NPB Daily Results and Standings (Week of May 4, 2003)
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 8 - Orix BlueWave 4:
Tsuyoshi Wada struck out 12 batters, including 7 in a row starting the second inning - one short of the record for a rookie, giving up four runs, seven hits, and one walk for a complete game win over the BlueWave. Tadahito Iguchi hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning and a two-run homer in the seventh for the Hawks. Orix slugger Jose Ortiz hit a solo home run in the fourth and another in the sixth inning. Kazuhiko Shiotani blasted a two-run homer for the BlueWave in the ninth.
Seibu Lions 7 - Nippon Ham Fighters 2:
Taiwan's Chang Chih-chia (3-2) struck out eight batters while allowing two runs, six hits, and walked four in six innings to get the victory over the Fighters at Sapporo Dome.
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 4 - Chiba Lotte Marines 2:
Norihiro Nakamura had all four RBIs for the Buffaloes, including a home run, as he went 3-for-4 to beat the Marines at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Yokohama BayStars 5 - Hiroshima Carp 2:
Takeo Kawamura (1-0) gave up only two runs in six innings to claim the victory over the Carp at Yokohama Stadium. [westbaystars: The win was his first in 593 days.]
Hanshin Tigers 10 - Chunichi Dragons 2:
Makoto Imaoka drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the seventh inning to help the Tigers sleigh the Dragons at Nagoya Dome. Kei Igawa (4-3) threw 114 pitches in seven innings, yielding two runs, three hits, and three walks while striking out five batters for the win.
Yakult Swallows 13 - Yomiuri Giants 2:
Ken Suzuki hit 4-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Swallows' ambush of the Giants at Jingu Stadium. Suzuki blasted his 150th career home run off of Masumi Kuwata. Jason Beverlin (4-0) won the game allowing only two runs, eight hits, and striking out five batters in six innings.
Central League
W L T Pct GB
Tigers 21 11 1 .656
Swallows 17 15 0 .531 4.0
Giants 15 14 1 .517 4.5
Carp 14 14 0 .500 5.0
Dragons 16 17 0 .485 5.5
BayStars 9 21 0 .300 11.0
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
Hawks 19 13 0 .594
Buffaloes 18 14 0 .563 1.0
Lions 18 14 1 .563 1.0
Marines 13 17 0 .433 5.0
Fighters 13 17 1 .433 5.0
BlueWave 11 17 2 .393 6.0
[Fixed link: Admin on May 9, 2003 12:02 PM JST]
Chunichi Dragons 6 - Hanshin Tigers 1:
Shigeki Noguchi struck out 10 batters while giving up only one run, five hits, and walked two in seven-plus innings to beat the Tigers at Nagoya Dome. Kazuyoshi Tatsunami drove in three runs and went 2-for-4 for the Dragons. Makoto Imaoka gave the Tigers an early lead with a solo home run in the third inning. Tatsunami drove in the go-ahead run with a two-run single in the bottom of the third. Tatsunami also blasted a home run in the fifth inning, and Takayuki Onishi hit a solo home run in the seventh. Keiichi Yabu (2-2) lost the game for Hanshin.
Yomiuri Giants 7 - Yakult Swallows 5:
Hisanori Takahashi (1-3) threw a 135 pitch complete game and drove in a two-run single to beat the Swallows at Jingu Stadium. Takahashi hit the game winning single in the fifth inning off of Ryu Kawabata.
Pitcher Masumi Kuwata was put on the disabled list due a left ankle injured in an April 29 game and aggravated in Tuesday's game.
Hiroshima Carp 8 - Yokohama BayStars 5:
Toshikazu Sawazaki (2-0) notched the victory with 1-1/3 perfect innings of relief against the BayStars. Andy Sheets drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the top of the eighth.
Central League
W L T Pct GB
Tigers 21 12 1 .636
Giants 16 14 1 .533 3.5
Carp 15 14 0 .517 4.0
Swallows 17 16 0 .515 4.0
Dragons 17 17 0 .500 4.5
BayStars 9 22 0 .290 11.0
The Pacific League standings remain the same as on May 7th due to no games played.
Chunichi Dragons 13 - Hanshin Tigers 4:
The Dragons loaded up on 18 hits to pummel the Tigers before 35,000 fans at Nagoya Dome. Home runs by Kosuke Fukudome, Masahiko Morino, Alex Ochoa, Takayuki Onishi, and Kazuyoshi Tatsunami gave Makoto Kito (1-0) the vicory for Chunichi.
Yokohama BayStars 7 - Hiroshima Carp 3:
Daisuke Miura (1-0) struck out seven batters allowing only one run and two hits in seven innings in the rain at Yokohama Stadium. The only run [given up by Miura] was Takuya Kimura's home run in the fourth inning. Miura recorded his first win since returning from elbow surgery.
No other games were scheduled.
2003 NPB All-Star vote leaders from April 25th to May 8th balloting for the Pacific League are:
Kenji Jojima, Daiei Hawks catcher - 151,429 votes
Kazuo Matsui, Seibu Lions shortstop - 145,030 votes
Tadahito Iguchi, Daiei Hawks 2nd Base - 127,977
Hanshin Tigers players lead in eight of nine positions in Central League balloting.
Central League
W L T Pct GB
Tigers 21 13 1 .618
Giants 16 14 1 .533 3.0
Swallows 17 16 0 .515 3.5
Dragons 18 17 0 .514 3.5
Carp 15 15 0 .500 4.0
BayStars 10 22 0 .313 10.0
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
Hawks 19 13 0 .594
Lions 18 14 1 .563 1.0
Buffaloes 18 14 0 .563 1.0
Fighters 13 17 1 .433 5.0
Marines 13 17 0 .433 5.0
BlueWave 11 17 2 .393 6.0
[Edited by: Admin on May 9, 2003 12:04 PM JST]
I'm sure that with better weather there would have been a better crowd than the reported 11,000 (although I doubt it was that many). His return marks the return of our starting ace. And the defeat of Hiroshima to make it two out of three for the card marks the second series win for Yokohama this season - this month for that matter.
Yokohama is now 5 and 2 for the month of May, #1 for the month. I'm afraid we gave the rest of the league too large a handicap in April, though.
I always root for the underdog, so I'm hoping that Yokohama will be able to turn their fortunes around this season.
Except when they play Hanshin.
May 10, 2003 games:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Seibu 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Lotte 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Orix 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Kintetsu 0 0 0 2 1 3 3 0 X 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Nippon Ham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Daiei 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 X 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Chunichi 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2
Yomiuri 1 0 0 5 1 0 3 0 X 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Hanshin 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 5
Yokohama 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
Yakult 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3
Hiroshima 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 X 6
Central League
W L T Pct GB
Hanshin Tigers 23 13 1 .639
Yomiuri Giants 17 15 1 .531 4.0
Yakult Swallows 18 17 0 .514 4.5
Chunichi Dragons 19 18 0 .513 4.5
Hirsohima Carp 16 16 0 .500 5.0
Yokohama BayStars 10 24 0 .294 12.0
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 20 13 1 .606
Kintetsu Buffaloes 19 14 0 .576 1.0
Seibu Lions 19 15 1 .559 1.5
Chiba Lotte Marines 14 18 0 .438 5.5
Nippon Ham Fighters 13 18 2 .419 6.0
Orix BlueWave 11 18 2 .379 7.0
Anyone know when, or if, NPB intends to restore its English pages?
Eric
No, but I should have something for you all this weekend. That's why my own writing has been minimal lately.
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
Nippon Ham Fighters 11 - Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 3:
Michihiro Ogasawara had five RBIs off of a single, double and a three-run home run to help crush the Buffaloes at Osaka Dome. Tomochika Tsuboi also collected three hits and three RBIs as Nippon Ham accumulated 16 total hits. Masaru Yoshizaki (4-1) won the game giving up two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Seibu Lions 5 - Orix BlueWave 3:
The Lions beat the BlueWave on a four-run eighth inning including Scott McClain's two-run home run at Seibu Dome. Yoshitomo Tani is on a 17 game hitting streak. Takashi Ishii (1-2) pitched eight innings giving up three runs and eight hits to pick up the win. Kiyoshi Toyoda got his sixth save throwing a scoreless ninth inning.
Chiba Lotte Marines 5 - Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 3 (11):
Tomoya Satozaki tripled in the Marines' winning run in the 11th inning at Fukuoka Dome. Lotte's Rick Short went 4-for-5.
Chunichi Dragons 8 - Yokohama BayStars 1:
Starting pitcher Martin Vargas yielded one run and seven hits in four innings. Eiji Ochiai (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings to notch the victory.
Yakult Swallows 5 - Hanshin Tigers 2:
The Tigers' winning streak ended at four games thanks to Mitsuru Manaka's double in the sixth inning at Koshien Stadium. Masato Hanada (3-0) won the game while allowing only two runs and six hits in five innings. Shingo Takatsu picked up his seventh save of 2003 with a perfect ninth inning.
Yomiuri Giants 7 - Hiroshima Carp 3:
Koji Uehara (3-1) went eight innings to earn the victory at Tokyo Dome. Takahiro Suzuki hit his first home run of his career off Chris Brock (2-3) to put the Giants ahead in the third inning. Akira Eto launched an eigth inning three-run home run against his former team.