Ma-kun fans 18 as Eagles continue streak
The Rakuten Eagles are striking down the top teams in the Pacific League and Masahiro Tanaka is leading the way.
The fifth-year righty exploded for a career- and franchise-best 18 strikeouts in tossing his third straight complete game this season as the Eagles blanked the first-place SoftBank Hawks 5-0 to win their seventh straight.
Tanaka (13-4), who struck out the side in the ninth, was one shy of former Orix BlueWave hurler Koji Noda’s Nippon Pro Baseball record, set in 1995 against the Lotte Marines.
Tanaka was well aware of the situation as he took the mound in the ninth to close out his 10th career shutout.
“I knew I had 15 strikeouts going into the ninth, so I wanted to finish it off by striking them all out in the ninth.
“All my pitches were working tonight and I had the feeling I was going to be able strike guys out if I got ahead in the count,” said Tanaka, whose 1.40 ERA leads Japan. Tanaka allowed six hits and a walk.
It was the first 18-striekout game tossed against the Hawks in franchise history.
SoftBank starter Toshiya Sugiuchi (7-5) lasted just three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks with a hit batter and two Ks.
Kazuo Matsui had three hits, including an RBI double in the second, and Luis Garcia had two hits for Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 4, LIONS 3
Rookie Yuki Saito (5-2) looked like the hyper-hyped pitcher fans expected him to be, carrying a shutout into the eighth and finishing with his longest pro outing as Nippon Ham edged host Seibu to snap a four-game funk.
Eiichi Koyano cracked a three-run shot in the first to cap a four-run inning, and Saito made it stand, despite allowing Takeya Nakamua’s Japan-best 33rd homer in the eighth.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Shunsuke Watanabe (6-6) celebrated his 35th birthday by scattering seven hits and a walk over six innings as Lotte shut down Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 3, BAYSTARS 0
Kazuki Yoshimi (11-3) fired his first shutout of the season, tossing a six-hitter and drove in a pair of runs with a single as Chunichi won at Yokohama.
Yoshimi scattered seven hits with eight Ks and no walks.
GIANTS 2, CARP 1
Hisayoshi Chono’s triple in the seventh helped Yomiuri come from behind to top Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The win helped the Giants reach .500 and tie the Dragon and Tigers in winning percentage.
Hanshin and front-running Yakult were rained out at Koshien Stadium.
Ma-kun fans 18 as Eagles continue streak
The Rakuten Eagles are striking down the top teams in the Pacific League and Masahiro Tanaka is leading the way.
The fifth-year righty exploded for a career- and franchise-best 18 strikeouts in tossing his third straight complete game this season as the Eagles blanked the first-place SoftBank Hawks 5-0 to win their seventh straight.
Tanaka (13-4), who struck out the side in the ninth, was one shy of former Orix BlueWave hurler Koji Noda’s Nippon Pro Baseball record, set in 1995 against the Lotte Marines.
Tanaka was well aware of the situation as he took the mound in the ninth to close out his 10th career shutout.
“I knew I had 15 strikeouts going into the ninth, so I wanted to finish it off by striking them all out in the ninth.
“All my pitches were working tonight and I had the feeling I was going to be able strike guys out if I got ahead in the count,” said Tanaka, whose 1.40 ERA leads Japan. Tanaka allowed six hits and a walk.
It was the first 18-striekout game tossed against the Hawks in franchise history.
SoftBank starter Toshiya Sugiuchi (7-5) lasted just three innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks with a hit batter and two Ks.
Kazuo Matsui had three hits, including an RBI double in the second, and Luis Garcia had two hits for Rakuten.
FIGHTERS 4, LIONS 3
Rookie Yuki Saito (5-2) looked like the hyper-hyped pitcher fans expected him to be, carrying a shutout into the eighth and finishing with his longest pro outing as Nippon Ham edged host Seibu to snap a four-game funk.
Eiichi Koyano cracked a three-run shot in the first to cap a four-run inning, and Saito made it stand, despite allowing Takeya Nakamua’s Japan-best 33rd homer in the eighth.
MARINES 3, BUFFALOES 1
Shunsuke Watanabe (6-6) celebrated his 35th birthday by scattering seven hits and a walk over six innings as Lotte shut down Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 3, BAYSTARS 0
Kazuki Yoshimi (11-3) fired his first shutout of the season, tossing a six-hitter and drove in a pair of runs with a single as Chunichi won at Yokohama.
Yoshimi scattered seven hits with eight Ks and no walks.
GIANTS 2, CARP 1
Hisayoshi Chono’s triple in the seventh helped Yomiuri come from behind to top Hiroshima at The Zoom.
The win helped the Giants reach .500 and tie the Dragon and Tigers in winning percentage.
Hanshin and front-running Yakult were rained out at Koshien Stadium.