Giants claim 29th Central League pennant

Yomiuri shortstop Tomohiro Nioka smashed a game-winning solo homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday as the Giants came from behind to beat the Chunichi Dragons 5-4 with a "sayonara" win at the Tokyo Dome to clinch their 29th Central League pennant.

An elated manager Shigeo Nagashima was tossed into the air six times by his players, who claimed their third league title since Nagashima took the helm in 1993, following victories in '94 and '96.

"It was a tough game, but thanks to all of you out here today and all our fans all over Japan that were cheering for us, we were able to win," Nagashima said after the game.

"Anything can happen in a baseball game, and that's why we have to give it our very best right to the very end. Even after my long baseball career, I was still reminded of that today," he said of the big comeback the Giants pulled off in the bottom of the ninth. With Chunichi leading 4-0 in the final frame, the Giants loaded the bases on three consecutive singles by Daisuke Motoki, Yoshinobu Takahashi and Hideki Matsui.

Dragons manager Senichi Hoshino yanked starter Yukinaga Maeda, who had held Yomiuri scoreless over eight-plus innings, after Takahashi's single.

Closer Eddie Gaillard then came on, gave up a single to Matsui and struck out Domingo Martinez. However, the next batter, Akira Eto, belted a grand slam that tied the game. The drama peaked two pitches later when Nioka nailed a Gaillard offering into the right-field bleachers to end the game.

"I was praying that I'd get the chance to end it," Nioka said after his second "sayonara" homer of the year.

Despite a 15-15 start, the Giants eventually took first place on June 15, going on to clinch their first Central League title since 1996.

Last season, just by looking at their roster (and how much cash they had laid out) it seemed the Giants would have a tough time not winning the CL pennant.

However, another miraculous flop saw Yomiuri stumble to a second-place finish behind the Dragons.

Much of Yomiuri's success in 2000 is due to its reinforced bullpen. There was hardly a game the Giants did not make use of strong setup work from right-handed relievers Koichi Misawa, Shinichiro Minami, Ryuji Kimura and lefties Takashi Kashiwada and Hideki Okajima.

Okajima functioned as the key setup man for the Giants from the start of the season. In a team-high 56 appearances, Okajima's ERA is 3.11 in 72 1/3 frames.

Misawa has pitched 65 2/3 innings in 41 games and has an impressive 2.33 ERA (including two spot-starts), while lefty Kashiwada posts a 2.61 ERA in 51 2/3 innings of work over 48 games. Minami has a 2.08 ERA in 26 games (26 innings) and Kimura has pitched 47 2/3 innings with a solid 2.83 ERA in 54 games.

The relievers have provided huge backup for the Yomiuri starters, who only have 15 complete games this season (Junichi Kawahara 3, Koji Uehara 6, Chung Min Chul 1, Hisanori Takahashi 2, Darrell May 2, Kimiyasu Kudo 1).

Toward the end of the season, however, the relievers lost their sharpness from the first half of the year, no doubt due in part to overwork.

Fill-in closers Hiromi Makihara and Masumi Kuwata, who blew wins with poor performances in the ninth inning, also hurt Okajima and the gang. To add to a revived bullpen, Yomiuri used its offseason acquisitions to shore up the starters.

Never have the Giants, who have the reputation of being huge spenders in the offseason, seen their new signings pan out as well as they did this year. Three new lefties -- May (former Hanshin Tiger), Kudo (former Daiei Hawk) and Takahashi (No. 1 draft pick) -- and suddenly the Giants went from no left-handed starters to three.

Last season, the Giants got six wins from their southpaws, but this year Yomiuri already has five times more lefty wins from these three starters (May, 11-7; Kudo 12-5; Takahashi 9-5).

Back in April, when the trio swept a three-game series against Chunichi at the Nagoya Dome, thereby beating the Dragons at their own game, the Giants sent an early warning to the rest of the league.

Batting-wise, right fielder Takahashi and shortstop Nioka both struggled with their hitting at the start of the season, but Dominican slugger Martinez was bang on from the beginning, and was able to cover for Takahashi.

Offseason big-name acquisition Eto, who usually picks up his pace come summer, surprisingly also had a good start, spicing up the lineup with a .265 average and 20 home runs by midseason.

By the All-Star break, Martinez and Eto both left the team with injuries, but by that time Kazuhiro Kiyohara was ready to roll. Not everyone was in perfect shape, but the Giants had enough players to keep the fire burning.

Cleanup batter Matsui also had a tremendous season. In his first seven years as a Giant, "Godzilla" has always been rusty until early summer. This year, he bade farewell to his "slow-starter" tag.

Crisp and unstoppable, Matsui dominated the CL with a .379 average after the first month. His average gradually fell, but stayed over .300.

Matsui also kept his power numbers up, slugging at least 40 homers for the second straight year, and the big guy is seeking his second home-run crown. With 105 RBIs, he stands a good chance at winning two titles this season.

Hawks lower number

Daiei slugger Hiroki Kokubo slammed a three-run homer in a four-run 10th inning as the Pacific League defending champion Hawks defeated the Kintetsu Buffaloes 9-5 on Sunday at the Osaka Dome, lowering their magic number to six.

The Hawks, who scored four runs in the seventh to tie the game, went ahead on Koji Akiyama's RBI infield single in the 10th.

Kokubo, who had four RBIs, followed with his 30th homer of the season for three more runs.

Rodney Pedraza pitched two scoreless innings in relief and got the win.

Yuji Yoshioka had two home runs for Kintetsu.

Fighters 9, Lions 1

Nigel Wilson and Sherman Obando each hit home runs -- the 35th for Wilson and 30th for Obando -- and had two RBIs each as second-place Nippon Ham defeated Seibu at the Seibu Dome.

Marines 8, BlueWave 6

Kenichiro Hayakawa broke a 6-6 tie in the seventh inning with an RBI single and Lotte added another run in the eighth as it downed Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BayStars 5, Tigers 3

Daisuke Miura combined with two relievers on a five-hitter and picked up his 10th win as the BayStars beat Hanshin in Yokohama.

Hitoshi Tamura and Takanori Suzuki both drilled two-run homers for the BayStars. Yasuaki Taiho slugged two solo homers for the Tigers.

Swallows 5, Carp 4

Atsunori Inaba went 3-for-4 and hit a solo blast in the fourth inning as Yakult edged Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.