InsideJapan News Network

The Yomiuri Giants remain near the foot of the Japanese Central Baseball League today (May 6th), despite Michihiro Ogasawara hitting the 2,000th run of his career.

His landmark single was the Giants' only score as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat against the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome last night, Kyodo News reports.

Former Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima settled the match in favour of the Tigers with a tiebreaking home-run in the sixth innings.

The pressure of becoming only the 38th player in the history of Japanese baseball to reach 2,000 career runs clearly got to Ogasawara.

"It's a relief. I haven't been able to contribute to the team's offense since the start of the season. I have to admit that I was very nervous because so many TV cameras were following me every day," he said.

Ogasawara described his overall performance as "poor" and promised to make up for it in future games.

Written by Mark Smith