NPB Highlights and Standings (week of May 18, 2003)
Hanshin Tigers 4 - Hiroshima Carp 3:
Kei Igawa (6-3) pitched seven innings yielding only two earned runs and six hits to beat the Carp at Koshien Stadium. Jeff Williams notched his 12th save with a scoreless ninth inning. Norihiro Akahoshi hit a game-tying triple and Shinjiro Hiyama hit the go-ahead single in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jimmy Hurst had hit a two run double in the top of the sixth for Hiroshima.
Yakult Swallows 4 - Yomiuri Giants 1:
Masanori Ishikawa (3-3) threw a 114 pitch complete game allowing only one run and four hits while striking out eight batters to beat the Giants at Fukuoka Dome. Noriyuki Shiroishi doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning. Hiroki Sanada (1-4) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings to take the loss.
Chunichi Dragons - BayStars postponed due to rain:
The game was called after 1-1/2 scoreless innings at Yokohama Stadium.
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 12 - Nippon Ham Fighters 4:
The Hawks had a 10 hit and nine run thrid inning including Pedro Valdes' two run homer to crush the Fighters at Tokyo Dome. [westbaystars: They tied a Pacific League record of nine consecutive hits that inning (one walk sandwhiched in there.] Tsuyoshi Wada (5-2) struck out seven batters giving up four runs and eight hits in 7-2/3 innings to pick up his fifth save.
Kintetsu Buffaloes 14 - Seibu Lions 3:
Tuffy Rhodes' two three-run homers (16th & 17th HRs of 2003) were part of the Buffaloes 16-hit trouncing of the Lions at Osaka Dome. Osamu Hoshino hit 3-for-3 including a solo home run. Shinichi Kato (3-0) gave up only one run and four hits in six innings to pick up the win. Losing pitcher Fumiya Nishiguchi (3-3) yielded 10 runs on 10 hits over 3-1/3 innings.
Chiba Lotte Marines 6 - Orix BlueWave 2:
Jose Fernandez, Takashi Tachikawa, and Koichi Hori each hit solo home runs to lift the Marines past the BlueWave. Nathan Minchey (4-3) allowed two runs in 6-1/3 innings to notch the victory at Yahoo BB Stadium.
Nippon Professional Baseball
May 21, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
28 14 1 .667 Hanshin Tigers
19 18 0 .513 6.5 Hiroshima Carp
22 21 0 .512 6.5 Chunichi Dragons
22 21 0 .512 6.5 Yakult Swallows
20 20 1 .500 7.0 Yomiuri Giants
12 29 0 .293 15.5 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
26 16 1 .619 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
24 18 0 .571 2.0 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
23 19 1 .548 3.0 Seibu Lions
19 22 0 .463 6.5 Chiba Lotte Marines
16 23 2 .410 8.5 Nippon Ham Fighters
13 23 2 .361 10.0 Orix BlueWave
Kei Igawa (6-3) pitched seven innings yielding only two earned runs and six hits to beat the Carp at Koshien Stadium. [...]
Was there again last night. No fires interrupting the game on this occasion, luckily, but Hanshin still had to get themselves out of trouble.
Compared to last season, Kei Igawa is looking decidedly pedestrian. While he's limiting the opposition teams to 2 or 3 runs, he's giving up quite a few hits and walking quite a few batters in the process. One thing that was really noticeable last night was his really high counts. Pow! Pow! He'd get two beautiful strikes... and then fall to pieces! I'm not sure how many pitches he threw, but over 7 innings, it had to be quite high.
Oh well, a win is a win is a win, and we'll take a pedestrian win over a spectacular loss any day of the week.
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 6 - Nippon Ham Fighters 4:
Hiroshi Shibahara and Nobuhiko Matsunaka both had solo home runs to beat the Fighters at Tokyo Dome. Brandon Knight notched the win yielding three runs and seven hits in five innings.
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 11 - Seibu Lions 3:
Koichi Isobe blasted a fifth inning grand slam and Tuffy Rhodes hit his 18th home run in the first inning to help trounce the Lions at Osaka Dome.
Orix BlueWave 10 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3:
The BlueWave drove in five runs in the second inning, including Scott Sheldon's solo home run, to drown the Marines in Kobe. Home runs by Takashi Miwa, Ikuro Katsuragi, Roosevelt Brown, and another solo shot by Sheldon further flooded Lotte out.
Hanshin Tigers 7 - Hiroshima Carp 1:
Akihiro Yano drove in four runs to lead the Tigers over the Carp at Koshien Stadium. Atsushi Kataoka also blasted a second inning two run homer. Keiichi Yabu gave up only one run and four hits in seven innings to earn the victory.
Yomiuri Giants 2 - Yakult Swallows 1:
Yoshinobu Takahashi hit a game winning home run in the sixth inning to slip past the Swallows at Fukuoka Dome. Hisanori Takahashi pitched a five hit complete game for the win. Giants' outfielder Chris Latham duplicated RedSox Trot Nixon's unusual play by tossing Ken Suzuki's pop fly ball into the stands with only two outs in the sixth inning. Shinya Miyamoto scored from second base for the Swallows' tying run. It must be difficult to count to three.
Yokohama BayStars 11 - Chunichi Dragons 6:
Tyrone Woods and Takanori Suzuki both connected with two run homers to crush the Dragons in Yokohama.
Nippon Professional Baseball - May 22, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
29 14 1 .674 Hanshin Tigers
21 20 1 .512 7.0 Yomiuri Giants
22 22 0 .500 7.5 Chunichi Dragons
19 19 0 .500 7.5 Hiroshima Carp
22 22 0 .500 7.5 Yakult Swallows
13 29 0 .310 15.5 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
27 16 1 .628 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
25 18 0 .581 2.0 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
23 20 1 .535 4.0 Seibu Lions
19 23 0 .452 7.5 Chiba Lotte Marines
16 24 2 .400 9.5 Nippon Ham Fighters
14 23 2 .378 10.0 Orix BlueWave
Hanshin Tigers 5 - Hiroshima Carp 4:
Key home runs by Tomoaki Kanemoto and George Arias slipped the Tigers past the Carp at Koshien Stadium. Kanemoto hit an eigth inning game winning two-run homer and George Arias also blasted a second inning two-run home run for Hanshin's fifth straight victory. Koichi Ogata hit a fifth inning two-run homer for Hiroshima. Shinji Taninaka pitched the eighth inning for the win and Jeff Williams got his 13th save for 2003.
Yomiuri Giants 3 - Yakult Swallows 1:
Takayuki Shimizu hit an eigth inning two RBI double to lift the Giants over the Swallows in Fukuoka. Yuya Kubo notched the win, giving up only one run and seven hits in eight innings. Junichi Kawahara earned his fifth save.
Chunichi Dragons 6 - Yokohama BayStars 1:
Koichi Sekikawa helped crush the BayStars with a seventh inning three-run home run in Yokohama. [westbaystars: This came right after rookie Uchikawa bobbled a ball at short that should have ended the inning. And, yes, it was called an error. The young Uchikawa has made some great plays at short, looking like he's capable of taking over for injurred Ishii Takuro. But that bobble cost three runs and gave Chunichi the lead for good. Another thread was talking about how little errors effect a game, but so many this year have been the deciding factor that I have to disagree.]
News:
Tuffy Rhodes was suspended for two games after shoving Seibu pitcher Hayato Aoki in Wednesday's game. Rhodes made contact with Aoki after the Lions' pitcher hit Kintetesu team mate Norhiro Nakamura with a pitch. Aoki is expected to be unable to play for one week with a sprained neck vertebrae.
Nippon Professional Baseball - May 23, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
30 14 1 .682 Hanshin Tigers
22 20 1 .524 7.0 Yomiuri Giants
23 22 0 .511 7.5 Chunichi Dragons
22 23 0 .489 8.5 Yakult Swallows
19 20 0 .487 8.5 Hiroshima Carp
13 30 0 .302 16.5 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
27 16 1 .628 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
25 18 0 .581 2.0 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
23 20 1 .535 4.0 Seibu Lions
19 23 0 .452 7.5 Chiba Lotte Marines
16 24 2 .400 9.5 Nippon Ham Fighters
14 23 2 .378 10.0 Orix BlueWave
Seibu Lions 8 - Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 7:
Kazuo Matsui ripped a fourth inning three-run homer in the fourth and hit 3-for-5 to slip the Lions past the Hawks at Fukuoka Dome. Alex Cabrera also hit a fifth inning solo home run. Winning pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up six runs and 11 hits in eight innings, throwing 156 pitches.
Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes 7 - Orix BlueWave 1:
Daisuke Masuda blasted a sixth inning two-run homer and Koichi Isobe hit a seventh inning solo home to help the Buffaloes crush the BlueWave at Yahoo BB Stadium. Hisashi Iwakuma allowed only one run and five hits to pick up the victory. [westbaystars: Since taking over the Wave, Leon Lee's record is 7 wins, 12 losses, and one tie, same as Ishige when he got the ax. When Leon took over, he said that he wouldn't tollorate mistakes. Yet it seems to me that they're averaging a couple of errors per game.]
Nippon Ham Fighters 10 - Chiba Lotte Marines 4:
Kuniyuki Kimoto's sixth inning grand slam helped the Fighters maul the Marines at Tokyo Dome. Chris Seelbach got the win, yielded only one run and six hits in six innings.
Yokohama BayStars 14 - Yomiuri Giants 10:
Takeshi Nakamura hit a second inning two-run homer, sixth inning three-run dinger, and a seventh inning solo home run as the BayStars out-powered the Giants at Yokohama Stadium. Rookie Shuichi Murata also hit a seventh inning three-run homer. Domingo Guzman gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings to notch the victory. [westbaystars: And he got his first base hit in his 21st at bat.]
Hiroshima Carp 6 - Chunichi Dragons 2:
Shigeru Morikasa hit a second inning two-run homer and a third inning three-run round tripper to lead the Carp over the Dragons at Hiroshima Stadium. Ken Takahashi won the game pitching seven innings while yielding two runs and nine hits.
Central League
W L T Pct GB
Tigers 30 14 1 .682
Giants 22 21 1 .512 7.5
Dragons 23 23 0 .500 8.0
Carp 20 20 0 .500 8.0
Swallows 22 23 0 .489 8.5
BayStars 14 30 0 .318 16.0
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
Hawks 27 17 1 .614
Buffaloes 26 18 0 .591 1.0
Lions 24 20 1 .545 3.0
Marines 19 24 0 .442 7.5
Fighters 17 24 2 .415 8.5
BlueWave 14 24 2 .368 10.0
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May 19, 2003