Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to join the Ichi-gun players for workouts on Friday.  That could mean he gets an Ichi-gun start on May 30 against the Yomiuri Giants (at Tokyo Dome).

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Motohiro Shima was taken off the active roster today after he was diagnosed with a fracture in his right thumb (metacarpal).  He will likely require about a month for a full recovery (he will have pins inserted within the next day or so).

Shima suffered the injury when he took a foul tip off his thumb during a game against the Orix Buffaloes on May 13.

2012 Stats

Seibu Lions

When Hideaki Wakui returns to the active roster will apparently be decided by the parent company, not the front office.

Orix Buffaloes

The pitching staff walked ten batters and hit two during Wednesday's game against the Hanshin Tigers.  The last time the staff allowed double-digit walks/HBPs: thirteen on July 2, 2004.

Rakuten Eagles

Kazuo Matsui (right wrist sprain) worked out at Kleenex Stadium today.  Workouts included running and fielding/throwing practice.

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The Eagles announced that they sell a special a "Kakattekoi Bay Stars!" t-shirt during their two game series against Yokohama.  The shirt will only be available at the Kleenex Stadium team store.

Chunichi Dragons vs Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Yudai Kawai (CHU) 1-1, 3.86 - Kelvin Jimenez (RAK) 2-4, 3.11

Attendance: 10707 | Series tied, 1-1-0 | Time: 2:55

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Softbank Hawks

Sadaharu Oh told reporters today that Hiroki Kokubo was playing through some lower back pains.

Orix Buffaloes

Takahiro Okada will reportedly spend a week in a hospital in Kobe for his left hamstring.  He will also be re-evaluated on May 31.

Rakuten Eagles

The Eagles are offering discounts to all their tickets for Thursday night's make-up game against the Chunichi Dragons.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Terrmel Sledge hit a grand slam off Yokohama's Futoshi Kobayashi on Tuesday night.  That made his the thirteenth player in NPB history to record a homer off all twelve current NPB teams (twenty-third to hit homers against all twelve NPB teams, not including the current Rakuten Eagles).  Of those thirteen players, Sledge is the only one that hit a grand slam against the twelfth team.

Seibu Lions

Hideaki Wakui worked out for about four hours at the Seibu 2 Stadium facilities today.

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Yusei Kikuchi's final numbers from his Ni-gun start against Rakuten on Tuesday:

2 IP, 14 BF, 52 NP, 6 H, 1 HR, 1 SO, 1 BB, 6 R, 5 ER.

Orix Buffaloes

Kyocera Dome gives out 1M yen to players that hit grand slams at the stadium.  Takayoshi Kawabata got his on Tuesday night.

More on the grand slam: Kawabata is the second rookie in franchise history to hit a grand slam for his first Ichi-gun home run; he is the twelfth rookie in the NPB (ninth in the PL) to hit a grand slam for his first Ichi-gun home run; he is the first rookie to hit a grand slam during Inter-league play.

Rakuten Eagles

According to Sponichi, Masahiro Tanaka could re-join the active roster as early as Thursday (dependent on how he is feeling today and whether or not the coaches agree it is the best move).  Sanspo and Nikkan Sports add that Tanaka could get an Ichi-gun start as early as May 30 against the Yomiuri Giants.

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The Eagles are giving away free Inter-league home game tickets to people with Tohoku area last names: Miyagi-san, Iwate-san, Fukushima-san, Akita-san, Aomori-san, and Yamagata-san.

According to Nikkan Sports, thirteen people took advantage of the deal on Tuesday (game was eventually called due to rain): Miyagi-san x 6, Akita-san x 4, Fukushima-san x 2, Yamagata-san x 1.

Chunichi Dragons vs Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Kenichi Nakata (CHU) 3-2, 2.02 - Wataru Karashima (RAK) 1-1, 1.23

Attendance: 14240 | Rakuten leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 3:09

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Seibu Lions

Yusei Kikuchi made a Ni-gun start against the Rakuten Eagles today and gave up six runs on seven hits over three innings of work.

Orix Buffaloes

The Buffaloes announced today that they promoted Ni-gun bullpen coach Nobuyuki Hoshino to Ichi-gun bench coach.  Ichi-gun bench coach Motoyuki Akahori was shifted to Ichi-gun bullpen coach and Ichi-gun bullpen coach Hiroshi Kobayashi was demoted to Ni-gun bullpen coach.

The changes were apparently just a way to put things back the way they are supposed to be.

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Bobby Scales arrived at Osaka International Airport on Monday.  The Buffaloes held a press conference for Scales at Kyocera Dome today.

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Shinji Takahashi will likely return to the starting line-up today as a DH batting fifth.

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Kei Igawa (right hamstring) may not make it back to the active roster until after Inter-league play.  Igawa did start playing some catch, but because his leg is still bothering him, he's only running at about seventy to eighty percent.  He also has not yet tossed a bullpen session.

Igawa will probably pitch in at least one Ni-gun rehab game before returning to the active roster.

Rakuten Eagles

Masahiro Tanaka made a Ni-gun rehab start against Seibu today and tossed four shutout innings while allowing three hits.  He also struck out six and walked one.  Tanaka threw a total forty-six pitches and topped out at 148km/h.

Chunichi Dragons vs Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles @ Kleenex Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Maximo Nelson (CHU) 0-0, 0.00 - Kenji Tomura (RAK) 3-2, 3.27

Play was paused at around 18:41 (after the end of the top of the 2nd inning with Chunichi up 3-1) and ultimately called at 19:09.

Softbank Hawks

Pitching coach Ikuo Takayama sat down with Hiroki Yamada, Nagisa Arakaki, Kenji Otonari, and Sho Iwasaki today and told them that they will be going with a five man starting rotation that includes Tadashi Settsu.  The others will be used to help fill in any gaps.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Keisuke Tanimoto recorded a victory on Saturday on just one pitch and became the thirty-third player in the NPB to accomplish the feat.

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The Fighters will be hosting Player Days on June 16 and 17 (vs Yakult at Sapporo Dome).

Seibu Lions

Voice actress Kaoru Fukuhara will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on June 24 (vs Orix).  She will also be in charge of stadium announcements that day.

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Seibu Recreation announced today that restaurant Shishi at Seibu Dome will be closed until further notice after a customer found a cigarette butt (about four centimeters long) in the curry at the buffet table on Sunday.  There have so far been no reports of customers getting sick.

Orix Buffaloes

Akinobu Okada recorded his ninety-ninth Inter-league managerial victory on Sunday.  That's tops in the NPB history.

Rakuten Eagles

Masahiro Tanaka is still on for his Ni-gun start against Seibu on Tuesday.

Said Tanaka, "I have no worries.  I have not pitched in a month so I do not expect to do well right out of the gate.  I just have to pitch my game. ... Things are improving.  I am no longer in that place where I can not see the end of the tunnel."

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.

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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).

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

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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 ??).