4/30/2004
4/30/2004
| For Box Score, Go Here and Click onto Scoreboard Numbers |
| Valentine Gets 1200th Managerial Win in 3-0 Triumph Over Seibu |
| Makuhari Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby
Valentine rang up his 1200th lifetime victory as a manager with three teams
Friday thanks to a brilliant complete game four hit shutout by starter
Naoyuki Shimizu for a 3-0 triumph over Seibu at Chiba Marine Stadium. The
win put Lotte one game under .500 and 3.5 games out of first place.
Koji Onuma, who has been surprisingly good after being pulled out of the bullpen and inserted into the starting rotation, had fashioned a no hitter through five, but Lotte shortstop Makoto Kosaka leadoff the sixth with a double to leftcenter and went to third on a sac bunt. Leftfielder Matt Franco walked. Kazuya Fukuura grounded to second to usher Kosaka in with the 1-0 lead. Onuma then was roughed up in the seventh. DH Seung-yeop Lee mortared one beyond the rightcenterfield wall for his first dinger in nine games. Third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba tripled to center. Second baseman Chihiro Hamana rapped a single to right to cash Hatsushiba in. and it was 3-0 Lotte. Shimizu suffocated the opposition on one hit the final three innings for a safe and sane conclusion to his first walkless shutout ever. He was also decently economical, obtaining eight of the 27 outs on just three pitches apiece. Oh, and it was Valentine's 83rd Japanese victory, in case you were wondering. |
Team Reports
| Daiei | |
| Manager Sadaharu Oh had his charges working on sac bunts Friday
due to a recent string of failures by Hawks players to execute them.
"They aren't doing what they're supposed to," the homer world record holder
grumbled.
Last season's 20 game winner, Kazumi Saito, will make a minor league appearance on the third as he tries to come out of the funk that has seen him rocked repeatedly thus far at the big club level. Prized rookie pitcher Takahiro Mahara will make his third start |
already against Kintetsu this season and he says he will not be
looking at scouting reports to prepare for it. The first time out against
the Buffs, Mahara limited them to a run. In the second try, he was crunched
for five runs in five innings.
Righthander Nagisa Arakai threw 79 pitches in the bullpen Friday
and he hopes he can finally win his first game of the season on Sunday.
The lanky seocnd year man has so far been tilted for a 7.61 ERA.
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| Seibu | |
| After falling apart mechanically Thursday and being barbecued for ten earned runs, ace Daisuke Matsuzaka threw 100 pitches inthe bullpen Frida to try to straighten himself out. He told reporters that | he had better balance during the workout. His next start will be against Kintetsu on the fifth. |
| Kintetsu | |
| Thanks to a suggestion from "sidehand" artist Tetsuro Kawajiri, the Buffs will be selling a "horoyi set (tipsy meal)" at Osaka Dome starting on June 2nd and ending at the conclusion of the week long homestand. It will include chips and a serving of imo shochu, a kind of vodka. Kawajiri had said that the best way to enjoy watching him was whiel knocking back some shochu and nibbling on munchies. | Closer Hector Carrasco, who has been feasted on by Pacific League lineups in his first Japanese go around, has been sent to the minors and former closer Motoyuki Akahori, an ex-Fireman of the Year, was promoted to replace him despite suffering from a lack of control in a minor league appearance Thursday. Akahori has 139 career saves. |
| Nippon Ham | |
| The Fighters public relations department is considering seeking
suggesttions for a nickname for Pacific League batting leader Fernando
Seguignol.
Both outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara
are within easy reach of 1000 career hits. Ogasawara
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According to U.S. press reports, manager Trey Hillman may be replacing Bob Brenly at Arizona next season. Diamondbacks officials visited in Japan recently and it was said to be more than a courtesy trip to meet with Fighters management. The snakes have a workign agreement with the club. |
| Orix | |
| The Blue Wave is selling the right to throw out the ceremonial first
pitch before ten upcoming games. It ain't cheap, 105,000 yen (about $1,000)
per. The honor also comes with a commemorative glove. The tickets
for this went up for sale at B-Wave, a shop run by Orix, on April 24th.
For those interested, you can phone them at 078-391-0016.
There are signs of dissension within team ranks, though one such indicator may just be a player's selfishness. DH Takeshi Yamasaki has been sent down to the minors after he rebelled at starting a |
couple of recent games on the bench. The former Chunichi homer and
batting champ then skipped a pre-game workout, popped off to the press
and manager Haruki Ihara demoted him as punishment.
Lefthander Koo Dae-sung is grousing, too, about how Ihara is handling
him and he sputtered to Korean reporters that he wants to return to play
in his Korean homeland. Koo has not performed very well, so this is another
case where a player's pride is getting in the way of his brain.
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