Iwakuma, Eagles top Lions
Hisashi Iwakuma and the Rakuten Eagles are on the rise, and the when their top pitchers are on the mound, the sky is the limit.
Iwakuma (6-3) worked eight innings of one-run ball, and Yosuke Takasu and Kensuke Uchimura each knocked in a run as the Pacific League’s third-place Eagles beat the Seibu Lions 2-1 for their eighth win in nine games.
Darrell Rasner fanned two in the ninth to nail it down for the Eagles after Iwakuma scattered seven hits and two walks with two Ks.
Seibu’s Kazuhisa Ishii (5-7) was making his first start since June 26 and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits, a walk and a hit batter with five Ks to take the loss.
Hiroyuki Nakajima’s second hit of the game was an RBI single in the eighth for Seibu's only run.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 1
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped his 11th and 12th longballs, and Chihiro Kaneko (7-3) tossed seven innings of one-run ball as Orix topped SoftBank at FYD Dome.
Aarom Baldiris, hitting .342 the past two weeks, had a two-run single in the fourth.
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 3
Yoshihisa Naruse (10-8) scattered six hits and fanned six as host Lotte sent Nippon Ham to its sixth loss in seven games.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 3, SWALLOWS 2
Pinch-runner Naoki Nakahigashi raced all the way around from second on Lim Chang Yang’s wild pitch in the 10th inning as Hiroshima topped first-place Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
GIANTS 3, BAYSTARS 0
Tetsuya Utsumi (13-4) worked 7.2 scoreless innings and Shinnosuke Abe's RBI single capped a three-run rally in the first as Yomiuri won in Fukui.
TIGERS 6, DRAGONS 3
Minoru Iwata (7-10) held Chunichi to a run over six innings and six Hanshin players each drove in a run in a win at Nagoya Dome.
Iwakuma, Eagles top Lions
Hisashi Iwakuma and the Rakuten Eagles are on the rise, and the when their top pitchers are on the mound, the sky is the limit.
Iwakuma (6-3) worked eight innings of one-run ball, and Yosuke Takasu and Kensuke Uchimura each knocked in a run as the Pacific League’s third-place Eagles beat the Seibu Lions 2-1 for their eighth win in nine games.
Darrell Rasner fanned two in the ninth to nail it down for the Eagles after Iwakuma scattered seven hits and two walks with two Ks.
Seibu’s Kazuhisa Ishii (5-7) was making his first start since June 26 and allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits, a walk and a hit batter with five Ks to take the loss.
Hiroyuki Nakajima’s second hit of the game was an RBI single in the eighth for Seibu's only run.
BUFFALOES 4, HAWKS 1
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada ripped his 11th and 12th longballs, and Chihiro Kaneko (7-3) tossed seven innings of one-run ball as Orix topped SoftBank at FYD Dome.
Aarom Baldiris, hitting .342 the past two weeks, had a two-run single in the fourth.
MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 3
Yoshihisa Naruse (10-8) scattered six hits and fanned six as host Lotte sent Nippon Ham to its sixth loss in seven games.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
CARP 3, SWALLOWS 2
Pinch-runner Naoki Nakahigashi raced all the way around from second on Lim Chang Yang’s wild pitch in the 10th inning as Hiroshima topped first-place Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
GIANTS 3, BAYSTARS 0
Tetsuya Utsumi (13-4) worked 7.2 scoreless innings and Shinnosuke Abe's RBI single capped a three-run rally in the first as Yomiuri won in Fukui.
TIGERS 6, DRAGONS 3
Minoru Iwata (7-10) held Chunichi to a run over six innings and six Hanshin players each drove in a run in a win at Nagoya Dome.