Gonzalez bounces back, saves Lions’ 1st victory
A day after a nightmare debut, Seibu closer Enrique Gonzalez rebounded to make the first longball of the season from last year’s Pacific League homer king stand up on Sunday.
Takayuki Kishi fired 7.1 scoreless innings, fanning eight and walking none, and Takeya Nakamura blasted a fifth-inning homer as the Seibu Lions notched their first win of the season, a 1-0 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Sapporo Dome that helped them avoid a sweep.
The best news for the Lions, though, was Gonzalez, whose wild ninth inning the night before led to a sayonara loss. He gave up a single to Terrmel Sledge but fanned Yang Zhong-shou to end the game. Gonzalez had retired just one batter and allowed two runs in the ninth on Saturday.
Kishi, meanwhile, resembled the form that saw him win the Japan Series MVP award in 2008. When asked about the various injuries that have slowed him in recent years, Kishi said, “As you can see, I’m fine.”
MARINES 5, EAGLES 3
Rookie hurler Takahiro Fujioka won his debut, going 7.2 innings and holding Rakuten to two runs as Lotte completed a sweep at The Kleenex Box to take its first three games to open a season for the first time in 55 years.
Fujioka allowed four hits and two walks with six Ks. Tadahito Iguchi had four hits and an RBI, and former Swallow slugger Josh Whitesell had a single and drove in two.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 1
Nagisa Arakaki, who has had numerous injuries that have kept him off the top team for three seasons, just missed a shutout in getting his first victory since Oct. 6, 2008 as SoftBank completed a sweep of Orix at FYJ Dome.
Arakaki, who was a candidate for the opener, yielded a two-out run in the ninth as the Hawks swept their opening series for the first time in three seasons. The righty allowed five hits with no walks and five Ks.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 2
Toshiya Sugiuchi worked around eight hits and six walks, holding Yakult to two runs as Yomiuri got its first win of the season by topping Yakult at Tokyo Dome.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi bailed Sugiuchi out of trouble in the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth before Kentaro Nishimura closed it out with a perfect ninth.
BAYSTARS 6, TIGERS 2
Daisuke Miura went seven strong innings to lead Yokohama DeNA past Hanshin at Kyocera Dome Osaka for new skipper Kiyoshi Nakahata’s first managerial victory.
CARP 2, DRAGONS 2
Jun Hirose singled home a two-out run in the eighth inning off last year’s CL MVP Takuya Asao of Chunichi, and Hiroshima closer Dennis Sarfate fired two scoreless frames in a 10-inning game at Nagoya Dome limited by the 3.5-hour rule.
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Gonzalez bounces back, saves Lions’ 1st victory
A day after a nightmare debut, Seibu closer Enrique Gonzalez rebounded to make the first longball of the season from last year’s Pacific League homer king stand up on Sunday.
Takayuki Kishi fired 7.1 scoreless innings, fanning eight and walking none, and Takeya Nakamura blasted a fifth-inning homer as the Seibu Lions notched their first win of the season, a 1-0 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Sapporo Dome that helped them avoid a sweep.
The best news for the Lions, though, was Gonzalez, whose wild ninth inning the night before led to a sayonara loss. He gave up a single to Terrmel Sledge but fanned Yang Zhong-shou to end the game. Gonzalez had retired just one batter and allowed two runs in the ninth on Saturday.
Kishi, meanwhile, resembled the form that saw him win the Japan Series MVP award in 2008. When asked about the various injuries that have slowed him in recent years, Kishi said, “As you can see, I’m fine.”
MARINES 5, EAGLES 3
Rookie hurler Takahiro Fujioka won his debut, going 7.2 innings and holding Rakuten to two runs as Lotte completed a sweep at The Kleenex Box to take its first three games to open a season for the first time in 55 years.
Fujioka allowed four hits and two walks with six Ks. Tadahito Iguchi had four hits and an RBI, and former Swallow slugger Josh Whitesell had a single and drove in two.
HAWKS 5, BUFFALOES 1
Nagisa Arakaki, who has had numerous injuries that have kept him off the top team for three seasons, just missed a shutout in getting his first victory since Oct. 6, 2008 as SoftBank completed a sweep of Orix at FYJ Dome.
Arakaki, who was a candidate for the opener, yielded a two-out run in the ninth as the Hawks swept their opening series for the first time in three seasons. The righty allowed five hits with no walks and five Ks.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 4, SWALLOWS 2
Toshiya Sugiuchi worked around eight hits and six walks, holding Yakult to two runs as Yomiuri got its first win of the season by topping Yakult at Tokyo Dome.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi bailed Sugiuchi out of trouble in the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth before Kentaro Nishimura closed it out with a perfect ninth.
BAYSTARS 6, TIGERS 2
Daisuke Miura went seven strong innings to lead Yokohama DeNA past Hanshin at Kyocera Dome Osaka for new skipper Kiyoshi Nakahata’s first managerial victory.
CARP 2, DRAGONS 2
Jun Hirose singled home a two-out run in the eighth inning off last year’s CL MVP Takuya Asao of Chunichi, and Hiroshima closer Dennis Sarfate fired two scoreless frames in a 10-inning game at Nagoya Dome limited by the 3.5-hour rule.