CHAMPION: KINTETSU BUFFALOES
| 2001 PACIFIC LEAGUE TITLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| ERA | Nathan Minchey (Marines) | 3.26 |
| Most games won | Daisuke Matsuzaka (Lions) | 15 |
| Most saves | Rodney Pedraza (Hawks) | 38 SP |
| Most strike outs | Daisuke Matsuzaka (Lions) | 214 |
| Highest batting average | Kazuya Fukuura (Marines) | .346 |
| Most base hits | Michihiro Ogasawara (Fighters) | 195 |
| Homerun | Tuffy Rhodes (Buffaloes) | 55 |
| RBI | Noriyuki Nakamura (Buffaloes) | 132 |
| Most on base | Noriyuki Nakamura (Buffaloes) | .434 |
| Stolen base | TadahitoIguchi (Hawks) | 44 |
October
The Lions played its final game under skipper Osamu Higashio.
His beloved player however was unable to bid him with a win. On Oct 1, the Lions faced its 5th straight defeat.
The Lions lost 2 to 5 to the Fighters, and Daisuke Matsuzaka succumbed to his 15th loss.
Tuffy Rhodes final chance to break the annual homerun record held by Sadaharu Oh was on Oct 5. But he could not. And the Buffaloes lost to the BlueWave 1 to 7. By the way, the game was the final one for BlueWave skipper Akira Ohgi. He is credited to have been a great coach to Seattle Mariners' Ichiro.
Final league standing
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
September
The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka shut out the Marines in a 4 to 0 game. It's his 13th win. Meanwhile on Sept 1,
the top two teams won. The Hawks defeated the BlueWave 4 to 2 while the Buffaloes 13 to 3 to the Fighters.
On Sept 2, the Hawks lost 0 to 2 and the Buffaloes won with Tuffy Rhodes 49th homer 10 to 9, and they're
standings were reversed.
The next day, their standing remained the same due to both teams losing. The Buffaloes 0 to 4 to the Lions,
and the Hawks 0 to 8 to the Marines.Both top teams lost again on Sept 4, the Buffaloes 2 to 5, and the Hawks 4 to 5.
The Lions with Alex Cabrera's 45th homer are right behind the top contenders.
In the only game on Sept 5, the Buffaloes, despite Tuffy Rhodes 50th homer lost 1 to 8 to the Lions.
3 teams have tied for first place.
On Sept 7, the Hawks with homers by Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Hiroki Kokubo defeated the Buffaloes 8 to 1 to gain on its own first place. While the Lions was second, winning 8 to 2 over the BlueWave. Then the next day, the Hawks won again, despite the fact that Tuffy Rhodes slammed 2 homers, his 51st and 52nd. But finally on Sept 9, the Buffaloes with Norihiro Nakamura's 2 homers, and Rhodes' breaking the Pacific League record with his 53th homer clinched the game.
The Hawks game was rained out due to an approaching typhoon on Sept 10. Meanwhile, the Buffaloe defeated the Marines to inch closer to the leader. The Lions too won 1 to 0 over the Fighters. On Sept 11, the Hawks kept the lead defeating the BlueWave 7 to 5. The Buffaloes won too 9 to 2 over the Marines. The following day, the Hawks did not play. Meanwhile, Tuffy Rhodes blasted his 54th homer to give his team a 8 to 3 win and regain 1st place. The Lions stayed close behind for 2nd place clinching the game against the Fighters 5 to 1 with Alex Cabrera's 2 homers. On Sept 13, in the only game, the Hawks lost to the BlueWave 3 to 6, thus falling further behind the top 2 teams.
The ranking changed again on Sept 14. The Lions surged to the top for the first time this season by beating the Hawks 10 to 2, and the Buffaloes losing to the BlueWave 3 to 9. The Lions kept its position the next day by also winning 11 to 8. The Buffaloes game was rained out. On Sept 16, the Hawks at last defeated the Lions 6 to 1. The Buffaloes too won 5 to 4 over the BlueWave, thus the top 3 games in close competition. The next day, the Buffaloes surged to first place by beating the Lions 2 to 1, and the Hawks losing 3 to 6 to the Fighters. On Buffaloes won again on Sept 18, 5 to 0 And the Hawks too 8 to 1. The same top 2 teams were on winners again on Sept 19. The Buffaloes over the Lions 6 to 4, and the Hawks over the Fighters 7 to 1.
On Sept 23, the Buffaloes defeated the Fighters 1 to 0 to keep first place. The Lions defeated the Marines 7 to 5 to gain 2nd place while the Hawks lost 7 to 12 to the BlueWave. On Sept 25, the Buffaloes played an exciting game. First, Tuffy Rhodes slammed his 55th homer to tie with the Japan record held by baseball legend Sadaharu Oh. He blasted off from Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Lions. The Lions was ahead, but in the 9th inning, Norihiro Nakamura drove in a 2 run homer to clinch the game 7 to 6. The Buffaloes need only one more win for the pennant victory.
On Sept 26, the Buffaloes were behind, In the 9th inning the score was 2 to 5. But it's loaded the base, and pinch hitter Hirotoshi Kitagawa grand slammed to defeate the Blue Wave 6 to 5 and clinch the league victory. It's the team's first time in 12 years.
Standing as of September 30, 2001
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
August
The Buffaloes Tuffy Rhodes slammed his 37th and took his team to its 4th straight win by defeating the Marines 2 to 3
on Aug 1.
The Hawks faced defeat before the Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka in a 10 inning game. It was 2 to 3.
The Buffaloes did not quite catch up with the Blue Wave to lose 9 to 10 on Aug 3. Runner-up, the Hawks, meanwhile blasted 3 homers in a row in the first inning, and finished the game with a 13 to 8 win over the Fighters. And on Aug 4, the Buffaloes won this time 6 to 1. But the Hawks lost 3 to 5 to the Fighters to drift away from the top place. On Aug 5, the Buffloes lost to the BlueWave 6 to 8 even though Tuffy Rhodes homered. And Hawks too lost 4 to 7 to the Fighters and fell to 3rd place. It was taken over 2nd place by the BlueWave.
The Buffaloes on Aug 7 batted well. Tuffy Rhodes slammed his 40th homer to take his team to a 8 to 3 win over the Fighters. The Lions with a 2 to 1 win over the BlueWave and the Hawks 3 to 10 defeat to the Marines gave it a 2nd place tie with the Hawks. On Aug 8, the Buffaloes lost 2 to 3 while the Hawks won 5 to 0 inching closer to the top team.
Fumiya Nishiguchi clinched a league leading 12th win in the game where his team, the Lions defeated the Buffaloes 10 to 1. The Hawks beat the BlueWave 12 to 7 on Aug 10. The next day, the Lions won again with Alex Cabrera's 2 homers. So that means the Buffaloes lost. It was 8 to 11. And the Hawks with Hiroki Kokubo's 2 homers defeated the BlueWave 10 to 5. But, on Aug 12, it was the Buffaloes to win despite the fact the the Lions Cabrera homered again. It was a close 3 to 2 game. The Hawks was defeated by the BlueWave in the 10th inning 1 to 2.
On Aug 13, the Buffaloes lost to the Fighters 3 to 7. The Hawks managed to keep the Lions from taking over the game winning 9 to 8. And the Hawks was almost tied for 1st place. The next day the Buffaloes lost again, a whooping 3 to 17. But the Hawks faced defeat too so the standings remained the same. And on Aug 15, the Buffaloes lost 3 to 8. And since the Hawks won 3 to 2 in a 10 inning game, it clinched first place.
The top 2 teams faced eachother on Aug 17. The Hawks managed to reverse the outcome of the game to win 8 to 6. The Hawks won again the following day 5 to 2. Meanwhile the Lions' Alex Caberera had his 42nd homer to help his team win 5 to 4 over the Marines. Cabrera's mom was in the stands watching the game. On Aug 19, the Buffaloes managed to avoid its 5th straight loss, by defeating the Hawks 2 to 1.
On Aug 20, the Hawks did not play, and as to take advantage of this, the Buffaloes won 9 to 1 over the BlueWave. By the way, the Lions' Alex Cabrera blasted his 43th homerun. The next day the Buffaloes game was cancelled due to a typhoon, while the Hawks played, but lost to the Marines 3 to 7. The Lions, meanwhile won 3 to 1 over the Fighters and replaced the Buffaloes for 2nd place. But on Aug 22, the Buffaloes clinched back the runner up post. Norihiro Nakamura blasted a grand slam and his team won 10 to 6 over the BlueWave. The other teams' games were cancelled due to a typhoon.
The Buffaloes stars homered on Aug 24. They're Tuffy Rhodes with his 43rd to tie with the leader, and Norihiro Nakamura. The team defeated the Fighters 14 to 8. And since the Hawks lost and the Lions won 19 to 4 in the game they clashed against eachother, the ranking was reshuffled. The Buffaloes was back on top, the Lions second followed by the Hawks. The scene changed already on Aug 25. The Hawks won dramatically with Nobuhiko Matsunaka's "sayonara" 2-run even though the Lions' Alex Cabrera homered too earlier. It was a 3 to 2 game. And since the Buffaloes lost in a 1 to 8 game against the Fighters, the Hawks returned to the top. On Aug 26, the Hawks defeated the Lions 3 to 1 to keep its top spot, while the Buffaloes kept closely behind by winning over the Fighters 7 to 2.
On Aug 27, the Hawks played successfully to beat the Fighters 6 to 5. The Buffaloes did not have a game. The next day, the Hawks won 4 to 2 to keep first place. The Buffaloes won too to secure second place. It was 6 to 3 over the Marines. The day after, the Buffaloes, with Tuffy Rhodes 2 homers, his 45th and 46th, won 11 to 2. The Hawks too won, it's 5th straight game with a homer by the scarred Kenji Jojima. It was a 12 to 1 game. There was only one game played on Aug 30. The Buffaloes managed to overwhelm the Marines 7 to 5, and inch closer to the Hawks.
On Aug 31, the top 2 teams both lost. The Buffaloes lost despite Tuffy Rhodes 47th homerun. It was 3 to 9 to the Fighters.
Standing as of August 31, 2001
1.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
2.Kintetsu Buffaloes
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
July
On July 1, the Hawks defeated the Marines 6 to 4. The Buffaloes lost to the BlueWave 0 to 3.
The next day, the Hawks defeat, 1 to 10 to the Lions, and the BlueWave's victory to the Fighters 6 to 3,
changed the positions of the 2 teams around.
On July 3, the Buffaloes kept it's top post by defeating the Marines 7 to 3. And the next day, Norihiro Nakamura slammed his 27th in the 10th inning to take the Buffaloes to the 2 to 1 victory.
On July 6, the Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka succumbed to his 10th loss already. His team lost 0 to 7 to the Blue Wave. Matsuzaka was last year's top winner. As for the top runner, the Buffaloes on that day lost 3 to 4, and the following day 2 to 14 to the Hawks. The Marines Tomohiro Kuroki gave up 4 runs in just the first inning on July 7, but recovered quickly, and in the end clinched his 11th win. The Marines defeated the Fighters 6 to 4. On July 8, the Buffaloes lost again. The Hawks rookie Akichika Yamada had his first shut out victory in a 7 to 0 game.
The Buffaloes Norihiro Nakamura homered his 28th, but his team lost to the Lions 8 to 10 on July 9. The most exciting game that day was between the Hawks and the Marines. In the top of the 10th inning, Noriyoshi Ohmichi tripled, appearing to have clinched the game for the Hawks, but no. The Marines Frank Bolick grand slammed to give his team a 10 to 9 win. The Marines won again the next day 6 to 1. While the Buffaloes defeated the Lions 3 to 1.
It was Tomohiro Kuroki against Daisuke Matsuzaka on July 13. Kuroki did not give up a run until he traded places with a reliever. But in the end, the Marines lost to the Lions 2 to 3. Matsuzaka collected his 8th win. The Hawks inched closer to the Buffaloes by defeating the Fighters 3 to 1. The next day, the Buffaloes defeated the BlueWave, and the Hawks the fighters, so the ranking order did not change. On July 15, the Buffaloes won again 7 to 1 including Norihiro Nakamura's 29th homer. But the Hawks lost 2 to 6 to the Fighters.
Alex Cabrera blasted 2 homers on July 16. His latest, his 33rd. The Lions defeated the Fighters 9 to 8 in the 10th inning. The leader, the Buffaloes lost 3 to 7 to the Marines. But the next day, it reversed the game 12 to 9 to win, and finishing the pre all star part of the season keeping first place. And the final game before the all star break took place on July 18. Daisuke Matsuzaka completed a 10 inning game and the Lions won 3 to 2 over the Fighers.
In the first game after the all star break on July 27, the leading team, the Buffaloes lost to the Hawks 3 to 8. The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka could not win again, but his team clinched the game again on Kazuo Matsui's "sayonara" hit. It was 1 to 0 for the Blue Wave. On July 28, the Buffaloes lost against the Hawks again, 2 to 3, and the Hawks replace the Buffaloes for first place. But the next day, the Buffaloes defeated the Hawks 6 to 3 to take the leading spot again.
The Buffaloes' Norihiro Nakamura blasted his 30th homer, helping his team defeat the Marines 6 to 5. The Hawks Hiroki Kokubo had his 32nd to finish the 11th inning game 3 to 2 against the Lions. The next day, the Buffaloes won again with Norihiro Nakamura's 2 homers 7 to 3. And the Hawks lost to the Lions 3 to 6. The Lions Alex Cabrera homered his 36th.
Standing as of July 31, 2001
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Seibu Lions
4.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
5.Chiba Lotte Marines
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
June
The BlueWave kept its place on top, defeating the Fighter 11 to 4 on June 1.
The next day, it lost 0 to 8.
The Marines is, by the way, playing well. It clinched it's 7th win in a row--a record
the team hasn't achieved for 16 years. It won 15 to 3 over the Buffaloes.
But on June 3, the streak came to a halt losing 5 to 9.
The Blue Wave lost to the Marines 0 to 1 on June 4. And the Hawks defeated the Fighters 6 to 3. And the results have given the Hawks back first place. The Hawks kept its place the following day winning 2 to 1 in an 11 inning game. Meanwhile the Marines rose to 2nd place, defeating the BlueWave 5 to 4. And Tomohiro Kuroki won his 9th straight game. He also won MVP of May. And the BlueWave fell further in its ranking on June 7, replaced by the Buffaloes for 3rd. The Buffaloes wiped out the Lions'Daisuke Matsuzaka for an 8 to 2 win.
The Hawks continued to win. It defeated the BlueWave 9 to 3 on June 8. It won again the next day 2 to 0, and that day after that too 4 to 1. The Lions Alex Cabrera homered his 28th on June 9 to take his team to a 3 to 0 win over the Marines.
The BlueWave's losing streak finally ended on June 10 by winning over the Lions 7 to 3. And it won on June 11, and the day after that, it defeated Daisuke Matsuzaka 3 to 1,who succumbed to his 7th defeat already. For Tomohiro Kuroki fan, it was an unfortunate day. He only gave up 2 homers while hurling over a distance. But without enough support, the Marines was beated by the Fighter 2 to 1. The Hawks' celebrated it's 20 millionth spectator at the Fukuoka Dome by winning 9 to 5 against the Buffaloes, and marking its 7th win in a row.
The rain is preventing games from being played. On June 15, in the only game, the Buffaloes defeated the BlueWave 12 to 5. The next day, all games were played. The leader, the Hawks lost to the Marines. In an 11th-inning game, this time, the BlueWave defeated the Buffaloes 10 to 8. On June 17, the Marines clinched the game dramatically. It's injury prone popular player Hiroo Ishii slammed a game clinching 2 run homer--his first homerun this season to beat the Hawks 7 to 5. And the Marines at the same time surged to second place. But it quickly dropped to 4th place the next day facing defeat to the BlueWave 2 to 11. The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka lost his 4th straight game that day to the Buffaloes in a 3 to 4 game. The Hawks clinched an 11 inning game with Hiroki Kokubo's homer. It's a 5 to 3 win over the Fighters. By the way it was announced on the day that the Hawks will play 2 games in Taiwan next May. It'll be the first Japan's pro team will play its season outside of the country. The Hawks will face the BlueWave.
The Hawks defeated the Fighters again 11 to 6 on June 19. The next day, it did not play. But the Marines defeated the BlueWave 6 to 5 to return again to 2nd place.
On June 22, the Buffaloes defeated the Hawks by scoring a whopping 18 to 9. And because the Marines lost that day, the Buffaloes replaced it for 2nd place. Norihiro Nakamura whacked his 24th homer. The Buffaloes defeated the leading team the Hawks the next day 6 to 5. The Bufflaoes won again 6 to 5 on June 24. And finally on June 25, it's victory over the Fighters 7 to 5, and the Hawks defeat--3 to 11 to the BlueWave reversed their standing. The Buffaloes is on top. The Buffaloes kept the spot the next day winning 2 to 1 over the Fighters. On June 27, the Buffaloes winning streak came to a halt. It lost 7 to 16 to the Fighters.
The Hawks on June 29 beat the Marines with Kenji Jojima's grand slam 4 to 0. The next day, Tomohiro Kuroki was pitching in good shape and the Marines beat the Hawks 2 to 5. The Buffaloes won 8 to 1 over the BlueWave, to widen its lead over the Hawks. It includes 2 homers by Tuffy Rhodes, who exceeded the Lions' Alex Cabrera with his 32nd.
Standing as of June 30, 2001
1.Kintetsu Buffaloes
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Seibu Lions
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
May
It was only one homerun by the very first Fighter up to bat that cost the Buffaloes' the game on May 1.
But it retained first place.
The next day, however, the Buffaloes lost again, this time, 6 to 10.
And the Hawks clinched an over 5 hour game against the Marines 8 to 7.
The result of the top 2 teams reversed on May 3. The Buffaloes, as it's advisor Tommy Lasorda looked on won 1 to 0.
The Hawks were defeated by the Marines 2 to 10.
By the way, the Lions' slugger Alex Cabrera recorded a 3 run homer to give his team a 6 to 2 win over the BlueWave.
It's his 18th homerun.
And Cabrera homered again the following day to help the Lions win 9 to 3.
The Marines ace pitcher Tomohiro Kuroki was back on May 4 after being out from an injury for more than 20 days. He shut out 8 innings, improving his ERA. And the Marines defeated the BlueWave 2 to 0 The leader Hawks retained its top spot defeating the Buffaloes in an over 5 hour game 10 to 8. It won again in an extra inning game on May 5, 4 to 3. And then with the same score on May 6.
In the only game played on May 8 the Buffaloes defeated the Lions 8 to 3, and its pitcher Katsuhiko Maekawa clinched his 6th win to lead the league. The next day, the Buffaloes slugger Norihiro Nakamura blasted 2 homers, and his team won 11 to 4. The leader, the Hawks lost to the BlueWave 3 to 5, but retained first place.
On May 10, the Lions' Alex Cabrera homered twice and batted in 5 runs alone to help the Lions defeat the Buffaloes 8 to 4.
The Marines Tomohiro Kuroki stopped his team's losing streak at 3 on May 11, and earned his 5th win in a 12 to 2 game against the Buffaloes. On May 12, the top runner was able to keep Cabrera from scoring, and defeated the Lions' 4 to 2. But it was the other way around the next day. The Lions clinched an 11 inning game 5 to 3.
The standing of the top contender reversed on May 14. The Blue Wave clinched his 6th win in a row by defeating the Buffaloes. Meanwhile, the Hawks lost to the Fighters 3 to 0, falling to 2nd place. However, the next day, the Hawks slammed 5 homers to win 8 to 5. And on the same day, the BlueWave in a 12 inning game, 4 to 3 to keep first place. It won again the following day against the Buffaloes 11 to 5, to stretch its winning streak to 8.
The Blue Wave winning streak came to a halt on May 18. The Hawks' Brady Raggio hurled over a distance for his 5th win in a 7 to 1 game. But on May 19, the BlueWave blasted. It defeated the Hawks 17 to 1. Alex Cabrera's game determining 3 run homer that day gave the Lions a 4 to 1 win over the Fighters. It's Cabrera's 23rd. The Bufflaloes' Norihiro Nakamura grand slammed in the 12th inning to give his team a 8 to 4 win over the Marines. On May 20, the Hawks beat the BlueWave 9 to 4, and tied for first place. But the following day, the Hawks did not have a game while he BlueWave was victorious defeated the Marines 2 to 0, so it recovered its sole lead. It was the other way around the day after. And the Hawks beat the Fighters 9 to 3 with 5 homers. The next day the Hawks in a 12 inning game finished a 9 to 9 tie against the Fighters in a see-saw game.
On May 25, the Marines' Tomohiro Kuroki gave up 2 hits to the Fighters, but the Marines batted in more runs and won 4 to 2, giving it's ace his 7th win. Another star pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka clinched his 6th win when the Lions smashed a game winning hit in the final inning. It was 3 to 2 to the Hawks. The leader the BlueWave lost 6 to 10 to the Buffaloes. On May 26, the BlueWave tied 2 to 2 with the Buffaloes, while the Hawks defeated the Lions 8 to 2. The Hawks were back on top. The next day, the Hawks were beaten by the Lions with Alex Cabrera's 2 homers, 4 to 6. But it stayed on top because the BlueWave lost. It was 3 to 4 to the Buffaloes.
On May 28, the Hawks lost to the Marines, and the BlueWave did not have a game. The 2 teams replace positions. The next day, the Blue Wave defeated the Lions to keep first place. The wonder boy, the same day was Norihiro Nakamura of the Buffaloes, he had 3 homers. He doubled twice, and grandslammed too. His team won 17 to 12 over the Fighters. Nakamura is currently the league's leading hitter. And he homered again on May 30, it's his 21st. And the Buffaloes won 6 to 3. The 2 top teams both lost that day. It includes the Marines' 6th straight win in a 4 to 3 game against the Hawks. . It's ace pitcher Tomohiro Kuroki won his 8th game
Standing as of May 30, 2001
1.Orix Blue Wave Osaka
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Chiba Lotte Marines
4.Kintetsu Buffaloes
5.Seibu Lions
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
April
The Buffaloes Norihiro Nakamura is doing great. On Apr 2, he blasted his 3rd homerun and not only helped his team defeat the Marines 3 to 2, but
the Buffaloes clinched first place in the league.
By the way, the Pacific League decided to hold games on Mondays starting this season while the Central League is off. On Apr 3, the Hawks took its 4th straight loss in a 3 to 10 game against the Lions. The Marines won beat the Buffaloes 6 to 3 to take back first place. Then the Marines won again the next day. Pitcher Tomohiro Kuroki left the final inning up to a colleague, but the 1 to 0 victory gave him his 3rd win already That day, the Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka earns his first win in a 10 to 1 game. The Hawks faced its 5th straight loss.
On Apr 6, the Hawks losing streak was ended by defeating the Marines 4 to 1. The Blue Wave with its 3rd straight win that day surged to first place. It defeated the Buffaloes again the next day to keep its place. On Apr 8, the Buffaloes'at last won 9 to 3, and preventing it to go into a 5 game losing streak. The Marines' Shingo Ono, meanwhile shut out the Hawks in a 8 to 0 game.
On Apr 9, Nobuhiko Matsunaka was back with the Hawks. Perhaps his presence boosted the team spirit. Hiroki Kokubo doubled and homered. The team defeated the Buffaloes 7 to 2. Tomohiro Kuroki was on the verge of winning again on Apr 10, but a ball batted by Fighters'Toshihiro Noguchi hit his calf. He was forced to leave after taking 2 outs in the 4th innings withn the Marines was winning. It finished 12 to 2 win for the Marines anyway. The Lions'Daisuke Matsuzaka clinched his 2nd win over a distance, thanks to Taisei Takagi's game finishing double over the Blue Wave to close 1 to 0.
The Hawks performed well on Apr 13. It had 6 homers, and Brady Raggio hurled over the distance for his 3rd win. The team won 18 to 3 over the BlueWave. The Marines became the first team on Apr 14 to clinch the season's 10th win. And the Marines won again the next day. Derrick May singled a game winning in the final inning to give the Marines a 3 to 2 victory over the Lions.
The Marines,with contribution by Derrick May again on Apr 16, broke the tie in the 9th inning to defeat the Hawks 2 to 1. The Lions' Daisuke Matsuzaka was partly unlucky. His teammated were not supportive out in the field. The Lions lost to the Fighter 1 to 6. The Marines winning streak was ended by the Hawks on Apr 17 in a 2 to 7 game. Again the next day, the Hawks won. Hiroki Kokubo and Tony Mitchell blasted 2 homers each to defeat the Marines 10 to 3.
The Hawks is right on track. It clinched its 4th straight win by defeating the Lions 3 to 2 on Apr 21. The complete opposite is the Marines which lost its 4th game in a row 5 to 8,and giving up first place to the Buffaloes. But the next day, the Marines was back on top by crashing the Buffaloes 8 to 1.
The Hawks again blasted on Apr 24. Pedro Valdes and Hiroki Kokubo homered twice and clinched the game against the Fighter 13 to 1. And the Hawks emerged in the top while the Marines lost 1 to 2 to the BlueWave. The Hawks exploded the next day too to win 10 to 7. And despite punches and kicks by Tony Mitchell in retaliation for getting hit by a pitch, the Hawks won 8 to 5 on Apr 25 over the Fighters.
The Hawks suddenly gave up 5 runs to the Buffaloes in the final inning, and lost 6 to 11. The Buffaloes replaced the Hawks for the top spot on Apr 28. But the next day, the Hawks Hiroki Kokubo slammed a game winning homerun for a 4 to 3 win in the 10th inning, and at the same time winning back first place. The Lions' Alex Cabrera is a wonder, he blasted his 16th homer already on Apr 29 to tie a competitive game. And in the 11th inning the Lions defeated the Marines 6 to 5. And the following day too, Cabrera slammed a huge homerun, and defeated the Marines 8 to 3. The Buffaloes, however, suddenly whacked in 10 runs in one inning, securing a 12 to 5 win over the Hawks, and regaining first place.
Standing as of April 30, 2000
1.Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Orix Blue Wave
4.Chiba Lotte Marines
5.Seibu Lions
6.Nippon Ham Fighters
March
The most colorful pitchers were on at the Seibu Dome for the opener on Mar. 24.
They're the Marines' Tomohiro Kuroki and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Lions who were teammates on last year's Olympic team.
Kuroki lost 3 runs in the first inning, but his teammates scored more. The Marines' won the game 6 to 3.
Last year's league champion the Hawks lost to the BlueWave 2 to 6.
At the Tokyo Dome, the Buffaloes defeated the Fighters 10 to 9.
The league attracted in all 136,000 spectators, the largest ever.
The following day, the Marines and the Buffaloes won again surprising fans.
The Fighters is in trouble. It's central player Sherman Obando broke his foot on Mar 27 in the game against the Marines. Though his team won 3 to 2, it may take a while for him to be back. Former top amateur pitcher Akichika Yamada started for the Hawks on Mar 28. He appeared to be on his way to pitch a shut out game, but in the 8th, he suddenly lost 4 runs, including a 3 run homer by Norihiro Nakamura of the Buffaloes, But he clinched his first pro victory in a 7 to 4 game. On Mar. 30, the Marines Tomohiro Kuroki succeeded in hurling a shut out game. He's the first in both leagues in the 21st century. He kept the Blue Wave to 3 base hits, while the Marines batted in 4 runs. The Hawks on Mar 31st ended its winning streak of 4. Fighters' Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi blanked the Hawks 1 to 0. The Buffaloes batted in 4 runs in the first inning, but the Lions caught up in the 9th when its rookie Tomoaki Sato doubled. And to end the game in the 11th inning, it was Sato again for his team's 8 to 7 victory.
Standing as of Mar 31, 2000
1.Chiba Lotte Marines
2.Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
3.Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
4.Nippon Ham Fighters
5.Orix Blue Wave
6.Seibu Lions
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