Takahashi cracks 300th longball, Giants blank Carp
Yoshinobu Takahashi has been a popular figure in Yomiuri Giants lore, but on Friday he plastered his name in the club’s record books by blasting his 300th homer in a 5-0 victory at Tokyo Dome.
The shot gave the Giants a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning as he took Bryan Bullington (6-10) the opposite way to left with a man aboard. He is the fifth Giants player to reach that figure, joining Japan all-time homer leader Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, current skipper Tatsunori Hara and [the now-out-of-work] Hideki Matsui.
Nagashima, who was the team’s manager when Takahashi joined the club in 1997, was on hand at the dome to see the game.
The oft-injured Takahashi has been basically healthy for the past two seasons and skipper Tatsunori Hara has given him ample rest that has helped keep the 15th-year outfielder play more games than the previous two seasons.
“It was a wonderful homer for him to reach 300 on,” Hara told the TV audience. “And it was also big for the team,” he said of Takahashi, who also tied Matsui for fifth all-time on the club for RBIs with 889.
Tetsuya Utsumi (11-6) tossed a four-hit gem for his ninth career shutout and CL-high-tying 11th win.
DRAGONS 4, BAYSTARS 3
Kei Nomoto’s two-run single in the sixth gave Chunichi the lead and Yuta Muto covered up for a poor start from Takashi Ogasawara [who got a third-inning hook] by firing 3.1 innings of one-run ball as the Dragons rallied to top visiting Yokohama.
Jorge Sosa worked two scoreless innings before Daisuke Yamai struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 7
Takahiro Arai homered twice and drove in four, and Craig Brazell added a two-run shot as Hanshin topped Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Kyuji Fujikawa walked one and struck out one in the ninth to collect his 17th save.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 0
Yang Yao-shun (1-0) took advantage of his first start in two years, tossing his first career shutout [a three-hitter with 10 Ks] as SoftBank blanked Orix at FYJ Dome.
Wily Mo Pena ripped a pair of homers, and added a double and a single, driving in three to back the seventh-year Yang, brother of Yang Zhong-shou of the Nippon Ham Fighters.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 1
Ryoma Nogami (6-3) worked 6.1 innings, working around nine hits and a walk with three Ks, to win his sixth straight decision as Seibu topped Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroyuki Nakajima broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double in the fifth.
FIGHTERS 2, MARINES 1
Takashi Ogino’s misplay allowed two runs to score in the fourth, and Mitsuo Yoshikawa (10-4) and three relievers made it stand up in edging Lotte at Sapporo Dome.
Ogino dropped a popup off the bat of Atsunori Inaba and then threw to first -- where no one was covering -- for two costly errors on one play.
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Yoshinobu Takahashi has been a popular figure in Yomiuri Giants lore, but on Friday he plastered his name in the club’s record books by blasting his 300th homer in a 5-0 victory at Tokyo Dome.
The shot gave the Giants a 3-0 lead in the fifth inning as he took Bryan Bullington (6-10) the opposite way to left with a man aboard. He is the fifth Giants player to reach that figure, joining Japan all-time homer leader Sadaharu Oh, Shigeo Nagashima, current skipper Tatsunori Hara and [the now-out-of-work] Hideki Matsui.
Nagashima, who was the team’s manager when Takahashi joined the club in 1997, was on hand at the dome to see the game.
The oft-injured Takahashi has been basically healthy for the past two seasons and skipper Tatsunori Hara has given him ample rest that has helped keep the 15th-year outfielder play more games than the previous two seasons.
“It was a wonderful homer for him to reach 300 on,” Hara told the TV audience. “And it was also big for the team,” he said of Takahashi, who also tied Matsui for fifth all-time on the club for RBIs with 889.
Tetsuya Utsumi (11-6) tossed a four-hit gem for his ninth career shutout and CL-high-tying 11th win.
DRAGONS 4, BAYSTARS 3
Kei Nomoto’s two-run single in the sixth gave Chunichi the lead and Yuta Muto covered up for a poor start from Takashi Ogasawara [who got a third-inning hook] by firing 3.1 innings of one-run ball as the Dragons rallied to top visiting Yokohama.
Jorge Sosa worked two scoreless innings before Daisuke Yamai struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 7
Takahiro Arai homered twice and drove in four, and Craig Brazell added a two-run shot as Hanshin topped Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Kyuji Fujikawa walked one and struck out one in the ninth to collect his 17th save.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 0
Yang Yao-shun (1-0) took advantage of his first start in two years, tossing his first career shutout [a three-hitter with 10 Ks] as SoftBank blanked Orix at FYJ Dome.
Wily Mo Pena ripped a pair of homers, and added a double and a single, driving in three to back the seventh-year Yang, brother of Yang Zhong-shou of the Nippon Ham Fighters.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 1
Ryoma Nogami (6-3) worked 6.1 innings, working around nine hits and a walk with three Ks, to win his sixth straight decision as Seibu topped Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroyuki Nakajima broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double in the fifth.
FIGHTERS 2, MARINES 1
Takashi Ogino’s misplay allowed two runs to score in the fourth, and Mitsuo Yoshikawa (10-4) and three relievers made it stand up in edging Lotte at Sapporo Dome.
Ogino dropped a popup off the bat of Atsunori Inaba and then threw to first -- where no one was covering -- for two costly errors on one play.