Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs Yomiuri Giants @ Tokyo Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Tadashi Settsu (SOF) 5-0, 1.51 - Tetsuya Utsumi (YOM) 2-4, 2.08

Attendance: 44490 | Yomiuri leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 2:31

(continue reading...)

Softbank Hawks

The Hawks will allow fan club members and season ticket holders the opportunity to watch pre-game practices before their game against the Hanshin Tigers on May 26 at Yahoo Dome.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Yuki Saito threw thirty-five pitches in the bullpen at Mazda Stadium on Tuesday.

===

Kensuke Tanaka suffered a fracture in his left foot at Mazda Stadium last year while trying to steal second.  According to Nikkan Sports, Micah Hoffpauir teasingly said to Tanaka, "Kensuke, no sliding.  No steals, ok?"

Tanaka was also given salt by the staff to ward off bad spirits.  To which Tanaka jokingly said, "Maybe I will go sprinkle some of this near second base."

===

The Fighters announced additional Atsunori Inaba 2,000 hit commemorative items.

Seibu Lions

Hisanobu Watanabe will turn forty-seven on August 2, the day the Lions play a game against Orix in Gunma.  Since Watanabe is also from Gunma, the team announced today that they will also celebrate his birthday that day.

Brian Falkenborg was taken off the active roster today with tightness in his right shoulder and will be shut down for a couple/few days.

UPDATE @ 6:10pm - According to Daily Sports, Falkenbog did take part in team workouts at Jingu Stadium today.  He also said to reporters, "I have had the tightness for a little while now.  I thought that I might not be able to do what is expected of me.  I want to get back as soon as possible."

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.

Softbank Hawks

Toru Hosokawa was left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday night for what may have been neck pains. He is currently day-to-day.

Nippon Ham Fighters

According to Sponichi, Yoshio Itoi hit the PL's first homer to leadoff a game on the first day of Inter-league play on Wednesday night against Hanshin.  It was also Itoi's first career homer to leadoff a game.

Seibu Lions

Sponichi notes part of Takeya Nakamura's problem may have to do with the slightly thinner bat (by about 0.4 centimeters) he is using this season.

Nakamura's two homers on Wednesday night gives him forty-one career Inter-league homers.  That's good for a third place tie with Alex Ramirez on the All-time list.  It was also Nakamura's sixth multi-homer Inter-league game, which is tops on the All-time list (Takeshi Yamasaki and Shinnosuke Abe are now in second with five).

Orix Buffaloes

The grand slam Chihiro Kaneko gave up on Wednesday night was his first since April 18, 2006.

===

Hirotoshi Kitagawa gathered the position players together for the emergency meeting after Wednesday night's 6-0 loss against Yomiuri.

Rakuten Eagles

If Masahiro Tanaka does not feel any pain after the bullpen session he tossed on Wednesday, he could get to a pitch in a Ni-gun game against Seibu on May 22.  Senichi Hoshino told reporters he thought Tanaka might be able to return to the active roster some time around June 10.

===

Kazuo Matsui was taken off the active roster today with a sprain in his right wrist.

===

Hoshino told reporters on Wednesday that he plans to stick with Koji Aoyama as his closer even after Darrell Rasner returns.

According to Nikkan Sports, while Aoyama may have tied three other pitchers for the NPB high with six saves in as many consecutive games, he is the only pitcher in that group to also record five of the saves with a one-run lead.  Masahide Kobayashi (May 2001) saved three games with one-run leads; Hitoki Iwase (August 2005) saved no games with one-run leads; and Kyuji Fujikawa (July 2007) saved one game with a one-run lead.

===

Kazuo Matsui was left out of the starting line-up on Wednesday because of pain in his right wrist.

===

Hoshino gave Jose Fernandez permission to skip team practices on Monday and Tuesday so he could return to Sendai and be with his kid (they were not feeling well).

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs Tokyo Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Kenji Otonari (SOF) 3-2, 1.50 - Katsuki Akagawa (YAK) 3-1, 2.00

Attendance: 15448 | Series tied, 1-1-0 | Time: 3:41

(continue reading...)

Softbank Hawks

In games at Central League stadiums, Seiichi Uchikawa will most likely shift to center with Wily Mo Pena taking over in left.

And speaking of Pena, it seems he is working on a new jig he plans to perform after hitting home runs during Inter-league play.

===

Softbank Hawks Marketing informed the media that they switched over to a new sales system for their ticketless service this year after the company they used up last year had problems with a security breach in October.  An investigation at the time did not reveal any data loss, however, in April this year, a number of unauthorized transactions were made with credit cards that belonged to customers that purchased tickets through the system in the past.

The Hawks are calling on customers to double-check their records for any unauthorized transactions.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Yuki Saito threw thirty-six pitches in the bullpen on Tuesday in preparation for his next start on May 19 (vs Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium).

Seibu Lions

Takeya Nakamura took about sixty swings of the bat on Tuesday and hit three over the fence.

Rakuten Eagles

Rookie Yoshinao Kamata could make his Ichi-gun debut during the Hanshin series at Koshien (May 19, 20).

===

Masahiro Tanaka threw seventy-one pitches in the bullpen today (twenty-three to a standing catcher and fourty-eight to a squatting catcher; mixed in off-speed pitches as well).  It was his first bullpen since coming off the active roster on April 22.  Assuming no setbacks, Tanaka might have a chance to return to the active roster some time in early June.

Chiba Lotte Marines

Toshiaki Imae could be a late scratch from tonight's starting line-up depending on how his lower back is feeling.  Imae worked out separately from the main group during practices at QVC Marine on Tuesday.

March/April: 14-for-82, .171/.218/.220
May: 15-for-38, .395/.405/.605 

===

Tadahito Iguchi is no longer having any problems with his left hamstring.

===

The Marines plan to add Tatsuya Uchi and Carlos Rosa to the active roster today.  Both players joined the Ichi-gun team for workouts at QVC Marine on Tuesday.

Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs Tokyo Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 18:00
Announced Starters: Hiroki Yamada (SOF) 4-2, 2.04 - Masanori Ishikawa (YAK) 2-4, 2.91

Attendance: 18156 | Yakult leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 3:21

(continue reading...)

Softbank Hawks

Yuki Yanagita joined the Ichi-gun team for practice.  He will likely be added to the active roster on Wednesday.  Yanagita will probably be used as a bat off the bench when the team plays in Central League stadiums.

===

Hiroki Yamada on having to hit in Central League stadiums, via Sports Hochi Osaka: "I want to lay down bunts, but I think I am planning to hold back on swinging the bat as much as possible.  There are times the bat stings my hand when I make contact."

Sanspo has a slightly different quote: "I have no interest in hitting.  I should be fine so long as I execute things, like the bunt, properly."

===

The Hawks are planning to create a championship ring for the players and coaches.

===

Sadaharu Oh has tentatively been selected to take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Sky Tree on May 22.

Nippon Ham Fighters

Pitching coach Masato Yoshii gave Yuki Saito the following three suggestions, via Sponichi: do not be afraid of making mistakes; it is ok to be emotional, not so much while pitching, more so in front of team mates, like in the dugout or clubhouse; outbursts are ok, if you feel like blaming someone everyone now and then, go right on ahead.

===

As part of Player's Day, the Fighters will be offering a buy one, get one free ticket packs for their series against the Yakult Swallows (June 16 and 17 at Sapporo Dome).  500 sets of reserved seat B tickets (2,300 yen) and 2,500 sets of reserved seats C tickets (2,000 yen) will be available on each of the two days.

Seibu Lions

The Lions announced today that battery coach Hidekazu Mitsuyama will also act as a strategy coach (he will provide the manager with support).

===

Three things Kazuhisa Makita feels Hideaki Wakui needs to do in order to become a successful closer, via Sponichi: be more aggressive inside; go all out from the start; and learn how to put things in the past (do not worry so much about consequences).

===

The Lions posted the results for their uniform design contest for kids on Monday.  The first place uniform will be used in a number of games in August.

===

The Lions will be offering photos of fans they have taken during games/events through Photo Create, beginning on May 22.

Orix Buffaloes

Takahiro Okada played in a Ni-gun game against Softbank today and went 0-for-3 with a walk.

===

Hayato Terahara could return to the active roster as early as May 25 (vs Hiroshima at Hotto Motto).  He will also like pitch in at least one Ni-gun game before the call-up.

Rakuten Eagles

Senichi Hoshino told reporters he was worried about Masahiro Tanaka because he had yet to receive any good reporters.

===

Rookie Yoshinao Kamata joined the Ichi-gun team for practice on Monday.  He will be added to the active roster in time for Inter-league play and be used out of the bullpen (at least initially).

Ni-gun stats: 7 G, 3 GS, 21 IP, 83 BF, 12 H, 5 BB, 4 HBP, 18 SO, 1 WP, 1 BK, 2 R, 2 ER, 0.86 ERA

Chiba Lotte Marines

Takahiro Fujioka's next start will likely come against Yakult at QVC Marine on May 22.

Softbank Hawks

Hiroki Kokubo twisted his right ankle when he rain into the wall while running after a ball hit to foul territory in the 4th inning of today's game against Lotte.

Said Kokubo, "I sprained it.  I had it taped up for support. ... If it is still swollen on Wednesday, I will play with it taped up."

Rakuten Eagles

Motohiro Shima was removed from today's game against Orix when took a foul tip off the base of his right thumb in the 5th inning (Takayoshi Kawabata was up to bat at the time).  Shima did not go to the hospital for an evaluation.  He is currently considered day-to-day.