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**truebluefan** · 07-27-2008, 08:51 PM

Igawa taken off 40-man roster, out of Yankees' plans

The New York Yankees have effectively put Kei Igawa out of the
picture at least for the rest of the season as they removed the
Japanese left-hander off the 40-man roster.

General Manager Brian Cashman said Saturday he ''had to look at
the roster and make some decisions,'' referring to the move that made
it harder for Igawa to earn a call-up to the major leagues from the
Yankees while easing the way for him to switch teams.

''My agent told me that chances have increased for me to play
for some other team,'' Igawa said. ''I'm not going back to Japan.
I'll stay in the minors until I get called up again.''

Igawa has been limited to two major league appearances and is
0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in the second year of his five-year, $20 million
yen contract.

Source

**truebluefan** · 07-27-2008, 08:52 PM

Takumi Kuriyama doubled in the go-ahead run in the top of the
10th inning as the Seibu Lions edged the Nippon Ham Fighters 3-2 in
the Pacific League on Sunday.

Kuriyama's one-out double to left-center scored Tomoaki Sato,
who had reached on a leadoff single and took second on a sacrifice
bunt, as front-running Seibu picked up its fifth win in six games.

Earlier at Sapporo Dome, Sato gave Seibu a 2-1 lead with a
two-run homer in the seventh before an Atsunori Inaba RBI single tied
the game in the eighth. Inaba homered in the second for the Fighters,
who dropped to third in the league standings.

Alex Graman (2-2) threw two scoreless innings for the win, while
Hisashi Takeda (3-4) took the loss.

**truebluefan** · 07-27-2008, 08:52 PM

At Yahoo Dome, Hiroki Kokubo hit a game-tying solo homer in the
ninth inning and Yuichi Honda drove in the winning run in the 12th as
Softbank beat Lotte to climb back into second place with its third
consecutive win.

Kokubo hit a first-inning sacrifice fly that made it 1-1 and
connected off Shunsuke Watanabe for a shot that sent the game into
extra innings. Honda, who had a 3-for-6 afternoon, then broke a 2-2
tie with a two-out single to left field off Tadahiro Ogino (3-4).

Taiwanese left-hander Yang Yao-xun (1-1) earned his first career
win in Japan after working one-third of an inning.

**truebluefan** · 07-27-2008, 08:52 PM

Toshiya Nakashima hit a two-run homer and
pinch-hitter Yuji Yoshioka doubled in the go-ahead run as Rakuten
held off Orix to end its losing streak at five games.

Nakashima's fourth-inning shot opened the scoring and Yoshioka's
two-out hit broke a 2-2 tie after Hisashi Iwakuma (14-3) allowed two
runs in the eighth on a Takeshi Hidaka single and a Hiroyuki Oze
grounder.

Iwakuma, who gave up 12 hits over eight innings, notched his
league-leading 14th win. Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara (0-2) took the loss.

**truebluefan** · 07-27-2008, 08:53 PM

Michihiro Ogasawara drove in two runs and Hiroshi
Kisanuki combined with three relievers on a six-hit shutout as
Yomiuri routed Yakult for its fourth straight victory.

Ogasawara helped Yomiuri to a 3-0 lead through five innings with
an RBI groundout and a run-scoring double. Lee Seung Yeop hit his
first home run of the season with a solo shot in a two-run sixth.

Kisanuki (6-3) scattered five hits over six innings. Ryo
Kawashima (5-4) gave up five runs in six innings.