A pinch hit RBI triple by Damon Hollins dissolved a 3-3 deadlock in the top of the 11th, as the Yomiuri Giants went on to seize a 5-3 victory from theChunichi Dragons Wednesday at Nagoya Dome. It was the 5,000th win in Yomiiuri history, the most in Japanese annals. The 2006 Centra League champion Dragons have now dropped their last half dozen.

Norihito  Kaneto started for the Giants and went 5.2 innings of three run (two earned) ball on five hits and struckout four and walked one in a no decision. Instead, credit for the historic triumph went to reliever Masanori Hayashi, who spun two scoreless innings on a hit and a walk. He is now 1-0. 

Kenta Asakura started for Chunichi and went seven innings of three run, seven hit pitching and struckout six while walking four in a no decision. 

Giants rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi leadoff the game with a single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice and then to third on a groundout. Asakura unleashed a wild pitch and Takahashi dashed home for a 1-0 lead. 

They added to that in the third when Takahashi blistered an Asakura delivery into the centerfield seats to make it 2-0.

But then the Dragons came up in the last of the inning and centerfielder Hidenori Kuramoto singled to center and sprinted home on a double down the leftfield line by catcher Motonobu Tanishige to trim it to 2-1. Tanishige advanced to third on a sacrfice, but stayed there when the next two men grounded out and flied out. 

However, Yomiuri went back up by a deuce in the fifth, as catcher Shinnosuke Abe doubled to rightcenter and second baseman Ryota Wakiya beat out a bunt. Centerfielder Takahiro Suzuki flied out to center and Abe tagged up and crossed to enlarge it to 3-1. Wakiya moved to second on a sacrifice by Kaneto. Takahashi was intentionally walked. Leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani was unintentionally walked to load the bases. But third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara flied out to left to spoil the party. 

Chunichi put two on with nobody out in the bottom half, but two strikeouts and a flyout ditched that opportunity. 

Yomiuri packed the sacks in the sixth with two outs and stranded them on a strikeout. The Dragons made them pay for that in their turn when rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome walked with one out and reserve centerfielder Atsushi Fujii singled to center and Fukudome flew over to third. Leftfielder Masahiko Morino beat out a ground ball and Fukudome scored. Submariner Yushi Aida was summonned from the bullpen and third baseman Norihiro Nakamura carromed a shot off the rightfield wall for an RBI double to level it at 3-3. Kuramoto grounded out and they would generate just three singles the rest of the way. 

The Giants then put two on with two out in the seventh and that ended up in nothing. That would be it for them offensively through ten. 

But in the 11th, Suzuki legged out an infield hit with two away and Hollins was dispatched to pinch hit for Hayashi. Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase threw Hollins a fastball right down the middle and Hollins torched it into the rightfield corner to plate Suzuki on the three bagger. Takahashi doubled to the wall in left and Hollins loped in to hike it to 5-3. 

Koji Uehara mosied in from the bullpen for his third appearance in as many days and fashioned a perfect bottom portion for his first career save. He was clocked at 89mph. 

As a side note, Uehara was the winning pitcher for his team's 4500th victory seven years ago. 

Since the two league system began in 1950, Yomiuri has gone 4217-31-4-235. Overall, since 1936, they are 5000-3514-263.

For Chunichi, first baseman Tyrone Woods was ejected for arguing a called strike three in the second and is at .287. Byung-kyu Lee was 0-1 and is at .271. Santiago Ramirez got into the game, too, and retired the one man he faced. 

For Yomiuri, first baseman Seung-yeop Lee was 1-4 with a walk and is at .259. Hollins was 1-1 and is at .280. 

The new and improved edition of Hiroshima starter Kan Otake and Yakult starter Seth Greisinger hooked up in a pitchers duel Wednesday, as each man went eight shutout innings, Greisinger on eight hits and Otake on five hits, in a mutual no decisions. It ultimately went into the tenth, where Swallows third baseman Hirobumi Watarai whiffed on a ground ball that permitted the winning run to cross in a 1-0 Hiroshima Carp victory at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. 

Yakult had two on and two out in the second, but Greisinger struckout to paralyze the runners. They also had a similar opportunity in the third and wasted that one as well. 

In the bottom stanza, Hiroshima had men on first and third with nobody out. However, two groundouts and a popup interdicted that and it remained scoreless. 

The Carp had two more on with one out in the sixth, but Greisinger elicited two groundouts. 

Yakult used two one out singles in the seventh to press Otake, but a double play ball liquidated it. 

Hiroshima came up and had two on and nobody out, but a groundout and a lineout double play frustrated it. 

Swallows reliever Masao Kida struckout the side in the ninth and it went into the tenth. Tomohiro Umetsu was inserted for Hiroshima and he promptly walked second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka, who went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, rightfielder Aaron Guiel was intentionally walked to get to shortstop Yasushi Iihara, who flied out to left. 

Kida then walked pinch hitter Shigeru Morikasa to initiate the bottom segment and he went to second on a sacrifice. Centerfielder Soichiro Amaya flied out to center. First baseman Kenta Kurihara grounded hard to the left of Watarai, who let it go under his glove and Morikasa put it in fourth for home to say sayonara. 

Otake was clocked at 92mph and now has a 1.33 ERA. Credit manager Marty Brown and his coaches for one of the all time great salvage jobs. 

For Yakult, Guiel was 1-4 and is at .253. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .320. Greisinger was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .071. 

Break up the Yokohama Bay Stars! They are now five games over .500 for the first time in seven, yes, seven, years after grabbing a 4-0 decision against Hanshin at Yokohama Stadium. Daisuke Miura started for the Bay Stars and went the distance for the shutout on five hits and 140 pitches while fanning ten and walking four for his second win. 

Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi started for the Tigers and was in for 5.1 innings of four run, three earned, ball on 11 hits and 101 pitches to absorb his third defeat. 

Miura began the game wild, walking two with one out in the first and wriggling out of it on a pair of groundouts and then walking two more and giving up a single with two outs in the second, but he struck centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi out. Miura found his groove and retired 18 of the next 19 to get through eight. 

Yokohama approved of Miura's battling with a run in the second, as leftfielder Takanori Suzuki singled to right and centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo tapped a ground ball to first baseman Andy Sheets. Sheets had to hurry his throw to try to get the speedy Kinjo and flipped it past Shimoyanagi, the runners hustling into second and third. First baseman Yuki Yoshimura flied out to center to clear enough room for Suzuki to tag up and score for a 1-0 lead. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa was asked to squeeze and and Kinjo took off for home. Aikawa got the ball down, but the bulky Shimoyanagi was on it quickly and tossed the ball with his glove to catcher Akihiro Yano to nip Kinjo. 

They piled on another in the third when shortstop Hitoshi Taneda doubled to right with two outs and rightfielder Seiichi Uchikawa tripled to left to put it at 2-0. 

In the fourth, it became 3-0 on a double to right by Kinjo, a single to left by Yoshimura and a single to left by Aikawa, who collected the RBI. The runners advanced on a sacrifice. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi walked to load the bases. Taneda, though, popped up to short to keep it close. 

Yoshimura doubled to right in the sixth to ignite another rally and Aikawa singled to right. One out later. Nishi singled to left to stretch it to 4-0. Ishii beat out a ground ball to reload the bases, but a double play ball ground things to a halt. They would obtain only one more hit for the duration. 

The Tigers attempted to mount a comeback in the ninth, as leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto singled to center. One out later, rightfielder Lin Wei-tzu singled to right.  Yano struckout, but second baseman Atsushi Fujimoto singled to right to pack the sacks. Keisuke Kano was sent up to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot to the delight of the Hanshin fans in the leftfield stands hoping for another miracle, but Kano grounded out to end it. 

Kinjo denied Lin a double in the sixth when he collided with the leftcenterfield wall in flagging down the Taiwan native's liner. 

Miura is now 35-15 against Hanshin, though he was 0-3 against them last year. The Bay Stars have won four straight while the Tigers are headed in the opposite direction, four in the loss column consecutively. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-3 and is at .252. Lin was 1-3 with a walk and is at .346. 

Osamu Hamanaka has begun throwing again, albeit lightly, and hit off of a tee Saturday. 

Yakult The Central League rejected a request by manager Atsuya Furuta that the plate umpire who was involved in a game on April 26th be given added training after what Furuta claimed was a bad call on a batted ball by Hanshin shortstop Takashi Toritani. 

Yokohama Kimiyasu Kudoh, who is still in the minors, threw 91 pitches in the bullpen Wednesday, almost all fastballs. 

Infielder Takahiro Saeki had an intestinal bug, so he sat Wednesday's game out. 

Miscellaneous In something I don't think anyone expected before the season began, Boston reliever Hideki Okajima was given the American League Rookie of the Month citation Wednesday. He also threw a hitless inning Wednesday against Oakland in a 6-4 victory. He has been unscored upon in 13 straight appearances. 

Dodgers closer Takashi Saito came on for the ninth Wednesday looking to secure a 2-0 victory against Arizona, but he permitted two hits and a run before finally obtaining the third out for his eighth save. 

The Mariners beat the White Sox Wednesday 3-2, but centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki was 0-3 with a walk and catcher Kenji Johjima, who was denied a hit on a sensational diving stop by third baseman Joe Crede, was 1-3. 

For the pale hose, second baseman Tadahito Oguchi was 1-4. 

St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi was 1-4 Wednesday in a 4-0 loss to Milwaukee. 

Pittsburgh minor league pitcher Masumi Kuwata wore shoes with rubber cletes Wednesday as he threw 40 pitches, the first time he has aired it out since injuring his ankle during spring training. 

Boy, this is not pretty. According to Hochi Sports, 21 schools that have won Koshien Turnament titles are among the 334 (all privately run) that have been using illegal athletic scholarships or other special treatment to lure players to their schools. 7457 players are said to be involved. The chairman of the Japan HIgh School Baseball Federation, Haruo Wakimura, expressed shock at the size of the problem and offered that it may be his own fault for not impressing on schools enough the importance of following the rule banning monetary aid. It is expected that by the time the JHSBF gets through sorting through all the reports, the list could grow to more than 400 miscreant schools and affect around 10,000 players. 

On another agenda item, the JHSBF is talking over new criteria for aluminum bats to try to get them to mimic the response of wood bats better in hope of easing the possibility of injuries to pitchers who get struck by line drives. New York City has banned metal bats from high school play (nice job!). Once the new criteria are decided on, they will get together with bat manufacturers, including ones from the U.S. (or so the report says) and see what they can do. 

High school authorities also sent a letter of gratitude to the Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture fire department for resuscitating a pitcher who had collapsed in the middle of a game due to cardiac arrest, thereby saving the child's life.