Yoshihiro Doi continues to make a career out of beating the Yomiuri Giants, going six innings in his first start in 15 days for Yokohama Tuesday and allowing two runs, one earned, on seven hits while receiving the support of centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, who cracked a seventh inning bases clearing triple, for an 8-3 final at Nagasaki's Big N Stadium. Kyojin starter Tetsuya Utsumi was hit around for three runs and nine hits in five innings for his fourth loss. He has now gone winless over the last month. 

Bay Stars rightfielder Yosuke Shimokubo doubled down the rightfield line with one out in the first and, one out later, third baseman Shuichi Murata singled to left to knock him in for a 1-0 lead. 

Yomiuri then ran themselves out of an inning in their hafl, as centerfielder Kenji Yano doubled into the rightfield corner and leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani singled to left. Third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara tapped a slow ground ball that Yano, for whatever reason, decided to try to score on and was tagged out on the throw home. That set up the next turn of events here, a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of catcher Shinnosuke Abe, and the uprising was kaput. 

Yokohama leftfielder Takahiro Saeki then singled to left in the second and shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to right, Saeki motoring to third on the play. Catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to right and Saeki was in to make it 2-0. A strikeout and a double play prevented further home invasions. 

But in the fourth, the Stars enhanced their advantage when Ishii beat out a ground ball and Aikawa doubled up the leftcenter alley to clear enough time for Ishii to sprint home and raise it to 3-0. 

The Giants replied in their turn with a single to right by Ogasawara, who advanced to second on a one out groundout. First baseman Seung-yeop Lee outran a ground ball toward third. Rightfielder Damon Hollins singled to right to plate Ogasawara, but it stopped there when second baseman Takuya Kimura grounded out to Doi. 

Yomiuri would subsequently luck into a run in the fifth, as Tani singled to left with two outs and Ogasawara's drive to center was flubbed by Kinjo for a two base error that permitted Tani to galloped home and trim it to 3-2. 

Yomiuri rookie Takuya Fukada, who had worked the sixth, came back on for the seventh and Aikawa singled to center. Ishiakwa pinch hit for Doi and attempted to sacrifice, but he bunted it back to Fukada, who fired to second for the force. Kentaro Nishimura replaced Fukada on the hill and second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to right. Shimokubo was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Kinjo compensated for his earlier miscue by gapping one to leftcenter and cleaning up the community to put it at 6-1. Nishimura then unleased a wild pitch and Kinjo scurried across to improve that to 7-2. 

They tacked on another in the eighth against Yukinaga Maeda when Saeki singled to center and Ishii reached on another infield hit. The runners were moved up on a sacrifice and Hitoshi Taneda, pinch hitting for reliever Takeo Kawamura, singled to right to chase Saeki in and it was 8-2. A double play ball shut the inning down. 

Takumi Nasuno was summoned from the bullpen for Yokohama in the bottom stanza and Ogasawara pancaked one against the rightfield wall for a double and went to third on a one out groundout. Lee singled to right and that made it 8-3, but Nasuno and Takeharu Kato combined to retire the next four Giants batsmen and that was the ballgame. 

Giants pitching has surrendered 38 runs on 57 hits in their last five games for a 6.70 ERA. This game started 26 minutes late due to rain, but that is no excuse for Utsumi and his colleagues' performance, especially when Utsumi had just been told he was named to the all star team. 

For Yomiuri, Lee was 2-4 and is at .260. Hollins was 1-3 with a walk and is at .250. 

Chunichi starter Kenta Asakura extended his string of wins in games held outside the usual 12 homegrounds of NPB teams to seven by spinning six innings of two run (one earned) ball on six hits Tuesday at Fukui Prefectual Stadium in a 6-2 victory over Hiroshima. Asakura was perfect for the first three before he ran into some problems in the middle innings, but the fish couldn't make him pay. 

Kan Takahashi started for the Carp and went five innings of four run, six hit ball to fall to 1-3. 

Takahashi was also flawless over the intial third of the contest, so it was scoreless until the fourth, when shortstop Hirokazu Ibaya whistled a double to right with one away and rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome, who had been 0-7 against Takahashi coming in, blistered a slider into the rightfield seats for a 2-0 lead. 

And they worked hard for another deuce in the fifth, as leftfielder Kazuki Inoue, who had been zip for his last five games at the dish, creamed a slider into the rightfield bleachers. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige doubled to left and, one out later, Ibata singled to center to usher Tanishige home and make it 4-0. That was their last hit until the eighth. 

Asakura dealt with a two on and one out jam in the fourth by inducing a double play and Hiroshima liquidated a two on and one out chance for Asakura by having a runner doubled up on a flyout to right. In the sixth, though, shortstop Eishin Soyogi walked and was forced out at second on a groundball off the bat of second baseman Akihiro Higashide. First baseman Kenta Kurihara singled to right. Third baseman Takahiro Arai singled to left and Higashide toured his way to the promised land to slice it to 4-1. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda, however, lengthened his hitless skid to 24 straight plate appearances with a groundout. 

Carp centerfielder Alex Ochoa doubled to left in the sixth and, one out later, catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara beat out a ground ball. Shigenobu Shima pinch hit for reliever Ryuji Yokoyama and flew out to center. Ochoa tagged up and busted home to close within 4-2. 

But in the eighth, Ibata singled to right against Kan Otake and Fukudome doubled to left. First baseman Tyrone Woods was intentionally walked to pack the sacks. Second baseman Masahiko Morino flied out to left and Ibata tagged up and crossed and there was a bad peg by Soyogi in this sequence, allowing Fukudome to score to up it to 6-2. 

Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase was touched for a single to center by Ochoa and a one out single to left by Ishihara, but Jun Hirose, pinch hitting for Otake, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to put it in the books. 

With Nagakawa bound for the farm (see Notebook), Otake is the provisional closer now and was clocked at 94mph, but didn't really do the job here. 

Maeda, whose streak of frustration ened the game at 0-25, needs 25 more hits for 2,000. He has been hindered by a nagging leg problem and hasn't had a knock since June 13th. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-3 with a walk and is at .288. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee was 0-4 and is at .259. 

For Hiroshima, Ochoa was 2-4 with two strikeouts and is at .375. 

A liner by Hanshin backup second baseman Atsushi Fujimoto off the glove of reliever Masataka Endo enabled leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto to slip across with the winning run for a 2-1 victory over Yakult Tuesday at Kurashiki Muskat Stadium in Okayama. Esteban  Yan started for the Tigers and went seven innings of one run, six hit ball in a no decision. Consequently, credit for the triumph was awarded to bullpen man Kentaro Hashimoto, his third, after he fashioned a scoreless top of the 11th. 

Kazuhisa Ishii, who owns Hanshin, started for the Swallows and went seven innings of one run, three hit ball and wasn't involved in the final outcome. 

Yakult had two on and two out in the first and that was snuffed on a groundout. 

In the second, Swallows shortstop Shinya Miyamoto singled to center and catcher Masakazu Fukukawa walked. The runners advanced on a groundout to the right side. Ishii slapped a tricky bouncer toward third that third baseman Makoto Imaoka snagged and hung Miyamoto up in a rundown on for the second out. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki walked to load the bases, but second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka's scorcher down the first base line was intercepted by first baseman Andy Sheets with a diving stop and he flipped to Yan for the out. 

They did finally get on the score board in the third when leftfielder Alex Ramirez drilled a Yan offering into the leftfield stands for a 1-0 lead. 

Hanshin put a couple of man on in the bottom portion with two away, but that was cashiered on a groundout. 

The Tigers, however, tied it up in the fourth, as rightfielder Lin Wei-tzu mortared a cutter over the rightfield wall to make it 1-1. They would roll out only two more hits in regulation. 

A walk to rightfielder Aaron Guiel and a one out single to center from Miyamoto had Yakult making some noise in the eighth against Tomoyuki Kubota, but pinch hitter Mitsuru Manaka struckout and third baseman Yasushi Iihara grounded out to undermine it. 

Thus it would go into the tenth and Yakult reliever Masao Kida plunked pinch hitter Shinjiro Hiyama, who was moved to second on a sac bunt. Shortstop Takashi Toritani was intentionally walked to get to centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi, who was hitting 20 points less than Toritani. Akahoshi grounded to first and Sheets grounded back to Kida to terminate the inning. 

Endo succeeded Kida for the 11th Kanemoto walked. One out later, Lin singled to right. The runners advanced on a groundout. Fujimoto laced a hot shot that Endo couldn't handle and Fujimoto slid headfirst into first (idiot) as Kanemoto crossed to secure the victory. 

The Tigers have won their last three and this was Fujimoto's second career walkoff knock. In addition, the Swallows have been on the short end of their last seven tilts with Hanshin. Ishii was 27-12 against the Osaka favorites lifetime coming in, so that the Tigers picked up a win here had to make them feel pretty good. 

For Yakult, Ramirez was 3-5 and is at .341. Guiel was 0-3 with two walks and is at .246. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-5 with two strikeouts and is at .229. Lin was 3-5 and is at .318. Yan struckout in both of his times up and is at .176. 

Hiroshima Closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa asked to be demoted to the minors to work on some things so that he will stop blowing saves. He has seven of them thus far. 

Yakult The Swallows suspect bullpen became more so Saturday when closer Shingo Takatsu slipped getting out of the bathtub and broke his left big toe. He will be out up to a month. 

The funny thing is that Takatsu was named to the Central League all star team despite a high ERA and then the fracture. He may sit it out, though. 

Yokohama Pitcher Matt White had his introductory press conference Monday and told the press to call him "Whitey."

Yomiuri Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi was sat out due to a painful right ankle. He is day to day. 

After being named to the Central League all star squad, closer Koji Uehara expressed what he termed "mixed feelings" and wondered if he should really be there since his name wasn't on the all star ballots due to spring training injuries. It also appears that he still thinks of himself as a closer and isn't really happy with his current status. 

Jeremy Powell is tentatively scheduled for a rehab appearance in the Eastern League Wednesday. 

In addition, manager Tatsunori Hara will allow Geremi Gonzalez to make one more start to prove he belongs. Presumably, if he doesn't get the job done he will be headed for the bushes. 

Hara also spoke with outfielder Damon Hollins Monday about using his lower body better. Hara believes that Hollins is attempting to muscle the ball too much with his upper half and needs to rely more on allowing his legs to provide the sock. 

The Giants organization sent a letter of protest Monday to the weekly magazine Shukan Gendai, which recently printed an article revolving around the team providing under the table money to players it wants to acquire. Two who were mentioned in the piece are former third basemen Shigeo Nagashima and Hiroki Kokubo. The team is seeking a retraction and an apology. 

Miscellaneous Daisuke Matsuzaka started for Boston Tuesday against Tampa Bay and dominated,. going eight shutout innings on just four hits while fanning nine and walking two for his tenth victory in a 4-1 final. In his last six starts, according to ESPN, the former Lions ace is 3-2 with a 1.39 ERA in his last six starts and it is looking like my prediction of 15 wins for him was too conservative. 

Of course, that meant that third baseman Akinori Iwamura was part of this thing and he struckout three times and doubled to leftcenter in his four times up. 

Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima is leading the voting for the final spot on the American League all star roster. 

Colorado third baseman Kazuo Matsui went 5-5 Tuesday against the New York Mets in an 11-3 victory. He is now batting .316. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui had his first multihit showing in his last 15 times out when he finished 2-4 against Minnesota in an 8-0 victory. 

Seattle got its clock cleaned by Kansas City Tuesday 17-3 in its second straight loss under interim manager John McLaren, but centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki took over the American League batting race by going 2-3 to raise himself up to .369. If I am not mistaken, Ichiro has hit in every game except three since mid-May. 

Catcher Kenji Johjima was hit on the right hand by a pitch that carromed off of a Royals player and was taken out. He was diagnosed with a bruise. Those of you who live outside of the Pacific Northwest don't realize that Johjima has really gotten chewed up this season by foul tips, pitches in the dirt and now this. It's almost been a joke and he is lucky to not have suffered a long term injury. 

Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi was 1-4 Tuesday against Arizona in a 7-1 loss. 

Chicago White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 0-2 with a walk and a 5-1 triumph over Baltimore. 

Reality asserted itself in a big way Monday, as Pittsburgh reliever Masumi Kuwata was hammered for seven runs in two-thirds of an inning, including a grand slam. 

Japan's collegiate all star team lost again to a club comprised of area university players 5-4 Tuesday, but Yuki   Saito tossed a scoreless inning on a hit. 

The Japan High School Baseball Federation announced the formation of a committee to look into the athletic scholarship question as regards baseball players. The JHSBF had banned them, but pressure from the Japanese Diet (theiro Congress) caused them to rethink their stance on the issue. 

The JHSBF also announced that it will send a high school all star team to polay three game against a team composed of players from an MLB academy in L.A. in August. That three game series is slated to begin August 8th. No word on whether one of those Japanese players will be Sho Nakata, who has been heavily scouted by the Twins and Mets in addition to just about every NPB club. 

For those of you who don't know, Deanna Rubin, who has been writing the  Seattle Marinerds   blog and whose IT skills have helped make the box scores I link to possible, is going to be teaching english in Tokyo for Geos. She leaves American shores on the 30th, so please make your way to her excellent site and give her a nice sendoff. I just hope that she will continue writing about baseball when she can get the time, especially as I will no longer be doing daily reports after this season ends in order to develop the historical side of this site. 

And if I could, as much stick as I have laid on ESPN over the years, here's a big aces up to Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech, who continues to do a marvelous job holding together a program where he is often times saddled with the inarticulate Eric Young, the unctious and stilted Tino Martinez and an Eduardo Perez who is kind of iffy right now but who has some potential as an analyst. What all three men share, though, is an unwillingness to criticize anybody in MLB for anything, making them sound more like inept public relations flacks than people who can give good hardcore information seamheads will lap up. That Ravech doesn't go Milton Bradley having to put up with these bozos shows remarkable patience and he always keeps the energy level up. But c'mon guys, more Buster Olney and Tim Kurkjian, less of the aforementioned, okay? Karl deserves it. 

However, what one of their game commentators, Rick Sutcliffe, who can be a blowhard at times, needs is a big dose of shut the fuck up. During Monday's telecast involving the Yankees, the former Dodger and Cub expressed outrage that Alex Rodriguez' wife Cynthia wore a shirt with the words fuck you emblazoned on it. Some think that the words may have been directed at the media, which has been whispering that the superstar infielder has been engaged in an affair with a stripper. 

Look, you may not like the language she had on the shirt, but it is also none of your business fi she chooses to wear it. You aren't her daddy. You can think she showed a lack of class or whatever, but otherwise, ignore it. Your kids aren't going to become drug addicts or gang members because they heard or saw that phrase that is a standard part of the verbiage heard in every junior high school locker room anyway.  In fact, your outrage only makes those words cooler to rebellious teenagers. 

By the way, the non-issue of the shirt made it into the Japanese press, FWIW.