Satoshi Nishizaki exited the bullpen to make his pro debut for the Swallows in the eighth and he nailed backup catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara with a one out delivery. Soyogi walked. Higashide doubled to left to slingshot Ishihara in. Kurihara singled to left and that sent two in to get it within 14-8, but Masahiro Yoshikawa stood in for Nishizaki and put two of the next three men away and Yuhei Takai was flawless in the ninth to put it in the books. 

For Yakult, Guiel was 5-6 and is at .253. He said that it was the first time he has collected five safeties in one contest since high school. Ramirez was 2-5 and is at .333. 

For Hiroshima, Jared Fernandez got into the game and spun two shutout innings on a hit to bring his ERA down to 5.68. 

Ace Kenshin Kawakami has been called back up to the big club after rehabbing a hurt shin. 

Hanshin The ballclub is reportedly interested in Nihon University lefthander Junpei Shinoda, a 6'1" 158 pounder. No, that isn't a typo. 

Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto is in the midst of an 8-37 slump (.216) over his last ten games and told reporters Tuesday that, "if I keep going like this I might as well retire."

Yakult Rookie Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi was lit up in an Eastern League start Tuesday for four runs and ten hits in five innings. 

Ryo Kawashima, who went down with shoulder discomfort, relieved Masubuchi and went two shutout innings on a hit and two walks, displaying mediocre command of his fastball. 

Yomiuri Lefthander Takanobu Tsujiuchi, who recently had reconstructive elbow surgery, was released from hospital Tuesday. He will be in a cast for three weeks. 

Miscellaneous Ichiro Suzuki has a .373 lifetime average in May, but Tuesday, he began the month with an 0-4 against the Chicago White Sox in a 5-2 victory. Catcher Kenji Johjima sat it out with a bad back. He tweaked it lifting weights and says that he can't crouch or bat because of it. 

Chicago second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 0-1 with two walks and an HBP. 

Daisuke Matsuzaka, who will start in a makeup game on the third against Seattle, threw 50 pitches in the bullpen Tuesday as a tuneup. He has also joined Michael Jackson and David Beckham in having a hyperbaric chamber installed in his home to help him recover quicker from his starts. 

On his financial status, he signed to endorse those titanium necklaces you see players wearing these days. 

In the Sox game against Oakland, lefthander Hideki Okajima tossed another scoreless inning. But the A's rallied in the ninth against Jon Papelbon to tie it and they won it in ten 4-3. 

Having more luck closing was Dodgers righty Takashi Saito, who rendered Arizona hitless in the ninth Tuesday of a 1-1 contest and then the blue crew posted a run in the bottom half to prevail, giving Saito his first win of the campaign. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui was 1-5 with two RBIs Tuesday against Texas in a 10-1 victory. He is six knocks away from 2000 for his combined MLB/NPB careers, which would put him in the Meikyukai. Masaichi Kaneda, the greatest lefthander in Japanese history with 400 wins, will give Matsui his Meikyukai jacket on May 6th in a pre-game ceremony. It would really behoove somebody from MLB as well as GM Brian Cashman to be there when it happens just out of respect for Kaneda and Japanese baseball. It would be great if somebody from the MLBPA could be there as well. 

Fellow Yankee Kei Igawa had a haircut Tuesday and then told the press that he doesn't care how many games he personally wins, as long as the Bombers come out on top everytime he pitches. Rather, he is obsessing on his ERA, which is at 6.08 right now because he has some control over that. 

Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi entered Tuesday's game with Milwaukee as a late  defensive replacement and then reached on an infield hit in his only at bat. The Brewers creamed the birds 12-2. 

Remember that 40 year old Mets fan who was ejected from Shea Stadium for shining a poweful flashlight in the eyes of Atlanta players? He is now banned from that park for three years. He was also put on 15 days of supervised release by local police. Hope it was worth it asshole. 

Ichiro's alma mater, Aikodai Meiden High School, as well as the former stomping grounds of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Yokohama High, were both implicated Tuesday in giving illegal athletic scholarships and tuition reductions  to incoming players. Also on the hot seat is Rakuten rookie Masahiro Tanaka's onetime school, Komadai Tomakomai High. 

Yokohama has pulled out of its spring tournament and its program administrator has been relieved of that position. 

At Komadai, of its 110 players, 30 are under scholarship. 

Aikodai has withdrawn from its prefectural tournament. There are wildly differing numbers in terms of how many of the 4200 JHSBF member schools are affected in connection with this (the largest figure quoted I've seen was 376), but many of them are among the most famous schoolboy programs in the country, it will be interesting to see if that affects interest in the summer Koshien Tournament in August. 

The Federation of Japanese Private Junior and Senior High Schools has sent the Japan High School Baseball Federation an inquiry about extending the deadline regarding the reporting of athletic scholarship violations. The FJPJSHS argues that it needs the time in order to implement balance in athletic programs regarding the issue rather than just as it pertains to baseball.