Dragons find way past Swallows
Soma Yamauchi seemed like he was digging himself out of a hole every inning. But when it was all said and done, the Yakult Swallows were the ones who got buried.
Yamauchi fired seven scoreless innings, and Masahiko Morino showed his unproductive first-half days might be behind him with a solo blast that carried the Chunichi Dragons to a 1 -0 win at Nagoya Dome on Sunday.
The righty (8-4) surrendered five hits -- four to leadoff hitters -- and walked one, while fanning four and getting one double play to wriggle out of constant trouble as the Dragons finished the series 1-1-1.
It was the first homer for Morino since May 30, and reliever Shinji Tajima worked a perfect eighth, while Jorge Sosa escaped trouble in the ninth with a line-drive double play to collect his third save.
The Dragons, who fell a season-high six games out if first on Saturday, are 5.5 back after their Japan-best 17th shutout win.
TIGERS 9, BAYSTARS 2
Brothers Ryota and Takahiro Arai both homered, and Takashi Toritani and Matt Murton also went yard as Hanshin topped Yokohama at Koshien Stadium to stamp out a seven-game skid.
Ryota hit a three-run shot and Takahiro added a two-run blast as the Tigers avoided a sweep.
GIANTS 1, CARP 1, 10 INNINGS
Hisayoshi Chono's seventh-inning RBI single got Yomiuri even and it settled for a tie with Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Carp's Takeru Imamura extracted starter Yuya Fukui from seventh-inning trouble by fanning two with runners on second and third. Imamura tied a club record by tossing his 23 consecutive outing without allowing a run.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 7, FIGHTERS 6
Mitsutsaka Goto's sayonara single off Hisahi Takeda (3-3) [who walked a pair with one out] pushed host Orix past Nippon Ham.
Lee Dae Ho had three hits, including his 16th homer, and three RBIs to help set up Goto for his seventh career walk-off hit [first since Sept. 26, 2010].
HAWKS 4, MARINES 2
Kenji Otonari (8-4) twirled his 11th career complete game, holding Lotte to two runs on eight hits and two walks, and Nobuhiro Matsuda homered and doubled for three RBIs as SoftBank took its second straight decision at The Q.
Yuya Hasegawa stole home for the Hawks in the second inning for the run that proved to be the difference.
LIONS 13, EAGLES 4
Shogo Akiyama had four hits, including his second homer, for three RBIs and Esteban German doubled and tripled to drive in three as Seibu won its third straight decision by taking out Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroyuki Nakajima had a double and two RBIs in Seibu's high-scoring game since May 21 last year.
[Edited by: jgibson on Jul 29, 2012 11:18 PM]
Previous Topic
Soma Yamauchi seemed like he was digging himself out of a hole every inning. But when it was all said and done, the Yakult Swallows were the ones who got buried.
Yamauchi fired seven scoreless innings, and Masahiko Morino showed his unproductive first-half days might be behind him with a solo blast that carried the Chunichi Dragons to a 1 -0 win at Nagoya Dome on Sunday.
The righty (8-4) surrendered five hits -- four to leadoff hitters -- and walked one, while fanning four and getting one double play to wriggle out of constant trouble as the Dragons finished the series 1-1-1.
It was the first homer for Morino since May 30, and reliever Shinji Tajima worked a perfect eighth, while Jorge Sosa escaped trouble in the ninth with a line-drive double play to collect his third save.
The Dragons, who fell a season-high six games out if first on Saturday, are 5.5 back after their Japan-best 17th shutout win.
TIGERS 9, BAYSTARS 2
Brothers Ryota and Takahiro Arai both homered, and Takashi Toritani and Matt Murton also went yard as Hanshin topped Yokohama at Koshien Stadium to stamp out a seven-game skid.
Ryota hit a three-run shot and Takahiro added a two-run blast as the Tigers avoided a sweep.
GIANTS 1, CARP 1, 10 INNINGS
Hisayoshi Chono's seventh-inning RBI single got Yomiuri even and it settled for a tie with Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The Carp's Takeru Imamura extracted starter Yuya Fukui from seventh-inning trouble by fanning two with runners on second and third. Imamura tied a club record by tossing his 23 consecutive outing without allowing a run.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BUFFALOES 7, FIGHTERS 6
Mitsutsaka Goto's sayonara single off Hisahi Takeda (3-3) [who walked a pair with one out] pushed host Orix past Nippon Ham.
Lee Dae Ho had three hits, including his 16th homer, and three RBIs to help set up Goto for his seventh career walk-off hit [first since Sept. 26, 2010].
HAWKS 4, MARINES 2
Kenji Otonari (8-4) twirled his 11th career complete game, holding Lotte to two runs on eight hits and two walks, and Nobuhiro Matsuda homered and doubled for three RBIs as SoftBank took its second straight decision at The Q.
Yuya Hasegawa stole home for the Hawks in the second inning for the run that proved to be the difference.
LIONS 13, EAGLES 4
Shogo Akiyama had four hits, including his second homer, for three RBIs and Esteban German doubled and tripled to drive in three as Seibu won its third straight decision by taking out Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroyuki Nakajima had a double and two RBIs in Seibu's high-scoring game since May 21 last year.
[Edited by: jgibson on Jul 29, 2012 11:18 PM]