The Yokohama Bay Stars beat the Yomiuri Giants, 8-4.
A day after beating the Tigers and gaining sole possession of first place in the CL, the Giants were beaten by the lowly Yokohama Bay Stars. What the Giants must hope for now is that the Bay Stars take the momentum from this game and apply it to the Tigers during their upcoming 2 game series in Yokohama.
The Bay Stars fot off to a quick start when Yuki Yoshimura launched a 3-run home run into the left field stands for his 34th home run of the year. The Bay Stars would score 3 times in the third and 2 more in the 5th after loading the bases with one out. Shuichi Murata's 44th homer in the 5th would net the Bay Stars their 7th and 8th runs of the game. Incidentally, the first 6 runs of the game were all unearned: both inning could have ended before any runners crossed the plate.
The Giants did get 3 home runs from their offense: Alex Ramirez's 44th home run of the season, Yoshitomo Tani's 10th, and Kakuya Kimura's 7. Unforunately, there weren't enough runners on base for the home runs to cut through the big lead the Bay Stars created for themselves through the first 3 innings.
NOTES: Seiichi Uchikawa went 1-for-4 (.377). ... The Giants have two games against the Swallows remaining on their schedule. The Tigers have two games against the Bay Stars and one game against the Dragons. Any 2 game combination of a win by the Giants or a loss by the Tigers will give the Giants top honors in the CL.
10-09-2008 08:58 AM 
