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Miyade's memorable shot sinks Seibu

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Miyade's memorable shot sinks Seibu

by Jim Allen (Jul 15, 2009)

Ryuji Miyade's first Pacific League homer will be one to remember.

Miyade pinch-hit, ninth-inning bomb lifted the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over the Saitama Seibu Lions at Seibu Dome on Tuesday.

"I just tried to put a good swing on it. I'm not playing a lot so I have to do what I can," said Miyade, who was acquired by the Eagles in an offseason trade from Yakult.

"It was a great opportunity for me, because I haven't been hitting. It's been a long time [since my last homer]. I didn't hit one last year."

The Eagles tied it in the eighth on a three-run shot by Fernando Seguignol off Seibu starter Takayuki Kishi.

The Eagles took a 2-0 lead with scores in the first and third innings. Tod Linden doubled to open the game, was sacrificed to third and scored on a little fly off the bat of Teppei Tsuchiya. The Eagles scored again in the third without a hit.

Takumi Kuriyama tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer off rookie Hiramichi Fujiwara, who was pulled after three innings.

After the quick hook, veteran Shinichiro Koyama took over, but the right-hander unraveled after issuing a two-out walk.

Yasuyuki Kataoka, who was out at home on a controversial first-inning call, doubled home Ginjiro Sumitani from second to put Seibu ahead. He took third on the throw home and scored on a single by Kuriyama.

"Personally, I was really annoyed," said the Lions leadoff man. "I took my anger out on them."

Hiroyuki Nakajima singled to put runners on the corners and Takeya Nakamura's double drove in both.

"It's been so long since I had a timely hit, that I'm incredibly happy, " said Nakamura, who leads both leagues with 30 home runs but hadn't driven in a run without clearing the fence since June 30.

Kishi, who allowed just two hits from the second to the seventh, blew up in the eighth.

Seguignol's three-run homer capped a four-run rally after Kishi got the first two batters in the inning.

Tsuchiya tripled and scored on a single by Takeshi Yamasaki. Daisuke Kusano singled as well, and Kishi's second changeup to Seguignol was one too many.

Right-hander Tetsuya Iwasaki allowed a pinch-hit single in the ninth before pinch-hitter Miyade burned lefty Koji Mitsui with a two-run, pinch-hit bomb.

Although the Lions fell behind early, they blasted out of the blocks in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff single, Kataoka took the Eagles by surprise by going to third on Kuriyama's ground single to left. He beat the throw and Kuriyama trailed him to second, after which Nakajima was drilled by a pitch.

With things going Seibu's way, Nakamura was robbed of a single on a diving stop by Norihiro Nakamura. The Eagles third baseman's wide throw home beat Kataoka to the base, but forced catcher Jin Nakatani to stretch like a first baseman.

Lions manager Hisanobu Watanabe thought Nakatani dribbled the ball, argued the call for nine minutes and coming close to being ejected.


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