03/24/2007 FUKUOKA SOFTBANK Hawks vs ORIX Buffaloes (result)

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Buffaloes 8, Hawks 5 (Pacific League opener)

Softbank second baseman Yuichi Honda made a wild throw home
allowing Orix to break a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth inning and
go on to claim an opening-day win at Yahoo Dome.

Honda made a great catch on a Hirotoshi Kitagawa grounder that
appeared headed into right field with no outs and the bases loaded,
but his throw from his knees allowed two runs to score.

Daisuke Kato (1-0) picked up the win after two innings of
scoreless relief. Yoshiaki Fujioka (0-1) took the loss in the Hawks'
first opening-day loss in six years.

Softbank ace Kazumi Saito, last year's Sawamura Award winner,
gave up four runs and eight hits in 6-1/3 innings. Hitoshi Tamura
went 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs for Sadaharu Oh's team.

Orix cleanup hitter Tuffy Rhodes hit a two-run homer.



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Tuffy starts with a bang

Tuffy Rhodes didn't take long to show his old self.

Rhodes returned to action with a two-run home run and Hirotoshi Kitagawa had three RBI singles as the Orix Buffaloes defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 8-5 in their Pacific League opener Saturday at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.

By scoring four runs in the ninth and making new manager Terry Collins a winner in his Japan debut, the Buffaloes put a damper on Hawks skipper Sadaharu Oh's return to Fukuoka.

Oh, who left the team last July to have surgery, had his opening day winning streak snapped at five games despite a pair of homers by offseason acquisition Hitoshi Tamura.

Rhodes, who played 10 seasons in Japan and won four PL home run titles before sitting out all of last year, homered in the third inning.



Channel: Sports
Uploaded: March 25, 2007 at 7:14 am
Author: 3onspeed

Length: 00:07:36
Rating: 3.50
Views: 22509

Tags: baseball hawks buffaloes hitoshi tamura hirotoshi kitagawa tuffy rhodes 福岡 ソフトバンク ホークス オリックス バファローズ 北川博敏 タフィ ローズ 多村仁

Video Comments:
BiffScooter1 (June 25, 2008 at 1:15 am)
Dudes, the Japanese is explaining that this is the first game back for Sadaharu Oh after being in the hsopital.
mjc11387 (March 20, 2008 at 4:56 pm)
me so ronery
hadenslayer (October 11, 2007 at 3:11 am)
this war stupid
TRongy29 (April 24, 2007 at 1:37 am)
haaaaaaa