Chunichi Dragons

Takashi Ogasawara will likely be added to the active roster in time for a spot start on Friday against the Softbank Hawks (at Nagoya Dome).

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Motonobu Tanishige played in his 2,678th career game on Wednesday and moved into sole possession of fourth on the All-time list.

Yakult Swallows

The Swallows posted details on their Third Circle K Sunkus Presents K Counter 2012 today.  The total number of strikeouts recorded between May 27 and June 11 (total eight games), multiplied by thirty yen, will be the amount of the discount the team offers on reserved seat A, first base side tickets* during their three game series against Chunichi between August 3 and 5.

Swallows pitchers racked up fifty-seven strikeouts over eight games last season for a 1,710 yen discount.

* tickets will be limited and will only be available through Circle K Sunkus.

Yomiuri Giants

Edgar Gonzalez worked out with the Ichi-gun team today at Giants Stadium.  He will likely be added to the active roster on Friday.

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Ryosuke Miyaguni's next Ichi-gun start will likely come on May 27 against the Nippon Ham Fighters (Tokyo Dome).  Miyaguni threw twenty-five pitches to a standing catcher in the bullpen on Wednesday.  It was his first session since he came off the active roster on May 17 with discomfort in his right shoulder.

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Shuichi Murata hit his forty-fifth career Inter-league homer on Wednesday.  That's tops on the All-time list.

The homer was also his first in fifty-three trips to the plate.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi notched his twentieth Inter-league win on Wednesday.  That's good for a second place tie  on the All-time list with Hideaki Wakui.  First place belongs to Tsuyoshi Wada and his twenty-two victories.

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Yoshihito Ishii successfully executed his first ever squeeze play on Wednesday (top of the 8th inning, runner on third, one out).

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The Giants have won all six of their Inter-league games so far.  According to Nikkan Sports: Only three other teams started Inter-league play the same or better: the 2007 Nippon Ham Fighters started with twelve victories; the 2009 Softbank Hawks six victories; and the 2011 Softbank Hawks ten victories.

The Giants are also the fifth team to record 100 Inter-league victories (100-90-8).

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The Giants posted information about player designed merchandise that will hit store shelves during the Player's Day games: Toshiya Sugiuchi on May 28; Hirokazu Sawamura on May 30; and Yuya Kubo / Tetsuya Yamaguchi on May 31.

Hanshin Tigers

Takumi Akiyama started a Ni-gun game against Orix on Wednesday and allowed one run (solo homer in the 9th) over nine innings of work.  Final line: 9 IP, 135 NP, 32 BF, 4 H, 1 HR, 11 SO, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 ER.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Alex Ramirez's 247 career Inter-league hits is tops on the All-time list.

Chunichi Dragons

Pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo told reporters after Tuesday's game that he thought Maximo Nelson might still be having problems with his right shoulder after watching him throw in the bullpen.

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The Dragons announced today that Toshiya Okada filed marriage papers with a Asaka Tanaka (20) on May 17.

Yakult Swallows

With the rain-out on Tuesday night, the Swallows will now play six in a row, beginning today (rain-out game was re-scheduled to Thursday).  That means the Swallows will need an extra arm for their game on May 28.  Junji Ogawa told reporters on Tuesday that Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi, or some other reliever, could get that start.

Tuesday's starter, Yuki Shichijo, will get Thursday's make-up start.  Shichijo threw about forty pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday.

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The Swallows will be offering ticket packages that include three free beers during twenty-one home games in July, August, and September.  Each set will cost 4,000 yen and include a reserved seat A ticket.  There will be a limit of 150 sets per game.

Yomiuri Giants

Michihiro Ogasawara (left hamstring) is scheduled to play in his first Ni-gun rehab during an upcoming three game series against Yakult that begins on May 29.  Assuming no setbacks, he might be able to make it back to the active roster as early as June 2.

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According to Sponichi: The Giants are 8-0-3 over their last eleven games.  The last time they won eight straight without a loss was in September 2009 when they won ten without a loss.  They have also held the opposition to two or fewer runs over their last eight straight games.  The last time they did that was in 1990 when they held the opposition to two or fewer runs over nine straight.  This is also the first time a CL team started Inter-league play with five straight victories.

Hanshin Tigers

Hiroaki Saiuchi started a Ni-gun game against Orix on Tuesday and gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits over seven innings of work.  He also recorded his first Ni-gun victory of his career.  Final line: 7 IP, 93 NP, 27 BF, 5 H, 1 HR, 5 SO, 1 BB, 2 R, 1 ER.

Hanshin Tigers vs Orix Buffaloes @ Kyocera Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Minoru Iwata (HAN) 2-5, 3.61 - Shinya Nakayama (ORI) 1-2, 3.95

Attendance: 29991 | Series tied, 1-1-0 | Time: 3:54

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Chunichi Dragons

Takeshi Yamasaki will likely be used as DH.  If he can hit a homer against the Rakuten Eagles (either tonight or Wednesday night), he will become the eighth player in NPB history to hit homers against thirteen different teams.

Yakult Swallows

Kazuhiro Hatakeyama would like to participate in the All-Star Game home run derby, but needs to hit six more home runs in order to qualify.

Yomiuri Giants

Ryuya Matsumoto was slated to make his "pro debut" today (start, one inning) in a Ni-gun exhibition game against Nippon Tsuun (Industrial League), but the game was rained out.

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Toshiya Sugiuchi threw thirty-one pitches in the bullpen on Monday in preparation for his start against the Seibu Lions on Wednesday.

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Hirokazu Sawamura is thinking about making changes to his cleats to accommodate for the harder Tokyo Dome mound.

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According to Daily Sports, since 1950, the Giants have finished in first in each of the three years there have been solar eclipses in Japan (excluding this year): December 14, 1955; April 19, 1958; and September 23, 1987.

Hanshin Tigers

According to Nikkan Sports, Randy Messenger is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in five games (19 innings) at Kyocera Dome over his career.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto will likely make the starting line-up as a DH batting fourth over the next four games at Pacific League stadiums.

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Nikkan Sports reports that the Tigers are concerned about Matt Murton and have sat down with him to see if there's anything they can do to help alleviate some of his frustrations at the plate.

March/April: 21-for-91, 27 TB, 11 SO, 0 BB, .231/.231/.297
May: 9-for-60, 13 TB, 5 SO, 4 BB, .150/.203/.217

Murton was quoted as saying "I have never been through such a bad slump at either the major league or minor league level.  I really do not know what's going on," after Sunday's game against the Rakuten Eagles.

Hanshin Tigers vs Orix Buffaloes @ Kyocera Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Randy Messenger (HAN) 3-2, 1.34 - Chihiro Kaneko (ORI) 1-1, 3.32

Attendance: 27068 | Orix leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 2:28

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Chunichi Dragons

Masahiro Yamamoto pitched well enough on Sunday to get at least one more start a Ichi-gun.

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A number of players, including Takeshi Yamasaki, visited two junior high schools in Yamamoto, Miyagi today.

Yakult Swallows

Tetsuto Yamada and Yuichi Matsumoto will likely be added to the active roster on Tuesday.

Yomiuri Giants

Tatsuya Hara spent about ten minutes working with John Bowker during pre-game practices on Sunday.

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Hirokazu Sawamura developed a cramp in his right leg during his start on Sunday.  He told reporters today that his leg was fine.

And speaking of Sawamura, his scoreless innings streak came to an end on Sunday at 33.2 innings.  Oh, and he also has not given up a homer since his first start of the season (a span of 52.2 innings, or 203 batters faced).

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Hayato Sakamoto's home run on Sunday hit a cameraman's notebook computer and shattered the display.  The ball also ricocheted off the computer and hit the cameraman in the right arm.

Hanshin Tigers

Shunsuke was taken off the active roster today for additional seasoning at Ni-gun.  Kohei Shibata will likely be called up and take over the spot left open by Shunsuke.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto worked out for about an hour at Koshien Stadium on his day off today.  Kanemoto has been a better hitter on the road this year.

Home: 12-for-62, 15 TB, 6 SO, 9 BB, .194/.296/.242
Road: 18-for-57, 22 TB, 12 SO, 6 BB, .316/.381/.386

Hiroshima Carp

Yoshiyuki Ishihara (left wrist) joined the Ichi-gun team for workouts at Mazda Stadium today.  Ishihara will be added to the active roster on Tuesday.

Yokohama Bay Stars

The Bay Stars filed a report on Alex Ramirez's home run that never was with the Central League office today.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles vs Hanshin Tigers @ Koshien Stadium - 14:00
Announced Starters: Yoshinao Kamata (RAK) - Yasutomo Kubo (HAN) 2-2, 2.36

Attendance: 46801 | Rakuten leads series, 2-0-0 | Time: 4:00

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Chunichi Dragons

Masahiro Yamamoto could be bumped from the rotation depending on how his next start on May 20 (vs Seibu) goes.

Incidentally, if Yamamoto faces Fumiya Nishiguchi on May 20, they could become the oldest combined Inter-league starters at eighty-six years and four months.

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Sponichi thinks Ken Hirano's days as an Ichi-gun coach may be numbered.

Yakult Swallows

Yuki Shichijo could make his first Ichi-gun start of the season on May 22 against Lotte (at QVC Marine).

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Orland Roman's wife and son arrived in Japan on May 11 and will be in the stands for his start today.

Yomiuri Giants

Dennis Houlton's next Ichi-gun start could come on May 22 against Seibu (at Seibu Dome).

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Tatsunori Hara gave players a lecture on how to his sac flies during full squad workouts at Giants Stadium on Friday.

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Hirokazu Sawamura threw about fifty pitches in the bullpen on Friday in preparation for his start on May 20 against Softbank.

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Tetsuya Yamaguchi has not given up a run in any of the eighteen games he has pitched in so far this year (19 IP).  He is six games away from tying the NPB record set by Kazuhiro Sasaki in 1998.

Hanshin Tigers

Takahiro Arai spent extra time working on his hitting during practice on Friday.  He also spent about fifteen minutes with Yutaka Wada beforehand.

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Owner Shinya Sakai denied reports that the team was looking into new foreign players to possibly replace Craig Brazell and/or Matt Murton.

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Brazell took batting practice against a right-handed BP pitcher on Friday.  He swung the bat 139 times and hit twelve over the fence during a span of about thirty minutes.  Brazell might not make the starting line-up today.

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Murton showed up to workouts at Koshien on Friday with a hair cut and told reporters he wanted to change things, both for himself and for the team.

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Akihito Fujii spoke to Sanspo about working his way back from a fracture in his left cheek.

It still feels like when the dentist gives you a shot of painkiller.  It does not interfere with playing baseball.  But, it does cause problems when I eat.  I am still having problems chewing with the left part of my mouth.  I am chewing with my right.  I still feel pain [on the left side].

I thought, I got hit!  I felt pain, but since my muscles where stressed, it did not feel that bad.  I felt I could still play.  I did not know the ball dropped in front of me and I did not think I had a fracture.  I was frustrated when I hurt my flank before opening day once, so I was really frustrated here.

I could not open my mouth, not even for one finger.  I was eating liquid food.  Like porridge and soup.  My family made me soft food.  I was hungry, but I could not eat.  I also lost a little weight.

I watched every Hanshin game [on TV].  It was Naruohama, home, night game, and back to Naruohama.  The pain could not be helped.  More than that, I was disappointed I could not be with the team.

According to Daily Sports, the NPB, the Hanshin Tigers, and the Yomiuri Giants discussed plans to play a series in Washington DC during the Spring this year (late March), but put things on hold because of scheduling issues and last year's Tohoku Earthquake.  With the WBC taking place next year, discussions are looking ahead to 2014, with a possible venue somewhere on the West Coast, like Los Angeles.

FYI: Washington DC was selected as a venue because it coincided with the 2012 Cherry Blossom Centennial.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles vs Hanshin Tigers @ Koshien Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Takahiro Shiomi (RAK) 4-3, 3.06 - Atsushi Nomi (HAN) 3-3, 2.51

Attendance: 46838 | Rakuten leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 3:08

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