They won the game but they couldn’t grab the limelight on a night like this. The Yomiuri Giants beat the Yokohama Bay Stars 1-0 last night to break a four-game losing streak, but the highlight of the game was a confrontation between two Kazuhiro’s. Yokohama’s Sasaki Kazuhiro (37) came on in the second inning to face just one batter in his final game in his hometown of Sendai. He struck out Kiyohara Kazuhiro (37) in four pitches before coming off the mound for the last time. The two embraced, with Kiyohara unable to hold back his tears as he saw the stellar career of his old friend come to an end. Sasaki — known as “Daimajin” after a monster movie character — is the career saves leader for both the Bay Stars and the Seattle Mariners, where he played for four years. He has been plagued by injuries since his return from the majors, and was recently in the news for a more personal reason. He divorced his former idol star wife kaori (36) in April of this year after rumors had circulated since late 2003 that he was having an affair with actress Enamoto Kanako (24). He married Enamoto in May, less than two weeks after she had given birth to a baby boy.
• Singer songwriter Utada Hikaru (22) is to make her European debut. She debuted in the US as Utada last October, with minor success. She’ll be hoping for better sales of the same album, “Exodus,” when it goes on sale in the UK and across Europe on September 26. The single, “You Make Me Want To Be A Man” goes on sale on September 19. The promo video for the single was directed by her husband, Kiriya Kazuaki (38).