FUKUOKA – Munenori Kawasaki has been promoted to the top team for this weekend’s three-game series against the Orix Buffaloes, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks manager Kimiyasu Kudo said Thursday.
Kudo said he will __play the 35-year-old infielder, who signed a one-year deal with the Pacific League club earlier this month, in Friday’s game at Kyocera Dome, ahead of his initial plan to wait until the following weekend.
“I expect him to do well in everything — hitting, running, defending. I’ll decide tomorrow whether he’ll be in the starting lineup or __play as a sub,” Kudo said.
“I was thinking of (promoting him) around May 3 or May 4, but our situation has changed. He is in good shape.”
Kawasaki rejoined the Hawks after five years in the major and minor leagues.
In 13 farm team appearances since returning to Japan, Kawasaki batted .441 with one homer and 10 RBIs.
Buffaloes starter Chihiro Kaneko delivers a pitch during Orix's win over the Lions on Wednesday. | KYODO
OSAKA – Ace Chihiro Kaneko overcame a tough second inning to go the distance in the Orix Buffaloes’ 4-3 Pacific League win over the Seibu Lions on Wednesday.
Kaneko (4-0) pitched out of a second-inning jam to keep the game scoreless and the Buffaloes got to Seibu starter Kona Takahashi (0-3) in a four-run fifth.
A one-out infield single and a walk set the table for the Lions in the sixth before a two-run Sosuke Genda double and an RBI groundout made it a one-run game. Kaneko allowed only one baserunner after that.
The 33-year-old right-hander allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked two in his second complete game victory of the season for the second-place Buffaloes.
“I was struggling there in the middle, but I managed to get out of it with everyone’s help,” Kaneko said. “First of all the fielding was big behind me, and then they got us on the board with their bats and (center fielder Yuki) Miyazaki was in the middle of that.”
Miyazaki, by and large a disappointment since the Buffaloes drafted him third in 2010, has been a spark plug in the leadoff spot this season.
Brent Morel, back with the first team after an injury to outfielder Stefen Romero, drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. After a one-out walk, Miyazaki hit a grounder to third that somehow got through third baseman Shuta Tonosaki and down the left-field line for a two-run double.
Masahiro Nishino tripled home Miyazaki and scored on a Ryoichi Adachi single. Two more singles loaded the bases, but Takahashi stranded all three runners. In five innings, he allowed four runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out four.
Eagles 11, Marines 7
At Sendai’s Kobo Park Miyagi, Takahiro Norimoto (2-1) allowed a run in seven innings, while Hiroaki Shimauchi and Zelous Wheeler hit two run homers in the second and third innings, respectively, as Rakuten cruised past Chiba Lotte to its fourth straight victory.
Hawks 4, Fighters 1
At Yafuoku Dome, Nao Higashihama (2-1) allowed a run in seven innings and SoftBank hit two first-inning homers off former Cleveland Indian Toru Murata (0-1) as defending Japan Series champion Nippon Ham lost 10 straight games for the first time in 12 seasons.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Carp 7, Giants 6
At Mazda Stadium, Tsubasa Aizawa’s two-run, sixth-inning single broke a 3-3 tie, while Seiya Suzuki scored twice, drove in a run and saved at least a run with a leaping seventh-inning catch in right field as Hiroshima came from behind and then held off Yomiuri.
Swallows 8, Dragons 7 (11)
At Nagoya Dome, Keiji Obiki’s three-run, eighth-inning homer tied it at 5-5 and Yakult completed its comeback against Chunichi in the 11th on Yuhei Takai’s two-run RBI single. Wladimir Balentien went 4-for-5 and scored three runs for the Swallows.
Los Angeles starter Kenta Maeda delivers a pitch in the first inning against Philadelphia on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. | AP
Los Angeles – After floundering for the first month of the season, Kenta Maeda found his form Friday night.
Maeda threw seven solid innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3. Maeda (2-2) entered with an 8.05 ERA and had failed to reach the sixth inning in any of his four previous starts.
The second-year right-hander struck out a season-high eight and limited Philadelphia to five hits, a walk and two runs as Los Angeles snapped the Phillies’ six-game winning streak.
“It was great to see Kenta throw the way he did tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He had clarity and he threw with conviction. He kept the ball down and he threw it tight to left-handers. He and Honey (Rick Honeycutt) had an excellent game plan going in and he executed it.”
Maeda said his felt some pressure to perform well tonight.
“It was a great day for me,” Maeda said through a translator. “I’ve had a string of bad outings and I felt the pressure going into the game. I knew I had to pitch well or something could happen. We have a lot of great pitchers.
“I’m very appreciative that Dave let me pitch the seventh inning. Once I got into it, I knew I was going to finish it.”
Yankees 14, Orioles 11 (10)
In New York, Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Yankees completed a stunning rally from an eight-run deficit.
Red Sox 5, Cubs 4
In Boston, Andrew Benintendi hit a solo homer off Jake Arrieta during a five-run first inning.
Braves 10, Brewers 8
In Milwaukee, Freddie Freeman’s two-run home run snapped a tie in the ninth and Atlanta rallied from a four-run deficit in the final three innings.
Rays 7, Blue Jays 4
In Toronto, Logan Morrison hit a two-run homer, Evan Longoria and Corey Dickerson added solo shots and Tampa Bay connected three times in the eighth inning.
Mariners 3, Indians 1
In Cleveland, Ariel Miranda allowed two hits and pitched into the sixth inning, and Robinson Cano and Ben Gamel homered.
Pirates 12, Marlins 2
In Miami, Francisco Cervelli drove in three runs and Pittsburgh scored eight times in the second inning.
Ichiro Suzuki finished 0-for-2 for the Marlins.
Astros 9, Athletics 4
In Houston, Charlie Morton struck out a career-high 12, and George Springer singled home the tying run in his return from a leg injury.
Norichika Aoki finished 0-for-4 for the Astros.
Giants 4, Padres 3
In San Francisco, rookie Christian Arroyo homered, and Brandon Belt had three hits including a double.
Cardinals 7, Reds 5
In St. Louis, Dexter Fowler and Jedd Gyorko homered and Yadier Molina short-circuited a rally with a bases-loaded pickoff to lead the Cardinals to their ninth win in 11 games.
Angels 6, Rangers 3
In Arlington, Texas, Albert Pujols hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the eighth inning.
Mets 7, Nationals 5
In Washington, Josh Edgin relieved Mets closer Jeurys Familia with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and got Bryce Harper to hit into a game-ending double play, stopping New York’s six-game losing streak.
White Sox 7, Tigers 3
In Detroit, Geovany Soto broke open a tie game with a two-run single in the eighth inning.
Twins 6, Royals 4
In Kansas City, Miguel Sano and Joe Mauer hit consecutive two-run doubles in the eighth inning and Minnesota handed the Royals their eighth straight loss.
Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 1
In Phoenix, Trevor Story homered and rookie Kyle Freeland pitched six effective innings.
DETROIT – The struggling Seattle Mariners will be without ace Felix Hernandez for at least a little while.
The Mariners placed Hernandez on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation after he lasted just two innings in his start at Detroit the previous night. Seattle also put outfielder Mitch Haniger on the DL with a strained right oblique.
Hernandez came out of the 19-9 loss to the Tigers after allowing four runs in two innings.
“He didn’t feel great warming up last night,” manager Scott Servais said Wednesday. “He went out for the second inning and just didn’t feel great, just dead. No sharp pain or anything like that, just the ball wasn’t coming out (well).”
Haniger left the game in the third inning.
The Mariners also optioned right-handers Chris Heston and Evan Marshall to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday. They recalled right-hander Chase De Jong, left-hander Dillon Overton and outfielder Ben Gamel from Tacoma, and purchased the contract of right-hander Casey Fien from Tacoma.
Hernandez, the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner, made at least 30 starts for the Mariners every season from 2006-15. He made 25 last year but missed nearly two months with a calf injury.
The 31-year-old Hernandez is 2-2 with a 4.73 ERA in five starts this season. Seattle entered Wednesday night’s game at Detroit in last place in the AL West, but beat the Tigers 8-0 behind a fine performance from left-hander James Paxton.
The previous night, Hernandez threw only 48 pitches before Servais pulled him.
“Certainly didn’t look good from where I was sitting,” Servais said. “So, just make a change, have the doctors evaluate it and see where we’re at.”
De Jong is expected to take Hernandez’s spot in the rotation. He won Texas League pitcher of the year honors following last season and made his major league debut earlier this month with the Mariners.
Hiroshima's Seiya Suzuki hits a home run in the fourth inning of the Carp's 6-1 win over the BayStars on Saturday. | KYODO
YOKOHAMA – Cleanup hitter Seiya Suzuki went deep twice as the Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp scored all their runs on four home runs, beating the Yokohama BayStars 6-1 behind eight strong innings from Akitake Okada on Saturday.
Okada (3-1), who was 4-3 with a 3.02 ERA last year as a rookie, allowed a hit each in his first four innings but no runs until the eighth at Yokohama Stadium. He struck out six while scattering six hits and a walk in a 122-pitch outing.
Hiroshima led by two runs after as many pitches from Yokohama starter Shota Imanaga (1-2), Kosuke Tanaka singling off the lefty before Ryosuke Kikuchi connected on a fastball away for an opposite-field homer to right wall.
Imanaga recovered to retire his next 10 batters — including three strikeouts in the third inning — but was caught by Suzuki in the fourth with one out, who pulled it out to left.
“I’ve been passive recently so I was looking to swing whenever chances come my way, and I got to swing the way I’m capable of,” said Suzuki. “I just went for it and that paid off.”
Imanaga surrendered his third homer of the day in the seventh with one out to Takahiro Arai, who went 3-for-4. Imanaga allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk, while striking out six over 6⅔ innings.
It could have been worse for Imanaga as he left with the bases loaded. Shingo Hirata retired Kikuchi to end the inning, but the reliever issued a leadoff walk in the eighth before Suzuki, whose previous eight games as cleanup came in the absence of Arai, took him deep.
“I want him to think about overtaking Arai and grabbing it (the cleanup spot),” Carp skipper Koichi Ogata said. “If he can make his presence felt in this kind of manner then that possibility gets even higher.”
Dragons 6, Tigers 3
At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin closer Rafael Dolis (0-2) loaded the bases with two singles and a walk and Atushi Fujii hit a one-out, RBI single to plate the go-ahead run in Chunichi’s three-run ninth.
Swallows 2, Giants 1
At Jingu Stadium, Yasuhiro Ogawa (3-2) allowed a run in 7⅔ innings to win a pitcher’s duel and Yuhei Takai opened the scoring with a two-run home run off rookie reliever Shimpei Shinohara (1-1) as Tokyo Yakult beat Yomiuri.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Fighters 3, Eagles 2
At Sapporo Dome, Kensuke Tanaka hit a walk-off RBI single off Tohoku Rakuten closer Yuki Matsui (2-1) as struggling Japan Series winner Hokkaido Nippon Ham snapped the PL-leading Eagles’ four-game winning streak.
Marines 6, Lions 3
At MetLife Dome, Kazuya Fukuura cleared the bases to give Chiba Lotte an early lead off Seibu starter Ryoma Nogami (2-3). Kota Futaki (1-0) allowed three runs over 7⅔ innings as the Lions lost their fourth straight.
Buffaloes 6, Hawks 4
At Kyocera Dome, Phil Coke (2-1) pitched four innings of scoreless relief and Brent Morel hit a game-breaking, three-run double as Orix outlasted Fukuoka SoftBank.
NEW YORK – Ground was broken for the Jackie Robinson Museum after a 10-year wait — matching the length of the Hall of Famer’s barrier-breaking major league career.
Rachel Robinson, the 94-year-old widow of the Brooklyn Dodgers star, attended Thursday’s ceremony in the SoHo section of Manhattan along with her daughter, Sharon, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and former National League president Leonard Coleman.
“There are a lot of American heroes. I think Jackie Robinson is in a class by himself,” Manfred said, “and really it is impossible to do enough to recognize what he means and continues to mean to process of change.”
About $23.5 million has been raised to build the museum, now scheduled to open in spring 2019 on the street level of an already-existing office building. The Jackie Robinson Foundation hopes to raise a total of $42 million — matching Robinson’s uniform number — to fund an endowment that will pay for the museum’s operations.
“Breaking ground allows us to show the country that we are for real,” Sharon Robinson said.
Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 and died in 1972. Rachel Robinson started the Jackie Robinson Foundation a year later.
The nearly 5,640 square-meter space, which will include a 75-seat theater, originally was to open in 2009 or 2010 but was delayed when the Great Recession slowed fundraising.
“The bottom fell out,” foundation president Della Britton Baeza said.
Strada Education Network last month announced a $6.5 million gift to the foundation, which awards several dozen college scholarships annually.
Sharon Robinson, now 67, said her mother’s wedding dress, currently in their Connecticut home, will be among the exhibits, which will portray her father’s role in the civil rights movement.
“There will be a lot that kids, when you have a visual in addition to reading about something, I think they’ll understand the totality of the man and the importance of having a voice and using it,” Sharon Robinson said. “I think today is more complex. It is not just a black and white America. We have a great deal of work that needs to be done so that we really are an inclusive country.”
Baseball has been concerned about the drop in African-American players — just 7.7 percent on opening-day rosters, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, down from 18 percent in 1991. While there are three managers of color, down from 10 in 2009, and four general managers of color, the institute said people of color comprise 28 percent of central baseball’s professional staff
“It’s important to remember that baseball has a tremendously diverse workforce. I think it’s probably a mistake to focus on any single group, and we have more diversity in the game today than we’ve ever had,” Manfred said. “Having said that, baseball has in place numerous programs designed to promote African-American participation and we feel that our partnership with the Jackie Robinson Foundation is an important part of that programmatic effort.”
OSAKA – On a night when both teams were sporting throwback uniforms, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks introduced a throwback player, former big leaguer Munenori Kawasaki, in Friday’s 3-1 Pacific League win over the Orix Buffaloes.
A crowd of 22,293 witnessed the return of the Hawks’ fan favorite on a night when the Buffaloes sported the red, white and blue of the defunct Kintetsu Buffaloes, while the Fukuoka-based Hawks wore the green of their Osaka-based forebearers, the Nankai Hawks.
Kawasaki made some small but crucial contributions in his return to NPB’s top flight. In his first game back with the Hawks since moving to the major leagues in 2012, he went 1-for-4 in the leadoff spot, but saved a run at second base when he made a diving stop and ended a fourth-inning Orix threat.
After the Buffaloes tied the game in the sixth inning, Kawasaki singled to open the seventh and scored the go-ahead run when Shuhei Fukuda homered off Yuki Nishi (2-1).
Fukuda started the game on the bench but entered for defense after star center fielder Yuki Yanagita was hit in the back of the leg with a pitch by Nishi in the third inning.
“My thought was to go after a fat pitch if I got one,” said Fukuda, whose homer was his first hit of the season.
Although Fukuda said Kawasaki told the team to “have fun!” before the game, it was clear afterward that Kawasaki was less than impressed by a homecoming in which he struck out twice.
“My batting was not how I pictured it,” he said.
Kenichi Nakata (2-2) allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings, while Nishi allowed three runs in his seven-inning stint.
SoftBank designated hitter Alfredo Despaigne opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the second. Nishi survived one jam after another before taking the 1-1 tie into the seventh.
Former New York Mets reliever Ryota Igarashi worked a 1-2-3 seventh and Sho Iwasaki, looking more comfortable in the setup role, did the same in the eighth. Dennis Sarfate completed the trifecta with a perfect ninth, earning his ninth save.
Marines 2, Lions 2 (12)
At Tokorozawa’s MetLife Dome, Seibu’s Yusei Kikuchi and Chiba Lotte’s Hideaki Wakui each allowed two runs in seven innings in a game that was called after 12 innings.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Giants 7, Swallows 0
At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Hayato Sakamoto broke the ice with a first-inning RBI single and Casey McGehee capped the outburst with a three-run homer as Yomiuri scored seven runs off Tokyo Yakult ace Masanori Ishikawa (2-2) behind seven innings from Miles Mikolas (3-1).
BayStars 9, Carp 3
At Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama pounced on Hiroshima rookie Takuya Kato (1-3) with four runs in four innings.
BayStars pitcher Joe Wieland (1-0) worked five-plus innings to earn the win, while singling two runs.
Tigers 6, Dragons 0
At Koshien Stadium, Randy Messenger (4-0) scattered six hits and a walk over seven innings and Eric Campbell opened the scoring with an RBI single as Hanshin shut out Chunichi.
