Yomiuri starter Hiroshi  Kisanuki was just about dominant over the first six innings before he faltered for a bit in the seventh and was taken out and his teammates in the batting order amassed for four homers in a 5-2 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines at Tokyo Dome Tuesday. Kisanuki ultimately went 6.2 innings of two run, five hit ball and struckout six while walking one to progress to 5-2.

Shingo Ono started for Lotte and went four innings of two run, six hit ball before he was asked to have a shower and deal with his sixth loss. 

Giants rightfielder Yoshinobu  Takahashi socked a 1-2 hanging shuuto into the rightcenterfield seats for a 1-0 lead to begin the bottom of the first, the sixth time he has kicked off an initial inning with a jack this season, one off the team record of seven and two less than the NPB mark. 

Yomiuri pumped that up to 2-0 in the second when centerfielder Damon Hollins singled to right and went to second on a groundout. Second baseman Takuya Kimura singled to center and Hollins rounded third and headed for home. 

Kisanuki had allowed an infield hit in the first and a single in the second before retiring 11 of the next 12 to get through five. 

He was also lent more room for error in the sixth, as catcher Shinnosuke Abe, who was back in the cleanup slot, homered to leftcenter off of reliever Koji Takagi and, the very next hitter, Hollins, crushed another Takagi delivery into the leftfield stands to hike it to 4-0. 

But in the seventh, Kisanuki walked Marines leftfielder Benny Agbayani with one out and, following another out, shortstop Shunichi Nemoto walloped a slider into the rightfield bleachers to slice it to 4-2. Tasuku Hashimoto was sent up to pinch hit for the pitcher's spot and Giants helmsman Tatsunori got on the horn to the pen for Masanori Hayashi. Lotte boss Bobby Valentine pulled Hashimoto and substituted Naotaka Takehara, who struckout, and they would generate only an infield hit the rest of the night. 

Yomiuri leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani conked an offering from Yusuke Kawasaki beyond the leftfield wall in the bottom portion and that was your final, 5-2. It also broke a nine game losing string they have suffered at the hands of Lotte. 

The Giants have won four straight and are 15 games over .500 to become the first club this season to reach 40 victories. 

Regular shortstop Tomohiro Nioka was sat down by Hara because he has hit just .171 during the interleague schedule. Ryota Wakiya started in his place and went 1-3. 

Lee was dropped to sixth and went 1-4. He has accumulated only a .240 average during interleague play. 

When Takahashi puts the first pitch of an at bat into play he hits .367. 

Valentine said afterward that his lineup chased too many balls in the dirt against Kisanuki. 

Rightfielder Saburo Omura, who almost singlehandedly wrecked Yomiuri in their last head to head matchup, went 0-4 with two strikeouts. 

For Yomiuri, Hollins was 2-4 and is at .267. 

For Lotte, Agbayani was 1-3 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .315. Matt Watson, who has been hampered by illness, struckout in a pinch hit appearance and is at .250. 

Orix starter Lance Carter was smacked in the head by a line drive off the bat of Chunichi catcher Motonobu Tanishige Tuesday, but, thankfully, he left the field under his own power and x rays were negative. Dragons starter Kenta Asakura, however, made the Buffaloes lineup very sick indeed, going eight shutout innings on four hits in a 1-0 victory at Toyama. 

Carter's line was 1.1 innings, no runs, four hits, on 26 pitches and a no decision. 

Chunichi shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to left in the second and, one out later, third baseman Michihisa Sawai singled to left as well. The Tanishige shot loaded the bases on the infield hit and Yasunari Takagi was summoned from the pen to face Asakura, who struckout, and Takagi retired leftfielder Kazuki Inoue on a fly ball to right to foil the rally. 

In the fourth, though, Takagi walked Ibata and, one out later, Sawai walked. Tanishige singled to center and Ibata skated home for a 1-0 lead. Asakura grounded into a double play to kill the inning off. 

Asakura was perfect for the first four innings, but in the fifth, rightfielder Tuffy Rhodes doubled to left and first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to right. Centerfielder Shinji Shimoyama grounded to Ibata, who opted to go to home with it to nail Rhodes. Shortstop Mitsutaka Goto singled to right to pack the sacks. But catcher Takeshi Hidaka struckout and pinch hitter Chad Allen grounded out and they would obtain only one more hit before Asakura said goodnight. 

Chunichi had two on and two out in the fifth against Mamoru Kishida. However, Kishida and two other relievers combined to banish the next ten in a row. 

Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase took over for Asakura in the ninth and third baseman Greg LaRocca reached on a one out infield knock. He was pinch run for by Keiji Obiki. Rhodes singled to right. But Kitagawa struckout and Shimoyama flied out to ice it. 

Carter was diagnosed with a bruised jaw. At this point, it is unknown if they will take him off the roster to let it heal. He told reporters that the ball was hard to pick up off the bat due to lights behind the home plate seats. 

This was the fourth time that the herd has been shutout this season. 

Highly touted rookie infielder Naomichi Donoue made his top level debut at first base for the Dragons and went 0-3, but even though he was unfamiliar with the position, having played mostly third and short in high school, he handled everythig with no problem. 

For Orix, LaRocca was 1-4 and is at .309. Rhodes was 2-4 and is at .284. Allen was 0-1 and is at .268. 

Hanshin starter Tsuyoshi   Shimoyanagi spun six shutout innings on four hits and the bullpen restrained Rakuten on a sole safety in the other three frames to eek out a 1-0 victory at Koshien Stadium. Nobody for the Eagles was given a chance to toe third and they are now five under .500. 

Satoshi Nagai started for Rakuten and went five innings of one run, three hit ball, but both of his walks would play a role in his downfall in the fourth and he is now 3-3. 

Two two sides had only three hits between them over the first three innings. But in the fourth, Nagai issued free passes to centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi, who stole second, and, one out later, to leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto. Third baseman Makoto Imaoka, hitting a mere .179 with runners in scoring position, checked in and slapped a single to right that cashed Akahoshi in for a 1-0 lead. That was Imaoka's first RBI hit with a runner on base since May 27th and Hanshin's first tally in 15 innings.  

They subsequently got a man to third in the fifth before that was torpedoed on a groundout. That would be the furthest they would get for the duration. 

Once Shimoyanagi had enough of the Eagles, Tomoyuki Kubota was waved in from the bullpen for the seventh and got a couple of quick outs, but then he walked both leftfielder Rick Short and pinch hitter Kenshin Kawaguchi. Jeff Williams spelled Kubota and pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano grounded out for the third out. 

Williams was flawless in the eighth and it was Kyuji  Fujikawa time in the ninth. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe singled to right before Fujikawa, who was clocked at 94mph, tempted the next three men into a couple of popups and a strikeout to make it a memory. 

Rakuten manager Katsuya Nomura used all of his position players, but to no avail. 

Kanemoto has now played in 1250 consecutive games, tying Hideki Matsui for second on the all time list. 

Akahoshi's 11 steal of the year makes it 296 for his career, so he is closing in on a milestone.

For Rakuten, Short was 0-2 with a walk and is at .327. Third baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-3 with two strikeouts and is at .216. One wonders how much longer Nomura will keep sending the former Angels farmhand out there. 

For Hanshin, first baseman Lin Wei-tzu was 0-4 and is at .315. 

Nippon Ham DH Fernando  Seguignol thundered three homers to break a pro yakyu record and drove in five runs to guide the Fighters to a 10-6 victory over Hiroshima at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. In the course of collecting the trio of roundtrippers, Seguignol made it seven times he has gone yard from both sides of the plate in his Japanese career, eclipsing the old mark of six by the great former Hankyu third baseman Hiromi Matsunaga. 

Tatsuo Kinoshita started for Nippon Ham and just did not do his job, surrendering three runs on four hits in three innings, so he had a seat while Masaru Takeda worked five shutout innings on two hits and struckout six to notch the win. 

Masayuki Hasegawa started for Hiroshima and coughed up three hits and a run before manager Marty Brown resorted to knuckleballer Jared Fernandez, who was in for four innings and was bullied for four runs on four hits, three of them homers, to accept blame for the negative outcome. 

Fighters rightfielder Atsunori Inaba singled to right with two gone in the first and Seguignol doubled to right, enabling Inaba to put it in fourth for the plate and a 1-0 lead. 

But in the bottom stanza, fish rightfielder Go Kida singled to right with two away and third baseman Takahiro Arai, playing in his 1000th career game, cleaned and jerked a Kinoshita pitch into the leftfield seats to go up 2-1. 

However, in the third, Nippon Ham centerfielder Hichori Morimoto beat out a ground ball toward short against Fernandez and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, Seguignol, batting from the righthand side because of the knuckleball from a righthanded moundsman, tied into a dancer and rocketed it into the leftfield bleachers to pull his side in front 3-2. 

Kinoshita, though, walked shortstop Takaaki Matsumoto and Kida with one out and Arai doubled to left to register Matsumoto at the pay station, but Kida was gunned down at home attempting to score from first and it was 3-3. A flyout put the inning to rest and they would get only two more hits over the remainder of the contest. 

Nippon Ham would once again seize the upper hand in the sixth, as Seguignol pounded another Fernandez selection into the rightfield stands. One out later, catcher Shinji Takahashi homered to left  and they were up 5-3. 

Morimoto then doubled to left with one out in the seventh off of Ryuji Yokoyama and second baseman Kensuke Tanaka walked. Inaba mortared one into the rightfield seats for a three run homer. Seguignol, batting lefthanded this time, absolutely nuked whatever it was Yokoyama ran up there an estimated 469 feet to rightcenter to grow thw Fighters hegmony to 9-3. 

The Sapporo nine tacked on another in the eighth when backup leftfielder Takahito Kudoh tripled to right for his first lifetime big league knock and took it home on a single to center from shortstop Makoto Kaneko to up it to 10-3. 

Closer Michael Nakamura went out for the ninth and walked first baseman Kenta Kurihara with one away and plunked catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara. One out later, Shigenobu Shima pinch hit for the pitcher's spot and toasted a Nakamura offering over the centerfield seats to draw within 10-6.  Centerfielder Naoki Nakato lined out to short and this baby was history. 

Hiroshima has lost five in a row and are a dozen under .500. 

During pre-game batting practice, manager Trey Hillman took the mound and threw his own brand of knickleballs to prepare his hitters for what they would face. No word on how good Hillman's is. But then again, if it was THAT good he would probably activate himself. 

For Nippon Ham, Seguignol was 4-5 and is at .261. He became the first man to homer from both sides of the plate in three consecutive plate appearances. 

For Hiroshima, Fernandez was 0-1 and is at .000. 

Erratic Yokohama lefthander Yuji Yoshimi went all the way on eight hits for a complete game shutout of the Softbank Hawks at Yokohama Stadium, the third of his career and his first in three years, in a 5-0  victory. Nagisa Arakaki started for the birds of prey and was clocked at 95mph in his short outing of four innings of four run, eight hit ball that caused him to be hung with his fifth defeat. 

The Bay Stars had two on and one out in the bottom of the first, but that was liquidated on a pair of strikeouts. 

In the second, Softbank would be repelled, as catcher Hidenori Tanoue doubled to leftcenter and, one out later, rightfielder Shotaro Ide singled to center. Tanoue lit out for home, but centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo's peg was just in time to shoot him down for the third out. 

No doubt buoyed by that, Yokohama went up top in the bottom portion when first baseman Yuki Yoshimura singled to left and was out on a 4-6 force play off the bat of leftfielder Takanori Suzuki. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to right and Suzuki turned and burned for third. Yoshimi singled to left and Suzuki padded in for a 1-0 lead. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, though, grounded into a double play to keep the margin slim. 

The Hawks initiated a response in the top of the third, as Arakaki doubled to rightcenter and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki laid down what was supposed to be a sac bunt. But it was better than that and he was safe for an infield hit. Kawasaki stole second. One out later, leftfielder Hitoshi Tamura walked to load the bases. But third baseman Hiroki Kokubo rolled over on a changeup and grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing to undermine the rally. They would have only two more hits through seven.

The Stars then went for the gusto. Rightfielder Takahiro Saeki singled to right with one out and third baseman Shuichi Murata singled to center. Kinjo parked an 0-1 slider in the rightfield bleachers and they were stylin' at 4-0. 

They raised that to 5-0 in the fifth when Saeki walked against Junji Hoshino and Murata singled to right. They advanced on a sacrifice. Yoshimura wlaked to fill the bags. Takayuki Shinohara mosied in from the bullpen and Suzuki grounded to second to chase Saeki in. Despite his hit in his previous at bat, Softbank skipper Sadaharu Oh decided to walk Aikawa to get to Yoshimi, who popped out. 

Kawasaki singled to center in the eighth and second baseman Yuichi Honda legged out a chopper. Tamura flied out to right and Kawasaki tagged up and moved to third. Kokubo grounded to Yoshimura and Kawasaki hesitated before trying to score and found himself in a rundown, where he was tagged out. Centerfielder Naoyuki Omura grounded back to Yoshimi, who then wove a 1-2-3 ninth to cap it off. 

Softbank now cannot finish the interleague schedule better than .500 against CL teams. 

It was Yoshimi's first ever whitewash at home. He has also gone 5-11 at the plate this season. 

This was a reasonable close game at 4-2 entering the ninth, but Seibu third baseman Akira Etoh assured his squad of a victory when he ratcheted his 13th career grand slam to left off of Masanori Ishikawa for a 9-2 triumph over Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Lions starter Hideaki Wakui was thus able to scoop up his NPB best tying ninth win and his first in June after two losses after seven innings of one earned run ball on seven hits. 

Shugo Fujii started for the Swallows and was tagged for three runs on six hits in five innings to fall to 3-8. 

Seibu loaded the bases in the first with two outs, but didn't make it into anything due to a groundout. 

In the second, however, Etoh walked and catcher Toru Hosokawa lambasted a Fujii pitch into the leftfield seats for a 2-0 lead. 

But Swallows rightfielder Aaron Guiel doubled to left in the home edition and went to third on a bad pickoff throw. First baseman Ryuji Miyade grounded to short and Guiel crossed to shave it to 2-1. One out later, third baseman Yasushi Iihara doubled to right and catcher Masakazu Fukukawa walked. Fujii singled to right to swell the bags. Unfortunately, centerfielder Norichika Aoki struckout to deep six the uprising. 

The two run edge would rematerialize for the Lions in the fourth, though, as rightfielder Takahiko Sato bludgeoned one into the leftfield stands to make it 3-1. 

Yakutl then put two on with one out in the home version, but that went asunder on a lineout double play. 

Seibu put two on with one out in the fifth and that was rubbed out on a double play. 

They were also refused entry in the sixth when Etoh doubled to left with two outs and Hosokawa was intentionally walked to get to Wakui, who slashed a shot off the glove of Iihara for a knock. Etoh, not exactly your sprinter type, decided to try to score, but the ball was recoveredand thrown home in time to get Etoh. 

The Swallows were then turned back yet again in the seventh, as Iihara singled to center with one out and pinch hitter Ken Suzuki walked. But pinch hitter Kosei Ono and Aoki both whiffed to let Wakui off the hook.

Lions third baseman Alex Cabrera singled to center in the eighth and leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada singled to right. Sato singled to left and Cabrera raced home to put it at 4-2. Etoh grounded into a double play. Hosokawa was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher's spot once more and pinch hitter Takumi Kuriyama grounded out. 

Yakult second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka singled to center and, two outs later, Miyade reached on an infield hit. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to left and Tanaka travelled to the promised land to shrink the gap to 4-2. 

Ishikawa, normally a starter, was inserted for the ninth for the Swallows and centerfielder Tomoaki Sato doubled to left. One out later, shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to center and that gave everyone in the Seibu starting lineup at least one hit. Backup third baseman Takeya Nakamura singled to center and Sato was in. Wada got aboard on an infield hit that loaded the bases. Following another out, Etoh, who had been shifted over to first defensively, poleaxed one over the leftfield wall to tie for third on the all time slams list and tear it open to 9-2. 

The Swallows got a couple of men on with two outs in the bottom of the inning against closer Chikara Onodera, but leftfielder Alex Ramirez struckout and that was all she wrote. 

Etoh needs five more RBIs for 1000.

For Yakult, Ramirez was 0-5 with two strikeouts and is at .332. Guiel was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .235. Brian Sikorsky made his debut in a Swallows uniform and tossed a perfect seventh. 

For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-4 and is at .323. 

Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, who has been out with a hamstring pull, will reportedly come back to the top team on the 23rd. 

Hanshin First baseman Andy Sheets made his first start down in the Western League Tuesday since being demoted due to a slumping bat and went 0-3. He said later that because he hadn't played in a few days his timing was messed up. 

Yakult This may strike some as a little ironic given that he has lost his last five decisions and hasn't won in six weeks, but lefthander Shugo Fujii has sent some advice through the media to Waseda University righthander Yuki Saito about playing beginning July 4th as part of a Japanese college all star team that will travel to Durham next month to face off against a U.S. collegiate all star aggregation. Fujii inculcated that Saito should 1) bomb the inside half of the plate; 2) Assiduously seek out weak spots in the approaches of opposition hitters; 3) absorb the best qualities of his teammates. 

Yokohama The Pacific League rejected a protest by Yokohama over a missed obstruction call made by the second base umpire in a game against Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome on the 14th. The league insists that the umpire applied the rules properly, which is bullshit. But probably not wanting to have to replay an interleague game, which would play havoc with the schedule, the PL basically punted here. 

Yomiuri Jeremy Powell celebrated his birthday Monday by agaonizing over a stomach problem due to something he ate not agreeing with him. He felt fine Tuesday, however. 

Miscellaneous St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi now has an 11 game hitting streak after going 3-5 against Kansas City in a 5-3 defeat. He is batting .472 during June thus far. 

Masumi Kuwata came on with two outs in the eighth with two on against Seattle Tuesday and got pinch hitter Ben Broussard to ground out with Ichiro Suzuki in the on deck circle. Kuwata said after ward that he felt some pressure to get Broussard with Ichiro up next to help oreserve a 5-3 victory. 

Suzuki ended up 2-4 with a walk and an RBI to raise his average to .358. Catcher Kenji Johjima was 0-3 with an HBP and dropped to .308. The M's have now lost their last half dozen and the ropes and torches are beginning to come out again in Puget Sound for manager Mike Hargrove. They have already been using pitcher Jeff Weaaver to loosen up their brickbat throwing arms and rightly so. Weaver signed an $8 million one year deal and has been little more than a batting practice pitcher. 

Afterward, Ichiro remarked that Kuwata "looked totally relaxed out there. He was throwing effortlessly. I like guys who can supress their emotions and perform." Ichiro also admitted that he had mixed feelings about Kuwata entering the game: "in that situation, we have to hit him, but a little part of me also wanted him to get the hitter out."

The two exchanged greetings before the game, Ichiro using Pirates pitching coach Jim Colborn as an intermediary (again, the Japanese preference for indirectness) before bowing deeply to Kuwata, who is Ichiro's NPB senpai (senior). 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura homered to the opposite field against Arizona as part of a 3-5, two RBI night in a 10-8 loss. He also had a sacrifice fly. The former Swallows is batting .317. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui was 1-4 with an RBI Tuesday against Colorado in a 3-1 loss. Rockies second baseman Kazuo Matsui was 1-4 with a stolen base and is now 12-13 in theft attempts. 

Boston reliever Hideki Okajima entered from the bullpen with nobody out and a man on in the eighth against Atlanta and walked a hitter, but then induced a double play and a groundout to emerge unscathed. Okajima was signed as basically an afterthought and now is in a position to where he should be named to the American League all star team. Talk about an unexpected development!

Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 1-4 in a 7-5 loss to Florida. 

Formter Toronto righthander Tomokazu Ohka has signed a minor league contract with St. Louis. 

The Japanese players association presented oral arguments to an intellectual property rights court in Tokyo Tuesday asserting that it is their members who should say how their images and likenesses are exploited for sommercial use rather than the current regime that has the teams owning those rights. 

The tv ratings for the Waseda University-Tokai University Japanese collegiate championship final was 7.0% on NHK's educatinal television station Sunday in the Kanto region (Tokyo-Yokohama-Chiba, etc). Their rating for a normal program in that time period was 0.5%, so that is a huge improvement. In addition, there was a momentary high of 9.5%.