Major League Baseball
NL notebook: Dodgers' Ishii tosses 1-hitter against Arizona

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Kazuhisa Ishii was his usual stingy self against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only this time, he was nearly perfect.

Ishii pitched his first career one-hitter, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-0 last night for their fifth consecutive victory.

Ishii, who has not allowed an earned run in six of his 10 career starts against the Diamondbacks, retired his first 12 batters before giving up a leadoff walk in the fifth to Luis Gonzalez and a line single to left field by Shea Hillenbrand.

"I just wanted to go as long as I could to give the relievers some rest," Ishii said through an interpreter.

Gonzalez and Hillenbrand both advanced on a two-out wild pitch, but Juan Brito grounded out to third. No one else reached base against Ishii, who threw a no-hitter in Japan in 1997 for the Yakult Swallows.

"It's not a matter of overpowering anybody when you throw a one-hitter or a no-hitter. I've seen guys who aren't overpowering do that," Hillenbrand said. "Kaz Ishii is a quality pitcher and he knows the type of pitcher he is."

Ishii (10-4) went the distance for the second time in 72 starts, recording his second shutout and improving his career record against Arizona to 6-1. Three of his wins this season have come against the Diamondbacks.

Ishii struck out five and walked one. He was coming off his shortest outing of the season, a 7-3 loss at Anaheim in which he gave up seven runs over three innings.

Arizona: RF Danny Bautista (back strain) didn't start for the second consecutive game.

Atlanta: 2B Marcus Giles will play one rehab game tomorrow with Class A Rome. Giles will then have a rehab assignment from Saturday to Wednesday in Class A Myrtle Beach. He has missed 48 games with a broken right clavicle.
 
Chicago: RHP Mark Prior found out that his earned-run average is 4.00 instead of 3.00 after a scoring change following his outing Tuesday. Official scorer Wayne Franke switched Craig Counsell's sacrifice bunt to a single, which resulted in four earned runs instead of four unearned runs.

Cincinnati: 1B Sean Casey (strained right calf) likely will come off the disabled list on Tuesday. ... Utility man Ryan Freel left last night's game after he injured his left leg slamming into an unpadded section of the wall while chasing a foul ball.

Colorado: LHP Joe Kennedy was scratched before his scheduled start because of shoulder stiffness. He was placed on the 15-day DL after the game, which was started by RHP Adam Bernero.

Florida: RHP Josh Beckett saw a specialist to help solve his ongoing finger problems. He is on his fifth career DL stint because of blister-related problems. He received two more creams to try to remedy the situation.

Houston: 2B Jeff Kent (strained right hamstring) missed his eighth consecutive start, but is expected to be back in the starting lineup today at Los Angeles.

Montreal: 2B Jose Vidro is day to day with a sore right knee.

Pittsburgh: All-Star SS Jack Wilson was removed from the lineup because of an irritated left knee. Wilson is day to day.

Note: Major League Baseball has been a hit at the ticket window this season. The average crowd of 29,906 reflects an 11.4 percent increase over last year's 26,842 average through the first 1,222 games.

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