Yomiuri came up with a four spot in the sixth Saturday against Hiroshima to grab a one run lead, but Hiroshima tacked on five in their turn in the inning and held on for an 8-6 victory at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. Carp starter Hiroki Kuroda went six innings and was awarded his eighth victory in spite of surrendering four runs on six hits, half of them homers, while striking out six and walking two. 

Geremi Gonzalez started for the kyojin and was trashed for five runs, four earned, on seven hits in 5.1 innings to even his record at 1-1. 

Hiroshima second baseman Akihiro Higashide singled to center with one out in the bottom of the first and first baseman Kenta Kurihara doubled down the leftfield line to clear enough room for Higashide to sail home with a 1-0 lead. Third baseman Takahiro Arai went gapping to rightcenter for an RBI double to make it 2-0, but he was stranded on a strikeout and a popup. 

Kuroda struckout the side in the second and was lent more room to work with in the third, as Higashide singled to left and Kurihara singled to right. The runners moved up on a passed ball and Arai grounded to short to score Higashide and put it at 3-0. 

Yomiuri put two on with nobody out in the fourth, but a double play ball and a popup killed that off. 

Kuroda retired the side in the fifth, but in the sixth, Giants rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi sliced a shot into the leftfield seats. One out later, third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara crushed a slider deep into the rightcenterfield bleachers, the 8500th homer in team history, a pro yakyu record. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe walked. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka belted a shuuto over the leftfield wall for his first roundtripper in 18 games and put Yomiuri up 4-3. A strikeout and a groundout got Kuroda out of the inning and he wouldn't re-emrge from the dugout again. 

However, the fish retaliated in the bottom portion with a single to left by leftfielder Shigenobu Shima and, one out later, a walk to rightfielder Go Kida. Gonzalez was yanked in favor of Yushi Aida, who was touched for a pinch hit single to left that loaded the bases by Shigeru Morikasa. Masanori Hayashi was summoned from the bullpen and walked pinch hitter Tomonori Maeda to force Shima in with the tying run. Yoshiyuki Ishihara pinch ran for Maeda. Shortstop Eishin Soyogi doubled into the leftfield corner and Kida and Morikasa reported. One out later, Kentaro Nishimura spelled Hayashi and Kurihara singled to center to plate Ishihara and Soyogi and snatch an 8-4 advantage. 

Masaki Hayashi succeeded Kuroda for the seventh and centerfielder Takahiro Suzuki reached on an infield hit and, one out later, flew to third on a single to center from Takahashi. Leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani flew out to center and Suzuki tagged up and crossed to shave it to 8-5. Koji Hiroike ascended the hill for Hiroshima and Ogasawara walked. But Abe fanned to leave the runners loitering. 

Tomohiro Umetsu was next on the mound for the Carp in the eighth and Nioka hit a slow ground ball toward third and beat it out before stealing second and continuing to third on a groundout. Pinch hitter Yoshiyuki Kamei flew out to center and Nioka tagged up and busted in to draw within 8-6. 

Closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa then took his place at the center of the diamond for the ninth to try to bring the curtain down. With one out, Nagakawa plunked Takahashi and walked Tani to put the tying run on. Ogasawara singled to left and that filled the bags. But Abe, the man that manager Tatsunori Hara wanted up with the way he has been swinging lately, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and it was game setto. 

This game marked the second time this season that the Giants had gone big fly thrice in a single frame. They are currently on pace for 201 dingers. 

Nioka's bag theft was his first since May 31st, 2005. 

For Hiroshima, centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 1-4 and is at .375. 

For Yomiuri, first baseman Seung-yeop Lee was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .251. Gonzalez was 1-2 and is at .500. 

A solo shot by leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto and a two run bomb from rightfielder Lin Wei-tzu in the top of the eighth inning enabled the Hanshin Tigers to pull away for an 8-2 victory at Yokohama Stadium and terminate the Bay Stars six game win skein. Tigers starter Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi went 5.2 innings of one run, seven hit ball for his 99th career win. 

Daisuke Miura started for Yokohama and, except for a bad second, when he was ripped off for three runs, he was pretty decent and his end line was six innings, three runs, only one earned, on five hits while striking out five without walking anyone in absorbing his seventh defeat. 

The Stars abandoned a man on second in the first and paid for it in the second, as Kanemoto grounded to second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, who booted it, and third baseman Makoto Imaoka singled to left. Lin singled to right and that loaded the bases. Catcher Akihiro Yano doubled off the centerfield wall and Kanemoto and Imaoka scurried home. One out later, Shimoyanagi grounded to second and Lin eased in for a 3-0 lead. 

However, Yokohama then pressed Shimoyanagi in the third when leftfielder Yosuke Shimokubo singled to left with two outs and centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo did likewise. Third baseman Shuichi Murata walked to pack the sacks. But leftfielder Masaaki Koike popped up to second to foil the rally. 

Miura found a nice groove, scattering two hits from the third through the end of his stint. In the bottom of the sixth, Yokohama also got itself a run, as first baseman Yuki Yoshimura smoked a Shimoyanagi offering into the leftfield seats to make it 3-1. Shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to center. He took off for second and Yano's peg was in ahead of Ishii, but shortstop Takashi Toritani dropped it. Catcher Ryota Aikawa singled to right. Katsuaki Furuki pinch hit for Miura, though, and struckout for the third out. 

Heeding that warning shot, Hanshin bought some insurance in the seventh when Lin doubled to leftcenter with one out and Yano walked. One out later, Kodai Sakurai, pinch hitting for reliever Tomoyuki Kubota, singled to center and Lin galloped home to widen it to 4-1. 

And they would pretty much put it in the bag in the eighth. Toritani, batting in the one hole for the first tine in 21 games, doubled to right off of Kazuya Takamiya and went to third on a sacrifice. First baseman Andy Sheets flied out to center and Toritani tagged up and crossed for Sheets' first RBI in seven games. Kanemoto walloped an 89mph fastball down and in into the rightfield seats. Imaoka singled to left. Lin pasted the first pitch he saw into the great wide open in right and the Tigers were enjoying an 8-1 edge. 

So with the big lead, rookie Ryo Watanabe was tapped for the ninth inning task for Hanshin and Ishii singled to center. Takanori Suzuki, pinch hitting for Aikawa, walked. Two outs later, Watanabe nailed Shimokubo with a delivery and the basepaths were jammed. Kinjo hit a chopper that Toritani made a sliding attempt to grab and throw on, but he dropped it for an infield hit and Suzuki was in. Murata, though, struckout and that was your final, 8-2. 

The Stars are 13-6-1 in June, but it is questionable as to whether they can maintain that winning posture. 

When Kanemoto and Lin homer in the same contest, the Tigers are 4-1. Kanemoto normally tears it up at Yokohama Stadium, stinging the home nine for a .387, six homers and 16 RBIs in 2006. 

For Yokohama, Joselo Diaz walked a couple of men in the ninth but escaped incurring any damage by inducing a double play and his ERA is now 4.36. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-4 with a sac fly and is at .235. Lin was 3-4 and is at .312. 

Yakult starter Seth Greisinger went seven innings of two run, five hit ball while triking out eight and walking none to register his sixth straight winning decision in a 7-3 verdict over Chunichi at Komachi Stadium in Akita, Akita Prefecture. So the Swallows helped their crosstown rival Giants by ensuring that the Dragons couldn't take advantage of the Yomiuri defeat. 

Kenshin Kawakami started for Chunichi and was detonated for five runs on nine hits in five innings and he has now dropped his last three decisions to regress to 6-4. 

Greisinger gave up a leadoff first inning single to centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee and then retired the next 14 in a row to easily get through five. 

Yakult's centerfielder, Norichika Aoki, though, singled to center to begin the last of the first and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, rightfielder Aaron Guiel walked. First baseman Ryuji Miyade doubled to right and Aoki and Guiel made tracks home for a 2-0 lead. Shortstop Shinji Miyamoto singled to center and Miyade dashed in to elevate it to 3-0. 

In the second, Swallows catcher Masakazu Fukukawa doubled to left and advanced to third on a sacrifice. Aoki doubled to right to turn Fukukawa in to improve it to 4-0. A groundout and a flyout stood Aoki up. 

Fukukawa returned to the batter's box in the fourth and toasted a shot over the leftcenterfield wall to finagle a 5-0 lead. 

Greisinger then weakened in the sixth when leftfielder Kazuki Inoue singled to right and, two outs later, Lee tripled to right to spring Inoue in. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to left to exploit Lee and narrow the gap to 5-2. 

Yakult, however, got both those tallies back in the bottom half against Denny Tomori, as Fukukawa parked another one in the leftfield bleachers to make it the first time ever he has homered in consecutive at bats in a top level match. One out later, Aoki's ground ball was misplayed by third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, who was in his first game back from injury, and the situation would become Aoki on third and two outs before leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to left to make it 7-2. That was their last knock of the battle. 

Masao Kida was assigned the eighth for the Swallows and Lee, who finished a homer short of the cycle, doubled to center with two away and Ibata singled to right. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome walked to juice the bags. Masataka Endo bumped Kida off the hill and first baseman Tyrone Woods grounded to short to defuse the revolt. 

Closer Shingo Takatsu exited the Yakult pen and second baseman Masahiko Morino doubled to center and continued home on a single to center by Nakamura. Inoue singled to left. But there was on out on the basepaths and two groundouts and the Dragons were banished. 

Nakamura needs only two more RBIs for 1000 lifetime. 

For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-5 and is at .333. Guiel was 0-3 with a walk and is at .249. Greisinger was 0-2 with a sacrifice and is at .100. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 0-4 and is at .285. Lee was 3-4 and is at .265. Santaigo Ramirez and Franklyn Gracesqui also got into the game and each twirled a scoreless inning to go to 3.32 and 2.35 in terms of ERA respectively. 

Yokohama Scouts from the Phillies were at Saturday's game against Hanshin, but just who they were focusing on isn't known. One suspects that they may have been hoping for a peek at Kyuji Fujikawa or Mark Kroon. Saturday's Bay Stars starter, Daisuke Miura, had some reported MLB interest a couple of years ago, some even thinking that he would end up in San Diego, but Miura chose to stay in Yokohama. Sankei Sports believes that Miura was the one being looked at, but it is hard to believe given how inconsistent he has been in recent seasons. 

Yomiuri To celebrate their 5,000th win in their history, the Giants are putting out a DVD packed with statistics that is set up so that you can search through it on your computer and it is accompanied by a 96 page booklet. I have no idea if it will work on American pc's given the stupid ass regional coding they put on DVDs. In any event, it is 3990 yen and will be on sale on the 4th. 

Miscellaneous Well, Masumi Kuwata can die a happy man now. Saturday, he was credited with his first major league win after tossing 1.2 hitless innings in a 7-2 victory over the Nats. 

Kei Igawa started for the Yankees Saturday against Oakland was the loser in a 7-0 defeat. He was in for 6.1 innings, his longest MLB stint to date, and was tagged for four runs on fifve hits, three of them homers, but will start against Minnesota on the fifth. 

Leftfielder Hideki Matsui was 0-3 with a walk. 

Seattle centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki racked up three more hits in his five times up and is only three points from taking over the American League batting lead. He also set a new team record for highest average by a Mariner in June with .427 and his current .368 overall mark is the highest he has ever had in MLB at the end of this month. Plus the M's stayed hot with am 8-3 victory over Toronto and Roy Halladay. 

Catcher Kenji Johjima was 0-3 with a walk. 

Boston hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka said Saturday that he won't be drinking alcohol at home through the end of the season while also doing more running as he hopes to have a huge second half to get his side to the World Series. 

Dodgers closer Takashi Saito threw a perfect tenth in a 3-1 victory over San Diego Saturday. 

Tomokazu Ohka continues to get obliterated in the minors for St. Louis, as he was rocked for seven runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings. 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura was 0-5 against Cleveland in an 8-6 loss. 

Texas reliever Akinori Otsuka spun a flawless eighth Saturday against Boston to help preserve a 5-4 victory. 

Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi singled to right with the bases loaded in the tenth to send his squad to a 3-1 triumph over Kansas City Saturday. He also walked in five plate appearances. 

Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui was 3-5 Saturday against Houston in a 5-0 victory. He is currently hitting .303. 

NPB's deadline for trades and new roster additions expired. 

Yuki Saito and the Japanese collegiate all star team has arrived in Durham to get ready to faceoff against a U.S. all star aggregation. Saito's and a couple of the other players' luggage was lost on the flight by American Airlines, but he received the missing piece Saturday morning. American would not comment on misplacing the team's bags, but they created a major embarrassment for themselves and the U.S. airline industry. Thanks guys. 

The team then went to work out at a local ballpark that was afflicted with a nest of killer bees. Of course, the bee issue put the Japanese press in a tizzy since they really didn't have much of anything else to write about, so the bees got most of the ink in one Hochi Sports and Sports Nippon article. 

Saito did appear in a simulated game and was late covering first base on one play, so he was forced to engage in some extra pitcher's fielding practice. 

By the way, about 50 press showed up at the airport to welcome Saito and the Japanese contingent, who were then treated to a police escort to their hotel. There will be over 100 credentialed press at this event due to Saito's presence. Even two Japanese women's magazines are sending reporters. At least two American women asked to have their picture taken with Saito. Readers of this website? Or Mike Plugh's?

Arita High School was forced to withdrew from their prefectural tournament by the Wakayama High School Baseball Federation due to reported intrateam bullying on the part of four senior players on their juniors.