Chiba Lotte Marines

...Kazuya Fukuura played in his 1,500th game of his career. He becomes the 66th player to accomplish the feat in the NPB.

...Tadahito Iguchi left Wednesday's game against the Orix Buffaloes in the top of the 4th after complaining of tightness in his back (right side). Iguchi felt some tightness in the area prior to the game and apparently made it worse when turning a double play in the 3rd.

No word on his availability for Thursday.

Chunichi...

The Rakuten Eagles are playing against the Chiba Lotte Marines right now. The game is in the bottom of the third inning and the Marines have a 3-0 lead.

Daisuke Kusano picked up an infield single in the top of the third off Yuki Karakawa and is 1-for-2 in the game so far. He now has a 17-game hitting streaik, breaking the previous club record of 16 set by Yosuke Takasu in 2008.

Incidentally, Tadahito Iguchi also smacked a 2-run homer in his first at bat off of Darrell...

CHIBA LOTTE MARINES

...Tadahito Iguchi needs only 1 more home run to reach 200 for his career (includes both his career numbers from the NPB and MLB).

HANSHIN TIGERS

...Kyuji Fujikawa held his first bullpen session yesterday since being taken off the active roster on the 3rd and tossed 45 pitches (which included 9 curves and 6 forks). And it was Akihiro Yano that caught him.

...Speaking of Yano, he could be ready to join the parent club as early as the 13th.

...

CHIBA LOTTE MARINES

...Kazuya Fukuura picked up his 1,500th hit off Akio Mizuda in a game against the Softbank Hawks on Saturday. The hit went for a double in the 8th and pushed 2 runners across the plate.

...Tadahito Iguchi continues to say that his leg isn't a problem when he hits.

HANSHIN TIGERS

...Tomoaki Kanemoto played in his 1,500 straight game. It was also his 1,355th consecutive game in which he has played every inning.

...Kyuji Fujikawa was taken off the active

...

CHIBA LOTTE MARINES

...Tadahito Iguchi was diagnosed with an injury to his right quadriceps (左大腿四頭筋損傷) and will require 3 weeks for a full recovery. The apparent cause? Accumulation of fatigue. There is a slight change that Iguchi could be removed from the active roster. For the time being, he is listed as day-to-day.

Iguchi did appear as a pinch hitter on Wednesday against the Buffaloes in the bottom of the 9th as a test to see how he feels on Thursday.

RAKUTEN...