Karakawa flirts with perfecto, gets complete game
Yuki Karakawa looked headed for the second no-no of the season. Instead, he escaped with a 4-1 win over the SoftBank Hawks on Saturday at FYJ Dome.
Karakawa surrendered his first hit/baserunner in the seventh inning on a Seiichi Uchikawa single, then the Hawks rallied for a run on a two-out RBI double by Yuya Hasegawa in the eighth and had the righty (2-1) on the ropes. But Karakawa got out of trouble and closed it out in the ninth despite a two-out double by Uchikawa.
Saubro Omura's first-inning RBI single -- his first run batted in at FYJ Dome since July 11, 2010 -- put the Marines in the lead and they added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth for a 3-0 lead. Saburo had two hits and an RBI as did Kazuya Fukuura, who tacked on another insurance run in the eighth.
SoftBank's Sho Iwasaki (1-1), who had won five straight decisions at home dating back to last season, took the loss. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- over 7.2 innings. The righty yielded eight hits and a walk, while fanning three.
FIGHTERS 2, EAGLES 1
Terrmel Sledge slugged a game-tying solo blast in the fifth inning, and Makoto Kaneko knocked in the go-ahead run with a sac fly to center later in the frame as Nippon Ham edged Rakuten at Sapporo Dome.
Masaru Takeda (2-0) went 5.1 innings and Hisashi Takeda worked around an error to close it out in the ninth.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, TIGERS 4
Masahiko Morino's RBI double was part of a six-run first off Jason Standridge (2-1), and Shinji Tajima (1-0) tossed four-plus innings of one-run ball in relief for his first pro win as Chunichi topped Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Hirokazu Ibata drove in two runs with an RBI groundout and a bases-loaded walk for the Dragons, who snapped a five-game skid.
SWALLOWS 10, CARP 1
Tsuyoshi Ueda led four players with two hits each, by adding a pair of RBIs as Yakult ripped Hiroshima at Matsuyama.
Hiroshima starter Bryan Bullington (1-2) got knocked around for six runs, four earned, on nine hits and a walk over four innings to take the loss in his worst outing in one-plus seasons here.
Meanwhile, the Giants and BayStars were washed out in Yokohama, and the Lions and Buffaloes were rained out at Omiya.
[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 14, 2012 10:52 PM]
[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 14, 2012 10:52 PM]
Yuki Karakawa looked headed for the second no-no of the season. Instead, he escaped with a 4-1 win over the SoftBank Hawks on Saturday at FYJ Dome.
Karakawa surrendered his first hit/baserunner in the seventh inning on a Seiichi Uchikawa single, then the Hawks rallied for a run on a two-out RBI double by Yuya Hasegawa in the eighth and had the righty (2-1) on the ropes. But Karakawa got out of trouble and closed it out in the ninth despite a two-out double by Uchikawa.
Saubro Omura's first-inning RBI single -- his first run batted in at FYJ Dome since July 11, 2010 -- put the Marines in the lead and they added a pair of runs in the top of the eighth for a 3-0 lead. Saburo had two hits and an RBI as did Kazuya Fukuura, who tacked on another insurance run in the eighth.
SoftBank's Sho Iwasaki (1-1), who had won five straight decisions at home dating back to last season, took the loss. He allowed three runs -- two earned -- over 7.2 innings. The righty yielded eight hits and a walk, while fanning three.
FIGHTERS 2, EAGLES 1
Terrmel Sledge slugged a game-tying solo blast in the fifth inning, and Makoto Kaneko knocked in the go-ahead run with a sac fly to center later in the frame as Nippon Ham edged Rakuten at Sapporo Dome.
Masaru Takeda (2-0) went 5.1 innings and Hisashi Takeda worked around an error to close it out in the ninth.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, TIGERS 4
Masahiko Morino's RBI double was part of a six-run first off Jason Standridge (2-1), and Shinji Tajima (1-0) tossed four-plus innings of one-run ball in relief for his first pro win as Chunichi topped Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Hirokazu Ibata drove in two runs with an RBI groundout and a bases-loaded walk for the Dragons, who snapped a five-game skid.
SWALLOWS 10, CARP 1
Tsuyoshi Ueda led four players with two hits each, by adding a pair of RBIs as Yakult ripped Hiroshima at Matsuyama.
Hiroshima starter Bryan Bullington (1-2) got knocked around for six runs, four earned, on nine hits and a walk over four innings to take the loss in his worst outing in one-plus seasons here.
Meanwhile, the Giants and BayStars were washed out in Yokohama, and the Lions and Buffaloes were rained out at Omiya.
[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 14, 2012 10:52 PM]
[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 14, 2012 10:52 PM]