Sugiuchi leads 2 strong, but unrewarded performances
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi was the 2005 Sawamura Award winner and is one of the faces of the Pacific League’s elite hurlers.
But the lefty probably feels like he has been socked in the face after working his fourth straight quality start and walking away with his second loss of the season.
Sho Nakata blasted a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth inning, and Tomohiro Nioka struck for a solo shot in the seventh as the Nippon Ham Fighters rallied to beat Sugiuchi and the Hawks 3-2 on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.
Sugiuchi fell to 0-2 but has a 2.10 ERA.
Nippon Ham starter Bobby Keppel (2-0) allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, but settled down to reach the seventh inning and earn the victory.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 0
The party seems to be on hold for Rakuten, which suffered its second straight shutout loss at The Kleenex Box at the hands of Seibu.
Hsu Ming-chie (2-0) fired his first shutout since Aug. 21,
2002, tossing 138 pitches, scattering eight hits and a walk while fanning a half-dozen.
MARINES 5, BUFFALOES 3
Tadahito Iguchi’s two-run double highlighted a four-run fifth inning as defending Japan Series champion Lotte topped Orix in Kobe.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 2, DRAGONS 1
Hayato Sakamoto’s solo blast in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and made a hard-luck loser of Maximo Nelson (1-1) as Yomiuri won its second straight over Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.
Nelson allowed just four hits and a walk over nine innings to take the loss.
CARP 9, SWALLOWS 6
Kenta Kurihara had three hits and three RBIs to lead Hiroshima past Yakult at Botchan Stadium in Ehime.
Kurihara had a two-run double in a five-run first inning, and a scoring flyball in a two-run eighth that padded the lead.
BAYSTARS 5, TIGERS 4
Yuta Naito’s eighth-inning two-run double off the wall in right gave host Yokohama the lead in a comeback victory over Hanshin.
The BayStars capitalized on two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch by Hanshin’s Hiroyuki Kobayashi (0-1).
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Sugiuchi leads 2 strong, but unrewarded performances
SoftBank Hawks ace Toshiya Sugiuchi was the 2005 Sawamura Award winner and is one of the faces of the Pacific League’s elite hurlers.
But the lefty probably feels like he has been socked in the face after working his fourth straight quality start and walking away with his second loss of the season.
Sho Nakata blasted a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth inning, and Tomohiro Nioka struck for a solo shot in the seventh as the Nippon Ham Fighters rallied to beat Sugiuchi and the Hawks 3-2 on Saturday at Sapporo Dome.
Sugiuchi fell to 0-2 but has a 2.10 ERA.
Nippon Ham starter Bobby Keppel (2-0) allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, but settled down to reach the seventh inning and earn the victory.
LIONS 4, EAGLES 0
The party seems to be on hold for Rakuten, which suffered its second straight shutout loss at The Kleenex Box at the hands of Seibu.
Hsu Ming-chie (2-0) fired his first shutout since Aug. 21,
2002, tossing 138 pitches, scattering eight hits and a walk while fanning a half-dozen.
MARINES 5, BUFFALOES 3
Tadahito Iguchi’s two-run double highlighted a four-run fifth inning as defending Japan Series champion Lotte topped Orix in Kobe.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 2, DRAGONS 1
Hayato Sakamoto’s solo blast in the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and made a hard-luck loser of Maximo Nelson (1-1) as Yomiuri won its second straight over Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.
Nelson allowed just four hits and a walk over nine innings to take the loss.
CARP 9, SWALLOWS 6
Kenta Kurihara had three hits and three RBIs to lead Hiroshima past Yakult at Botchan Stadium in Ehime.
Kurihara had a two-run double in a five-run first inning, and a scoring flyball in a two-run eighth that padded the lead.
BAYSTARS 5, TIGERS 4
Yuta Naito’s eighth-inning two-run double off the wall in right gave host Yokohama the lead in a comeback victory over Hanshin.
The BayStars capitalized on two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch by Hanshin’s Hiroyuki Kobayashi (0-1).