Dragons score three early, hold off Giants
In a microcosm of Chunichi’s season, the Dragons were hot and cold at Nagoya Dome on Wednesday night.
They were hot early then looked went ice cold before looking dead in the water until Hiroki Iwase nailed down his 25th save in the ninth for a 3-2 win over the resurgent Yomiuri Giants.
Yohei Oshima tripled in a run and scored in a two-run first, and Daisuke Yamai (1-1) lasted 5.2 innings before fading, but the Chunichi bullpen kept the Giants off the board to win.
Junpei Ono (2-2) yielded six hits and a walk for three runs over four innings to take the loss.
The Giants, who lead the Central League in wins with 53 but are in third place, might want to kick themselves for blowing a golden opportunity to grab the lead in the eighth. They loaded the bases with one out for Hayato Sakamoto, but the all-star grounded to short and Masahiro Araki started a slick double play to end the inning.
The fourth-place Dragons returned to a game over .500 in Yamai’s first win in about a year.
TIGERS 5, CARP 1
Takahiro Arai’s tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh sparked a four-run rally that pushed host Hanshin past Hiroshima.
Arai had two hits and three RBIs as the second-place Tigers stayed four games out of first.
SWALLOWS 4, BAYSTARS 0
Katsuki Akagawa (2-2) gave Yakult a much-needed strong outing on the mound, going seven scoreless innings, and two relievers finished off a six-hitter in a shutout at Yokohama.
Ryoji Aikawa had two hits and an RBI and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama singled and drove in a pair of runs to back Akagawa.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 9, EAGLES 1
Tomotaka Sakaguchi had three hits and a career-best five RBIs, and Mitsutaka Goto extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a first-inning RBI single as Orix topped Rakuten at The Kleenex Box for its ninth straight win—its longest in 14 years.
Shinya Nakayama (6-7) carried a no-no into the eighth and settled for a two-hitter for his first shutout of the season and his fourth straight win. He walked two and hit one, while fanning six.
HAWKS 7, FIGHTERS 4
Seiichi Uchikawa homered twice and added an RBI single to drive in three, and Nobuhiro Matsuda had three hits and two RBIs as SoftBank swept its first series at Sapporo Dome since May 2007, and stretched its lead to a season-best seven games over Nippon Ham.
The Fighters have lost a club-worst six straight at the dome.
Hiroki Kokubo also had three hits and an RBI to back Tsuyoshi Wada (12-5), who allowed three hits and three walks, while punching out six as the Hawks made a statement with about a month to go in the season.
MARINES 2, LIONS 0
Yuki Karakawa (9-5) outpitched Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui (6-11), firing seven innings of shutout ball, and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout as Lotte snapped a six-game skid with a win at Seibu Dome.
Toshiaki Imae drove in a run in the first and Ikuhiro Kiyota added an RBI double in the seventh to send Wakui to his career-worst-tying 11th loss.
Dragons score three early, hold off Giants
In a microcosm of Chunichi’s season, the Dragons were hot and cold at Nagoya Dome on Wednesday night.
They were hot early then looked went ice cold before looking dead in the water until Hiroki Iwase nailed down his 25th save in the ninth for a 3-2 win over the resurgent Yomiuri Giants.
Yohei Oshima tripled in a run and scored in a two-run first, and Daisuke Yamai (1-1) lasted 5.2 innings before fading, but the Chunichi bullpen kept the Giants off the board to win.
Junpei Ono (2-2) yielded six hits and a walk for three runs over four innings to take the loss.
The Giants, who lead the Central League in wins with 53 but are in third place, might want to kick themselves for blowing a golden opportunity to grab the lead in the eighth. They loaded the bases with one out for Hayato Sakamoto, but the all-star grounded to short and Masahiro Araki started a slick double play to end the inning.
The fourth-place Dragons returned to a game over .500 in Yamai’s first win in about a year.
TIGERS 5, CARP 1
Takahiro Arai’s tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh sparked a four-run rally that pushed host Hanshin past Hiroshima.
Arai had two hits and three RBIs as the second-place Tigers stayed four games out of first.
SWALLOWS 4, BAYSTARS 0
Katsuki Akagawa (2-2) gave Yakult a much-needed strong outing on the mound, going seven scoreless innings, and two relievers finished off a six-hitter in a shutout at Yokohama.
Ryoji Aikawa had two hits and an RBI and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama singled and drove in a pair of runs to back Akagawa.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 9, EAGLES 1
Tomotaka Sakaguchi had three hits and a career-best five RBIs, and Mitsutaka Goto extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a first-inning RBI single as Orix topped Rakuten at The Kleenex Box for its ninth straight win—its longest in 14 years.
Shinya Nakayama (6-7) carried a no-no into the eighth and settled for a two-hitter for his first shutout of the season and his fourth straight win. He walked two and hit one, while fanning six.
HAWKS 7, FIGHTERS 4
Seiichi Uchikawa homered twice and added an RBI single to drive in three, and Nobuhiro Matsuda had three hits and two RBIs as SoftBank swept its first series at Sapporo Dome since May 2007, and stretched its lead to a season-best seven games over Nippon Ham.
The Fighters have lost a club-worst six straight at the dome.
Hiroki Kokubo also had three hits and an RBI to back Tsuyoshi Wada (12-5), who allowed three hits and three walks, while punching out six as the Hawks made a statement with about a month to go in the season.
MARINES 2, LIONS 0
Yuki Karakawa (9-5) outpitched Seibu ace Hideaki Wakui (6-11), firing seven innings of shutout ball, and two relievers combined on a five-hit shutout as Lotte snapped a six-game skid with a win at Seibu Dome.
Toshiaki Imae drove in a run in the first and Ikuhiro Kiyota added an RBI double in the seventh to send Wakui to his career-worst-tying 11th loss.