The Hanshin Tigers, who have floundered for so long, now find themselves just 3.5 games back of the Central League top spot after catcher Akihiro Yano singled to center in the sixth to drive in first baseman Lin Wei-tzu to dissolve a 3-3 tie and the bullpen dominated by striking out eight the rest of the way for a 4-3 victory over Yakult at Koshien Stadium. Naohisa Sugiyama started for the Tigers and had a no hitter for four innings before he got lit up in the fifth and allowed the Swallows to tie. Thus, the win went to workhorse Tomoyuki Kubota, who tossed two shutout innings on a hit while striking out four. 

Kazuhisa Ishii started for Yakult and went four innings of three run, five hit ball in a no decision. 

Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto walked in the second and Lin singled to right. Rightfielder Kodai Sakurai, who is hitting .391 with runners in scoring position, singled to center to send Kanemoto in while Lin made it to third. Yano grounded to second and Lin crossed. Second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto singled to left. Sugiyama grounded to third and plated Sakurai for a 3-0 lead. They would get only one more hit through five. 

However, the Swallows peccked away at that in the fifth, as first baseman Adam Riggs doubled to left and, one out later, third baseman Yasushi Iihara singled to center. Catcher Ryohei Kawamoto walked to pack the sacks. Mitsuru Manaka pinch hit for Ishii and beat out a ground ball toward first for an RBI single. One out later, second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka singled to right and propelled both Iihara and Kawamoto in for a 3-3 tie. An out on the basepaths halted the rally. They would generate only an infield single through eight. 

But in the sixth, Tigers third baseman Andy Sheets walked off of reliever Yuhei Takai and was erased on a 4-6-3 double play. Lin lined a shot up the rightcenter alley. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki got on his horse and made a diving attempt to flag it down, but he whiffed on it and Lin had himself a triple. Masataka Endo replaced Takai and walked Sakurai. Yano banged a single to center and not only ushered Lin in, but also tied Koichi Tabuchi for the all time team record for hits by a backstop with 1016. That would be their final safety. 

Kyuji Fujikawa was summoned from the bullpen for the ninth for the Tigers and rightfielder Aaron Guiel doubled to right, but -two strikeouts and a groundout made that moot to wrap it up. 

Ishii struckout centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi in the third for his 2,000th strikeout for his combined NPB/MLB caareers in 2045 innings (435 of those K's were in the states). Hideo Nomo has the all time record for Japanese who played in the big leagues with 3119. 

Hanshin went over the two million maek in attendance for the year, one game quicker than their 2006 pace. 

The Tigers have won seven straight Tuesday matches and are 10-4 on that day this season. They were 27-10-1 on that day last year, including 18-1 in games in which they were the home team (that includes both Koshien tilts as well as those out in the regional parks). 

Kubota was clocked at 96mph. 

For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .347. taking over the CL batting race by a point over Aoki, who was 0-4. Nobody else is really that close. Guiel was 1-3 with two strikeouts and is at .255. Riggs was 1-4 and is at .200. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-3 with a walk and is at .233. Lin was 2-4 and is at .318. Jeff Williams twirled a scoreless inning as well. 

The little brother of Hiroshima third baseman Takahiro Arai, Ryota, came up with a pinch hit single to right in the top of the tenth Tuesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium to break a 3-3 standoff and enable the Chunichi Dragons to take advantage of a Yomiuri loss in a 4-3 victory. Daisuke Yamai started for the Nagoya crew and went six innings of three run, four hit ball while striking out six in a no decision. So reliever Masafumi Hirai was accorded the win after throwing just one pitch and eliciting an inning ending double play in the ninth. 

Hiroki Kuroda started for the Carp and was in for only two innings of one run, three hit ball before a liner he took off of his right shin in the first (it went as a groundout) forced him off the hill. 

Chunichi first baseman Tyrone Woods went yard to right in the second for the first hit of the evening and a quick 1-0 lead. Two outs later, leftfielder Takehiro Donoue singled to left. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige singled to right, but Yamai grounded to first for the third out. 

The fish then went up top in their turn, as Takahiro Arai walked and leftfielder Tomoaki Maeda singled to center. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to left to load the bases. Rightfielder Shigeru Morikasa singled to center to cash Arai in. Catcher Yoshikazu Kura grounded to second baseman Masahiro Araki, who booted it, and Maeda was in. Kura was given an RBI on the play. Go Kida pinch hit for Kuroda and singled to left to dispatch Ochoa across for a 3-1 edge. But a popup, a 4-2 foce and a groundout to second hindered them from exploiting the situation firther. They would go hitless from that point through eight. 

But in the fifth, shortstop Hirokazu Ibata doubled to right with one out off of Koji Hiroike and Araki singled to center. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee flied out to right and Ibata tagged up and busted in to slice it to 3-2. 

They would threaten again in the seventh, as Kazuki Inoue pinch hit for Yamai and singled to left off of Kenta Satake, as did Ibata. Araki walked to pack the sacks. Lee struckout and Tomohiro Umetsu was called on to face Woods, who also whiffed. Rightfielder Masahiko Morino flied out to left and the opportunity went by the wayside. 

In the ninth, though, Ibata doubled down the rightfield line off of closer Katsuhiro Nagakawa and went to third on a sacrifice. Lee outran a ground ball toward short and Ibata scurried in to level it at three all. Woods grounded into a double play and now Hiroshima would try to win it in regulation in their ups. 

Yuichi Hisamoto went to the center of the diamond for the Dragons and, with one out, Ochoa singled to left. Morikasa walked. Chunichi boss Hiromitsu Ochiai got on the horn to Hirai and you know what happened there and it went into extra innings. 

Victor Marte took the hill for the tenth for the Carp and third baseman Norihiro Nakamura singled to left with one out. He was sacrificed to second after Marte threw behind the hitter's head. Ochiai came out to argue that Marte should have been ejected under the dangerous pitch rule, but the plate umpire wouldn't have any of it. Tanishige walked. Ryota Arai pinch hit for Hirai and singled to right, Nakamura rumbling in from second for a 4-3 lead. 

Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase was dunned for a one out single, but he ended up striking out the side for his 27th save.

For Hiroshima, Ochoa was 2-4 and is at .354. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-5 with two strikeouts and is at .278. Lee was 1-4 with a sac fly and two strikeouts and is at .254. Rafael Cruz also got into the game and was perfect in the seventh to reduce his ERA to 4.77. 

Former Yomiuri lefthander Kimiyasu Kudoh went 5.2 innings of one run, eight hit pitching for Yokohama for another victory against his old squad in a 5-1 final at Nagano Olympic Stadium. Kudoh thus became the first man ever to have four wins in a season after his 44th birthday. 

Norihito Kaneto started for the Giants and was demoted to the minors after he went four innings of three run, seven hit ball to fall to 7-6. 

Bay Stars second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, another ex-Yomiuri player, singled to center int he bottom of the first and shortstop Takuro Ishii got aboard on an infield hit. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo dribbled one out in front of the plate and catcher Shinnosuke Abe gloved it and fired to third for the force. Third baseman Shuichi Murata singled to left to tally up Ishii for a 1-0 lead. One out later, first baseman Yuki Yoshimura singled to right and Kinjo rounded third and made for home. But rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi gunned him down at the plate for the third out. 

Giants first baseman Seung-yeop Lee then singled to left in the second and went to second on a groundout. One out later, second baseman Takuya Kimura went gapping to rightcenter for an RBI triple to equalize it at one apiece. Kaneto grounded out to paralyze Kimura. 

But in the third, Kinjo singled to left with two outs and Murata walked. Leftfielder Takahiro Saeki doubled off the centerfield wall and Kinjo and Murata flew home to go up 3-1. 

Yomiuri put two on with one out in the fourth, but a double play ball bogged things down. 

They would also fill the bags with two outs in the sixth, but centerfielder Damon Hollins popped up and the next nine Giants hitters went down in order after that to ice it. 

Yokohama pushed another across in the seventh, as catcher Ryoji Aikawa singled to left and pinch hitter Takanori Suzuki doubled to leftcenter. Nishi flied out to center and Aikawa tagged up and dashed in to raise it to 4-1. 

Saeki and Yoshimura each singled to center with one out in the eighth off of Masanori Hayashi and, one out later, Aikawa singled to left to redeem Saeki and that is how it ended, 5-1. 

Kaneto was knocked out of three consecutive starts and is 1-4 on the month. Hayashi was also sent down. Ken Kadokura will be called up to replace Kaneto. 

The Giants finished July 8-14. 

Kudoh only came out due to his back bothering him after throwing a pitch to Lee. He is day to day. 

For Yokohama, closer Mark Kroon was spotless in the ninth. 

For Yomiuri, Hollins was 0-3 and is at .266. Lee was 1-3 with a walk and is at .264. 

Hanshin Third baseman Makoto Imaoka, who was recently demoted to the minors after never really getting untracked this season at the plate, hinted on his homepage that he is contemplating retirement. After leading the Tigers to the pennant in 2005, Imaoka had a nerve problem with the middle finger of his throwing hand last season and had it operated on. He hasn't been the same since. 

Yakult Reliever Masataka Endo is a first time father, as his wife Rieko have birth to a daughter Tuesday. Both mother and baby are doing fine. 

Yomiuri Catcher Shinnosuke Abe donated one million yen (about $8,000) to victims of the recent earthquake in northwest Japan. 

Second baseman Luis Gonzalez made a rehab start down in the Eastern League Tuesday and had a couple of extra base hits and an RBI. 

Miscellaneous Well, there will be no Sho Nakata at the upcoming summer Koshien Tournament that will get underway in a few days, as his Osaka Toin High was beaten 4-3 by no name Konko Osaka High School in the Osaka Prefecture qualifier. 24 scouts from a total of nine Japanese teams were there taking it in as well as the COO of the Softbank Hawks and other clubs' officials. It appears that Hiroshima and Seibu will pass on trying to acquire him, though in the Lions case that is due to the recent scouting scandal, where they were sanctioned by forfeiting their first two high school draft picks.

Nakata started on the hill and was pulled in the fifth after going 4.2 innings of three run, seven hit ball and he also went 0-5 at the dish. 

Konko thus advanced to Koshien, only the second time in its history that they have made it there. Two members of that squad are twins from the immediate family of Chunichi pitcher Kazuki Yoshimi, who is also an alumnus of the school. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki   Matsui cracked a pair of homers and drove in three runs in three at bats and walked twice Tuesday against the White Sox in a 16-3 stomping of the pale hose. He now finished July with an MLB leading 13 roundtrippers in 25 games and needs one more dinger for 100 for his MLB career. He has 20 on the year.

Mariners centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki went 1-3 with a walk Tuesday as his team got its butt kicked by Anaheim 8-0. He also became only the second active player to rack up seven straight 30 steal campaigns. The other man is Juan Pierre. Catcher Kenji Johjima was 1-4. 

Ichiro's alma mater, Aikodai Meiden High School, won its Aichi Prefecture tournament final with Chukyodai Chukyo High 7-5 to move on to Koshien. 

The Mariners also unloaded wife beater Julio Mateo to the Phillies, making the Philadelphia organization a kind of all star squad of abusers with Brett Myers and Jose Mesa. Mateo had filled the Jose Paniagua chair in Latin pitcher idiocy the last several years. It will be interesting to see who takes that over. 

Philadelphia second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 2-3 with two walks Tuesday in a 7-3 loss to the Cubs. 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura was 1-4 Tuesday against Toronto in a 2-0 defeat to extend his hit streak to seven games. 

The plate umpire that allowed Yakult centerfielder Norichika Aoki to have a walk on a ball three call was reprimanded by the Central League office, as was the rest of the umpiring crew for not noticing what had happened. 

Another industrial league team bit the dust Tuesday, as Ikko eliminated its 13 year old baseball program in a fit of cost cutting. 

I see how this NBA referee scandal is getting worse. This is a league who is trying to clean up its thug image (the National Bloods Association is another nickname for it) and it turns out that a white referee was the dirtiest guy in the organization. As Brian Kenney says, "who knew?" The thing is that the NBA apparently knew that the ref had a gambling problem and yet its security people couldn't suss that he was associated with organized crime. They only found about about it after a federal investigation stumbled on to the official as part of a larger investigation into organized crime activity. The system did not work in the NBA. If it weren't for the feds, the ref would still be calling fouls in games as we speak. 

This is relevant to baseball in that commissioner Bud Selig has been almost retard slow on the uptake with regard to player drug use. I'm almost dreading that the FBI will come up with a major league umpire or two in the near future because of Selig's see no evil, hear no evil way of doing business.