Wada stops the skid as Hawks beat Komatsu
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He has also been pretty good against the Hawks this year, but today, he ran into the red-hot Tsuyoshi Wada. With his teammates needing a win, the Hawks snapped their three-game losing streak behind a great performance from Wada and some timely offense to win the game, 3-1.
Orix and SoftBank played to a 1-1 draw for the first third of the game as veteran Hirotoshi Kitagawa lifted a sacrifice fly to score Cabrera after he singled and Takahiro Okada doubled in the top of the 2nd. SoftBank answered in the bottom of the 3rd when the slumping Hidenori Tanoue clocked a home run off Komatsu (3) to tie the game up.
The game remained at 1-1 until the Hawks Lucky 7. The Hawks broke through thanks to a walk by Matsuda that got the rally started, and it was only the second of the day from Komatsu. It proved to be costly, as Hasegawa singled and Matsuda advanced to third on the hit-and-run. A groundout to short gave Tanoue all the leeway he needed to get home and break the tie at 2-1.
SoftBank would add some insurance in the 9th off the bat of Jose Ortiz, who clubbed a home run of his own (19), the Hawks second homer of the day.
Wada (W, 11-4, 3.24) was done after the seventh, as the Hawks lefty took sole possession of first place in the wins race due to his effort. He went seven innings, of one-run ball, with four hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts to his credit.
The ever-dependable Brian Falkenborg struck out the side in the 8th, and Mahara recorded his 18th save while giving up one hit and striking out one.
Satoshi Komatsu took the hard-luck loss, with a complete-game effort. The Orix ace went eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits, with two walks and six strikeouts in 140 pitches.
The Hawks gained a game on the Marines as they lost today to the Seibu Lions, 7-2. The Hawks hope to take back second place today. Sho Iwasaki (0-1, 4.32) takes the mound against Kazuki Kondoh (2-5, 3.81).