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LEAD: Wakiya's triple helps Yomiuri close in on Japan Series title
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TOKOROZAWA, Japan, Nov. 6 (22:48) Kyodo
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(EDS: ADDING QUOTES, DETAILS)
Ryota Wakiya hit a two-run triple to key a four-run seventh
inning Thursday as the Yomiuri Giants rallied to beat the Seibu Lions
7-3 in Game 5 and moved one win away from claiming the Japan Series
crown.
The Giants grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and
can wrap up the title with a victory at their home stadium at Tokyo
Dome on Saturday night.
''The seventh was huge for us. We kept up our attack gradually
and that was the result. It was truly a 'lucky seventh' inning with
those consecutive hits,'' said Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara.
Alex Ramirez sparked the comeback from a 2-1 deficit with one
out in the seventh, making a gutsy slide in for a double after his
sharp roller up the middle deflected awkwardly off second base.
Shinnosuke Abe followed with a game-tying single and Yoshiyuki
Kamei's double put runners at second and third before Wakiya tripled
to left-center to make it 4-2 at Seibu Dome.
''I thought that he would lose control of his fastball and I
just counted one, two, three while giving the bat a full swing,''
Wakiya said.
Hayato Sakamoto added an RBI double for the fifth consecutive
hit in the frame, simultaneously dragging Seibu starter Hideaki Wakui
from the mound. Wakui (1-1), who won Game 1, allowed five runs and
seven hits in 6-1/3 innings.
Pinch-hitter Yoshitomo Tani added an RBI single and Takahiro
Suzuki had a squeeze bunt for the seventh run in the ninth before
Hiroshi Hirao, a replacement for the injured Hiroyuki Nakajima, hit a
solo shot in the bottom half for Seibu.
Early on, Yomiuri starter Koji Uehara dug himself into a ditch,
surrendering three consecutive singles to load the bases with none
out in the bottom of the first.
But Takeya Nakamura, who homered twice as the hero of Game 4,
struck out swinging on the right-hander's forkball and Uehara limited
the damage to a Yoshihito Ishii RBI grounder before ending the threat
by fanning Taketoshi Goto looking.
Yomiuri struck in the top of the second with Abe, who is nursing
an injured shoulder, hitting a one-out solo homer that just cleared
the center-field fence over the outstretched glove of Shogo Akada to
tie the game at 1-all.
''Today we all determined that we would be aggressive with our
bats. I got the sweet part of the bat on the pitch but it grazed it a
little, so I wasn't sure if it was going over but the ball got some
extra lift to get out,'' said Abe.
The wheels nearly came flying off for Uehara in the third after
Nakajima reached second on a throwing error by Yomiuri shortstop
Sakamoto with one out and he escaped yielding one run despite loading
the bases for the second time.
Ishii singled to give Seibu a 2-1 lead and Uehara yielded two
more singles before striking out substitute catcher Ginjiro Sumitani,
who came in as a replacement for injury-hit Toru Hosokawa.
Uehara was chased allowing two runs on seven hits in only three
innings.
''I have nothing to say. But I should have pitched a little
longer,'' said a disappointed Uehara.
Kentaro Nishimura (1-0) picked up the win after getting four
outs in relief. Marc Kroon closed out the ninth.
Seibu manager Hisanobu Watanabe said Wakui's sudden meltdown in
the seventh was a fluke occurrence.
''It came all of a sudden and he had pitched so well until that
point. We had our chances on offense with some hits but scoring was
difficult. Now we know we can't lose even one game, but that is what
determines a strong team.''
Yomiuri, which swept Seibu in four games in the 2002 Japan
Series, is aiming for its 21st title. |
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