Fukuoka Softbank Hawks vs Yomiuri Giants @ Tokyo Dome - 14:00
Announced Starters: Sho Iwasaki (SOF) 3-4, 2.66 - Hirokazu Sawamura (YOM) 3-3, 1.41

Attendance: 44685 | Yomiuri leads series, 2-0-0 | Time: 2:50

(continue reading...)

Yakult Swallows

With a runner on first and two out in the top of the 9th inning, Tony Barnette gave up a two-run homer to Dae-Ho Lee. Junji Ogawa later told reporters that he blamed himself for the loss because he failed to re-assure Barnette that walking Lee was an option.

===

A ceremony celebrating Shinya Miyamoto's 2,000th career hit was held at the Musashi Koyama Palm shopping district on Saturday.  About 1,000 fans showed up for the event.

Yomiuri Giants

Michihiro Ogasawara (left hamstring strain) took about fifteen minutes of batting practice against a BP pitcher on Saturday.  He later said to reporters, "I just gave it a try.  Nothing has really changed.  I am definitely making good progress.  I want to take things day by day."

Chunichi Dragons

Morimichi Takagi told reporters before workouts today that OF/base-running coach Yoshinori Ueda will be first base coach and INF/base-running coach Hiroyuki Watanabe the new third base coach.  That means OF/base-running coach Ken Hirano was essentially demoted to Ni-gun.

Said Takagi, "We are swapping out Hirano.  Watanabe will take over at third.  Ueda will be at first. ... I got pretty mad and I think that messed with [Hirano's] head a little.  He is beat a little mentally. This is my fault.  He will be back at first thing next month."

===

Kazuki Yoshimi (left hamstring) could get to pitch in a Ni-gun game some time next week.

Yoshimi tossed nineteen pitches in the bullpen on Thursday and said to reporters on Friday, "I just need to get used to pitching in games again.  I think I will be ok in terms of stamina.  I would like to try and pitch in a game next week."

Yomiuri Giants

Taishi Ota (left hamstring) took fielding practice in the outfield today.

"There is no pain.  Things are progressing smoothly.  I do not want to push myself too hard," said Ota.

===

Edgar Gonzalez took live batting practice against Ikusei pitchers Takefumi Miyamoto and Shogo Shibata today and went 2-for-4 with two walks.

Hiroshima Carp

Kenta Kurihara (right elbow) started his rehab program at the Ono training facilities today.  Kurihara had surgery on his right elbow on May 9 and was discharged from the hospital on Thursday.

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.

===

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).

===

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).

===

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

===

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

===

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.

===

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

===

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.

===

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.

===

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.

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...)

Chunichi Dragons

According to Daily Sports, the Dragons replaced Ichi-gun pitching coach Mitsuo Inaba with Ni-gun OF/base-running coach Yoshinori Ueda on the Ichi-gun coaching staff registry.  Daily Sports wonders if Ueda was added to the Ichi-gun staff list in case Ichi-gun OF/base-running coach Ken Hirano makes another mistake as third base coach.

Yakult Swallows

Yuki Shichijo joined the Ichi-gun roster for practice at Jingu today.  Shichijo is expected to get a start at Ichi-gun sometime within the next few days.

===

The Swallows have invited about 500 elementary school kids and shop keepers from the Aoyama, Minato-ku area to watch the solar eclipse at Jingu Stadium.  Tsubakuro will also be in attendance.  Note: this event is not open to the general public.

Yomiuri Giants

The Giants held a press conference for Edgar Gonzalez at Giants Stadium after workouts with the Ichi-gun roster.

===

Michihiro Ogasawara met Tatsunori Hara after workouts today to give him an update on his rehab (left hamstring).

The media learned today that Yuya Kubo is scheduled to undergo right elbow ligament reconstructive surgery some time this month.  The team does not expect Kubo to return this season.

Chunichi Dragons

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

===

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).

===

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).

===

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 

===

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.

===

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.

===

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

Chunichi Dragons

The Dragons may have third base coach Ken Hirano swap jobs with first base coach Hiroyuki Watanabe after Hirano waved Yohei Oshima home from second on a single to center in Wednesday's nights game against Lotte.

Yakult Swallows

Ryoji Aikawa lost his mother to cancer on April 28.  She was fifty-eight.

Yomiuri Giants

MRI tests on Ryosuke Miyaguni's right shoulder came back negative for any structural damage.  The Giants still took Miyaguni off the active roster today to give him a chance to regroup.

===

According to Sponichi, Yoshinobu Takahashi is using Venex's Recovery Wear.

Takahashi hit a grand slam on Wednesday.  It was the fourth grand slam to be hit on the very first day of Inter-league play.  The other three were hit by Luis Lopez in 2005, Norichika Aoki in 2006, and Masato Akamatsu in 2009.

Other notes on the grand slam: it was Takahashi's eighth career grand slam, which is good for a ninth place tie on the CL All-time list and a third place tie on the franchise All-time list (Sadaharu Oh with fifteen; Shinnosuke Abe with nine; and Tatsunori Hara with eight); the nine years in between grand slams (his previous grand slam came on September 28, 2002) is the second longest behind Masato Monzen (1938 and 1950), Tatsuhiko Kimata (1968 and 1980), and Takumi Ejima's (1970 and 1982) twelve years; Takahashi hit seven grand slams within the first five years of his career -- two in 1998, three in 1999, one in 2001, and one in 2002.

Hanshin Tigers

Jason Standridge's parents were in the stands on Wednesday night.  The Tigers may take Standridge off the active roster today since he is not scheduled to start another game for at least ten days.

===

Former Hanshin pitching coach Yasuo Kubo's son, Kei Kubo, will be making his Japanese Tour debut at Totomi Hamamatsu Open 2012.

===

Former Hanshin manager Kenjiro Matsuki Miwako "Peko" Hamada is the choreographer behind the Maru Mori Dance, the Gyu Gyu Gyu Dance, and the Yubikiri Dance.

Hiroshima Carp

Takaya Kawauchi's new contract will be worth an estimated 5M yen.

Yokohama Bay Stars

Sponichi is giving away tickets to the Daisuke Miura Seats at Yokohama Stadium to games on May 27 and 28 (vs Orix).  One set of three tickets per game is up for grabs.