Sunday Shingo - Painful Victory

Lotte's "Sunday Shingo" Ono threw 6+ innings for the win on Sunday for
his 9th Sunday win in a row, Lotte winning 11 and tying 1 over the last
12 Sundays.  But after the game at Chiba Marine Stadium, there were
very few happy faces to be had in the home team dugout.

First of all, it was announced before the game that the very popular
Kuroki was dropped to 2-gun for a refresher mini-camp.  Kuroki
took the loss on Saturday (7/8) to have his record drop to 3 and 9 with
a league worst 6.96 ERA.  The running joke is that he needs to give
up beer.  (Those of you not in Japan, Kuroki is currently in beer
advertisements on TV, broadcast often during baseball games.)  Kuroki's
popularity shot through the roof last season when he beat Super Rookie
Matsuzaka.  He is ranked second behind Matsuzaka in All Star votes
despite his awful record.  (And no, I don't think it's Central League
fans causing trouble.)

Next, with a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Ishii ripped
a double to left to start the inning.  Now, this doesn't sound very
painful, does it?  Well, when Hatsushiba ripped a base hit to left
one out later, Ishii tried to score from second, being touched out at the
plate.  That, in itself, isn't the bad news.  The bad news is
that he fractured (I think) a finger on his left hand, knocking him out
of the game for an estimated two months.

Ishii, traded from the Giants who have more free agent veterans than
they need, has been a catalyst for this down and out team (with some of
the best fans anywhere).

Then, with a 7-0 lead in the 7th, and Ono on his way to an easy kanpu (shut out) victory
the biggest disaster of the day struck.  Pitching to lead off batter
Ide, who singled to left, Ono suddenly felt something in his arm give. 
His infield surrounded him, and the trainer came out to have a look. 
Then, the trainer motioned to the dugout with a big "X" using his arms
to say that Ono couldn't go on.

Kobayashi, Fujita, and Warren came on to work one inning apiece, giving
up a total of 4 runs (3 earned), including Ide - the run charged to Ono. 
Lotte took the game 8-4.

What will come of Ono?  It's still not certain.  It's been
pretty much decided to skip next Sunday (7/16).  Having Ono throw
one of the last games before the All Star break (19th or 20th) is a goal,
but it depends a lot on how Ono's arm is feeling once he starts trying
to throw again in a few days.

Kuroki, Ishii, and Ono, all down at the end of the first half of the
season.  Nope, not much to smile about after that game at all.