NPB Highlights and Standings (week of June 15, 2003)
The Tigers overcame a 4-2 BaysStars' lead in the ninth inning on Akihiro Yano's bases loaded triple to beat Yokohama at Koshien Stadium. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shinjiro Hiyama drew a lead-off walk off of Yokohama starter Daisuke Miura. [westbaystars: I knew sending him to the mound after 120 pitches was a bad idea.] Atsushi Kataoka followed with a single to put runners at first and third with nobody out. Reliever Denny Tomori then hit George Arias with his second pitch before Yano stroked his game winning triple.
[westbaystars: Argh! I saw it coming with the lead-off walk. Hanshin has that same momentum that Yokohama had in 1998, and the 'Stars have been blowing games left and right in the late innings. A fatal combination (unless you're a Hanshin fan this year). I did think that Denny was a good choice for relief, though, so other than being a little late, I have no arguement with Yamashita-kantoku on that one.]
Yomiuri Giants 8 - Hiroshima Carp 3:
Koji Uehara (6-2) struck out eight batters while allowing three runs and eight hits in 7-2/3 innings to fillet the Carp at Sapporo Dome. The Giants were led by a three-run homer Yoshinobu Takahashi and a two-run blast by Takayuki Shimzu.
Chunichi Dragons 3 - Yakult Swallows 1:
Shigeki Noguchi (5-2) struck out six batters and gave up six hits in 7-1/3 innings to cage the Swallows at Nagoya Dome.
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 21 - Orix Blue Wave 11:
The Hawks scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning to overpower the BlueWave in a slugfest.
Kintetsu Buffaloes 7 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3:
Masahiro Abe's fourth inning double and a fifth inning double by Hirotoshi Kitagawa defeated the Marines at Osaka Dome.
Seibu Lions 6 - Nippon Ham Fighters 4:
The Lions were led by three RBIs by Taketoshi to defeat the Fighters at Tokyo Dome. Shinji Mori notched the victory and Kiyoshi Toyoda picked up his 16th save of the 2003.
Nippon Professional Baseball - June 18, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
43 20 1 .683 Hanshin Tigers
33 29 1 .532 9.5 Yomiuri Giants
34 30 0 .531 9.5 Chunichi Dragons
31 31 0 .500 11.5 Yakult Swallows
26 30 0 .464 13.5 Hiroshima Carp
17 44 0 .279 25.0 Yokohama BayStarsPacific League
W L T Pct GB
38 24 1 .613 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
36 27 0 .571 2.5 Kintetsu Buffaloes
35 28 1 .556 3.5 Seibu Lions
28 33 0 .459 9.5 Chiba Lotte Marines
28 34 2 .452 10.0 Nippon Ham Fighters
20 39 2 .339 16.5 Orix BlueWave
by Robert Kiyoshi Shadlow
Sources: Japan Times (2003, June 18, 2003); Mainichi Daily News (2003, June 18)
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Naoyuki Omura drove in the game winning run with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Marines at Osaka Dome. Toyohiko Yoshida (3-0) picked up the win, striking out two batters in the 10th inning. Koichi Hori hit a solo home run for Lotte. Brian Sikorski (2-4) got the loss.
[westbaystars: My favorite part of the game was when the Buffs ran out onto the field and beat Ohmura senseless for the sayonara hit. One of these days they're going to attack him before he reaches first base and ...]
Seibu Lions 5 - Nippon Ham Fighters 1:
Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-1) struck out six batters, yielding only one run and four hits in seven innings to defeat the Fighters at Tokyo Dome. Scott McClain launched his 14th and 15th home runs in consecutive at-bats to drive in four RBIs for the Lions.
Nippon Professional Baseball - June 17, 2003
by Robert Kiyoshi Shadlow
Source: Japan Times (2003, June 17)