The tension of the Central League pennant race was ratcheted up again Wednesday when the Yomiuri Giants brought out the big sticks and pounded the Hanshin Tigers with them 11-1. Hanshin starter Ryan Vogelsong became the first man in NPB history to be ejected for hitting the opposing pitcher when a 91mph fastball he threw struck Yomiuri lefthander Tetsuya Utsumi in the right side of the face with two outs in the fourth. Utsumi, though,  stayed in and went seven innings of one run, five hit ball to while striking out 13, six of those being consecutive, to notch a new personal best 13th win. 

Giants first baseman Seung-yeop Lee doubled to leftcenter in the second and shortstop Tomohiro Nioka singled to center. Catcher Shinnosuke Abe walked to load the bases. Second baseman Luis  Gonzalez got a cookie and crunched it into the leftfield seats for a grand slam, his first homer since Opening Day, to put his side up 4-0.

In the fourth, Yomiuri centerfielder Damon Hollins doubled to leftcenter with two outs and Vogelsong hit Utsumi. They iced Utsumi's face for a couple of minutes in the dugout before he went out to first base. Darwin Cubillan came on to replace Vogelsong and rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi greeted him with a blast over the rightcenterfield wall to make it 7-0. That was his first roundtripper in his last 11 games. 

They would put two more on with one out in the fifth before a double play ball intervened to foil it. 

Utsumi allowed only two singles through five and just one of his outs was in the outfield. But in the sixth, Kodai Sakurai pinch hit for Cubillan and doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a groundout. One out later, third baseman Andy Sheets smacked a shot off the glove of Nioka for an infield hit that plated Sakurai to cut it to 7-1. They would produce a mere pair of singles from there on in. 

The Giants would then invade home again in the eighth against Shinobu Fukuhara, as Nioka doubled to rightcenter with one out and was pinch run for by Shigeyuki Furuki, who went to third on a groundout. Gonzalez singled to center for his fifth RBI to pump it up to 8-1. 

Takahashi walked with one out in the ninth against Kentaro Hashimoto and was pinch run for by Kenji Yano. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu beat out a ground ball toward second. Backup third baseman Ryota Wakiya singled to left to send Yano in. Lee singled to left and Shimizu crossed. Abe singled to center to usher Wakiya in and it was 11-1. Koji Uehara (why do you bring him in with a ten run lead? Yeah, he hadn't worked in four games, but geez). 

That was the first time that Utsumi had ever been hit by a pitch. He also now leads the CL in strikeouts with 167 and this was his first win since August 23rd. 

But the Tigers took the season series, 14-9-1, four of those Yomiuri victories being by Utsumi, who hele Hanshin to a .181 battingh average and posted a 1.51 ERA against them in five starts. 

It was the seventh time this season that the Tigers surrendered ten runs or more.

For Yomiuri, Lee was 2-5 and is at .274. Gonzalez was 2-5 and is at .263. Hollins was 1-4 and is at .265. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 1-4. Vogelsong was 0-1 and is at .179. 

A two out strikeout-wild pitch kept the bottom of the ninth going for Yokohama plus it permitted the tying run to score and catcher Ryoji Aikawa then singled to rightcenter to drive in the lead run for an 11-10 victory against Hiroshima at Yokohama Stadium. One has to wonder how much furniture in manager Marty Brown's office remained in one piece after this fiasco. 

Ken Takahashi started for the Carp and went 5.1 innings of four run, three hit ball in a no decision. 

Shun Yamaguchi opened for the Bay Stars and went three innings of four run (three earned) ball on four hits in a no decision. Instead, it was reliever Takeharu Kato who would cart off the W after he allowed the fish to go ahead 10-9 against him in the top of the ninth. 

Hiroshima first baseman Kenta Kurihara walked with two outs in the first and third baseman Takahiro Arai singled to center. Leftfielder Tomonori Maeda doubled to right to clear enough time for both Kurihara and Arai to rumble home for a 2-0 lead. Shortstop Eishin Soyosgi's ground ball was booted by third baseman Shuichi Murata, but rightfielder Yoshinori Ogata struckout to leave them loitering. 

They enlarged that in the third when Maeda singled to right and Soyogi got a fastball that was up in the zone and tattooed it into the leftfield seats to make it 4-0. Soyogi now has 16 homers. Who woulda thunk it?

Takahashi had limited the Yokohama lineup to just a single over the first three innings. But in the fourth, centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo walked and Murata compensated for his error with a belt into the leftfield bleachers to shave it to 4-2. 

The Carp would put two on with two out in the fifth against Yuji Yoshimi, but a groundout killed that off. 

Takahashi would then lose the remnants of his advantage in the sixth, as Kinjo singled to right with one out and Murata walked. Masaki Hayashi was summoned from the bullpen. One out later, Hayashi exited and was spelled by Kenta Satake. Rightfielder Takahiro Saeki walked to load the bases. Leftfielder Yosuke Shimokubo singled to right and both Kinjo and Murata scampered in to level it at four all. Choji Mori took the ball from Satake and Aikawa grounded out to short to stall the attack. 

Yukiya Yokoyama emerged from the bullpen for the Bay Stars for the seventh and centerfielder Alex Ochoa singled to left with one out. Kurihara singled to center. One out later, Matt White was tapped to face Maeda and plunked him to pack the sacks. Soyogi singled to center to chase Ochoa and Kurihara in and (I presume) that Maeda scored as well when Kinjo let the ball get by him.. Takamitsu Io pinch hit for Ogata and walked. They both somehow moved up and catcher Yoshikazu Kura singled to left to invite two in and put it at 9-4, but somebody ran themselves into an out to conclude the inning. 

Ryuji Yokoyama went to the center of the diamond for Hiroshima for the bottom stanza and second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled ot right with one away. Backup rightfielder Seiichi Uchikawa walked. Kinjo doubled to right to spring Nishi in. Murata pasted a Yokoyama delivery into the rightfield bleachers for a three run homer. First baseman Yuki Yoshimura singled to left. Saeki singled to right. Takanori Suzuki pinch hit for the pitcher's spot and singled to right for an RBI to amazngly tie it up 9-9. That was their last knock until the ninth. Not a good night if you were named Yokoyama, as Deanna Rubin observed. 

Kato entered for the ninth and Arai singled to center. Maeda whistled a double to right and Arai toured the bases on it to seize a 10-9 edge. Two groundouts and a strikeout held Arai at bay. 

However, in the last of the inning, Katsuhiro Nagakawa would be hung with his 13th blown save. Yoshimura tripled to right with one out and, following a lineout to right, pinch hitter Hitoshi Taneda whiffed. But the ball went to the backstop and Yoshimura scored while Taneda reached first. Shogo Kimura pinch ran for Taneda and stole second. Aikawa rammed a shot into rightcenter and that was the ballgame, Kimura blazing home. 

For Hiroshima, Ochoa was 2-5 and is at .324. Jose Fernandez tossed a perfect eighth and his ERA is now 5.62. 

A ninth inning homer to right by Chunichi third baseman Norihiro Nakamura would prove to be the big blow of the contest, as the Dragons squeaked by Yakult 6-5 at Meiji Jingu Stadium to stay with Hanshin and Yomiuri in the battle for the CL flag. Kenta Asakura has been tremendous down the stretch, but he was very hittable here, as he was marked up for five runs and nine hits in four innings ina no decision. Thus it was reliever Yuichi Hisamoto who Nakamura's shot would benefit and he is now 2-1 on the campaign. 

Masanori Ishikawa started for the Swallows and went five innings of three run, ten hit ball in a no decision. 

Chunichi put two on with one out in the first, but Ishikawa induced a couple of groundballs to solve the conundrum. 

The Swallows then jumped in front in the inning when centerfielder Norichika Aoki singled to left and went to second on a groundout. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez doubled to left to convert Aoki. Rightfielder Aaron Guiel howitzered a shuuto on the outer half of the plate into the leftfield seats for a two run homer and a 3-0 lead. Guiel now has six bombs in his last seven games. 

They had two on and two out in the second, but a flyout squelched that chance. 

Asakura subsequently ignited a brief rally in the third, as singled to center and shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to right. Second baseman Masahiro Araki singled to center to drive Asakura in and make it 3-1. A double play and a flyout called a halt to the proceedings. 

They would draw closer in the fourth when leftfielder Masahiko Morino doubled to right and, one out later, rightfielder Hidenori Kuramoto singeld to center to cash Morino in to narrow it to 3-2. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige singled to left. A groundout moved the runners over, but Ibata flew out to abandon them. 

The Swallows, though, retaliated in the bottom portion, as catcher Ryohei Kawamoto took Asakura over the leftfield wall. One out later, Aoki singled to right. Second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka tripled to right to ring Aoki in for a 5-2 edge. Asakura and four relievers, though, would retire the next 14 in a row as they supressed the birds on a hit for the duration. 

Araki doubled to left in the fifth and went to third on a groundout. First baseman Tyrone Woods grounded to second and Araki crossed to shrink the deficit to 5-3. 

They made up the rest in the seventh when Ibata beat out a ground ball against Masato Hanada and so did Araki. Nakamura walked to load the bases. Woods singled to left to tally up two and knot it at five all. Two popups and a strikeout hindered further home invasions. 

Nothng of great import occured in the eighth. But in the ninth, Nakamura leadoff against Brian Sikorski and thundered a third pitch breaking ball into the rightfield bleachers for a 6-5 lead. Two outs later, they would put men on second and third, but they languished there due to a flyout. 

Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase put three of the four men he saw away for his third straight 40 save season, extending his pro yakyu record.

For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .345. He is now two points behind Aoki in the CL batting title competition. Guiel was 1-4 with two strikeouts and is at .253. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-5 and is at .276. Centerfielder Byung-kyu Lee was 1-3 and is at .255. 

Hiroshima Veteran Shinji Sasaoka will make his final appearance as an active player on October 6th and then will be feted in a post game ceremony. 

Yakult Catcher/manager Atsuya Furuta met with the press to talk about his pending resignation and retirement, at one point breaking down in tears. "I'm grateful to be able to do this for a living and the fans have always backed me up," he said. 

However, Sports Nippon asserts that Furuta might be headed for a bid to win a Japanese Diet (their version of Congress) seat as a member of the minority Minshuto party. Some have reportedly suggested that Furuta may work as a baseball commentator while he scopes out just what he wants to do politically. He does have some personal ties to that party. 

Infielder Ken Suzuki is also going to retire, according to Sports Nippon. He has only been in 25 games ta the top level this season, compiling an .077 batting average. Suzuki began his career with Seibu before coming to the Swallows. It is unknown what he will do after he hangs 'em up. 

Yokohama Former team owner Keijiro Nakabe, who ran the ballclub from 1990-2002, died Wednesday at age 74 of lung cancer. 

Yomiuri The Nagashima family said their final goodbyes to Akiko Nagashima Wednesday, as a small group of friends, including hall of fame outfielder Isao Harimoto and the great southpaw Masaichi Kaneda, comforted them during the funeral. Softbank manager Sadaharu Oh took the train to Tokyo from Chiba, where the Hawks were about to take on the Chiba Lotte Marines, also came by to pay his respects. Oh was with Shigeo Nagashima the day that he met Akiko during the 1964 Tokyo olympics. Understandably, nobody fromt he Nagashima clan, though, would comment to the press. 

A freelance tv announcer, Kazuo Tokumitsu, who once worked for Yomiuri flagship television outlet NTV, told Hochi Sports that because Shigeo Nagashima, who, by all accounts is a genuinely nice man, has a hard time saying no to anyone, Akiko often acted as his informal chief of staff, approving or turning down whatever requests came her husband's way. 

In an earlier interview, Kazushige Nagashima, one of Akiko and Shigeo's sons, remarked that she was often tough on him because he was the eldest son. In Japan, the first born son is usually the sedignated family heir and so the responsibilities on him can be heavy and there are many Japanese women who won't marry an eldest son for that reason. However, he also remarked that "she taught me everything and she was, at heart, a sweet person." 

Harimoto revealed that he had never seen Shigeo Nagashima so sad before. Harimoto once accompanied the Nagashimas on a tourist visit to Canada and he said he realy enjoyed himself on it. 

Miscellaneous Seattle centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki too over the American League batting lead by less than a point over Detroit rightfielder Magglio Ordonez with a 3-4, two RBI effort in a 9-5 victory against Oakland. He also walked twice and had a sac fly 

Ichiro is a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award, but when asked about it, he said, 'what is that? I've never heard of it" 

In any event, he is focused on reaching 2,000 hits within the next two seasons. He has 1577 and getting to 1600 in the remaining 11 games will be tough. He has a total of 2855 for his comined MLB/NPB careers, so he will reach 3,000 sometime in July or August of next season. I would advise MLB to make something of that feat as a show of respect toward Japanese baseball. 

There is also news that the M's, Dodgers and Padres will square off against each other in China in a March exhibition game there. The Padres have long kept an eye on the Asian market and have been trying to find economically viable ways to expand their presence there. 

In addition, Boston and Oakland, it appears, will open their regular seasons against each other at Tokyo Dome. 

But getting back to Seattle, will Tony LaRussa be their manager next season? There is apparently a rumor to that effect because LaRussa's contract is up at the end of the year. So John McLaren may get the shaft again. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui homered and walked in four times up to edge Baltimre 2-1 and get withing 1.5 games of first place Boston in the AL East. Yes, after that fat lady was warming up earlier this month for the Red Sox, she swallowed a chiken bone and has been gagging on it for the last two weeks. 

Speaking of the crimson hose, reliever Hideki Okajima will be available again after the 27th. That may be too late since his team's bullpen have been a bunch of firebugs lately. Eric Gagne appears as if he is done. 

The Bronx Bombers also set a new single season attendance record with a little over 4.26 million folks filing through the turnstiles at venerable Yankee Stadium. It is the third year in a row that they have exceeded four million. 

Wednesday was hazing day over in the Tampa Bay clubhouse and third baseman Akinori Iwamura was seen in a Hooters waitress outfit after going 1-4 in a 2-1 defeat to Anaheim. Iwamura's reaction to the outfit? "I thought it would look worse on me than it did. So I'm fine with it." 

Coplorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui, who has been out with an injury, pinch ran in the eighth inning of a game against the Dodgers and stole his 31st base and then trotted home on Brad Hawpe's two run homer. 

Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi was 1-4 with a walk in a ten inning 2-1 victory over Philadelphia. 

Sozo Gakuendai Fuzoku High was restricted from playing other schools for a definite period after it was found that there was violence occurring within the team's ranks. They are a major program. 

Two lesser schools, Suga High out of Kanagawa Prefecture, and Denen Chofu High out of Tokyo Prefecture were both also told to stay home due to shoplifting by players from the former and using a cellphone without permission by the players of the latter.