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Shock and oh …

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Shock and oh …
Marines start 4-0 to open season for 1st time in 60 years

The last time the Chiba Lotte Marines franchise won four straight games to start a season, none of their players was born. Heck, probably many of their fathers weren’t even born.

Seth Greisinger made a sparking debut with the Marines, going seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and fanning nine with no walks as Lotte topped the Seibu Lions 2-0 at Seibu Dome to stay perfect through four games. The club won its first seven in 1952.

The 36-year-old Greisinger, who led the Central League in wins in 2007 and ’08 but has battled injuries since joining the Giants in 2008, refused to take the bulk of the credit for his first Pacific League victory.

“It’s been a tough two years, but it’s a great way to start the season for me and the team,” the right-hander said in the hero interview about his Marines, who finished in the PL cellar last year.

“Today was just a great team win. I thought the whole team played great -- I had some great defensive plays; I thought [Tomoya] Satozaki did a great job behind the plate,”Greisinger, who kept hitters off balance with his curve. “It’s great to get four in a row -- hopefully we can keep it going."

The Marines broke a scoreless tie in the fourth when Yoshifumi Okada drove in a run with a single. Satozaki added another run on his RBI single in the sixth.

EAGLES 6, HAWKS 5

Third-year righty Kenji Tomura went five innings for his first pro win, and Ryo Hijirisawa collected three hits and stole three bases as Rakuten built up a big lead and held off SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.

Motohiro Shima's two-run triple in the fourth gave the Eagles a 6-1 lead and Darrell Rasner closed it out in the ninth in a game in which the teams combined for 12 stolen bases , the most in a PL game in 50 years.

Jose Fernandez had two hits and a pair of RBIs for Rakuten.

BUFFALOES 4, FIGHTERS 2

Evan MacLane held Nippon Ham to a run over 5.1 innings, and Takahiro T.O. Okada led three players with three hits each by knocking in two runs as Orix won their second straight at Sapporo Dome.

South Korean import Lee Dae Ho had three hits and an RBI. On the other side, Nippon Ham’s Sho Nakata, the only cleanup batter without a hit so far this season, went 0-for-4 and is hitless in 21 plate appearances. He started last season 0-for-19.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

CARP 2, GIANTS 1

Yoshihiro Maru’s pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning gave Hiroshima a walk-off win over Yomiuri in its second home game.

New import reliever Kam Mickolio picked up the win, using six pitches to retire Shinnosuke Abe in the top of the ninth.

The Giants haven’t hit a home run five games into the new season, their longest streak without a longball to start a season in 54 years.

SWALLOWS 5, TIGERS 5

Takahiro Arai hit a solo shot and Craig Brazell stroked a two-run homer to help Hanshin come back from a five-run deficit for a nine-inning tie with Yakult at Jingu Stadium.

DRAGONS 4, BAYTARS 0

Kenichi Nakata fired six scoreless innings and Masahiko Morino had two sac flies as Chunichi beat host Yokohama DeNA.

The Dragons added two runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks in the eighth.



[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 5, 2012 9:24 AM]

[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 5, 2012 1:12 PM]
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