Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 18:15
Announced Starters: Yuki Shichijo (YAK) - Takahiro Fujioka (LOT) 3-1, 3.27

Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 18:15
Announced Starters: Katsuki Akagawa (YAK) 3-2, 2.65 - Seth Greisinger (LOT) 4-1, 1.69

Attendance: 17150 | Lotte leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 2:49

(continue reading...)

Seibu Lions

Hideaki Wakui was taken off the active roster today in order to give him some time to think about his actions (woman troubles reported in tabloid).

Orix Buffaloes

Takahiro Okada will be taken off the active roster on Wednesday because his left hamstring has not shown much improvement since returning to the active roster on May 16.

===

Takayoshi Kawabata became the first rookie in franchise history to hit a grand slam for his first Ichi-gun homer since Tetsuya Yoneda on April 11, 1956.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Takahiro Fujioka's start against the Yakult Swallows was rained out tonight.  He is now scheduled to start Thursday's make-up game.

Fujioka threw about forty pitches in the bullpen in preparation for his start on Thursday.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows vs Chiba Lotte Marines @ QVC Marine Field - 18:15
Announced Starters: Yuki Shichijo (YAK) - Takahiro Fujioka (LOT) 3-1, 3.27

Canceled due to rain (called at 15:40).

The Marines announced today that they will be offering a Chiba Lotte Marines Proficiency Test on July 16, 2012 (13:10-14:00, fifty minutes).  The test will contain seventy multiple choice questions on various franchise facts and figures.  A passing grade is anything at or above 70%.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Atsunori Inaba became the eleventh player in NPB history to reach the 400 double milestone on Saturday.  The double came in the 2nd inning off Yusuke Nomura (Hiroshima, at Mazda Stadium).

Rakuten Eagles

Koji Aoyama picked up another save on Saturday and now has six saves in his last six appearances.

===

Senichi Hoshino treated ten players (including Ryo Hijirisawa, Akihisa Makida, Shinichiro Koyama, Takahiro Shiomi, and Koji Aoyama) to yakiniku on May 15.  Because he did not want the players to feel uncomfortable with his presence, he gave the team's player rep, Motohiro Shima, 200,000 yen to pay for the dinner.

Chiba Lotte Marines

The Marines extended their winning streak to six games on Saturday (includes one tie).  According to Nikkan Sports, the last time the team won six in a row was back in 2009 (September 22-30).

===

Katsuya Kakunaka is responsible for driving in the game-winning runs in the team's last four victories.

===

According to Sponichi, only four teams have been the first to ten games above .500 following a season in which they finished in last.  The 1964 Hankyu Braves (finished in second); the 1968 Kintetsu Buffaloes (finished in fourth); the 1981 Chunichi Dragons (finished in fifth); and the 2012 Chiba Lotte Marines (finished in ??).

Saturday's game between Lotte and Yokohama.

Alex Ramirez leads off the bottom of the 2nd for Yokohama.

Yoshihisa Naruse on the mound for Lotte.

3-1 slider...

The shot was called foul.  The umps were asked to review the footage.  About seven minutes later, the umps decided to stick with the original call.

The Bay Stars felt the ball was fair and plan to file a report, along with footage of the home run, with the NPB some time next week.

"We have video that clearly [shows the ball went fair].  We will include the video [with our report]," said Bay Stars' GM Shigeru Takada.  "The call will not be changed, but we want them to work harder to improve the technique."

The field umpire in charge of the call, Masato Tomoyose, was quoted as saying, "It was my decision.  We could not make an absolute confirmation [with the footage] so we went with the original ruling."

The monitor used to review the footage was a sixteen-inch TV connected to a consumer model VCR.

And Ramirez's take on the call: "It took the umps about ten minutes, but may be the four umps just grabbed some coffee and relaxed.  If the players can be fined, the same should go for the umps."

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Yokohama Bay Stars @ Yokohama Stadium - 13:00
Announced Starters: Yuki Karakawa (LOT) 5-1, 2.39 - Daisuke Miura (YOK) 4-1, 1.54

Attendance: 20023 | Series tied, 1-1-0 | Time: 2:51

(continue reading...)

Chiba Lotte Marines vs Yokohama Bay Stars @ Yokohama Stadium - 14:00
Announced Starters: Yoshihisa Naruse (LOT) 3-2, 1.88 - Kentaro Takasaki (YOK) 1-3, 4.19

Attendance: 19970 | Lotte leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 3:19

(continue reading...)

Softbank Hawks

Brian Falkenborg was taken off the active roster today for reasons currently unknown.

===

Hiroki Kokubo is four hits away from 2,000.  He has a shot at reaching the 2,000 hit milestone on Sadaharu Oh's birthday on Sunday.

===

Hiroyuki Kawahara was added to the active roster on Thursday for the first time since he was selected by the team in the second round of the 2009 draft.  Kawahara will be used out of the bullpen.

Seibu Lions

Takayuki Kishi tossed a shutout against the Yokohama Bay Stars on Thursday night.  It was his eighth career shutout victory, and first since June 6, 2010.  It was also his tenth Inter-league victory and third Inter-league shutout victory.

Orix Buffaloes

Yuki Nishi is slated to start Sunday's game against the Yakult Swallows.

Rakuten Eagles

Rookie Yoshinao Kamata might get his first Ichi-gun start on May 20 against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien.  If he does, he will become just the second player drafted out of high school in franchise history to get an Ichi-gun start in his first year.  The other: Masahiro Tanaka in 2007.

Chiba Lotte Marines

The Marines took the struggling Shota Ishimine off the active roster today and will likely call up Carlos Rosa.