Fukudome to join Tigers: Minami

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. — Free agent Kosuke Fukudome will sign a three-year deal with the Hanshin Tigers, according to team president Nobuo Minami, who revealed on Tuesday he had been informed of the outfielder's intent.

The Tigers and the Yokohama BayStars were pursuing the 35-year-old former major leaguer, who was released this fall by the Yankee's Triple-A club after starting the season with the Chicago White Sox. Earlier in the day, BayStars general manager Shigeru Takada revealed that Fukudome would not sign with his club.

The contract is for three years with an annual salary of ?150 million with additional performance-based incentives.

"Out of all the offers he had, I'm extremely glad he chose the Tigers and Koshien Stadium," said second-year manager Yutaka Wada. "We have high expectations for both his batting and fielding."

The Tigers are coming off a fifth-place finish, their worst in 11 years. They scored a Central League-worst 411 runs, and the retirement of outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto deprives them of one of their top run producers.

Fukudome has a .258 career batting average with 42 homers in five big league seasons with the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and White Sox. He was released in the middle of this past season and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees.

The left-handed-hitting Fukudome is a two-time Central League batting champ and was the league's MVP in 2006 with the Chunichi Dragons. He left as a free agent following the club's Japan Series triumph and signed with the Cubs.

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Tigers outlast Kuroda for 2-0 lead in ALCS

NEW YORK — Anibal Sanchez and the Detroit Tigers made the plays, benefited from an admitted missed call by an umpire and delivered during their few good opportunities at the plate.

Get it done: Detroit catcher Alex Avila attempts to catch a popup during the Tigers' 3-0 victory over the Yankees on Sunday in New York. The Tigers lead the ALCS 2-0. AP

The reward: a commanding 2-0 lead in the AL championship series, and a trip home with their ace ready to start.

Sanchez shut down a Yankees lineup minus injured Derek Jeter, and Detroit won without any drama this time, beating New York 3-0 Sunday.

Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda pitched perfect ball into the sixth inning. But the slumping New York hitters looked lost a day after their captain broke his ankle in the 12th inning of a 6-4 loss.

Making his second postseason start, Sanchez threw three-hit ball deep into the game to make Tigers manager Jim Leyland's job much easier. A day after closer Jose Valverde gave up four runs in the ninth, Leyland said the righty wouldn't close Game 2.

"I thought we hung in there and took advantage of a couple of things," Leyland said. "And those are some of the things you need in postseason play. You never know how it's going to play out."

The Tigers scored twice in the eighth after second base umpire Jeff Nelson missed a call on a two-out tag at second base. Yankees manager Joe Girardi argued, and was ejected on his 48th birthday.

"The hand did not get in before the tag," Nelson said after seeing a replay. "The call was incorrect."

Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night in Detroit, with reigning AL MVP Justin Verlander starting for the Tigers against Phil Hughes. Verlander went 2-0 in the division series versus Oakland, including a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in the decisive Game 5.

The Tigers led 1-0 in the eighth and had Omar Infante on first with two outs. Austin Jackson singled and when Infante took a wide turn at second, right fielder Nick Swisher threw behind him.

Robinson Cano made a swipe tag as Infante made a head-first dive back to second. Cano missed Infante's arm but brushed his body, replays clearly showed. But Nelson called Infante safe.

Cano and Girardi pleaded the call to no avail. Boone Logan replaced Kuroda and gave up an RBI single to pinch hitter Avisail Garcia to make it 2-0.

"It's frustrating. I don't have a problem with Jeff's effort, I don't, because he hustled to get to the play. But in this day and age when we have instant replay available to us, it's got to change," Girardi said.

"These guys are under tremendous amounts of pressure. It is a tough call for him because the tag is underneath and it's hard for him to see. And it takes more time to argue and get upset than you get the call right. Too much is at stake," he said.

Girardi returned to lift Logan for Joba Chamberlain, and then he remained on the field to resume the argument. Red-faced with neck muscles bulging, Girardi could be seen shouting at Nelson, "You were right there. How could you miss it?" He was tossed by Nelson for his first postseason ejection.

Miguel Cabrera added a run-scoring single in the inning.

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Verlander fires Tigers by Athletics, into ALCS

OAKLAND, California — Already an ace and MVP, Justin Verlander proved to be the Detroit Tigers' ultimate closer, too.

Goes the distance: Detroit's Justin Verlander fires a pitch against Oakland in Game 5 on Thursday night. AP

Verlander struck out 11 in a four-hitter, pitching Detroit into a second straight AL Championship Series a day after Jose Valverde failed to hold a ninth-inning lead with a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the decisive Game 5 of their division series Thursday night.

Verlander tossed his first career postseason shutout and complete game with a 122-pitch masterpiece.

"He had a look in his eye today," manager Jim Leyland said. "A complete-game look in his eye."

The Tigers will face either the New York Yankees or Baltimore Orioles, tied at two games apiece heading into Game 5 on Friday night in New York. Game 1 of the ALCS is scheduled for Saturday.

Verlander, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and MVP, was so sharp nobody in the bullpen ever got up to throw. He struck out 22 in his wins on both ends of this nail-biting series.

After squandering two chances to clinch the series, including blowing a two-run ninth-inning lead in Game 4, Leyland left it all up to Verlander just as he said he would.

"I think it's one of those things I expected to go nine innings," Verlander said. "In this situation, in a Game 5, I wanted to go all the way."

Austin Jackson hit an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single as the Tigers added on in a four-run seventh. Prince Fielder hit an RBI single.

Detroit is on to another ALCS despite getting just one RBI all series from Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera — on a bases-loaded hit by pitch, no less.

Booed by the yellow towel-waving sellout crowd of 36,393 each time he stepped into the batter's box. Cabrera finished 5-for-20, and it was his hard-hit ball dropped by Coco Crisp in a 5-4 Game 2 victory Sunday that allowed two runs to score.

Leyland all but called Verlander's latest gem.

"Justin Verlander's a pretty tough chore for anybody," Leyland said.

The Detroit skipper gave the ball to his 17-game winner and said beforehand the Tigers would likely win or lose with the hard-throwing right-hander on the mound.

And, against the A's, Verlander usually wins.

"I don't have anybody better than him," Leyland said. "And if they get to him that much we'll probably be in trouble. I'm not taking him out, I can assure you of that, because I don't have anybody better to bring in."

Verlander became the fifth pitcher to start a winner-take-all playoff game the year after winning the Cy Young — and the first to win. In all four previous instances, that pitcher's team lost the game: Steve Carlton (1981 Phillies), David Cone (1995 Yankees), Barry Zito (2003 Athletics), and Roy Halladay (2011 Phillies).

"When you're going into pressure situations like this, there's nobody better to have on the mound than Justin," Jackson said.

Verlander followed up an 11-strikeout outing in Detroit's 3-1 Game 1 win Saturday at Comerica Park with another overpowering performance in his 10th postseason start. He improved to 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in three postseason starts against the A's and also upped his career mark to 5-4 with 2.15 ERA in 10 starts at the Coliseum.

Verlander had allowed one earned run with a 0.69 ERA in beating the A's twice during the regular season.

"He's always tough. You go out there and you battle him the best that you can," Crisp said. "Today he had some of his best stuff of the year."

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Tigers climb into tie for first in AL Central

DETROIT — Anibal Sanchez retired the final batter on a weak grounder, and Detroit's players began celebrating around the mound.

Clutch performance: Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez pitches against the Royals on Tuesday in Detroit. Sanchez threw a shutout to pull the Tigers into a tie for the AL Central lead. AP

Moments later, the home crowd roared a little louder when the AL Central standings were posted on the scoreboard in left field — with the Tigers back in a tie for first.

"We control our own destiny. We've just got to continue to play good baseball," catcher Gerald Laird said. "We don't have to rely on anybody to beat anybody now. It's all on our shoulders."

Sanchez threw his first shutout in over a year, and the Tigers caught the Chicago White Sox atop the division with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. Detroit had spent only one day in first since the start of August. The Tigers were tied with the White Sox after beating them Sept. 2 — but quickly fell back.

Now it's even again with eight games to play. Even in this season of expanded playoffs, Detroit and Chicago are in an old-fashioned division race with seemingly everything at stake — because a wild card isn't a likely option.

"Nothing is over, nothing is in," Sanchez said. "We're right there."

Athletics 3, Rangers 2 (10)

In Arlington, Texas, George Kottaras hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning.

Scheduled starter Yu Darvish was scratched by the Rangers about 2? hours before the first pitch because of a stiff neck.

Angels 5, Mariners 4

In Anaheim, Zack Greinke had a season-high 13 strikeouts in five innings.

Indians 4, White Sox 3

In Chicago, the White Sox gave Detroit an opening to tie for the AL Central lead when Gordon Beckham hit into a game-ending forceout with the potential tying run on second base.

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 0

In Baltimore, Aaron Laffey and five relievers combined on a six-hitter.

Twins 5, Yankees 4

In Minneapolis, Phil Hughes ran out of gas in the seventh inning and Boone Logan couldn't hold the lead for him.

Ichiro Suzuki finished 1-for-4.

Rays 5, Red Sox 2

In Boston, David Price struck out a season-high 13 and Jeff Keppinger hit a three-run homer.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Braves 4, Marlins 3

In Atlanta, Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to put the Braves back in the playoffs with a victory over Miami.

Reds 4, Brewers 2

In Cincinnati, Johnny Cueto pitched seven solid innings for the Reds.

Norichika Aoki was 0-for-4 for the Brewers.

Phillies 6, Nationals 3

In Philadelphia, Darin Ruf homered for his first major league hit and Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown also went deep.

Pirates 10, Mets 6

In New York, Pedro Alvarez hit his 30th homer and drove in four runs.

Cardinals 4, Astros 0

In Houston, Jaime Garcia pitched seven sharp innings and Jon Jay drove in two runs.

Rockies 10, Cubs 5 (6?)

In Denver, DJ LeMahieu had three hits and finished a home run short of the cycle in a rain-shortened game.

Padres 2, Dodgers 1

In San Diego, Josh Beckett lost for the third time in six starts with Los Angeles, whose playoff chances were dealt a blow.

Diamondbacks 7, Giants 2

In San Francisco, Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer and a pair of sacrifice flies for a career-high five RBIs.

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Cabrera's home run keeps Tigers in race

DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera moved one step closer toward doing something no one has done in 45 years while helping the Detroit Tigers keep their hopes high in the AL Central race.

Spread the wealth: Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera hits a home run against the Twins on Saturday in Detroit. AP

Cabrera hit his 42nd homer, putting himself in Triple Crown position by sending a drive soaring into the left-field seats as Detroit beat the Minnesota Twins 8-0 Saturday.

"It's something special," he said.

Doug Fister (10-9) was pretty good, too, in his first career shutout that saved Detroit's bullpen for Sunday's doubleheader.

The Tigers began the day 1? games behind the division-leading Chicago White Sox, who played later on the road against the Los Angeles Angels.

"This is what you play for, a chance to be in it," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "Obviously, we felt we would do a little bit better than this, but we haven't and we're still playing for something."

Cabrera's solo shot in the fourth inning tied him with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the most homers in the AL.

"Looked like a golf ball that he hit," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's incredible."

Cabrera has a relatively comfortable league lead with a .332 batting average and 131 RBIs. Hamilton is sidelined for this weekend's series at Seattle because of a sinus condition that has caused blurred vision.

Carl Yastrzemski won the last Triple Crown in 1967. Yastrzemski took the batting and RBIs title, and tied Harmon Killebrew for the most homers in the AL.

Hall of Famer Al Kaline played in the AL when the last three players — Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson (1966) and Mickey Mantle (1956) — pulled off the feat. Now, he's watching Cabrera chase history up close as a special assistant in the Tigers' front office.

"It's so hard to do because usually when you hit for power like Miguel does, you usually don't hit for average like he is," Kaline said during the game.

Yankees 10, Athletics 9 (14)

In New York, Raul Ibanez hit his second home run of the game during a startling rally in the 13th inning, then the Yankees won a thriller when first baseman Brandon Moss' two-out error allowed Ichiro Suzuki to score in the 14th.

Oakland began the day with a 3?-game lead over Los Angeles for the second AL wild-card spot. The A's still have an edge, but blew a huge opportunity and lost for the fifth time in six games.

Ichiro's bat stayed hot for the AL East leaders, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI and a walk.

Orioles 9, Red Sox 6 (12)

In Boston, Jim Thome hit a go-ahead double in the 12th in his first game in nearly two months, and Baltimore stretched its extra-inning win streak to 16 games.

Rays 11, Blue Jays 5

In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton and Jose Molina homered during a six-run fifth inning and the surging Rays earned their fourth consecutive victory.

Royals 5, Indians 3

In Kansas City, Billy Butler hit a run-scoring single in the first inning to reach 100 RBIs for the first time, helping the Royals to the victory.

Angels 4, White Sox 2

In Anaheim, Dan Haren earned his first win at home in more than a month, Mark Trumbo capped a four-run first inning with a two-run single, and the Angels gained ground in the playoff race.

Mariners 1, Rangers 0

In Seattle, Michael Saunders homered, former Texas prospect Blake Beavan was terrific against his former club, and the Mariners kept the Rangers from extending their lead in the AL West.

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Celebration of Kanemoto's career offers Tigers brief respite

For the next couple of weeks, the prevailing narrative of most Hanshin Tigers games will be the impending retirement of star outfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto.

Fans will fawn, opponents will reflect and the media will pay tribute to a career more than worthy of high praise.

In a way, it's Kanemoto's final big hit for Hanshin. Because while 'Aniki' will be missed, the star outfielder's decision makes the rest of Hanshin's year a farewell tour, instead of the slow, desolate march to nowhere it was.

The bigger picture is Kanemoto's retirement signals the end of a decently successful era (2003-2012) in Tigers history that saw the team finish in the top three six times and capture a pair of Central League pennants.

Closer Kyuji Fujikawa will probably follow Kanemoto out the door, likely headed for the majors, and Takashi Toritani may decide to head to the States as well. So Hanshin could be losing three major pieces, not to mention that signs are not looking good for Craig Brazell's return after the team took him off the active roster Sunday.

Hanshin will enter a period of transition this winter. At the forefront will be new general manager Katsuhiro Nakamura, whose first order of business will be to figure out how many zeros it will take to entice Fujikawa and/or Toritani to stick around a few more seasons.

The new GM also has to decide if manager Yutaka Wada warrants a second season after the way the team has underperformed during his first year in the dugout. On the bright side, history bodes well for the former Tigers star. Each of the last three Hanshin managers finished outside the top three in their first seasons in charge. Two won the pennant the very next year, with the other finishing second.

If Wada remains and the above-mentioned players depart, the Tigers will have a chance to build the type of roster that fits the small-ball style Wada seems to want to play at times.

Identifying who fits into Wada's style may be the catalyst to jump-starting an offense that's sputtered for the past two seasons.

At the same time, the team has a chance to get younger in a few places, though to do that, the front office needs to resist the urge to chase the high-priced major leaguers they're rumored to be tracking.

The exception to that would be if the Tigers were able to lure Tsuyoshi Nishioka back to Japan.

The long goodbye: Tigers great Tomoaki Kanemoto homered in what was likely his last career game at Tokyo Dome on Sunday. KYODO

The Minnesota Twins infielder is an Osaka native, and his speed would make him an ideal fit with Keiichi Hirano at the top of the order — provided of course the Tigers get the Nishioka who hit .346 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2010, and not the version who has batted .215 with no homers and 20 RBIs in 71 games across two MLB seasons.

Upgrading the offense will be vital, though the team could do with one more solid arm in the rotation to join Jason Standridge, Randy Messenger, Atsushi Nomi and Minoru Iwata, who have all pitched better than their records suggest but have been weighed down by the Tigers' offensive struggles.

Hanshin has a number of problems, and Nakamura will have to be smart, as opposed to tossing money around in a reactionary fashion, in order to get the Tigers roaring again.

The shine of Kanemoto's victory tour will cover up some of the warts the rest of the way, but once he's out the door, the pressure to build a winner for the team's rabid supporters will mount very quickly.

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Sakamoto ignites Giants in comeback victory over archrival Tigers

This close to the prize, the Yomiuri Giants aren't about to let anyone slow their march toward the Central League pennant.

An excited Sakamoto trots around the bases as his home run gives Yomiuri a 3-2 triumph over Hanshin.

Least of all their struggling rivals to the west.

Hayato Sakamoto hit a come-from-behind three-run home run in the seventh inning and the Giants moved one step closer to the CL title with a 3-2 victory over the Hanshin Tigers on Friday at Tokyo Dome.

"Sakamoto's home run was huge, coming with two outs at the most opportune time," said Yomiuri manager Tatsunori Hara.

The win coupled with the second-place Chunichi Dragons' loss to the Hiroshima Carp left the Giants with a magic number of six.

"The atmosphere on the team is one of anticipation of clinching the pennant soon," Sakamoto said.

Yomiuri outfielder Yoshitomo Tani led off the seventh with a double and Hisayoshi Chono later drew a one-out walk. Hanshin starter Minoru Iwata got a ground ball out of Daisuke Fujimura, but the Tigers couldn't turn the double play, leaving runners on first and third.

That's when Sakamoto struck, stroking a 134-km shuuto into the seats in left field.

"(Starter Toshiya) Sugiuchi was pitching so well, and I didn't want to see him lose, so I was thinking home run," Sakamoto said.

Sakamoto's heroics made a winner out of Sugiuchi, who allowed two runs on five hits and struck out three over seven innings to improve to 12-2. Tetsuya Yamaguchi worked a scoreless eighth and Kentaro Nishimura retired the side in order in the ninth for his 26th save of the season.

Iwata (8-12) allowed three runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings to lose for the first time in his last five starts.

"Iwata is a good pitcher who pitched a good game tonight," Hara said. "We really only had the one chance to win, and we made the most of it."

Hiroki Uemoto led off the game with a double and advanced to third on Yamato Maeda's sacrifice bunt. Takashi Toritani drew a one-out walk and stole second before Uemoto scored on Ryota Arai's RBI groundout to give the Tigers an early lead.

Matt Murton drove in Toritani with a double to left to make the score 2-0.

The Giants put runners on first and third with one out in the bottom half of the inning, and Shinnosuke Abe nearly put the Kyojin ahead with a deep drive to right that died just shy of the wall.

Abe singled with one out in the sixth and went to third on a Shuichi Murata double. Toritani fielded a ground ball by Kenji Yano and fired home to nail Abe at the plate for the second out of the inning and caught Michihiro Ogasawara's pop-up to end the threat.

The Tigers were in position to tack on an insurance run in the seventh, when Takahiro Arai led off with a double and went to third on a sacrifice bunt from Shunsuke Fujikawa.

The Tigers botched a squeeze play, however, with Abe catching a pop-up off Shinji Komiyama's bat and firing to third to end the inning.

Hirose lifts Carp

Hiroshima — The Hiroshima Carp snapped a three-game losing streak when Jun Hirose singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 4-3 win over the Chunichi Dragons on Friday night in the Central League.

The Dragons had tied it 3-3 in the eighth.

Closer Kam Mickolio (3-4), the third Carp pitcher, worked a scoreless eighth to keep the game tied and recorded the win.

Swallows 6, BayStars 2

At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult's Kyohei Muranaka (9-6) allowed two runs in eight innings and broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth when he drove in a run with his first career triple as the Swallows defeated Yokohama.

The BayStars came from behind and took a one-run lead on solo homers by Alex Ramirez and Norihiro Nakamura, but Ryosuke Morioka's two-out homer, his first in three years, a double by Yuhei Nakamura, Muranaka's triple and two more RBI singles broke the game open.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Lions 3, Marines 3

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Seibu retained its grip on first place with a combination of power and superb defense in a victory over Chiba Lotte.

Jose Ortiz and Takeya Nakamura each homered to drive in all three of the visitors' runs, while the defense helped hold the Marines to two runs on 10 hits and four walks.

After an error helped Lotte mount a threat in the bottom of the first, center fielder Shogo Akiyama ended the inning with a double play. With one out and speedster Toshifumi Okada on third, Akiyama caught a fly in medium-deep center and threw a strike on the fly to catcher Ginjiro Sumitani for the third out.

Ortiz homered to make it 1-0 in the second off Yoshihisa Naruse (11-10), and the defense prevented the Marines from scoring in the third off starter Ryoma Nogami (8-4).

With one out, Okada tried to score on a line single to center, but a relay from Akiyama to shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima came home in time for Sumitani to block the plate and apply the tag. With two outs and runners on the corners, second baseman Hideto Asamura made a diving stop of a grounder to save another run and end the inning.

Nakamura belted his first homer of the month with Akiyama on in the sixth to make it 3-0, allowing Seibu to survive Katsuya Kakunaka's two-run single in the seventh and hold on for the victory.

Fighters 1, Hawks 0

At Sapporo Dome, Hokkaido Nippon Ham's Mitsuo Yoshikawa (13-4) allowed just two hits and a walk to win his sixth straight decision. The lefty struck out nine en route to his second shutout of the season.

Eiichi Koyano singled home the game's only run in the bottom of the eighth off Fukuoka Softbank's Kenji Otonari (12-6). The Hawks had just two runners reach second base, but their final base runner was picked off second base in the sixth inning.

Eagles 7, Buffaloes 2

At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, Tohoku Rakuten leapfrogged Lotte into fourth place as Ginji Akaminai broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth with a sacrifice fly and the Golden Eagles hung on to beat last-place Orix with the help of four hits and three RBIs from Kazuo Matsui.

Rakuten starter Wataru Karashima (7-5) allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings to collect the win as three relievers kept the Buffaloes off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

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Tigers light up Beckett, end road trip with win

BOSTON — Max Scherzer and Delmon Young helped the Detroit Tigers head home on a positive note.

Scherzer pitched into the seventh inning, Young homered and the Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 on Thursday night to avoid a four-game series sweep.

Detroit went 10-14 during a grueling stretch of 19 of 24 on the road and return home to open a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Friday night.

"Going on the road sometimes is a good thing for the bonding aspect, but it will be nice to get back to Comerica (Park)" Scherzer said. "We didn't want to get swept."

Scherzer (5-3) retired nine consecutive batters before Nick Punto led off the seventh with a walk, forcing the right-hander from the game after 117 pitches. He allowed three runs and seven hits in his third consecutive victory, closing out a strong May.

"We just let him off the hook," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. "Heck, we had his pitch count up in the 80s after four innings and we were having good at-bats. Just kind of let it slip away."

Beckett had allowed three runs in 21? innings over his previous three starts, but he struggled once again with the Tigers. He gave up seven runs, including five home runs, in 4? innings on opening day in Detroit.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies 11, Astros 5

In Denver, Carlos Gonzalez homered again, Michael Cuddyer and Jordan Pacheco had three hits apiece, and the Rockies beat the Astros.

Brewers 6, Dodgers 2

In Los Angeles, Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Gomez each hit a two-run homer, Zack Greinke pitched effectively for six innings and Milwaukee completed the four-game sweep.

Brewers leadoff man Norichika Aoki finished 0-for-5.

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Utsumi leads Giants in shutout of Tigers

Tetsuya Utsumi had a memorable 30th birthday by pitching seven scoreless innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 2-0 win over the Hanshin Tigers on Sunday.

Many happy returns: Yomiuri's Tetsuya Utsumi pitches during the Giants' 2-0 win over the Tigers on Sunday. KYODO

Utsumi (2-3) combined with two relievers on an eight-hit shutout at Tokyo Dome as the once-struggling Giants won their third straight game. The left-hander scattered seven hits while walking one and striking out three in a 99-pitch outing.

Hanshin put runners in scoring position four times against Utsumi, with the biggest threat a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sixth.

But Utsumi got former Seattle Mariner Kenji Johjima to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.

"I'm glad I got a win on my birthday," Utsumi said. "In the sixth inning, I tried to ease my mind by telling myself I could allow a sacrifice fly and one run would be inevitable.

"When I'm off, I leave my fastball in the middle of the zone in a situation like that. But today was different.

"I've started to throw a two-seam fastball only recently. Before the game, (catcher Shinnosuke) Abe-san told me we were going to use it a lot today. It worked very well."

Backup outfielder Ryuichi Kajimae opened the scoring in the second when he drove in captain Abe from second with a two-out single up the middle off Minoru Iwata (1-4).

"I wanted to get a hit for Utsumi-san in that situation," Kajimae said. "I was determined to go aggressive and swung at the first pitch. The manager put me in the starting lineup yesterday, but I didn't do well.

"Today I was finally able to contribute to the team's win."

Shuichi Murata hit a sacrifice fly to give Yomiuri a much-needed insurance run in the eighth off Daiki Enokida.

Kentaro Nishimura pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save after Tetsuya Yamaguchi worked the eighth.

Johjima, back in Hanshin's starting lineup for the first time in five games, went hitless in four at-bats, striking out once and hitting into two double plays. Hanshin outhit Yomiuri 8-7.

Carp 3, Swallows 0

Show of strength: Nick Stavinoha (right) and Yusuke Nomura celebrate the Carp's victory over the Swallows on Sunday. KYODO

At Mazda Stadium, rookie Yusuke Nomura (2-1) allowed just one hit over eight innings and Nick Stavinoha hit a two-run homer in the sixth as Hiroshima beat Tokyo Yakult to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jun Hirose delivered an RBI single in the first innng among his three hits. Orlando Roman gave up three runs in six innings for Yakult, whose unbeaten streak ended at seven games.

Dragons 3, BayStars 0

At Nagoya Dome, Shinji Iwata (2-0) struck out 12 and allowed just two hits in seven innings as Chunichi handed Yokohama its fourth consecutive loss.

Hirokazu Ibata and Naomichi Donoue hit RBI singles in the fifth off Yuki Kuniyoshi (0-3) to push Chunichi's lead to 3-0. Hitoki Iwase picked up his 10th save.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Fighters 4, Eagles 0

At Kleenex Stadium, Terrmel Sledge homered and drove in three runs, Masaru Takeda pitched his second shutout of the season and PL leader Hokkaido Nippon Ham beat Tohoku Rakuten.

Sledge gave Nippon Ham a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out RBI double and added a two-run shot in the sixth off Kenji Tomura (2-1). Takeda (4-0) allowed just two hits and two walks in a 96-pitch outing.

Atsunori Inaba, who recorded his 2,000th career hit on Saturday, went 2-for-4 for Nippon Ham.

Marines 2, Hawks 1

At QVC Marine Field, Yuki Karakawa (4-1) threw his second complete game of the season as Chiba Lotte edged Fukuoka Softbank to snap a three-game losing streak.

Saburo Omura hit a sac fly in the first and Katsuya Kakunaka added a solo homer in the fourth off Sho Iwasaki (2-3). Softbank moved within a run in the ninth, but Katsuki Yamazaki grounded out for the final out with two men on base.

Lions 3, Buffaloes 1

At Kyocera Dome, Shogo Akiyama went 3-for-3 with an RBI, leading Seibu over Orix for its fourth straight victory.

Seibu right-hander Ryoma Nogami (1-1) gave up nine hits but limited the damage to one run in 5? innings for the win. Hiroshi Kisanuki (2-2) took the loss.

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Fielder ecstatic about chance to follow father with Tigers

DETROIT — Prince Fielder stood with a smile and recalled his earliest memories of old Tiger Stadium, when he would hang out at the ballpark where his father hit so many massive home runs.

"For me, it was always Sparky saying I was going to pinch hit — and I really believed him," Fielder said, referring to former manager Sparky Anderson. "I'm just glad I get to come back."

The Tigers introduced Fielder on Thursday after finalizing a $214 million, nine-year contract with the free agent first baseman, who is expected to hit a lot more home runs than his dad.

Fielder was born in 1984, the last time Detroit won the World Series. After luring him back to Michigan with the fourth-largest deal in baseball history, the Tigers are hoping Fielder will help usher in a new championship era for the Motor City.

"This is awesome," Fielder said. "It's kind of a dream come true. I'm excited."

Detroit began seriously pursuing Fielder after designated hitter Victor Martinez tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during offseason conditioning. Now the Tigers have three of baseball's biggest stars — Fielder, Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander — all in their primes. Detroit won the AL Central by 15 games last year but lost to Texas in the AL Championship Series.

"We're trying to win right now," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "We tried to win last year. We were close. I think we've reached a point now, on a yearly basis, we feel that way. When you look at the core of our group of players, there's a lot of guys that are on that field right now that are quality players."

It will be up to manager Jim Leyland to figure out where to play all of his powerful hitters. He said Thursday the Tigers will move Miguel Cabrera from first base to third to make room for Fielder. He also listed a possible batting order, with Cabrera hitting third and Fielder fourth.

It's a lineup based on power, not speed. That much is clear.

"If they hit it where they're supposed to hit them, they can trot," Leyland said. "We're going back to the old-fashioned baseball. We've got big-time power on the corners."

Fielder's father Cecil became a big league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season, and young Prince made a name for himself with his prodigious power displays during batting practice at Tiger Stadium.

Detroit plays at Comerica Park now, and times have changed. Leyland manages the Tigers, not the late Sparky Anderson.

As for the Fielders, their strained relationship has been well documented, and Prince didn't elaborate on it Thursday.

"I'm just ecstatic about being with the Tigers," Prince Fielder said. "I'm just here to enjoy the day."

Fielder did want to debunk one thing: Back in 2008, he talked about becoming a vegetarian, but that apparently didn't last long after all the commotion.

"I'm not a vegetarian," he said. "I was, for like three months."

Fielder's contract includes a limited no-trade provision. He can be traded to 10 clubs without his consent before 2017, when he gains rights to block all trades under baseball's labor contract as a 10-year veteran who has been with a team for at least five years.

He will earn $23 million in each of his first two years with Detroit, then will make $24 million annually in the final seven seasons of his contract, according to terms obtained by The Associated Press.

SEATTLE — Ichiro Suzuki might begin his final guaranteed season with the Seattle Mariners somewhere other than the leadoff spot that he's locked down for the past decade.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge said on Thursday during the Mariners' pre-spring training luncheon that he's leaning toward moving Ichiro out of the leadoff spot as a way to try to bolster their anemic offense.

Wedge doesn't believe that's a slight on Ichiro's ability to continue being a leadoff hitter, even with the 10-time MLB All-Star coming off the worst season of his career.

"It's as much to do with his teammates as it has to do with him with regard to the collective nine that we're putting down on paper," Wedge said. "I haven't made any firm decisions. I made it very clear over the winter I was thinking about it. I'm even further down the road to where I'm leaning in that direction to have (Ichiro) hit somewhere else."

Moving Ichiro out of the leadoff spot was part of an on-again, off-again debate during the 2011 season as he struggled. He hit just .272, failed to reach 200 hits for the first time in his career — finishing with 184 — and had an on-base percentage 40 points below his previous career worst.

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Fielder, Tigers agree to lucrative nine-year deal

DETROIT — The Detroit Tigers responded to a jarring injury with an audacious move.

All grown up: Prince Fielder has reportedly agreed to a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers. AP

Free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Tigers agreed Tuesday to a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the AL Central champions' need for a power hitter, a person familiar with the deal said.

Detroit boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after tearing his left ACL during offseason conditioning.

CBS first reported the agreement with Fielder.

The person told The Associated Press the deal was subject to a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was not yet complete.

The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the AL championship series to Texas. Adding the 27-year-old Fielder gives the Tigers two of the game's premier sluggers, pairing him with Miguel Cabrera.

With Fielder now in the fold, general manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch have a team that figures to enter the 2012 season as a favorite to repeat in the division — with an eye on winning the franchise's first World Series title since 1984.

"Everyone knew Mr. Ilitch and Mr. Dombrowski were going to make a move when Victor went down," outfielder Brennan Boesch said in a phone interview with the AP. "But I don't think anybody thought it would be this big."

The move also keeps Fielder's name in the Tigers' family. His father, Cecil, became a big league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season, and young Prince made a name for himself by hitting prodigious home runs in batting practice at Tiger Stadium.

A few years ago, when Prince returned to Detroit as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline recalled that power show.

"You can't ever say that you look at a kid that age and say that you know he's going to hit 40 or 50 home runs someday, but Prince was unbelievable," Kaline said then. "Here's a 12-year-old kid commonly hitting homers at a big league ballpark."

In an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Cecil Fielder said he was "shocked" by the news that Prince was heading to Detroit.

"He's been there in Detroit most of his young life so I think he'll be comfortable in that place," Cecil Fielder said. "I know Mr. Ilitch is probably excited because he's been wanting that kid since he was a little kid, so he finally got his wish."

SAN FRANCISCO — Star pitcher Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants reached a verbal agreement Tuesday on a two-year contract worth $40.5 million.

The deal includes a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $18 million this year and $22 million in 2013, a person familiar with the agreement said Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the terms were not announced. Lincecum still must take a physical, which the Giants hope will happen early next week to complete the deal.

Lincecum, who has twice won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League, had asked for a near-record $21.5 million in salary arbitration and had been offered $17 million by the club. He remains eligible for free agency following the 2013 season.

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Tigers, BoSox split twin bill in Detroit

DETROIT — Jose Valverde and David Ortiz had the two biggest matchups of an exhausting Sunday.

Home sweet home: Tigers runner Andy Dirks slides home as Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek waits for the throw on Sunday in Detroit. The Tigers won 3-0 to earn a split in a day-night doubleheader. AP PHOTO

They split, and as a result, so did the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox.

Nearly seven hours after Ortiz's ninth-inning homer off Valverde gave the Red Sox a 4-3 victory in the first game of a day-night doubleheader, the Tigers closer retired Ortiz to finish off a 3-0 win in the nightcap.

"It was the same for me — I didn't feel anything different," Valverde said. "He's a good hitter and there's nothing you can do about that, but the second game was my time."

In the second game, Justin Verlander (5-3) allowed four hits and walked two in 7? shutout innings, throwing a career-high 132 pitches.

"He's a real proud guy, and you could see the determination in his eyes," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I checked with him, he said he was fine, and he was up for the challenge."

Leyland said he will take advantage of Thursday's off day to give Verlander an extra day between starts.

"During the — I don't even know what inning it was, maybe the fifth or sixth — my velocity started to jump up, and I still didn't feel like I was overthrowing the ball," Verlander said. "I found a rhythm and had my mechanics and the ball was coming out live."

Josh Beckett (4-2) took his first loss since April 5 — his first start of the season. Beckett gave up two runs on five hits and a season-high five walks in six innings.

"Beckett's stuff was up in the first inning, and he gave up a couple runs," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "After that, Verlander never gave us a chance. He's one of the best in baseball. We made him work, but the higher he got into the pitch count, the harder he threw."

Valverde pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save, finishing a 10-hour day that included a 50-minute rain delay before the second game.

Ortiz's game-winning homer in the opener was his first pinch-hit home run in eight years.

"I don't like pinch hitting too much, but I did just what I do as a DH," Ortiz said. "I went to the cages, took some swings and got loose."

Rays 7, Indians 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Jeremy Hellickson pitched seven impressive innings, John Jaso homered, and Tampa Bay beat Cleveland.

Athletics 6, Orioles 4

In Oakland, Josh Willingham hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning, Daric Barton added an insurance run in the sixth and the A's beat Baltimore to complete its first three-game sweep this season.

Angels 6, Twins 5

In Minneapolis, Erick Aybar had three hits and three RBIs and Dan Haren earned his first win since April 17 in Los Angeles' victory over Minnesota.

Rangers 7, Royals 6

In Arlington, Texas, Mike Napoli slid under the tag of catcher Brayan Pena on Elvis Andrus' two-out single in the ninth inning, giving Texas a come-from-behind victory over Kansas City.

Yankees 7, Mariners 1

In Seattle, CC Sabathia allowed one run in eight innings and Andruw Jones lined a bases-clearing double to highlight the Yankees' five-run third inning.

Ichiro Suzuki was hitless in four at-bats for the Mariners.

Blue Jays 13, White Sox 4

In Toronto, Aaron Hill hit his first career grand slam, Corey Patterson added a two-run shot and the Blue Jays routed Chicago.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Mets 9, Phillies 5

In New York, Jose Reyes tripled twice for the third time this season and a refreshed Josh Thole had three hits and three RBIs as the Mets enjoyed a rare offensive outburst.

Brewers 6, Giants 0

In Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo allowed four hits in eight innings to win his fifth straight start.

Padres 5, Nationals 4

In Washington, Ryan Ludwick had three hits and two RBIs, including a go-ahead infield single in the ninth inning.

Diamondbacks 4, Astros 2

In Houston, Xavier Nady hit a two-run double in the eighth inning, helping Arizona rally for a victory and a series sweep of Houston.

Cardinals 4, Rockies 3

In Denver, Kyle Lohse pitched six solid innings to match a major league high with his seventh win.

Dodgers 8, Marlins 0

In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw pitched a two-hitter for his second shutout and complete game in his career.

Cubs 3, Pirates 2

In Chicago, Aramis Ramirez ended a long home run drought, Ryan Dempster threw six solid innings and the Cubs beat Pittsburgh in a game delayed by rain at the start.

Kosuke Fukudome was 2-for-4 for Chicago.

Braves 2, Reds 1

In Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens (7-1) outpitched Johnny Cueto (2-2) and Martin Prado hit a two-run homer to help the Braves beat Cincinnati.

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Red Sox roll past Tigers

DETROIT — Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford homered in a five-run third inning to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 on Friday night.

Grand debut: San Francisco's Brandon Crawford flies out to right field in the third inning against Milwaukee on Friday night. The Giants beat the Brewers 5-4. AP PHOTO

Boston won for the 12th time in 14 games and has scored 34 runs in its last three.

Tim Wakefield (2-1) picked up his 195th career win, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings.

Rick Porcello (4-3) gave up a season-high six runs in three innings in his first start since allowing one hit in eight innings in a win over Pittsburgh.

"In my last start, I had command of all my pitches," Porcello said. "This time, I was fighting it. I was just trying to find a rhythm and a release point."

Crawford has nine hits in his last 12 at-bats, including two homers and seven RBIs.

Rays 5, Indians 0

In St. Petersburg, Florida, David Price struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings, Casey Kotchman and Sam Fuld both homered, and Tampa Bay beat Cleveland.

Price (6-4) scattered four hits and walked two. The left-hander had given up 10 runs in 11? innings during his previous two starts.

The Rays went up 4-0 in the second on two-run homers by Kotchman and Fuld off Josh Tomlin (6-2). Relievers Joel Peralta and Adam Russell completed the four-hitter.

Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce, who started play hitting a major league-best .367, had three hits — including a broken-bat RBI single during the seventh — in four at-bats.

Blue Jays 4, White Sox 2

In Toronto, Yunel Escobar doubled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning for the Blue Jays.

Right-hander Casey Janssen (2-0) pitched one inning of relief for the win as Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak.

Shawn Camp got one out and Jon Rauch finished in the ninth for his sixth save in eight opportunities.

Royals 12, Rangers 7 (14)

In Arlington, Texas, Melky Cabrera and rookie Eric Hosmer hit consecutive one-out homers in a five-run 14th inning and Kansas City snapped a five-game losing streak.

Cabrera hit a drive over the center field fence off Dave Bush (0-1) to snap a 7-7 tie, and Hosmer gave the Royals a two-run lead. Brayan Pena added a three-run homer off Bush. The Royals won for the third time in 13 games.

Blake Wood (2-0), the sixth Royals pitcher, threw a perfect 13th for the win.

Angels 6, Twins 5

In Minneapolis, Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning for Los Angeles after scoring five runs in the eighth off three Twins relievers.

Erick Aybar's three-run homer on the first pitch from Dusty Hughes ignited the rally after Twins starter Scott Baker scattered six singles over seven shutout innings. Jim Hoey (0-2) was pitching when Alberto Callaspo's infield single and Russell Branyan's sacrifice fly forged a tie for the Angels.

Jordan Walden worked the ninth for his 11th save in 14 tries.

Mariners 4, Yankees 3

In Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki and Brendan Ryan each hit run scoring grounders in the sixth inning, Franklin Gutierrez robbed Nick Swisher of a home run and the Mariners scored all four runs on groundouts in a win over New York.

Seattle rallied from a three-run deficit to win for the ninth time in 11 games and moved back to .500 for the first time since April 4 by taking advantage of the Yankees' bullpen.

New York starter A.J. Burnett labored through five innings, but gave up just two runs and seemed poised to break a five-game road losing streak. But relievers Boone Logan and Luis Ayala (1-1) struggled as Seattle scored twice in the sixth and the Mariners' bullpen made the narrow lead stand up.

David Pauley (3-0) worked two scoreless innings in relief of starter Michael Pineda.

Ichiro was 1-for-4 with a double and scored once.

Athletics 6, Orioles 2

In Oakland, Ryan Sweeney hit a tiebreaking single as part of a three-run sixth inning and the Athletics held on to beat Baltimore.

Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs for Oakland, which won despite manager Bob Geren's first ejection of the season.

Designated hitter Hideki Matsui walked twice and drove in a run on a 1-for-3 day for the Athletics.

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Ichiro lends hand as Mariners rout Tigers

Five-finger discount: Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki steals second during the fourth inning of a game against the Tigers on Tuesday in Seattle. The Mariners won 13-3. KYODO

SEATTLE — Doug Fister got more run support from his offense in one inning than he had in three previous starts this season.

He didn't waste it, either.

Fister struck out a career-high seven in 6? innings, and the light-hitting Seattle Mariners capitalized on 11 walks allowed by Detroit, routing the Tigers 13-3 on Tuesday night.

Getting some run support probably felt quite foreign to Fister. Before this start, Seattle had scored three runs for the right-hander this season, only two while he was in the game.

But the Mariners scored four times in the first against the Tigers, and staked Fister to a 6-1 lead by the fifth inning. They finished with a season-high 15 hits.

"He's thrown the ball well all year," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "It was good we could jump out early and he did a great job of keeping the same mind-set you have to have when you go out there and you are a starting pitcher in that type of game."

Seattle backed Fister with some rare clutch hitting and the top of its batting order — Ichiro Suzuki and Chone Figgins — combined to go 7-for-9 and five RBIs. Ichiro finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored.

Figgins got his first hit all season with a runner in scoring position, driving in Ichiro in the fourth. Seattle added five runs in the seventh off Detroit's bullpen, only after reliever Jamey Wright got a key double play to end the top of the seventh and keep the Mariners ahead 6-2.

"That felt good. Regardless of what you do (individually) it's good to put up some crooked numbers," Seattle shortstop Brendan Ryan said. "It's nice to play with a lead for a change."

Orioles 11, Twins 0

In Baltimore, Matt Wieters drove in four runs, Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer, and the Orioles snapped an eight-game losing streak by defeating Carl Pavano and the Twins.

Royals 5, Indians 4

In Kansas City, Alex Gordon had two hits, stretching his hitting streak to 13 games, to lead Kansas City to a win over Cleveland in a clash between the unlikely pacesetters in the American League Central division.

Angels 15, Rangers 4

In Arlington, Texas, rookie first baseman Mark Trumbo homered and drove in four runs to help power Los Angeles to a big win over Texas.

Blue Jays 6, Yankees 5 (10)

In Toronto, Travis Snider doubled home the winning run in the 10th inning to lift the Blue Jays over New York.

Rays 2, White Sox 1

In St. Petersburg, Fla., James Shields struck out nine batters to lead Tampa Bay over Chicago, and to its seventh win in eight games.

Athletics 5, Red Sox 0

In Oakland, Brett Anderson struck out eight and outdueled usual A's nemesis John Lackey for his first victory of the season.

David DeJesus got Oakland on the board with a first-inning RBI groundout, then Hideki Matsui added a two-run double and Daric Barton and Kurt Suzuki each hit RBI singles in a four-run eighth. Matsui finished 1-for-4.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Brewers 9, Phillies 0

In Philadelphia, Randy Wolf pitched six crisp innings, Ryan Braun and Casey McGehee homered and the Brewers beat Roy Halladay and the Phillies.

Marlins 6, Pirates 0

In Miami, Josh Johnson allowed two hits in seven innings and drove in the first two runs.

Diamondbacks 5, Reds 4

In Cincinnati, Ryan Roberts made the starting lineup because of an injury and hit two of Arizona's four homers off Sam LeCure.

Astros 6, Mets 1

In New York, Wandy Rodriguez found his form against the punchless Mets, pitching seven sharp innings to lead the Astros to a victory.

Giants 6, Rockies 3

In Denver, starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez gave up two hits over 6? innings one night after fellow San Francisco hurler Tim Lincecum flirted with a no-hitter and the Giants beat Colorado, spoiling Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez's return from the disabled list.

Braves 10, Dodgers 1

In Los Angeles, pitcher Brandon Beachy yielded just two hits over six scoreless innings to record his first career victory in the major leagues.

The right-hander came in with a 5.19 ERA over his three previous outings this season, including a 6-5 loss on Thursday against Florida at Turner Field.

Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (2-2) allowed two runs gave up five hits over 6? innings in the losing effort.

Nationals at Cardinals — ppd.

Padres at Cubs — ppd.

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Tigers ready to make run at title

The following is the second of a two-part preview for the upcoming NPB season. Team-by-team previews of the six Central League clubs are in order of predicted finish.

Hanshin Tigers

Manager: Akinobu Mayumi

Last season: 78-63-3 (2nd)

Hanshin lit up the scoreboard to the tune of an NPB-high 733 runs last year and came within a game of winning the pennant.

The Tigers will probably take a step back at the plate, but just approaching their 2010 totals will make this a lineup to be reckoned with.

Takashi Toritani and Keiichi Hirano played well above what their career numbers would've suggested last year, both catching lightning in a bottle. Toritani's improvement wasn't as drastic as Hirano's and he very well could hover around his 2010 production (.301, 104 RBIs).

The core of the lineup, Matt Murton, Craig Brazell and Takahiro Arai all return intact and should produce.

Injuries to Kenji Johjima and Tomoaki Kanemoto looked serious when spring camp broke, but the nearly monthlong delay in starting the season has given both time to get much farther down the road to recovery.

On the mound, Yasutomo Kubo won a career-high 14 games last year, but he also threw 208 1/3 innings, including the postseason, after never before topping 151 1/3. So the Tigers will have to monitor his condition while hoping 2010 was a sign of things to come.

Atsushi Nomi is healthy again and will head the rotation after a good, but brief, 2010 season. Jason Standridge has proven he could be a solid piece of the puzzle, while manager Akinobu Mayumi will hope Randy Messenger and Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi produce at the back end.

The bullpen was upgraded with the addition of free-agent Hiroyuki Kobyashi, who will form a nice tandem with Tomoyuki Kubota with Kyuji Fujikawa closing things out.

Chunichi Dragons

Manager: Hiromitsu Ochiai

Last season: 79-62-3 (1st)

Both of manager Hiromitsu Ochiai's previous pennant-winning squads (2004 and 2006) finished in the runnerup spot the season following their triumph.

So the newly minted Hall of Famer is sure to be hungry to finally break through and win back-to-back titles.

Despite nearly winning the Japan Series, the Dragons fielded one of the worst offenses in Japan (only the Yokohama BayStars were worse) owing the majority of their success to being the best at preventing runs.

That offense will be mostly unchanged, with the notable exceptions of new addition Joel Guzman and second-year player Yohei Oshima, who follows up an impressive Japan Series with a spot on the Opening Day roster.

So Chunichi will again depend on Masahiko Morino, Tony Blanco and reigning CL MVP Kazuhiro Wada for the bulk of their run production.

On the mound, no group of NPB starters had a lower ERA than Chunichi's 3.42 and only the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks' bullpen ERA (2.84) was lower than the 3.02 Dragons relievers recorded.

Chunichi's top two hurlers, Chen Wei-yin and Kazuki Yoshimi, may miss time early on with injuries, but the Dragons have a capable supporting cast.

Kenichi Nakata and Maximo Nelson put together decent spring performances, while a rebound by Kenta Asakura would go a long way. Daisuke Yamai and Yudai Kawai offer another pair of decent arms.

Closer Hitoki Iwase should become the NPB's all-time saves leader during the season and has a stingy setup duo ahead of him in Takuya Asao and Akifumi Takahashi.

Yomiuri Giants

Manager: Tatsunori Hara

Last season: 79-64-1 (3rd)

For the first time in three seasons the Giants enter a season as something other than the defending Central League champions.

As usual, they're loaded on offense and will be the class of the league as long as Alex Ramirez and Michihiro Ogasawara continue to defy the aging process.

The grizzled veterans will be joined in the lineup by youngsters Hayato Sakamoto and Hisayoshi Chono.

Sakamoto went from 18 homers in 2009 to 31 last season to become a full-fledged offensive star and Chono may not be far behind.

Catcher Shinnosuke Abe probably hit his career ceiling in 2010 (hitting .281 with a .976 OPS, 44 homers and 92 RBIs) but should be effective once he returns from a calf injury suffered near the close of spring training.

The Giants have the horses to cover for Abe's bat, but his presence will be missed behind the plate.

Second generation foreign player Rusty Ryal joins the fold this year, his arrival at third base paving the way for Ogasawara to make a body-conserving move across the diamond to first.

Tetsuya Utsumi and Shun Tono are the top returning pitchers, but both will have to be more consistent.

Dicky Gonzalez is coming off a horrible year and Seth Greisinger is working his way back into form.

Touted rookie Hirokazu Sawamura squeezed his way into the rotation — partly due to talent, partly due to necessity — while Hideki Asai is a steady option.

Lefty Tetsuya Yamaguchi slides into the closer's role with Marc Kroon not retained by the team.

Tokyo Yakult Swallows

Manager: Junji Ogawa

Last year: 72-68-4 (4th)

Ogawa took over for Shigeru Takada on May 26 and hit the ground running, guiding the Swallows to a 59-36-3 mark. The hardest thing for a manager who finds success after taking over midseason, however, is carrying that momentum into a new campaign.

One thing the Swallows did under Ogawa was hit, batting .283 in his 98 games at the helm. The Yakult offense as a whole wasn't too bad last year, finishing third in the league with 619 runs.

A major positive for the Swallows is getting a full season from Josh Whitesell, who was acquired during the 2010 season. Whitesell, like Ogawa, paid immediate dividends, hitting .309 with 15 homers and 53 RBis in 68 games.

Norichika Aoki should also again put up big numbers, but someone else in the Yakult lineup will have to step up among a supporting cast that can be offensively challenged.

Shortstop Shingo Kawabata has the makings of a good player at the plate and in the field and may surprise some this year while Wladimir Balentien joins the team this season and could add a bit more pop to the lineup.

The Yakult pitching staff is solid starting at the top with Masanori Ishikawa and Shohei Tateyama.

Yoshinori Sato has gotten better as his young career has progressed and the 21-year-old could be in line for a breakout season.

Kyohei Muranaka is another who could make an impact and Tony Barnette, Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi and Masato Nakazawa will compete for time in the rotation.

Lim Chang Yong returns despite attracting a number of suitors and will close out games for the 2011 season.

Hiroshima Toyo Carp

Manager: Kenjiro Nomura

Last season: 58-84-2 (5th)

In his first season as a manager, Kenjiro Nomura saw firsthand how much work it's going to take to return the Aka Heru (Red Helmets) to the success the franchise enjoyed during his playing days.

Kenta Kurihara was the only Carp player to reach 60 RBIs (just two others got past 50) and he'll again be asked to do the bulk of the heavy lifting.

Jun Hirose returns after a solid season and Eishin Soyogi is another good player, having driven in 56 runs and recorded a career-high 50 extra-base hits last year.

Speedster Masato Akamatsu can also help manufacture runs.

Nomura will be looking for more out of Akihiro Higashide this year while Soichiro Amaya earns his keep in the field but needs to be more potent at the plate.

The team shed ineffective foreign hitters Justin Huber and Jeff Fiorentino, replacing them with MLB veteran Chad Tracy, who they hope can break the cycle and be productive.

Hiroshima was statistically among Japan's top defensive teams but a pitching staff that was among Japan's worst largely negated their efforts.

If not for a brilliant season from Kenta Maeda, who went 15-8 with a 2.21 ERA and won the Sawamura Award, the Carp may have fielded the worst rotation in Japan.

Maeda may enjoy another good year, but the rest of the rotation has to do its part. Giancarlo Alvarado pitched better than his 8-8 record and with a heavier workload could improve while Yuki Saito is young with potential.

Among the new players, Yuya Fukui and Bryan Bullington will be pressed to contribute.

Yokohama BayStars

Manager: Takao Obana

Last year: 48-95-1 (6th)

Conventional wisdom says when you hit rock bottom, there's nowhere left to go but up. Well the BayStars put up one heck of a challenge to that theory in 2010 — finishing last in the NPB regular season, interleague, and open-sen standings — and the outlook for 2011 isn't exactly rosy either.

A full season with Brett Harper in the lineup should help with run production for a lineup that scored an NPB-low 521 runs last season.

Still, Harper's impact is somewhat dependent upon someone getting on base ahead of him and potent sluggers Termel Sledge and Shuichi Murata.

Seiichi Uchikawa bolted for greener pastures, but he was quickly replaced by colorful free agent Hichori Morimoto.

The former Hokkaido Nippon Ham outfielder has been slowed by injuries in recent years, but he's a solid addition if he can stay healthy. Tatsuya Shimozono broke his fibula in a spring game on March 11 and will miss significant time, a setback for a lineup that could get a lot of solo homers from spots 3-5 in the lineup but may struggle to score enough. As bad as the Yokohama batters were, its pitchers were worse.

BayStars starters had a jaw-dropping 5.27 ERA with opponents hitting .303 against them. The bullpen was better, but not by much, with a 4.28 ERA and .272 opponents' batting average.

Manager Takao Obana, somewhat of a pitching guru, got a new charge in Shogo Yamamoto, but had to trade away Hayato Terahara to do it.

Still, what he really needs is for the incumbents in the rotation to step up.

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