6/1/2004
6/1/2004
| Box Scores Here; Click on to Numbers on Scoreboard |
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| Fukuoka Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe may have
the Lifetime Achievement Award in being a moron, but Tuesday, Daiei Hawks
starter Toshiya Sugiuchi already locked up this year's title for egregious
stupidity when he punched the dugout bench with both hands
after being knocked out of the game and suffered fractures in each paw. He will miss at least the next three months. That overshadowed the fact that the Chiba Lotte Marines routed the Hawks 13-6, with everyone in the Lotte starting lineup cracking at leasst one hit and scoring a run. Hiroyuki Kobayashi started for Lotte and was tagged for eight hits and three runs in six innings to cadge his fourth victory. Sugiuchi lasted only two innings, the shortest start of his career,
and was tattooted for seven runs on seven hits to worsen his record to
Lotte went in front in the first, as centerfielder Akira Otsuka singled
to right and went to second on a one out groundout. Leftfielder
In the second, Sugiuchi was trampled underfoot. Lotte catcher Tomoya Satozaki slugged a fastball into the rightfield bleachers. One out later, shortstop Makoto Kosaka walked. Otsuka singled to right. Following another out, Sugiuchi nailed DH Matt Franco with a pitch to load the bases. Agabayani walked to force Kosaka in. First baseman Kazuya Fukuura howitzered a fastball into the rightfield seats for his first career grand slam to make it 7-0. Daiei meekly responded in the bottom of the second when first baseman
Nobuhiko Mataunaka doubled to leftcenter and, one out later, DH Julio Zuleta
singled to left. Centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara flied out to left and
Nobuhiko Matsunaka tagged up and crossed and it was 7-1
But they added to that in the third to kind of get back in the game
for a bit. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi singled to left with one down
Shinji Kurano did a nice job for Daiei holding the line from the
third through the fifth. But in the sixth, second baseman Koichi Hori singled
to center and went to second on a sacrifice. Agbayani walked. Kazuya Shibata
replaced Kurano and unleashed a wild pitch.
In the seventh, they restored the seven run margin when Satozaki
doubled to leftcenter and birthday boy rightfielder Saburo Omura
In their next turn, Lotte used a walk to Agbayani, a one out run
scoring double off the centerfield wall by third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba
Franco homered to right in the ninth to widen it to 13-3. Soichi Fujita was deigned the closer on this occasion and in the
bottom of the ninth, Shibahara reached on Hatsushiba's error. Backup
Lotte is now out of last, taking over fifth from Orix. Lotte was
1-5 last season against Sugiuchi, so that they really hurt him may signal
Johjima got to 1000 knocks in 939 games, tied for the fastest ever for a catcher with Hanshin, Mainichi, Hankyu and Toei's Takeshi Doigaki in 1952. Doigaki finished with 1351 hits before hanging them up after the 1957 season. |
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| Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture In front of
a minimal crowd of 11,000 Tuesday at Seibu Dome, Fumiya Nishiguchi continued
to take up the slack for DaisukeMatsuzaka's disappointing start, as he
went eight innings of three hit ball in a 3-1 victory over the Orix Blue
Wave. The only blemish on that was six walks.
Hidetaka Kawagoe, Orix' starter, keeps proving that he is now a credible pitcher at this level, as he limited the Lions to three runs (one earned) on eight hits to reduce his ERA to 4.43 in an undeserved defeat. A bit of dubious defense lead to the first run of the game. Orix second baseman Keiichi Hirano tripled off the rightfield wall and, one out later, leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani grounded to shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who threw it away, adn Hirano was in with a 1-0 advantage. Seibu restored equilibrium in the home episode when DH Hiroyuki Shibata
singled to left, went to second on a sac bunt, and came around
The respective offenses were brought to a standstill by the two pitchers until the sixth, when Orix had a mild threat. With two outs, rightfielder Roosevelt Brown walked and shortstop Hidemitsu Saito singled to center. But catcher Takashi Miwa flied out to right for the third out. However, it would then be Seibu's turn to benefit from an oppositon
mistake in the seventh. First baseman Masahide Kaizuka doubled to rightcenter
and went to third on rightfielder Hiroyuki Oshima's single to right. One
out later and with catcher Toru Hosokawa at the
Orix subsequently loaded the bases in the eighth on a one out single and two walks. Saito, though, grounded into a double play and Nishiguchi had done a Houdini. Kiyoshi Toyoda twirled a 1-2-3 ninth to finalize it. Orix has been beaten in each of thierlast four times out. Nishiguchi is 3-0 against Orix this season and he leads all active Pacific League pitchers with 111 lifetime victories. |
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| Osaka The death of former Kintetsu Buffaloes
outfielder and coach Takahisa Suzuki was commemorated with a pre-game ceremony
Tuesday at Osaka Dome. Kevin Beirne started and wove seven shutout innings on seven hits and DH Larry Barnes, in his first game back from a wrist injury, cracked two hits and drove in a run in a 4-0 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters. Suzuki's wife Yukari was given the game ball when it was over. Oshimoto started for the Fighters and boy, has the league figured him out! It's hardly unheard of for a rookie to come in and have two or three imporessive outings and then once scouts have had a chance to dissect him, he gets his head handed to him. Oshimoto couldn't get out of the third before he was dispatched to the showers upon being touched for three runs on four hits and walking three to raise his ERA to 4.24. The Buffaloes dinged Oshimoto in the second, when leftfielder Fumitoshi Takano and first baseman Hirotoshi Kitagawa both walked with one out and shortstop Masahiro Abe singled to right to load the bases. Catcher Tetsuya Matoyama flied out to center and Takano tagged up and scurried in for a 1-0 lead. Then it was hammertime in the third. Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi walked and Barnes singled to right. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Rightfielder Koichi Isobe cleaned and jerked an Oshimoto offering into the rightcenterfield seats and it was 3-0 Buffs. Goodbye Oshimoto, hello Tateishi. Takano singled to center and Kitagawa bopped one off the centerfield wall for a double. Abe ripped one, but right at third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara and the Kintetsu edge was still only three. In the fourth, Matoyama singled to left and went to second on a sac bunt. One out later, Barnes singled to center and Matoyama rumbled to the plate to push it to 4-0 Kintetsu. Nippon Ham had the first two hitters of the fifth get on, but two
strikeouts and a groundout shredded that insurgency. They had two on and
two out in the sixth and were denied once more due to a groundout. Kintetsu
then only produced two more hits over the last three innings
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Team Reports
| Seibu | |
| Daisuke Matsuzaka played a little catch Tuesday. However, the Lions aren't going to rush him back in the rotation but will instead put him in the bullpen for an appearance or two before he becomes a starter | again. There is still no timetable as to when he will return, but
Matsuzaka himself says that he is feeling better.
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