SEASON CHAMPION: TOKYO YOMIURI GIANTS
Final league standing
1. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Chunichi Dragons
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
| 2002 CENTRAL LEAGUE TITLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Masumi Kuwata (Giants) | 2.217 |
| Most games won | Koji Uehara (Giants) | 17 |
| Most strike outs | Kei Igawa (Tigers) | 206 |
| Most saves | Eddie Gaillard (Swallows) | 34SP |
| Highest hitting average | Kosuke Fukudome (Dragons) | .343 |
| Most base hits | Takayuki Shimizu (Giants) | 191 |
| Homerun | Hideki Matsui (Giants) | 50 |
| RBI | Hideki Matsui (Giants) | 107 |
| Most on base | Hideki Matsui (Giants) | .461 |
| Most bases stolen | Norihiro Akahoshi (Tigers) | 26 |
October
The Dragons Kenshin Kawakami pitched on Oct 2, aiming to exceed the Giants Masumi Kuwata to win the best ERA title.
He did,in a 3 to 2 game against the Tigers and also won his 12th game.
Then on Oct 3, also the Dragons Kosuke Fukudome with 3 hits improved his batting average to .337.
It's higher than that of the Giants Hideki Matsui's, putting Matsui's chance of a triple crown in danger.
The Dragons beat the Carp that day 9 to 5.
On Oct 6, the Giants Hideki Matsui homered twice. His batting average is just .003 behind Kosuke Fukudome's. But in home runs, he is way ahead of others. Masumi Kuwata, who's competing for the best ERA started and shut out 6 innings. He topped Kenshin Kawakami for the title at this point. The Giants clinched the game too 5 to 1 over the BayStars. It was by the way the BayStars Hiroo Ishii's final game. He's played for the Marines, the Giants, and the Buffaloes. The whole crowd bid farewell to him, and he was in tears as he's come forward to bat. His wife, singer and songwriter, Takako Okamura looked on from the stands.
The Dragons Kosuki Fukudome had 2 hits and improved his batting average to .339 on Oct 6. It was in a 9 to 3 game against the BayStars. Runner up Hideki Matsui had just one hit, falling to .336. His team, the Giants lost 2 to 5 to the Tigers.
The Giants Hideki Matsui blasted 2 homers on Oct 10 at the Tokyo Dome's final game of the season. He now has 50 homers. He is still short of hits to mark the best batting average in the league. The Dragons Kosuke Fukudome who is hitting .342 is not risking his chance of losing the top post. He's only playing out in the field until his turn to bat comes.
September
The Giants Hideki Matsui slammed his 40th home run. He holds the triple crown still as of Sept 1.
The Giants defeated the BayStars 4 to 2.Meanwhile runner up, the Swallows lost to the Tigers 0 to 3.
George Arias homered his 23rd.
The top 2 teams faced eachother on Sept 4 in Osaka. Hideki Matsui homered his 41st. Former ace pitcher Masumi Kuwata hurled over the distance for the first time in more than 3 years. The Giants beat the Swallows 3 to 1. But the next day, the Giants lost 3 to 4.
Hideki Matsui homered his 42nd this season on Sept 7 to tie with his best record. But his team lost 3 to 4 to the Carp. The Giants lost again the next day in the 11th inning, 1 to 3.
On Sept 10, the Giants faced a shut out loss to the Dragons Kenshin Kawakami. It was a 0 to 6 game. The Giants succumbed to its 4th loss in a row. But the losing streak was ended by Masumi Kuwata the next day. He shut out the Dragons in a 3 to 0 game. It's the first time since April 1998.
The Giants' Akira Eto homered twice on Sept 13 to take his team to a 10 to 3 win over the Tigers. The next day, the Giants clinched the game in the 11th inning with pinch hitter Kawanaka's home run. It was a 5 to 4 win. But on Sept 15, Koji Uehara succumbed to his 4th loss in a 2 to 3 game.
The Giants' Hideki Matsui exploded on Sept 16. He hit the ceiling, and the ball hit the ceiling again and made it into the stands. It's his 43rd home run. The Giants beat the BayStars 8 to 5. The next day the Giants' Shinnosuke Abe's hits gave his team a decisive run to win in the 9th inning 4 to 3. On Sept 18, Masumi Kuwata started, homered and completed the game to earn his 11th win in a 6 to 3 game.
The Giants'star, Kazuhiro Kiyohara was back in the starting line up on Sept 20. He hit 2 runners back home with bases loaded in the first inning. In the end the Giants beat the Swallows 7 to 1. Then the next day, with the Swallows leading 2 to 1, Abe Shinnosuke was on with bases loaded. He hit runners back. The Giants won 5 to 2 and it's magic number fell to 4. On Sept 22, the game was cut off in the 7th inning due to heavy rain. The Giants won 4 to 0. Koji Uehara earned a league leading 17th win.
The Giants Hideki Matsui homered twice, and Kazuhiro Kiyohara for the 2nd games in a row. The Giants defeated the Tigers 5 to 1, but since the Swallows won this day, 3 to 1 to the Dragons, it's pennant victory was put off. On Sept 24, the Swallows lost 4 to 9 to the Dragons, meaning the Giants pennant victory came automatically. The Giants was playing its 7th inning when the news came in. It was ahead of the Tigers. But in the 9th inning, the Tigers caught up. The game was extended. In the bottom of the 12th, a wild pitch by Yukinaga Maeda got the Tigers' runner back home to end the game. The Giants, at any rate, clinched the Central League for the 30th time. Skipper Tatsunori Hara was hurled up in the air by his team to celebrate the league victory.
As the season nears the end, there are more news of resignations. Masahiko Mori on Sept 26 announced that he's stepped down as skipper of the Yokohama BayStars today, and the team still has games left to play. The team's last finish was finalized and Mori had to take responsibility for the poor performance.
Now the focus in the remaining games of the season is whether or not the Giants's Hideki Matsui will be able to clinch the triple crown. On Sept 27, he faced his batting average rival Kosuke Fukudome of the Dragons. Matsui with one hit and Fukudome with none was able to keep his lead. But the Giants lost its 3rd game in the row or 3 to 4. The next day the Giants won 6 to 5. Neither Fukudome nor Matsui had a hit. Then on Sept 29, Hideki Matsui blasted his 46th homer and recorded 2 RBIs. Fukudome had 2 hits, but Matsui still had a higher batting average. The Giants lost 2 to 4.
League standing as of September 30
1. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Chunichi Dragons
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
August
The Dragons Kenshin Kawakami succeeded in pitching a no hitter game against the Giants on Aug 1.
It was a 6 to 0 game.
The Tigers Osamu Hamanaka with 2 homers gave the team a 4 to 0 win over the BayStars.
The Swallows tied with the Carp 2 to 2.
The Giants Hideki Matsui hit his 27th homer, tying with the leader,while his team finished the game a draw on Aug 2 against the Carp. The Swallows with catcher Atsuya Furuta's 2 run homer clinched the game against the Tigers 2 to 1. On Aug 3, Matsui exceeded the Swallows Roberto Petagine's home runs with his 28th. The Giants managed to win 9 to 7 over the Carp. The Tigers beat the Swallows this time 3 to 2. The BayStars defeated the Dragons 5 to 2. The Giants Yoshinobu Takahashi has been delisted due to an injury from Aug 4, and catcher Shintaro Abe was carried out of the game. The Giants lost 3 to 12. The Swallows clinched a 12 inning game from the Tigers 8 to 7. The BayStars beat the Dragons 8 to 4.
The Giants on Aug 6 clinched a competitive game in the 11th inning from the BayStars, thanks to Shintaro Abe who cleaned up the full bases. The game was 7 to 4. The Swallows also clinched the game in the 11th inning from the Dragons 6 to 5. The Carp beat the Tigers 1 to 0. On Aug 7, the Giants lost 4 to 7. It's not really a big deal though as its way ahead in the league standing. The Dragons faced its 4th loss in a row in a 2 to 5 game. The Tigers won with Osamu Hamanaka's grand slam 9 to 2. The Giants lost again on Aug 8. It was 0 to 1 shut out loss to Shane Bowers. The Dragons clinched the game in the 10th inning to win at last 4 to 3. The Tigers defeated the Carp 7 to 4.
On Aug 9, the Giants crushed the Carp with 2 homers each by Hideki Matsui, Tomohiro Nioka and Daisuke Motoki. It was a 15 to 1 game. Some competitive games were played on the day. The Swallows clinched the game from the BayStars 9 to 8, while the Tigers from the Dragons 2 to 1. The Giants on Aug 10 was behind by 3 runs, but caught up and in the end beat the Carp 7 to 3. Koji Uehara pitched over the distance for his 14th win. The Swallows in a competitive game beat the BayStars 9 to 7. The Tigers in trouble with more players out due to injuries and had a devastating loss of 4 to 5. On Aug 11, the Carp kept on staying ahead of the Giants, but the top team in the 9th inning caught up. In the 10th, Shinnosuke Abe homered to give his team a 5 to 4 win. The Swallows Roberto Petagine had his 30th home run. His team won 3 to 1.
The top 2 teams faced eachother from Aug 13. The Giants blasted a whole bunch of homers to defeat the Swallows 11 to 4. The Tigers played with most of its regular members out with injuries. And it was shut out by the BayStars 0 to 3. The next day, the Giants Hideki Matsui slugged a huge homer, but his team lost 7 to 10. Then on Aug 15, the top 2 sluggers in the league were in a battle. The Swallows Roberto Petagine had a 2 run homer. Hideki Matsui followed with his. The game was wrapped up with Shinnosuke Abe's home run 3 to 2 for the Giants.
On Aug 16, the Dragons Motonobu Tanishige's homer finished the game against the Giants 4 to 1. The Swallows Roberto Petagine slugged 2 homers to exceed that of the Giants Hideki Matsui. The Swallows beat the Tigers 6 to 1. But on Aug 17 Hideki Matsui tied with Petagine's homer count with a 3 run, and taking his team to a 4 to 1 win over the Dragons. The next day, the Dragons Motonobu Tanishige with a grand slam beat the Giants 8 to 4.
The Giants battered the BayStars on Aug 20 by beating the opponent 11 to 4. The Tigers is bad shape losing its 3rd game in a row to the Carp 1 to 2. On Aug 21, the Giants Shinnosuke Abe batted in a run in the 10th inning to clinch the game. And the next day,it was the other way around. In the 11th inning the BayStars Takuro Ishii Batted in the run which gave the BayStars a win. The Giants lost despite Hideki Matsui's 2 homers.
It was a seesaw match between the Tigers and the Giants on Aug 23. The Tigers' skipper Senichi Hoshino was expelled from the game for using offensive language against the umpire. And coach Koichi Tabuchi soon followed for an act of violence. In the end the Giants won 5 to 3. The next day it was another close game which ended a 3 to 3 draw in 12 innings. On Aug 25, Hideki Matsui homered his 36th to lead the league. The Giants won 10 to 1.
The Giants had its most hits so far this season on Aug 27 and beat the Carp 12 to 9. Hideki Matsui homered too. But the next day the Giants lost 0 to 1, while the Swallows won 6 to 1 to the BayStars. Roberto Petagine had his 35th home run. On Aug 29 both Hideki Matsui and Roberto Petagine homered. The Giants beat the Carp 8 to 0, while the Swallows clinched its 10th game in a row in a 6 to 2 game.
Hideki Matsui homered again on Aug 30. It was a 2 run. But the Giants lost to the BayStars 4 to 10. The Swallows meanwhile won again beating the Tigers 5 to 4 in the 11th inning. But lost the following day at last 1 to 4. The BayStars tried to avoid Matsui as much as it can that day but walking him. But it walked too many, to lost 13 to 2.
League standing as of August 31
1. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Chunichi Dragons
4. Hanshin Tigers
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
July
The Giants with Kazuhiro Kiyohara's hit caught up with the Dragons in the 9th inning on July 2.
Then it was in the 12th inning, Tomohiro Nioka homered to clinch the game 5 to 2.
The Tigers finally won, thanks to Kei Igawa's shut out victory over the Swallows 2 to 0.
The Tigers won again the next day 8 to 1.
The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered his career 450th. Other stars Hideki Matsui and Yoshinobu Takahashi
slammed the ball into the stands too. The Giants won 9 to 3.
The Carp is in good shaped clinching its 5th win in a row in a 3 to 1 game over the BayStars.
The Carp, however lost on July 4, 5 to 6.
On that day the Swallows managed to win this time 2 to 0 with Roberto Petagine's home run.
The Giants won 5 to 4 to the Dragons.
On July 5, Hideki Matsui's 2 run homer helped the Giants defeat the Tigers 4 to 1. The Carp with homers by Luis Lopez and Koichi Ogata clinched the game from the Swallows 6 to 1. On July 6, the Giants defeated the Tigers to a whooping 12 to 2. The Swallows was awesome. Alex Ramirez blasted 2 homers, including a grand slam. Roberto Petagine had 2 homers too. The team won 17 to 3. The Dragons succumbed to is 7th loss in a row in a 1 to 2 game against the BayStars. On July 7, the Dragons at last won defeating the BayStars 3 to 1. The Giants at last lost, in a 2 to 10 game against the Tigers. Kei Igawa earned his 10th win. The Carp with Koichi Ogata's 2 run homer won 4 to 1 to the Swallows.
On July 9, Kazuhiro Kiyohara blasted a homerun. Hideki Matsui had his commemorative 300th career homerun. But the Carp's Eddy Diaz had 2 homer. The Giants lost 4 to 7 to the Carp. The Swallows Kevin Hodges earned a league leading 11th win in a 6 to 1 game over the BayStars. The Tigers managed to defeat the Dragons 5 to 1. On July 10, in the only game in the league, Giants defeated the Carp 9 to 2. Koji Uehara marked his 10th win.
Games are back after the all star break. Masumi Kuwata started for the Giants on July 16. But the BayStars Chris Holt hurled his first shut out game in Japan to beat the leader 3 to 0. The Tigers Keiichi Yabu managed to keep the Carp from scoring. The Tigers on 3 to 0. The Swallows meanwhile lost to the Dragons 0 to 3. On July 17, Giants played an enormous catch up. Behind by 3 runs, the Giants in one inning batted in 8 runs. Hideki Matsui blasted his 19th homer too. The Giants defeated the BayStars 10 to 5. The Tigers lost 2 to 3 and the Swallows 0 to 1. On July 18, the Giants caught with Kazuhiro Kiyohara's homer. An unusual thing happened. HIdeki Matsui drove the ball into the ceiling of Tokyo Dome. It didn't come down, so he was given a 2 base hit. The Giants in the end won 8 to 5. The Carp defeated the Tigers 6 to 1, and gained a notch to 2nd. The Tigers dropped to 4th. The Swallows, losing 5 to 6 to the Dragons fell to 3rd place.
On July 19, the mid 3 places got reshuffled again. In the meantime, the Giants continued to win. It had a 12 to 1 win over the Dragons. And the next day, the Giants won its 4th game in a row. Ace pitcher Koji Uehara tie with the league's top with his 11th win in a 4 to 2 game. The Tigers are sinking, losing to the BayStars 6 to 9. The Swallows and the Carp played a 12 inning game ending in a tie. On July 21, the Giants 18-year old rookie Hiroki Sanada picked up his first win in a 6 to 3 game against the Dragons. The BayStars and the Tigers finished 12 innings with a 2 to 2 tie. The Swallows defeated the Carp 6 to 1.
The Giants faced the Tigers on July 23, and thanks to wonderful plays in the outfield by Hideki Matsui and in the infield by Toshihisa Nishi, the Giants won again 4 to 2. Omar Linarez from Cuba made his Japan debut with the Dragons. He was stiff during his few times at bat. But he finally grounded the ball hard enough to get 2 runners back home. The Dragons won 5 to 1 over the Carp. The Swallows' Kevin Hodges clinched a league leading 11th win. His team won its 3rd game in a row 7 to 3 to the BayStars. On July 24, both the top 2 teams lost. The Tigers Osamu Hamanaka blasted a game winning homer to defeat the Giants 4 to 3. The Swallows gave up a close game of 4 to 5. The top 2 teams were beaten again the next day. The Giants caught up in the 9th, but the Tigers'Yoshinori Okihara hit a runner back home in the bottom of that inning for its 5 to 4 victory. The game by the way got hot in the 7th. The Giants Yusaku Iriki's pitch went wild and to that George Arias reacted. Both teams clashed at around the mound.
On July 26, the Giants blasted. Hideki Matsui, Yoshinobu Takahashi, and Akira Eto homered. The team crushed the Swallows 11 to 2. The Tigers clinched a game in the 9th inning for the 3rd game in a row. This time it defeated the Dragons 4 to 3, and replaced the Swallows for 2nd place. The Giants Hideki Matsui homered for the 3rd game in a row on July 27. It wasn't one but two. Koji Uehara hurled over the distance and won his 12th game. The Giants beat the Swallows 6 to 2. The Tigers this time lost 0 to 6. The Dragons Cuban slugger Omar Linarez had his first homer. On July 28, Hideki Matsui homered for the 4th game in a row. The Giants, thanks to him defeated the Swallows 4 to 3. The Tigers lost again 1 to 3.
Although Masumi Kuwata faced homers, the Giants managed to defeate the Dragons 6 to 4 on July 30. The Tigers' Hiroshi Yagi who pinch hit, grand slammed to give his team a 4 to 2 win over the BayStars. The Swallows marked its 6th loss in a row in a 4 to 1 game against the Carp. On July 31, Hideki Matsui exploded with 2 homers. The Giants won 10 to 2 over the Dragons--it's 5th win in a row. The Tigers, lost this time 2 to 9 while the Swallows halted is losing streak at 6 in a 3 to 2 game against the Carp.
League standing as of July 31
1. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
2. Hanshin Tigers
3. Yakult Swallows
4. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
5. Chunichi Dragons
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
June
The Giants lost 2 to 7 to the Carp on June 1, and again the next day 6 to 7.
The Tigers had its 4th win in a row on June 1 in a 7 to 3 game against the Swallows, but lost the following day 1 to 7.
Due to the World Cup finals, baseball was in a lengthy interval. On June 6, games took off again. The Tigers defeated the Carp 7 to 0. Runner up the Giants faced its 3rd straight losing to the Dragons 1 to 2. On June 7, the Tigers lost 5 to 9, and the Giants did too in the 12th inning game 4 to 5. The Swallows by defeating the BayStars 7 to 2 is just 0.5 game apart from the runner up. The Tigers lost again on June 8. It's 5 to 9. The Giants Koji Uehara managed to earn a shut out victory from the Dragons in the 1 to 0 game. The Swallows lost 0 to 3 thus drifting away from the Giants.
The Tigers faced its 3rd straight loss on June 11 in a 1 to 8 game against the Dragons. And it lost again the following day 2 to 3 despite the fact it's pitcher was Kei Igawa. But on that day, the Giants lost too, 1 to 6 to the Swallows. Then on June 13, the Giants, although it was behind the Swallows, caught up in the 9th inning with homers after homers, including one by Kazuhiro Kiyohara. In the 11th inning, pinch hitter Keiji Fukui's homer gave the Giants a decisive victory of 8 to 5. The Tigers too clinched an extra inning game 1 to 0.
The top 2 teams faced eachother in Koshien from June 15. For the first game, the Giants headed off with homers. In the 8th inning its pulled off 6 more runs. The Tigers did not give up though but could not do better than finish the game 8 to 11. It was another competitive game on June 16. The Tigers caught up in the 9th inning, but the Giants' Daisuke Motoki doubled in the 10th inning to take his team to a 4 to 3 win. The Giants replaced the Tigers for 1st place.
The BayStars caught up with the Giants in the 9th inning. In the 11th, with Hideki Matsui on base, skipper Tatsunori Hara made his bet on pitcher Masumi Kuwata. Kuwata was called on to pinch hit. He successfully got himself on base. And the Giants clinched the game 5 to 3 on June 19. Meanwhile, the Tigers lost again. This time to the Carp 2 to 4. And the Tigers lost on June 20, 2 to 3. The Giants game was rained out.
Swallows' Alex Ramirez had 2 homers and took his team to a 5 to 9 victory over the Tigers on June 22. The Tigers marked its 5th loss in a row, and fell to 3rd place while the Swallows took over 2nd. The next day the Tigers lost again 3 to 4. The Swallows Roberto Petagine had 2 home runs. The Giants played at the Sapporo Dome which was used for the World Cup finals during the month. It defeated the Carp 6 to 2 to earn its 5th win in a row. However on June 24, the Giants lost 2 to 5. The Dragons managed to win 11 to 6 to the BayStars and tied with the Tigers for 3rd place. The Tigers game was rained out. On June 25, in the only Central League game, the Giants Koji Uehara shut out the Carp in a 5 to 0 game. But bad news for the Giants. It learned that the previous day, catcher Shinosuke Abe had hit himself badly in the thigh and will not be able to play until later in August.
The Tigers on June 27 faced its 7th loss in a row. It lost to the BayStars 1 to 2. The Carp won 3 to 2 to the Dragons. The Tigers lost again the next day 4 to 7 and went into an emergency meeting. The Swallows Roberto Petagine had 2 homers and tried to catch up with the Giants but could not quite losing 3 to 4. Everything seemed to be going right for the Giants on June 29. Hideki Matsui homered a 3-run. But in the 8th inning, the Swallows caught up and beat the Giants in the end 9 to 6. The Tigers at last won clinching the game from the BayStars 4 to 3.
League standing as of June 30
1. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
2. Yakult Swallows
3. Hanshin Tigers
4. Chunichi Dragons
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
May
On May 1, the Giants clinched its 5th win in a row even without Akira Eto and Kazuhiro Kiyohara.
It was 12 to 6 over the Carp.
The Tigers were in miserable shape losing to the Dragons 0 to 5.
The Swallows won 7 to 1 over the BayStars.
Giants' Masumi Kuwata shone as a pitcher and as a batter, hitting in 3 runs. The Giants on May 3 won 6 to 0 over the BayStars. The Tigers won a very competitive game against the Carp that was secured with Atsushi Kataoka's grand slam. It ended 18 to 11. The Dragons' Kenshin Kawakami shut out the Swallows 0 to 5 for his 2nd win. On May 4, the Giants, with 2 homers by Yoshinobu Takahashi clinched it's 7th straight win, 5 to 3 over the BayStars. The Dragons won 8 to 2 to the Swallows. The Giants clinched its 8th win in a row the following day 4 to 1. The Tigers, however, remained on top defeating the Carp 4 to 3. The Swallows clobbered the Dragons 15 to 4.
The Giants winning streak was ended on May 6, in a 1 to 2 game against the Dragons. The Tigers even though it lost too 1 to 3 over the Swallows stayed on top. The Giants managed to win 6 to 2 on May 7, and its pitcher Kazuhiro Takeda with the win from the Dragons marked a record. That's a win very every team in both leagues. He's only the 3rd pitcher to achieve the feat. The Giants the following day lost to a rookie 0 to 2. The Tigers too lost 3 to 4 to the Swallows, due to Roberto Petagine's 11th homer in the 9th inning. Still, Tigers remain on top followed closely by the Giants. The Carp pulled itself out from a losing streak of 5, winning 7 to 4 to the BayStars.
The top 2 teams met on May 10. The Giants was the first to score, but the Tigers not only caught up, it took the lead with George Arias's 2 run homer. The Tigers won 7 to 2. The next day, it was a see-saw game. The Giants in the 6th inning batted in 4 runs. In the end it defeated the Tigers 10 to 6. The Dragons won 8 to 2 to the BayStars for its 6th victory in a row. The Swallows winning streak was extended to 4 winning 2 to 1 to the Carp. On May 12, the Giants overwhelmed the Tiger 9 to 2 and replace it for first place. The Dragons contined to win, 4 to 2. The Swallows winning streak was ended by the Carp's 2 to 0 victory.
The Tigers managed to defeat the BayStars 4 to 2 on May 14, while the Giants lost 1 to 2 to the Swallows. The Tigers was promoted back to first place. The Dragons clinched its 4th straight win in a 9 to 2 game over the Carp. And it won again the following day 5 to 4. The Giants overpowered the Swallows with a grand slam by Akira Eto who made a comeback after recovering from an injury. It was 11 to 1. The Tigers too won 4 to 2 over the BayStars leaving the ranking unchanged. By the way, the BayStars lost again on May 16, which means a defeat 10 games in a row. It was 0 to 8 against the Tigers. The Tigers' Kei Igawa clinched his 7th win already. Meanwhile the Giants lost that day 0 to 1.
The Giants' Kazuhiro Kiyohara was back to play on May 18. But he did not start, just yet. And he didn't need to bat, as Akira Eto blasted a homer to the ceiling of the Tokyo Dome,and Shinnosuke Abe homered too. Koji Uehara hurled over the distance. The Giants won 2 to 1 over the BayStars while the Baystars succumbed to its 11th loss in a row. The Tigers lost 1 to 5 to the Dragons, thus the Giants caught up for first place. Then the next day the Tigers lost again. It's 2 to 6. The Dragons won its 7th game in a row. And as the Giants won 8 to 1, it replaced the Tigers for first place again. On May 21, the Giants exploded in the 8th inning to defeat the Tigers 6 to 3. Meanwhile the BayStars marked it's 13th loss in a row , 5 to 6 to the Carp. The Dragons Kazuyoshi Tatsunami finished the game with a grand slam. It's 7 to 3 over the Swallows. The Giants defeated the Tigers agains on May 22, 2 to 1, with Hideki Matsui's 2 run homer. The BayStars losing streak finally ended this day winning 3 to 1 over the Carp. On the other hand, the Dragons failed to stretch is winning streak further as the Swallows' Roberto Petagine homered in the 10th inning.The next day the Dragons again lost going into extra innings 6 to 7. The Giants finally lost to the Tigers 2 to 11 but still keeps first place. The BayStars may be getting in better shape winning the 2nd game in a row, 4 to 1 over the Carp.
On May 24, the Giants lost a close game to the Carp 0 to 1. The Swallows Alex Ramirez's 3 run homer helped his team defeat the BayStars 5 to 1. The next day, the Giants led with Yoshinobu Takahashi's 3 run homer, but the Carp not only caught up,it won the game 4 to 3. Meanwhile the Tigers with Trey Moore's shut out victory defeated the Dragons 3 to 0. The Swallows winning streak stopped at 3 losing to the BayStars 0 to 5. On May 26, the Giants, with Hideki Matsui's 2 run homer managed to defeat the Carp 6 to 3. The Tigers won too 6 to 0 to the Dragons so the standing of the top 2 teams remain the same.
The Giants lost on May 28, 1 to 3 to the Swallows. The Tigers too, 4 to 6 to the BayStars so there was no change to the teams' standing. The next day, the Giants' Hideki Matsui blasted a homer to give his team a lead, but the Swallows with Alex Ramirez's 2 run homer in the end to clinch the game. Since the Tigers won 3 to 2,it replaced the Giants for first place. On May 30, the Giants this time won 7 to 5 with homers by Daisuki Motoki, Akira Eto and Hideki Matsui. The Tigers clinched its game in the final inning 3 to 2 with George Arias' RBI.
The Tigers was victorious over the Swallows pitcher Yataro Sakamoto, despite 12 strike outs on May 31. It won 3 to 1. The Giants in the 10th inning had a runner on base. Pinch hitter, superstar Kazuhiro Kiyohara. He slammed the ball to welcome the runner back home to clinch the game 3 to 2 from the Carp.
League standing as of May 31
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
3. Yakult Swallows
4. Chunichi Dragons
5. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
April
The Giant's Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered his 3rd this season on April 2. But his team lost again.
It's 2 to 3 to the Dragons.
The Tigers' former ace pitcher Keiichi Yabu who was ousted most of the time
from the main team started. And he hurled over the distance to win for the first time in 2 years.
It was a 6 to 1 win over the BayStars.
The Swallows' Atsuya Furuta's injury was not as bad as initially reported but he stayed out.
His team nevertheless defeated the Carp 6 to 1.
It's on Apr 3 the Giant's finally won its first game in the 10th inning 3 to 2 over the Dragons.
The Carp clinched a 12 inning game with Kenjiro Nomura's homer 4 to 3 against the Swallows.
The Tigers winning streak contined with newcomer White smashing 2 homers.
It's a 6 to 2 win over the BayStars.
The Giants'won again on Apr 4, with Hideki Matsui's and Yoshinobu Takahashi's homerun.
it was 6 to 5 over the Dragons.
The Swallows defeated the Carp this time 4 to 0.
The Tigers won its 5th straight came defeating the BayStars 2 to 1.
On Apr 5, the BayStars won its first game defeating the Giants 3 to 2. The Carp's Tomonori Maeda who was away from baseball the whole of last year smashed a homerun. His team won 4 to 0 against the Dragons. The Tigers won again. It was 2 to 0 over the Swallows. Then the following day, the Tigers winning streak reached 7, tying with the team record. The Tigers defeated the Swallows 3 to 1. The Giants Hideki Matsui exploded with 2 homers. Koji Uehara hurled over a distance to take the Giants to a 9 to 5 win over the BayStars. The Dragon's Leo Gomez tripled and the team defeated the Carp 8 to 6. The Tigers at last lost on Apr 7. It was mainly due to the Swallows Roberto Petagine's grand slam. The result was 3 to 5. The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara blasted his 4th homerun. Akira Eto followed. The Giants overwhelmed the BayStars 16 to 2. The Carp this time defeated the Dragons 8 to 6.
The Tigers played for the first time this season at Koshien, it's franchise on Apr 9. The team did well. It defeated the Carp 8 to 1 and Keiichi Yabu pitched over the distance and won his 2nd game. The Giants Kazuhiro Kiyohara recorded 6 RBIs, including his 5th homerun. The Giants won 10 to 2 over the Swallows. The BayStars beat the Dragons 7 to 4. And on Apr 10, Tigers had a dramatic win with Makoto Imaoka's homerun in the final inning. It was 1 to 0. The Swallows' pinch hitter, former slugger Takahiro Ikeyama tripled a homerun to give his team a 5 to 2 win over the Giants. The Dragon defeated the BayStars 4 to 2. On Apr 11, the Giants retaliated. In the 12th inning, Akira Eto grounded the ball to 1st base, which Roberto Petagine fumbled. A runner came home giving the Giants the game 5 to 4. The Dragons again won, 9 to 2. On Apr 12, the Tigers clinched its 10th win of the season. Pitcher Kei Igawa shut out the BayStars for his 3rd win. The game ended 1 to 0. The Carp defeated the Swallows 7 to 5. And it won again 8 to 2 the next day. The Tigers failed to win that day in a competitive game of 2 to 3. The Giants with Hideki Matsui's RBI clinched the game 3 to 2 over the Dragons. On Apr 14, the Tigers won a 1 to 0 game. The Dragons clinched the game 2 to 0 against the Giants with Kosuke Fukudome's 2 run homer. The Carp won its 3rd straight game against the Swallows 5 to 4.
For the first time Senichi Hoshino who's currently skippering the Tigers faced his former team the Dragons on Apr 16. But it was his former team that clinched the game 7 to 3. The Swallows losing streak ended by defeating the BayStars 7 to 5. But the Swallows the next day was shut out by BayStars starter Daisuke Miura to lose again 0 to 4. The Giants that day took the lead with Takayuki Shimizu and Yoshinobu Takahashi's homeruns. But the the Carp fought back with a homer by Eddy Diaz. The Giants, however, with base hits by Shimizu and Takahashi again clinched the game 7 to 3. The Tigers for the first time this season faced a losing streak of 2. It's in a 3 to 5 game against the Dragons. On Apr 18, the Tigers managed to finish the game a tie in 12 innings. The Giants lost from the day, superstar Kazuhiro Kiyohara who injured his side in the previous day's game. The Giants faced defeat too, 2 to 5. The Swallows' Shugo Fujii shut out the BayStars in a 6 to 0 game.
The most thrilling game on Apr 19 was held in Koshien. Giants'veteran pitcher Masumi Kuwata shut out the Tigers during the 9 inning he pitched. The Tigers starter Kei Igawa did too. Keiji Fukui homered in the 10th inning for the Giants. Junichi Kawahara closed the game. The BayStars finished a 12 inning game 1 to 1 against the Carp despite marking 11 base hits. The next day, the BayStars made up for the loss winning 5 to 3. The Giants had a devastating defeat of 2 to 10 despite Hideki Matsui's home run. Roberto Petagine had his 7th homer, and the Swallows won 5 to 0 over the Dragons. The Swallows, the next day, clinched the game again in the 11th inning with Atsuya Furuta's hit. It's 2 to 1.
Roberto Petagine helped the Swallows lead but in the 9th inning, the Giants caught up with Shinnosuke Abe's homer on Apr 23. Then in the 10th inning, the Giants blasted 5 runs to win 10 to 5. The Tigers lost in a competitive game of 7 to 11 to the Carp. The Dragons Melvin Bunch hurled over the distance to win his 3rd game.It was a 9 to 2 win over the BayStars. THe Dragons won again the next day 9 to 2. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige acquired from the BayStars to play this season contributed with RBIs. Daisuke Motoki homered to help the Giants with a game winning RBI. It defeated the Swallows 4 to 1. The Tigers this time won 6 to 3 over the Carp. On Apr 25, the Tigers' George Arias was amazing. He had 3 homers to take the Tigers to a 10 to 5 win. The Giants starter John Wasdin was homered in the 3rd inning,and in the end the Swallows won 8 to 1. It was George Arias again to contribute to the Tigers' victory on Apr 26, 11 to 6. The Giants could not defeat the BayStars rookie Yuji Yoshimi and gave him his first career win in a 2 to 4 game. The Carp won 3 to 2 over the Dragons. The next day, the Giants' Hideki Matsui blasted 2 homers for his team's 6 to 1 win. The Dragons' Masa Yamamoto faced his 4th loss in a 0 to 14 game. The Tigers winning streak ended at 3, facing defeat before the Swallows 1 to 9. Again the next day, the Tigers lost 1 to 3. The Carp won 2 to 1. The Giants with Tomohiro Nioka's RBI defeated the BayStars 1 to 0.
The Giants' 38 year old Kimiyasu Kudo shut out the Carp in a 5 to 0 game on Apr 29. The Tigers clinched a 5 to 3 game from the Dragons. The BayStar won 10 to 8 over the Swallows. The Giants game on Apr 30 started out a disaster. It's starting pitcher Takashi Miura was homered by the Carp's Eddy Diaz. Then his pitch hit Koichi Ogata in the head. But in the 5th inning, the Giants blasted. Felipe Crespo also had 2 homers to take the Giants to a 11 to 4 win. The Tigers Keiichi Yabu had a shut out victory over the Dragons in a 4 to 0 game.
League standing as of April 30
1. Hanshin Tigers
2. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
3. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
4. Yakult Swallows
5. Chunichi Dragons
6. Yokohama Bay Stars
March
The season opened at the same time as the Pacific League on Mar 30.
Last year's champion the Swallows managed to defeat the Dragons 5 to 4.
The Carp won 2 to 1 over the BayStars.
The most watched game was undoubtly between the Giants and the Tigers.
Both with new star skippers,the Giants, Tatsunori Hara, the Tigers, Senichi Hoshino.
Shinjiro Hiyama homered. George Arias who joined from the BlueWave doubled.
Then the Giants tried to catch up with Kazuhiro Kiyohara's homer.
However, the Giants in the end lost 1 to 3.
In the 2nd game Kazuhiro Kiyohara homered again.
It's his 444th career homerun tying with baseball great Shigeo Nagashima's record.
However, other than that, the Giants were disappointing unable to conquer the Tiger's starter Trey Moore, nor
closure Marc Valdes. It was a 2 to 1 game.
The Swallows won again 3 to 1 over the Dragons but is in trouble.
Its star catcher Atsuya Furuta was injured pretty badly.
The BayStars giant pitcher John Turney who stand 208 cm tall was defeated. His team lost 6 to 7 to the Carp.
LAST SEASON CHAMPION: YAKULT SWALLOWS
Final league standing
1. Yakult Swallows
2. Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
3. Yokohama Bay Stars
4. Hiroshima Toyo Carp
5. Chunichi Dragons
6. Hanshin Tigers
| 2001 CENTRAL LEAGUE TITLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Shigeki Noguchi (Dragons) | 2.46 |
| Most games won | Shugo Fujii (Swallows) | 14 |
| Most strike outs | Shigeki Noguchi (Dragons) | 187 |
| Most saves | Shingo Takatsu (Swallows) | 37SP |
| Highest hitting average | Hideki Matsui (Giants) | .333 |
| Most base hits | Takuro Ishii (Bay Stars) | 171 |
| Homerun | Roberto Petagine (Swallows) | 39 |
| RBI | Roberto Petagine (Swallows) | 127 |
| Most on base | Roberto Petagine (Swallows) | .466 |
| Most bases stolen | Norihiro Akahoshi (Tigers) | 39 |
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