The Yomiuri Giants combined to connect for six homer in cakewalking over Hiroshima 9-0 Sunday at Tokyo Dome. Satoshi Fukuda went 7.1 shutout innings on seven hits for his fourth win while Carp starter Shinji Sasaoka was tattooed for six runs on six hits in two innings to drop his fifth consecutive decision. 

Giants centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi commenced the bottom of the first with a double down the rightfield line and, one out later, shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to left. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara, who has a fetish for first inning roundtrippers, got an 88mph fastball that was up and on the outer half of the plate and torched it more than 440 feet to centerfield for a 3-0 lead. First baseman Seung-yeop Lee singled to center. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe got a fastball up and in and destroyed it, rocketing it around 455 feet into the second level in right to raise it to 5-0. 

Hiroshima had two on and nobody out in the third, but a strikeout and a double play stagnated that opportunity. Yomiuri then enlarged thier advantage in the bottom stanza when Nioka conked a shot over the centerfield wall and knocked Sasaoka out of the box for a 6-0 edge. 

The Carp put two on with two out in the fifth, but a groundout cashiered it. 

Takahashi then came up in the home version and pounded a Michito Miyazaki offering into the great wide open in rightcenter to make it 7-0. 

They subsequently capped off their scoring in the sixth, as Lee pasted a Miyazaki delivery into the centerfield stands. Abe was next and got another fastball that was up and in and launched it up into the second level again to pad it to 9-0. 

The Carp would put men on first and third with one out in the eighth, but Shigeki Noguchi took the ball from Fukuda and struck the next man out and induced a flyout before Kentaro Nishimura posted a perfect ninth to wrap it up. 

Fukuda was clocked at 91mph and it was his first win in a start since May 15th. 

This was the first time in two years that Yomiuri had drilled six longballs in a single match. They are 5-0 this season in games in which they have blasted at least four in a contest. They are on pace for 197. 

Abe now has five multihomer games this season. The team record is ten by Sadaharu Oh in 1964. The pro yakyu record is 11 by Hiromitsu Ochiai. 

For Hiroshima, Victor Marte was spotless in the eighth and is at 9.42. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was 2-4 and is at .263. Centerfielder Damon Hollins was 0-3 and is at .269. 

Two run homers by second baseman Kentaro  Sekimoto and shortstop Takashi Toritani in the sixth inning enabled the Hanshin Tigers to pull away from the Yokohama Bay Stars 9-4 to snag a series win. Starter Esteban Yan went five innings of two run, three hit ball for his sixth victory.

Rookie Kentaro Takasaki made the first top level pro start of his career and was smacked for five runs on eight hits in five innings in his first lifetime loss. 

Yokohama loaded the bases in the top of the first with one out on an error, a walk and an HBP, but Yan struck the next two men out to extricate himself from the jam. 

But in the third, Stars leftfielder Takahiro Saeki bigtimed one into the rightfield seats for a 1-0 lead. 

The Tigers roared back in their turn when Sekimoto singled to left with one out and, following another out, Toritani singled to left. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi walked to pack the sacks. Third baseman Andy Sheets, who was 0-10 this season with the bags juiced, whistled a double to left that cleaned up the community for a 3-1 advantage. 

Yokohama, though, tightened it up in the fifth when second baseman Toshihisa Nishi doubled to left and went to third on a sacrifice. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo grounded to first and Nishi busted in to make it 3-2. 

Hanshin responded again when they came to bat, as Takahiro Shoda, pinch hitting for Yan, beat out a ground ball toward short and Toritani tripled into the rightfield corner to cash Shoda in. Akahoshi singled to left and Toritani reported to stretch it to 5-2. 

They would then break it open in the sixth when reliever Yuji Hata walked rightfielder Kodai Sakurai, who went to second on a sacrifice. Sekimoto went gorilla on a fastball and deposited it in the leftfield bleachers for his first homer of the year. Ikuro Katsuragi walked while pinch hitting for the pitcher's spot and Toritani cleaned and jerked a Hata pitch into the rightfield stands to pump it up to 9-2. Akahoshi doubled to left and Hata settled down to no hit the Tigers over the remainder. 

The Stars saved a measure of face in the ninth, as Saeki walked against Kazuya Tsutsui and first baseman Yuki Yoshimura singled to left. Masaaki Koike pinch hit for Hata and singled to center to swell the bags. Backup second baseman Shogo Kimura grounded to first to plate Saeki and move the other runners up as well. Takanori Suzuki grounded to second and converted Yoshimura to trim it to 9-4. Sub catcher Kazunari Tsuruoka also grounded out and that was that. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .236. First baseman Lin Wei-tzu was 0-4 and is at .315.

Rookie Takehiro Donoue's first pro homer counted huge for Chunichi Sunday, as it put the Dragons up 2-1 and they would defend it to carve out a 2-1 rain shortened victory against Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Kenichi Nakata went the distance for the Nagoya crew on a run and three hitsm though he walked five, for his eighth shroboshi. 

Shohei Tateyama started for the Swallows and went four innings of four run, two hit ball and struckout five in accepting his seventh defeat. 

Chunichi shortstop Hirokazu Ibata opened the game with a walk and went to second on a sacrifice. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee singled to left. First baseman Tyrone Woods grounded to second and Ibata romped in for a 1-0 lead. 

But Yakult centerfielder Norichika Aoki outran a ground ball toward short in the bottom of the first and moved to second on a sacrifice. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez doubled to right and Aoki sped in to knot it at one all. One out later, first baseman Adam Riggs walked, but shortstop Shinya Miyamoto struckout to bolt the runners to the bags. 

Tateyama, though, hung a slider on the outer half of the plate to Donoue and he mortared it into the leftcenterfield seats in his 13th lifetime plate appearance for a 2-1 advantage. 

There was a bizarre incident in the third, as Aoki walked on ball three after the scoreboard got the count wrong. I guess the plate umpire doesn't keep track himself with a clicker that they use here. However, none of the managers complained either and it went unnoticed until the press brought it up after it ended. It was the fifth time it has happened in NPB annals, the last time being on September 26, 1985 with Hanshin third baseman Masayuki Kakefu up. Aoki was thrown out attempting to steal second, so the error on the count didn't become anything. 

The Swallows then really pressed Nakata in the fourth when Miyamoto singled to right with two outs and third baseman Ryuji Miyade and catcher Masakazu Fukukawa both walked to pack the sacks. Mitsuru Manaka pinch hit for Tateyama, however, and struckout. They went down in order in the fifth and it was called after the end of the top of the sixth. 

The umpire blamed himself for the mistake on Aoki. 

Donoue thus made it six father-son combinations to have homered in an NPB game. His father Terashi, a former Chunichi pitcher, had four homers during his career. By the way, the only foreign dad-kid combo to do so was the Keoughs, Matt and Marty. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 0-3 and is at .279. Lee was 1-2 with a sacrifice and is at .254. 

For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-3 and is at .348. Rightfielder Aaraon Guiel was 0-2 and is at .254. Riggs was 0-1 with a walk and is at .197.

Yomiuri The nephew of manager Tatsunori Hara, Tokaidai Sagami High pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, hung a slider in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game with Toko Gakuen with the bases loaded and it was spanked for a two run single in a 10-8 loss. Tokaidai is also Hara's alma mater. Sugano went the distance on 160 pitches. 

Miscellaneous Just a thought about the Mariners wearing their 70's era unforms Sunday: when Ichiro  came up, one could almost mistake those togs for his Orix uniform. He nevertheless connected for his 1500th MLB hit the third fastest in history but the quickest in the last 50 years as part of a 2-5, two stolen bases afternoon in a 14-10 victory over Oakland for their third consecutive triumph after suffering seven straight losses. He needs only 221 more for 3,000 for his combined MLB/NPB careers.

Catcher Kenji Johjima was 1-4. 

With the trade deadline approaching, the Newark Star-Ledger is claiming that Seattle may be interested in Yankees lefthander Kei Igawa, who was demoted to the minors Friday. 

I didn't see Saturday's game, but apparently a fan came out of the stand at the Mariners home ballpark during a pitching change and approached Ichiro and wanted a hug. Ichiro complied with it after asking the guy if he was drunk. The individual said he wasn't and Ichiro didn't smell any alcohol on him nor did he notice any weapons, so the hug happened, which got a rise out of the other fans in the stands before the trespasser was taken away by police. Weird. 

Hideki Matsui, whose alma mater, Seiryo High, is headed to Koshien after taking the Ishikawa Prefecture qualifier, was 0-3 Sunday against Baltimore in a 10-6 victory. He had two sacrifice flies and an RBI groundout for a total of three RBIs. 

Tampa Bay hung Boston righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka with a loss Sunday in a 5-2 victory, as the former Seibu ace went 6.1 innings of two run, eight hit ball while striking out six and walking two. Rays third baseman Akinori Iwamura was 2-4. 

Philadelphia second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 2-4 in a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh. He is now hitting .254. 

Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui was 1-1 with an RBI Sunday against L.A. in a 9-6 triumph. 

MLB ballparks drew a new single day record of 717,478 Sunday. Attendance for the year to date is up 4.4% compared to 2006. Yet, the U.S. sports media gives it short shrift compared to football and basketball. What's up with that?

Osaka Toin High School start Sho Nakata went six innings of one run, five hit  ball Sunday while striking out nine to advance to the Osaka Prefecture tournament final with a 12-1 lashing of Hokuyo High, which is a strong program. He was clocked at 90mph. At the plate he was 1-4. A scout from Yomiuri said he thinks that Nakata's heater has more life on it than Masahiro Tanaka's. 

Finally, my condolences to the family of former Yankees outfielder Bill Robinson. Robinson was slated to be the next big superstar when he came up with the Bronx Bombers, but it never panned out adn he was later moved to Pittsburgh, where he played in a world series, and Philadelphia.