Sports

PHILADELPHIA (Kyodo) — Philadelphia Phillies outfielder So Taguchi made his first appearance in the postseason but came up empty as his team rallied to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Oct. 9.

Manny Ramirez gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double.

Philadelphia overcame a 2-0 deficit when Chase Utley hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the sixth followed by Pat Burrell’s solo blast to complete the rally.

CASTRO VALLEY — Without the benefit of any noteworthy scoring by any member, Unagi still managed to edge Tobiko for two wins and maintained the team’s first-place standing in the Eden Nikkei Seniors League on Oct. 2 at Castro Village Bowl.

Tom Murata of Shoga continued his hot bowling with a 655 series and paced his team to a sweep over Uni.

Teammate Mits Kadoyama contributed to Shoga’s wins with a 195 game.

Ben Takeshita fired his season high game with an impressive 268 and helped Toro to two wins over Shoyu.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese judoka Satoshi Ishii, who won the men’s over 100-kilogram gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, was vague on Oct. 7 about his intentions to quit the sport and become a professional mixed martial artist.

The 21-year-old Ishii held a press conference at his school’s dormitory at Kokushikan University, but only went as far as to say that he might consider a move to mixed martial arts.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Up-and-coming Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori has climbed to a career-high 77th in the world, according to the latest ATP rankings released Oct. 6.

Nishikori moved up seven spots from a week ago and bettered his previous highest ranking of No. 81, reached on Sept. 9, after he won two matches at the Japan Open that ended Oct. 5.

The 18-year-old lost to Richard Gasquet of France in the third round and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic won the event in Tokyo.

RICHMOND — Jerry Kika was the winner of the 27th annual Kimochi Golf Tournament, held Sept. 19 at the Richmond Country Club.

Under ideal weather conditions, Kika shot 101-39-62 to win field low net honors and the prestigious Tosh Hara-Sam Sato Memorial Perpetual Trophy.

Field low gross honors went to Ken Mizono, who shot 76 and holds a 9 handicap. Ted Tanisawa won the Championship Flight, shooting 82-17-65. Russell Obana was the victor in the First Flight with 101-35-66 and Fran Mori won the Women’s Flight with 89-19-70.

Professional free climber Yuji Hirayama will be attempting to break the speed world record for free climbing The Nose (1,100 meters) of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, according to Japan Sports Marketing.

Hirayama suffered a mild injury to his heel while training in Yosemite early last week, but has recovered and has resumed his training. His first climb was scheduled to take place on Oct. 8 and his second climb on Oct. 12.

CHICAGO (Kyodo) — Akinori Iwamura had two hits and scored a run as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 6-2 on Oct. 6 to advance to the American League championship series.

The Rays won their AL division series three games to one and will play the Boston Red Sox, who wrapped up the other division series with a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Los Angeles Angels in Game 4 on Oct. 6, for a spot in the World Series.

Bowling: Nikkei Invitational Trios

DALY CITY —The Nikkei Invitational Trios League posted results for Week 5 after matches were held Sept. 30 at Serra Bowl:
Team Standings
Serra Bowl 10 5
Team 9 10 5
Team 1 10 5
All or Nothing 9 6
Ichi Ban 8.5 6.5
Team 12 8 7
Team 13 8 7
Sa-Ke To Me 7.5 7.5
Got Lots of Balls 7.5 7.5
Bel Mateo Bowl 7 8
Team 16 6.5 8.5
R Secret Weapon 6 9
Team 6 6 9
Team 10 6 9
Lucky 8 5 10
Go For Broke 5 10

TOKYO (MDN) — Sumo Yokozuna Asashoryu denied allegations of match-fixing as he appeared at the Tokyo District Court on Oct. 3 in connection with defamation claims against a tabloid magazine.

The lawsuit filed by the Japan Sumo Association and about 30 wrestlers against parties including Kodansha, publisher of Shukan Gendai magazine, demands compensation and a published apology.

Appearing in court for oral proceedings, Asashoryu denied the allegations, saying, “All of my bouts were fought honestly.” It is extremely rare for an active yokozuna to appear in court.

LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) — Hiroki Kuroda threw 61/3 scoreless innings to earn his first postseason win Oct. 4 as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in their National League division series with a 3-1 victory.

Kuroda, who had no postseason experience in his 11-year career with the Hiroshima Carp in Japan, got in and out of jams and left with a 3-0 lead after allowing consecutive singles with one out in the seventh inning.