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.

Yomiuri Giants

Tetsuya Yamaguchi set a new franchise record by extending his scoreless appearances streak to twenty-one games.  The previous franchise record of twenty was set by Yuya Kubo last season.

Hiroshima Carp

The managers and coaches met after tonight's 6-3 loss to the Softbank Hawks and decided to hold a meeting with players on Thursday.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Giancarlo Alvarado injured his left hamstring while trying to cover first base in the 1st inning of tonight's game against the Nippon Ham Fighters.  Alvarado told coaches he was ok, but he was removed from the game as a precaution.  The Bay Stars also decided to take him off the active roster so that he can focus on getting better.

Yokohama Bay Stars vs Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters @ Sapporo Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Giancarlo Alvarado (YOK) 1-4, 2.83 - Mitsuo Yoshikawa (HAM) 4-2, 1.12

Attendance: 28401 | Nippon Ham leads series, 2-0-0 | Time: 3:14

(continue reading...)

Yokohama Bay Stars vs Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters @ Sapporo Dome - 18:00
Announced Starters: Futoshi Kobayashi (YOK) 0-0, 1.50 - Kazuhito Tadano (HAM) 2-0, 1.80

Attendance: 22971 | Nippon Ham leads series, 1-0-0 | Time: 2:58

(continue reading...)

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.

Yakult Swallows

The Musashi Koyama Palm shopping district presented Shinya Miyamoto with points worth 66,666 yen at his 2,000 hit ceremony on Saturday.  Sankei Sports handed out 3,000 special edition papers to shoppers in the area.

Yomiuri Giants

Dicky Gonzalez (left oblique) threw seventy-two pitches in the bullpen today, his second session in as many days.  He told reporters that he was throwing at seventy to eighty percent and that he was satisfied with the results.  He also said he was feeling fine and that he was making quick progress.

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Tetsuya Yamaguchi is just one game away from tying the franchise record of twenty consecutive appearances without allowing a run.  The record was set by Yuya Kubo last season.

Hiroshima Carp

Kenjiro Nomura turned down requests for a post-game interview (first time this season) after today's 5-4 loss against the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Norihiro Nakamura became the thirty-eighth player to record 1,000 career runs scored today.  Before the start of today's game against the Chiba Lotte Marines, Nakamura sat at 999 career runs scored.  In his first at bat in the 1st inning, with a runner on second and one out, he hit a 3-1 slider from Yuki Karakawa over the left field fence for a two-run homer.

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

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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...)

Chunichi Dragons

Maximo Nelson could get his first Ichi-gun start of the season on May 22 (vs Rakuten).

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Morimichi Takagi decided that he will not swap third base coach Ken Hirano with first base coach Hiroyuki Watanabe.  It seems he also denied ever considering it.

Yakult Swallows

Kyohei Muranaka was removed from the active roster after he took a batted ball off his right shin during a game against Chunichi on May 9.  There is still no timetable for when he will be able to start throwing again.

Masanori Ishikawa took a batted ball off the base of his left pinky finger during Wednesday's game against Softbank and will likely miss one turn in the starting rotation (May 22 vs Lotte at QVC).

Yomiuri Giants

Toshiya Sugiuchi picked up his first multi-hit game of his pro career on Thursday night (2-for-2).  He also notched his nineteenth career Inter-league victory (19-7).

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Hayato Sakamoto recorded his fifteen Inter-league homer on Thursday.  According to Sponichi, the Giants are 8-1 when Sakamoto hits a homer at Tokyo Dome during Inter-league play.  On the road, the team is 2-2-1 (includes a two homer game).

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Michihiro Ogasawara wore cleats during practice on Thursday for the first time since he strained his left hamstring.  Workouts took place indoors and included running and playing catch.

Hanshin Tigers

Craig Brazell took part in early workouts today.  He is currently struggling at the plate: he has one hit, a double, in his last sixteen trips to the plate.  Brazell is also doing better on the road than at home:

Home: 8-for-58, 1 HR, 13 TB, .138/.194/.224
Road: 16-for-63, 3 HR, 30 TB, .252/.299/.476 

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Akira Iwamoto started a Ni-gun game against Chunichi on Thursday and recorded his first victory since turning pro.  Final line: 6 IP, 113 NP, 25 BF, 4 H, 1 HR, 8 SO, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 1 R, 1 ER.

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Yuya Ando will likely be taken off the active roster today because he is not scheduled to pitch within the next ten days -- his next start could come on May 28 against Seibu.

Hiroshima Carp

Takaya Kawauchi and Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara were added to the seventy man roster today.

Yokohama Bay Stars

According to Sponichi, the Bay Stars are currently on pace to lose eighty-eight games this year.  Sponichi also points out that the ten shutout losses in the first thirty-six games of the season is the second quickest in NPB history since the Taiyo Whales recorded ten shutouts in their first thirty games of the 1958 season.

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Wrestler Keiji Muto visited Yokohama Stadium on Thursday and met with Kiyoshi Nakahata and Daisuke Miura before the game.