Kishi plays stopper role, fires complete game to end Lions’ skid
The Seibu Lions haven’t been able to put it together many times this season, but right-hander Takayuki Kishi stepped up on Wednesday and did a Lion’s share of the work to stop a five-game skid.
Kishi (3-1) fired a 140-pitch six-hitter, and Hiroyuki Nakajima had three hits and two RBIs as Seibu topped the SoftBank Hawks 3-1 at FYJ Dome.
Kishi fanned 10 -- including Wily Mo Pena four times -- to stop a Seibu losing string for the third time this season.
“SoftBank has gotten the best of me personally and the team,” said Kishi, whose win stopped the Hawks’ seven-game winning streak vs. the Lions. “I just wanted to do what I could to help the team win.”
Kishi held Pena and Nobuhiro Matsuda, who have combined for 37 RBIs, hitless.
Nakajima raised his average to .302 by singling in a run in the third and doubling home an insurance run in the eighth to help back Kishi, who went the distance for the first time since May, 10, 2010 when he beat the Giants.
FIGHTERS 5, MARINES 1
Tomoya Yagi (2-2) twirled six innings of one-run ball, and Yang Zhong-shou led a 15-hit attack with three singles and two RBIs as Nippon Ham cruised past Lotte at Tokyo Dome.
Nippon Ham’s Atsunori Inaba went 4-for-4 -- four singles -- to leave him just two shy of 2,000 career hits.
EAGLES 7, BUFFALOES 4
Jose Fernandez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Luis Garcia had a hit and an RBI in a four-run sixth that carried Rakuten past Orix at The Kleenex Box.
Motohiro Shima added two hits and drove in a run for the Eagles, who won their third straight -- their longest winning streak of the season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 5, CARP 0
Keiichi Hirano had three hits and an RBI and Craig Brazell added two hits and drove in one to back strong pitching from Yasutomo Kubo 2-1) in a shutout of Hiroshima at Koshien Stadium.
Kubo held the Carp scoreless on two hits, a walk and a hit batter with eight Ks over seven innings, and two relievers each fired a scoreless inning to complete the shutout.
DRAGONS 1, SWALLOWS 1, 11 INNINGS
Motonobu Tanishige hit a solo blast in the seventh to tie the score, and Yohei Oshima gunned down pinch-runner Yoshiyuki Noguchi to end the game in the 11th inning as Yakult and Chunichi -- the top two CL teams -- played to a tie at Jingu Stadium.
Yuhei Nakamura singled off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase, but Oshima fired a strike from center to cut down Noguchi, who was trying to score from second with two outs.
The BayStars and Giants were rained out in Kumamoto.
The Seibu Lions haven’t been able to put it together many times this season, but right-hander Takayuki Kishi stepped up on Wednesday and did a Lion’s share of the work to stop a five-game skid.
Kishi (3-1) fired a 140-pitch six-hitter, and Hiroyuki Nakajima had three hits and two RBIs as Seibu topped the SoftBank Hawks 3-1 at FYJ Dome.
Kishi fanned 10 -- including Wily Mo Pena four times -- to stop a Seibu losing string for the third time this season.
“SoftBank has gotten the best of me personally and the team,” said Kishi, whose win stopped the Hawks’ seven-game winning streak vs. the Lions. “I just wanted to do what I could to help the team win.”
Kishi held Pena and Nobuhiro Matsuda, who have combined for 37 RBIs, hitless.
Nakajima raised his average to .302 by singling in a run in the third and doubling home an insurance run in the eighth to help back Kishi, who went the distance for the first time since May, 10, 2010 when he beat the Giants.
FIGHTERS 5, MARINES 1
Tomoya Yagi (2-2) twirled six innings of one-run ball, and Yang Zhong-shou led a 15-hit attack with three singles and two RBIs as Nippon Ham cruised past Lotte at Tokyo Dome.
Nippon Ham’s Atsunori Inaba went 4-for-4 -- four singles -- to leave him just two shy of 2,000 career hits.
EAGLES 7, BUFFALOES 4
Jose Fernandez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Luis Garcia had a hit and an RBI in a four-run sixth that carried Rakuten past Orix at The Kleenex Box.
Motohiro Shima added two hits and drove in a run for the Eagles, who won their third straight -- their longest winning streak of the season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
TIGERS 5, CARP 0
Keiichi Hirano had three hits and an RBI and Craig Brazell added two hits and drove in one to back strong pitching from Yasutomo Kubo 2-1) in a shutout of Hiroshima at Koshien Stadium.
Kubo held the Carp scoreless on two hits, a walk and a hit batter with eight Ks over seven innings, and two relievers each fired a scoreless inning to complete the shutout.
DRAGONS 1, SWALLOWS 1, 11 INNINGS
Motonobu Tanishige hit a solo blast in the seventh to tie the score, and Yohei Oshima gunned down pinch-runner Yoshiyuki Noguchi to end the game in the 11th inning as Yakult and Chunichi -- the top two CL teams -- played to a tie at Jingu Stadium.
Yuhei Nakamura singled off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase, but Oshima fired a strike from center to cut down Noguchi, who was trying to score from second with two outs.
The BayStars and Giants were rained out in Kumamoto.