Nippon Ham Fighters

Yuki Saito showed some improvement during his Ni-gun start against Seibu on Tuesday, but the Fighters still have no immediate plans to add him back to the active roster.  Source: Sanspo 9/5/2012

Hideki Kuriyama told reporters that in order for Saito to make the active roster, he needs to show something more than what other young pitchers like Keisuke Tanimoto and Masaru Nakamura have shown.  Source: Sponichi 9/5/2012

Final line on Saito's Ni-gun outing on Tuesday: 5 IP, 25 BF, 89 NP, 7 H, 0 HR, 2 SO, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 ER.  He also topped out at 145km/h and took a batted ball off his left foot in the 2nd inning.  Source: Nikkan Sports 9/5/2012

===

A pair of fans stopped Sho Nakata at the airport the other day and asked him if there was a part of his body that was giving him problems.  When Nakata asked what they were trying to do, they said they wanted to send him some Ki to fix his ailments.  Even though he felt a little suspicious, he decided to play along and stood still for about five minutes as they sent Ki into his body while his teammates watched and snickered.

Said Nakata, "I am not really sure if it did anything, but maybe it did something."

Source: Nikkan Sports 9/5/2012

Orix Buffaloes

Takayoshi Kawabata was awarded the Orix Buffaloes Sports Hochi Shimbun Series MVP on Tuesday (fifteen home games between July 27 and August 26).  Source: Sports Hochi Osaka 9/5/2012