Hanshin Tigers vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 18:15
Starters: Enokida, Daiki (HAN) 2-4, 2.18 - Abe, Kazunari (LOT) 1-0, 0.00

Nippon Ham Fighters

Brian Wolfe threw thirty-five pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday.  He told reporters he was back to about eighty percent and would work on the remaining twenty percent by taking things day-by-day.

Source: Daily Sports 5/21/2013

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1st round draft pick Shohei Otani threw thirty-two pitches off the mound at Sapporo Dome on Monday before moving to the bullpen to throw another fifty-six pitches.  He is slated to make the first start of his Ichi-gun career on the 23rd against Yakult at Sapporo Dome.

Otani has not played in any Ichi-gun games since he started a Ni-gun game against Seibu on the 16th.

Source: Sanspo 5/21/2013

Sponichi adds that Otani threw twelve pitches to a standing catcher and twenty pitches to a squatting catcher when testing the mound at Sapporo Dome on Monday.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

The media learned on Monday that the Fighters will not nominate Otani for the Fresh All-Star Game because they consider him an Ichi-gun player and as such, feel he should only focus on the Ichi-gun All-Star Game.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Seibu Lions

Ryoma Nogami threw thirty pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday (about ten fewer than usual).  He is scheduled to start a game against Hiroshima on the 23rd.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/21/2013

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At about forty pitches, Yusei Kikuchi threw about ten more pitches than usual during his pre-game bullpen session on Monday.

Source: Sanspo 5/21/2013

Softbank Hawks

The Hawks recorded ten or more runs in two consecutive games -- twelve runs on May 19 and ten runs on the 20.  The last time they managed a similar feat was in 2010 when they scored fourteen runs on July 31 and twelve runs on August 1.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Scouts from the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers are expected to attend Wednesday's game against Yomiuri at Kleenex Stadium.

Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to start for the Eagles, Hirokazu Sawamura for the Giants.

Source: Daily Sports 5/21/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

Seth Greisinger was taken off the active roster on Tuesday with tightness in his right shoulder.  Kazunari Abe is scheduled to take Greisinger's next start on Wednesday against Hanshin.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/21/2013

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Yuji Nishino struck out twelve batters in 8.1 innings of work on Monday and became the first pitcher taken during the Ikusei draft to record ten or more strikeouts in a game.

Source: Sponichi 5/21/2013

Nippon Ham Fighters

Dai-Kang Yoh became the seventh player in NPB history since the start of the two-league format to record multiple hits in nine straight games.  Yoh has also recorded multiple hit in eleven games this month.  The CL high of sixteen in one game was set by four players, most recently by Hisayoshi Chono in August 2012.  The PL high of fifteen was set six times by five players.

Source: Sponichi 5/20/2013

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1st round draft pick Shohei Otani is scheduled to toss a bullpen session today.

Source: Sanspo 5/20/2013

Hokkaido Bunka Hoso (UHB) plans to have two TV cameras assigned to Otani for his debut start as pitcher on the 23rd against Yakult.

Source: Sponichi 5/20/2013

Seibu Lions

Hideaki Wakui lost his spot in the starting rotation after another poor outing on Sunday.  He spoke to reporters after the game and seemed to be a little lost.

"I am not sure what I need to do.  I do not know when I will pitch next, but I will think about it today and tomorrow," said Wakui on Sunday.

Source: Sponichi 5/20/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

Katsuya Kakunaka was taken off the active roster on the 11th with pain in his left hamstring.  While he is eligible to return to the active roster on Tuesday, he only recently started taking soft-toss batting practice and will likely require more time.

Source: Sanspo 5/20/2013

Orix Buffaloes

The Buffaloes made a mistake on Sunday when they announced that umpire Tatsuya Yamamura was working his 1,500th game.  After the game, team officials apologized for Yamamura for the error.  Sunday's game was Yamamura's 1,499th game.

Source: Sanspo 5/20/2013

Hiroshima Carp vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 18:15
Starters: Maeda, Kenta (HIR) 4-1, 0.64 - Nishino, Yuji (LOT) 4-1, 2.53

Attendance: 11938 | Time: 3h14m | Lotte leads series, 2-0-0

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Hiroshima Carp vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 17:00
Starters: Nakamura, Kyohei (HIR) 1-1, 3.63 - Omine, Yuta (LOT) 1-1, 3.97

Attendance: 26387 | Time: 2h48m | Lotte leads series, 1-0-0

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Nippon Ham Fighters

Yuki Saito threw thirty-six pitches in the bullpen on Friday.  This was his third session since he started throwing to a squatting catcher on the 12th.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

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Hideki Kuriyama wants 1st round draft pick Shohei Otani to focus on pitching when he makes his Ichi-gun debut as a starting pitcher on the 23rd (vs Yakult at Sapporo Dome).

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Otani could make an appearance in relief during an upcoming Yomiuri series at Sapporo Dome (May 19-20) before he makes his debut as a starter on the 23rd (vs Yakult at Sapporo Dome).

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Tickets to the game on the 23rd started selling quickly immediately after the team announced that Otani was going to start the game -- the team sold about 1,000 tickets in the half day after the announcement (they normally sell on average about 300 tickets a day).

Source: Sanspo 5/18/2013, Nikkan Sports 5/18/2013

Softbank Hawks

Kenji Otonari pitched in a Ni-gun rehab game against Chunichi at Nagoya Stadium on Friday and gave up two runs on four hits over three innings of work.  Otonari was taken off the active roster on the 3rd with discomfort in his lower back.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Otonari could return to the active roster in time for a start on either the 20th (vs Chunichi) or the 22nd (vs Yokohama).

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/18/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

1st round draft pick Takahiro Matsunaga joined Tsuneo Horiuchi (August 2, 1966), Teruo Aida (May 20, 1971), Toyohiko Yoshida (June 18, 1988), and Masanobu Okubo (September 26, 2011) as the only pitchers in NPB history to give up a walk-off grand slam in their rookie season.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/18/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Naruse, Yoshihisa (LOT) 4-0, 0.85 - Ogawa, Yasuhiro (YAK) 3-1, 3.97

Attendance: 25862 | Time: 3h23m | Yakult leads series, 2-0-0

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Nippon Ham Fighters

If 1st round draft pick Shohei Otani makes it into one Ichi-gun game as both a pitcher and a position player this season, he will be the first to do so since Yozo Nagabuchi in 1968.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

Otani worked out at Kamagaya today -- did some running, played some catch, weight training.  He told reporters he felt a little tightness in his right shoulder, but was otherwise ok.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

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Brian Wolfe did some light workouts (played some catch, did some running) at the indoor training facilities in Sapporo on Thursday.  It was his first day back after spending the last ten days resting and recovering from sinusitis.

Wolfe will get checked out again on the 21st.  If he gets the green light, he will slowly begin to ramp up his training.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

Seibu Lions

Thursday's Ni-gun game against Nippon Ham:

Fumikazu Kimura (former pitcher turned outfielder) started at short and batted first.  He went 2-for-3: HR8, K, HR7, BB, BB.  Both home runs came off Shohei Otani.  Source: Sanspo 5/17/2013

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Atsushi Okamoto is planning to file marriage papers with his fiance later this month on his birthday (May 20).

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

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Cerberus Capital Management has decided to extend their tender offer period until May 31 in the hopes of reaching their 44.7 percent target.

Source: Reuters 5/16/2013

Softbank Hawks

1st round draft pick Nao Higashihama wants to throw a harder fastball and is currently working on strengthening his trunk muscles and lower body.  He is scheduled to start a Ni-gun game against Orix on the 19th.

Source: Nikkan Sports 5/17/2013

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Koji Akiyama took thirty swings during batting practice on Thursday.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Rakuten Eagles

Masahiro Tanaka has started one game on five days of rest, four games on six days of rest, and one game on seven days of rest so far this season.  Beginning with his last start on the 14th (vs Yokohama), all his starts through to June 1 (vs Yokohama at Kleenex) will likely be on five days of rest.  Depending on his level of fatigue, his next start after June 1 could come on four days of rest on June 6 (vs Yakult at Jingu).

Over his career, Tanaka has pitched in twenty-six games on five or fewer days of rest.  Of those twenty-six, twenty-four has been as a starting pitcher.  Of the twenty-six, twenty-five have been on five days of rest.  He is 12-5 with one save in those twenty-five games.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines

The Marines are 10-0 when they use five or more pitchers in a game and 13-15 when using four or less.

Of the ten games they have won when using five or more pitchers, eight have been come-from-behind victories.

Source: Sponichi 5/17/2013

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 18:00
Starters: Karakawa, Yuki (LOT) 2-2, 3.89 - Ishikawa, Masanori (YAK) 2-4, 3.57

Attendance: 17934 | Time: 2h56m | Yakult leads series, 1-0-0

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Chiba Lotte Marines vs Yomiuri Giants @ Tokyo Dome - 18:00
Starters: Greisinger, Seth (LOT) - Sawamura, Hirokazu (YOM) 2-2, 3.29

Attendance: 44962 | Time: 3h17m | Series tied, 1-1-0

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