2012 Season Standings

Central League

Pacific League

Inter-League

Last updated: 5/17 @ 10:26pm

Tonight's game between the Rakuten Eagles and Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.

Bottom of the 2nd inning with runners on first and second and no out.

Shota Dobayashi up to bat for Hiroshima.  Kelvin Jimenez on the mound for Rakuten.

1-2 pitch...

Jimenez was ejected from the game for throwing a dangerous pitch.  Dobayashi was replaced by pinch-runner Shogo Kimura.  Jimenez is the first PL pitcher (fourth overall) to be ejected for throwing a dangerous pitch this season

Dobayashi was taken to a hospital and his tests came back negative.  He told reporters he was ok (he actually wanted to continue playing but Kenjiro Nomura erred on the side of caution and pulled him from the game) and that he planned to attend practices on Friday.  As of now, Dobayashi is expected to play in Saturday's game against Nippon Ham.

With runners on first and third and no out in the 1st inning of tonight's game against the Yomiuri Giants, Tomotaka Sakaguchi banged his right shoulder on the ground while attempting a diving catch in center (Hayato Sakamoto hit the ball).  Sakaguchi was carried off the field in a stretcher and taken to a hospital where he was diagnosed with a right shoulder separation.

Sakaguchi will return to Kobe on Friday for a re-evaluation by the team doctor.

UPDATE @ 11:01pm - While the team will not know how long Sakaguchi will be out, it seems he may end up missing a good chunk of time.  There is also a possibility that he will require surgery.

Youtube (not mine)

Chunichi Dragons

The Dragons may have third base coach Ken Hirano swap jobs with first base coach Hiroyuki Watanabe after Hirano waved Yohei Oshima home from second on a single to center in Wednesday's nights game against Lotte.

Yakult Swallows

Ryoji Aikawa lost his mother to cancer on April 28.  She was fifty-eight.

Yomiuri Giants

MRI tests on Ryosuke Miyaguni's right shoulder came back negative for any structural damage.  The Giants still took Miyaguni off the active roster today to give him a chance to regroup.

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According to Sponichi, Yoshinobu Takahashi is using Venex's Recovery Wear.

Takahashi hit a grand slam on Wednesday.  It was the fourth grand slam to be hit on the very first day of Inter-league play.  The other three were hit by Luis Lopez in 2005, Norichika Aoki in 2006, and Masato Akamatsu in 2009.

Other notes on the grand slam: it was Takahashi's eighth career grand slam, which is good for a ninth place tie on the CL All-time list and a third place tie on the franchise All-time list (Sadaharu Oh with fifteen; Shinnosuke Abe with nine; and Tatsunori Hara with eight); the nine years in between grand slams (his previous grand slam came on September 28, 2002) is the second longest behind Masato Monzen (1938 and 1950), Tatsuhiko Kimata (1968 and 1980), and Takumi Ejima's (1970 and 1982) twelve years; Takahashi hit seven grand slams within the first five years of his career -- two in 1998, three in 1999, one in 2001, and one in 2002.

Hanshin Tigers

Jason Standridge's parents were in the stands on Wednesday night.  The Tigers may take Standridge off the active roster today since he is not scheduled to start another game for at least ten days.

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Former Hanshin pitching coach Yasuo Kubo's son, Kei Kubo, will be making his Japanese Tour debut at Totomi Hamamatsu Open 2012.

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Former Hanshin manager Kenjiro Matsuki Miwako "Peko" Hamada is the choreographer behind the Maru Mori Dance, the Gyu Gyu Gyu Dance, and the Yubikiri Dance.

Hiroshima Carp

Takaya Kawauchi's new contract will be worth an estimated 5M yen.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Sponichi is giving away tickets to the Daisuke Miura Seats at Yokohama Stadium to games on May 27 and 28 (vs Orix).  One set of three tickets per game is up for grabs.

Softbank Hawks

Toru Hosokawa was left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday night for what may have been neck pains. He is currently day-to-day.

Nippon Ham Fighters

According to Sponichi, Yoshio Itoi hit the PL's first homer to leadoff a game on the first day of Inter-league play on Wednesday night against Hanshin.  It was also Itoi's first career homer to leadoff a game.

Seibu Lions

Sponichi notes part of Takeya Nakamura's problem may have to do with the slightly thinner bat (by about 0.4 centimeters) he is using this season.

Nakamura's two homers on Wednesday night gives him forty-one career Inter-league homers.  That's good for a third place tie with Alex Ramirez on the All-time list.  It was also Nakamura's sixth multi-homer Inter-league game, which is tops on the All-time list (Takeshi Yamasaki and Shinnosuke Abe are now in second with five).

Orix Buffaloes

The grand slam Chihiro Kaneko gave up on Wednesday night was his first since April 18, 2006.

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Hirotoshi Kitagawa gathered the position players together for the emergency meeting after Wednesday night's 6-0 loss against Yomiuri.

Rakuten Eagles

If Masahiro Tanaka does not feel any pain after the bullpen session he tossed on Wednesday, he could get to a pitch in a Ni-gun game against Seibu on May 22.  Senichi Hoshino told reporters he thought Tanaka might be able to return to the active roster some time around June 10.

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Kazuo Matsui was taken off the active roster today with a sprain in his right wrist.

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Hoshino told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to stick with Koji Aoyama as his closer even after Darrell Rasner returns.

According to Nikkan Sports, while Aoyama may have tied three other pitchers for the NPB high with six saves in as many consecutive games, he is the only pitcher in that group to also record five of the saves with a one-run lead.  Masahide Kobayashi (May 2001) saved three games with one-run leads; Hitoki Iwase (August 2005) saved no games with one-run leads; and Kyuji Fujikawa (July 2007) saved one game with a one-run lead.

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Kazuo Matsui was left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday because of pain in his right wrist.

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Hoshino gave Jose Fernandez permission to skip team practices on Monday and Tuesday so he could return to Sendai and be with his kid (they were not feeling well).

Games from May 16:

Cleveland Indians 9 - Seattle Mariners 3 [Nikkan Sports]
Ichiro Suzuki (SEA) started in right and batted third.  He went 0-for-4: RBI on ground out to short, line out to left, fly out to left, ground out to the pitcher. [Sponichi, Nikkan Sports]

Hisashi Iwakuma (SEA) entered the game in the bottom of the 5th inning, with the Mariners down 8-3 and allowed a run on three hits over four innings of work.  Final line: 4 IP, 65-38 NP-S, 18 BF, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR. [Nikkan Sports]

Toronto Blue Jays 8 - New York Yankees 1
Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) started the game and allowed seven runs over five innings of work.  He took the loss and dropped to 3-5.  Final line: 5 IP, 101-62 NP-S, 25 BF, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 3 HR. [Sponichi, Nikkan Sports]

Houston Astros 8 - Milwaukee Brewers 3
Norichika Aoki (MIL) entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Manny Parra in the top of the 9th inning and grounded out to second for the final out of the game. [Nikkan Sports]

Texas Rangers 4 - Oakland A's 1 [Nikkan Sports]
Yu Darvish (TEX) started the game and allowed one run over 7.2 innings of work.  He got the win and is now 6-1 on the year.  Final line: 7.2 IP, 118-73 NP-S, 28 BF, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR. [Sponichi, Sponichi, Daily Sports, Nikkan Sports]

Pawtucket 5 - Duham 4 (AAA)
Hideki Matsui (DUR) was the starting DH and batted fourth.  He went 2-for-4: two-run double to left, reaches on catcher interference, single to left, GIDP, ground out to the pitcher. [Sponichi, Nikkan Sports]

Rochester 4 - Louisville 1 (AAA)
Tsuyoshi Nishioka (ROC) started at second and batted eighth.  He went 0-for-2: fly out to left, fly out to left, walk. [Nikkan Sports]

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Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles vs Hiroshima Toyo Carp @ Mazda Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Kelvin Jimenez (RAK) 2-3, 2.78 - Yuki Saito (HIR) 0-1, 2.84

Attendance: 14862 | Series tied, 1-1-0 | Time: 3:19

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Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters vs Hanshin Tigers @ Koshien Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Brian Wolfe (HAM) 2-3, 2.61 - Yuya Ando (HAN) 2-1, 1.97

Attendance: 35303 | Nippon Ham leads series, 2-0-0 | Time: 3:13

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Chiba Lotte Marines vs Chunichi Dragons @ Nagoya Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Shunsuke Watanabe (LOT) 2-1, 2.62 - Yudai Kawai (CHU) 1-1, 4.15

Attendance: 23804 | Lotte leads series, 1-0-1 | Time: 3:31

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Saitama Seibu Lions vs Yokohama Bay Stars @ Yokohama Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Takayuki Kishi (SEI) 3-3, 2.13 - Shugo Fujii (YOK)

Attendance: 11685 | Seibu leads series, 2-0-0 | Time: 2:38

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