4/6/2004
4/6/2004
| Get Your RBIs Here! Seibu Stomps Orix 15-5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture Seibu
Lions starter Kazuyuki Hoashi went six strong innings Tuesday
and got some unbelievable run support to smite (when was the last time you saw THAT word used in a sports report?) the Orix Blue Wave at Seibu Dome 15-5. Four Lions hitters accumulated two RBIs while another pair amassed three in another offensive display set off by the arson squad that is the Kobe outfit's pitching staff. Indicative of Orix' futility is the second inning, when they had four baserunners and couldn't score. DH Roosevelt Brown leadoff with a walk and first baseman Jose Ortiz got aboard on an infield hit. Third baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani attempted to lay down a sac bunt, but failed to do so, dribbling it right in front of catcher Toru Hosokawa, who snatched it and winged the ball to third baseman Hiroshi Hirao, who turned it over to second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi at first (remember, it's a bunt play) for a 2-5-4 double play. Hoashi walked both second baseman Hidemitsu Saito and catcher Takeshi Hidaka to load the bases. But rightfielder Yuichiro Mukae grounded to short to extinguish the threat. In the third, Seibu went out to a lead, as Hosokawa parked one in the leftfield seats and Takagi piggybacked on that with a tour of the rightfield stands to make it 2-0. Orix then experienced more frustration. Brown singled to center and Ortiz singled to left. Shiotani wasn't asked to sacrifice this time, but Brown was picked off of second, so that may have had something to do with it. Shiotani flew out to right and Saito grounded out and 2-0 it stayed. The Lions set about doubling their advantage in the home turn, as rightfieolder Hiroyuki Oshima singled to right and was sacrificed along. One out later, Orix starter Kazuya Motoyanagi walked Takagi and DH Hiroyuki Shibata to pack the sacks. Centerfielder Shogo Akada singled to right to plate Oshima and Takagi to expand it to 4-0. Now it's time for Your Hit Parade, starring Lions leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada, who homered to center, and Hirao, who did likewise to leftcenter, and Seibu had a 6-0 lead. Orix would tighten it up only slightly in the sixth when leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani singled to left and, two outs later, Shiotani hooked one down the rightfield line for a double. Saito walked to fill the basepaths. Backup catcher Daisuke Maeda singled to center for two RBIs and the scoreboard read Seibu 6, Orix 2 after five and a half. The Lions got those runs back, though. Takagi walked and was sacrificed to second. Akada singled to left. First baseman Jose Fernandez singled to right to redeem Takagi. Wada singled to center and Akada was in the dugout via home plate to ratchet it up to 8-2 Seibu. They then got deadly serious in the seventh and transformed
this encouter into a laugher. Shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima and Hosokawa
walked. Takagi spanked a shot off of his opposite number's glove and Nakajima
scored on what was ruled a hit. Shibata walked to crowd the bases again.
Akada singled to right for an RBI. Fernandez
Orix would shake Shinji Mori down for three runs in the ninth on singles by centerfielder Arihito Muramatsu and second baseman Koichi Oshima, an error by third baseman Takeya Nakamura that allowed Muramatsu to cross, a sacrifice fly from Brown, a single to center by Ortiz, a walk to Shiotani and a single to right by reserve shortstop Mitsutaka Goto. It finally ended when Maeda grounded out, Seibu 15, Orix 5. Seibu is presently on a four game winning streak after losing its intial four battles. On the other side of the field and in the dugout, Orix manager Haruki Ihara had steam coming out of his ears, with a particular irritant being the failed sac bunt by Shiotani. Can you say, "extra workouts?"
E: T. Nakamura, Motoyanagi
Season Series: Orix 0, Seibu 2 Game Time: 3:41
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| Nippon Ham Ends Skid and Lotte Winning Streak 4-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture The
Chiba Lotte Marines's winning streak is a thing of the past now, as the
Nippon Ham Fighters scored three runs in the eighth to obtain some separation and a 4-1 victory. Fighters starter Ryan Rupe and his Lotte counterpart, Satoru Komiyama, each posted six strong innings, Rupe helped by centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shino's deke of Benny Agabayani that kept the former Met from rounding for home on a double off the wall. However, neither Rupe nor Komiyama figured in the decision. Nippon Ham rightfielder Tomochika
Tsuboi leadoff the game with a double to rightcenter and went to third
one out
Lotte would subsequently go ahead
in the second when DH Seung-yeop Lee singled to center and Agbayani bounced
The Fighters tied it up in the
fifth on catcher Shinji Takahashi's single to right, his steal of second,
a sacrifice, and
Inoue tripled to right with one
away in the sixth, but was left there as the next two men made unproductive
outs.
Nippon Ham then capitalized in
the eighth, as Echevarria and pinch hitter Fernando Seguignol each singled
to right.
Komiyama was called for a balk
for not coming to a full stop in the stretch, a judgement that elicited
a protest from manager Bobby Valentine and a shake of the head from Komiyama.
But it ultimately wasn't important to the
SB: S. Takahashi, Agbayani
Season Series : Nippon Ham 1, Lotte 1 Game Time: 3:31
Note: Satozaki reached first on his strikeout in the eighth. |
| Nakamura Wins it in Tenth With Tape Measure Bomb for Kintetsu 2-1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Osaka The Daiei Hawks had plenty
of opportunities to win this thing in regulation against Kintetsu Buffaloes
starter Tetsuro Kawajiri but just did not get it done and thus went down to defeat when Buffs third baseman Norihiro Nakamura socked it halfway to Seoul in the bottom of the tenth inning off of Makoto Sato in a 2-1 thriller. Kawajiri exhibited major tenacity to keep this thing even while facing a lineup that set scads of offensive records last season. Pity then that he wouldn't be around to enjoy the credit for the win, that instead going to reliever Hector Carrasco for his first ever japanese victory. Hawks rookie pitcher Takahiro Mahara made his second pro start and was outstanding again, going nine innings and permitting only one unearned run on five hits. If he keeps this up, he is a unanimous Rookie of the Year. Daiei had two on and two out in the first, but Kenji Johjima, who went 0-4 with runners in scoring position on the night, flied out. They would break through in the fifth on DH Julio Zuleta's single to center, a sac bunt, a single to center from rightfielder Ide and a sacrifice fly to right by centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara for a 1-0 lead. Mahara maintained that advantage through seven innings. Daiei then endeavored to buy some insurance in the eighth and bungled it bigtime. Rightfielder Shotaro Ide kicked it off with a single to center. Shibahara laid down a bunt. Buffs catcher Akihito Fujii picked it up and rifled it to second, but not in time and everyone was safe. Shortstop Munenori Kawaskai laid down what was supposed to be a sacrifice, but beat it out and the bases were loaded with nobody out. The Kintetsu infield now had to play up. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi grounded hard to shortstop Masahiro Abe, who shotgunned it home. Fujii then went to first for the double play, the biggest play of the game before Nakamura's belt. Kawajiri intentionally walked 2004 RBI king Nobuhiko Matsunaka to pitch to the righthanded hitting Johjima, who popped to second to let the sidearmer off the hook. Kintetsu then hustled for their first run. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe singled to right with one away. Mahara made a bad pickoff throw and Isobe rolled into second. One out later, first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa singled to right and Isobe blazed around the bases to equalize it at 1-1. The Hawks got two hits but failed to put anyone across in the ninth and didn't do anything with Carrasco in the top of the tenth. Sato put the first two hitters he faced away on groundouts. Nakamura, with his wife and daughters looking on from the stands, went up to the plate looking for a slider. After a sixth pitch fastball buzzed by his chin, Sato came in with 3-2 slider and Nakamura devastated it, the ball ascending up into the fifth level in left more than 450 feet away, his second sayonara knock of the 2004 season and his 11th lifetime, which is second among active players to Kazuhiro Kiyohara's 18. It is also his seventh walkoff homer for his career. Mahara was clocked at 92mph. He seems to be showing the same kind of maturity that last year's golden boy, Tsuyoshi Wada, did.
E: Kawajiri, Mahara
Season Series: Daiei 1, Kintetsu 1 Game Time: 3:38
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Team Reports
| Seibu | |
| Infielder Scott McClain has arrived in Japan. "I can't fill the hole left by Alex Cabrera," he told reporters, "but if everybody pulls together | we can make up for it."
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| Kintetsu | |
| Larry Barnes is still recovering from a sprained wrist. He was well enough Tuesday to start hitting off of a tee and may be back in action | as soon as Friday.
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