Sweeping out The Q. ...
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Some rights reserved.
Katsuya Kakunaka has a rare name. But hits off his bat are far from rare.
Kakunaka's RBI single in the sixth got Lotte the lead and the Marines held on for a 3-2 sweep of the SoftBank Hawks in Sunday at The Q.
The victory left the Marines atop the Pacific League standings ahead of interleague play, which kicks off on Wednesday.
Kakunaka, a five-year pro who started the season on the farm, is batting .333 in 20 games. He forced skipper Norifumi Nishimujra to call him up to the first team by hitting almost .400 on the farm club.
He has been eating PL pitchers ever since, driving in the winning runs on back-to-back days.
LIONS 4, FIGHTERS 3
One of Takeya Nakamura's two hits was an RBI single in a three-run sixth that pushed Seibu past host Nippon Ham.
Esteban German had a two-run single in the sixth-inning rally, and Hideaki Wakui recorded his first pro save in seven-plus seasons to nail it down.
EAGLES 4, BUFFALOES 1
Yosuke Takasu's RBI single in the eighth broke a 1-1 tie as red-hot Rakuten won its fifth straight by topping Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Manabu Mima (1-1) rolled through seven innings of one-run ball, and Koko Aoyama notched his fifth save in five days with a scoreless ninth.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 5, SWALLOWS 1
Hirokazu Sawamura (3-3) tossed seven shutout innings and Yoshitomo Tani and John Bowker had RBI hits in the first to carry Yomiuri in Akita.
The win pushed the Giants to .500 for the first time this season.
TIGERS 8, BAYSTARS 3
Ryo Asai had two RBIs and Randy Messenger (3-2) put in a quality start as Hanshin strolled past host Yokohama.
DRAGONS 6, CARP 6
Chunichi's Takuya Asao blew yet another hold chance [unofficially No. 4], allowing Nick Stavinoha's RBI single in the eighth in a time-limit draw at Hiroshima.
[Edited by: jgibson on May 14, 2012 3:33 PM]