Maeda outlasts Shiomi in pitching duel in Sendai
The Hiroshima Carp nearly let one get away on Saturday at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroshima ace Kenta Maeda had just a little more than Rakuten’s Takayuki Shiomi (5-5), and the Carp survived their own bullpen and the Eagles to win 4-3 in interleague action.
Soichiro Amaya and Eishin Soyogi smacked back-to-back doubles in the eighth to break a scoreless tie, and Akihiro Higashide added an RBI single off reliever Shinichiro Koyama as the Carp put it together late.
Shiomi, a second-year lefty, had cruised through the first seven innings, but couldn’t get out of the eighth. Maeda, meanwhile, worked out of a second-and-third, two-out jam in the bottom of the eighth and sweated out a nervous ninth.
The Eagles rallied for three runs off “new closer" Kam Mickolio, but came up short. Takeru Imamura came on for Mickolio to get the final out, using three pitches to fan Toshihito Abe for his first save since last Oct. 23.
The Eagles, who seemed glad that even a tired Maeda was off the mound, lost their third straight.
MARINES 9, DRAGONS 0
Yoshihisa Naruse (6-2) blanked Chunichi on three hits to win his fifth straight start, and Tadahito Iguchi had three hits, including a solo shot, as Lotte cruised at The Q.
Tomoya Satozaki homered and doubled to drive in two, and Katsuya Kakunaka added a sac fly and an RBI double to back Naruse, who fanned six and walked three and hasn’t lost since Seibu beat him on April 20.
LIONS 7, BAYSTARS 4
Designated hitter Tatsuyuki Uemoto’s first longball of the season broke a 2-2 tie and sparked a four-run outburst in the fifth as Seibu rallied from two runs down and then held off Yokohama at Seibu Dome.
Takeya Nakamura also cracked his seventh longball [45th in interleague play] of the season, a three-run shot that highlighted the fifth and helped give Fumiya Nishiguchi (3-1) the win in a matchup of each league’s last-place team. Esteban German had three hits for the Lions.
Yokohama’s Alex Ramirez hit his 43rd interleague homer.
BUFFALOES 7, GIANTS 2
Hayato Terahara (2-3) recovered after a wobbly start to go seven strong innings, and first-year South Korean import Lee Dae Ho had his first four-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lift Orix past visiting Yomiuri.
SWALLOWS 7, HAWKS 2
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s bases-loaded go-ahead single sparked a six-run explosion, and Masanori Ishikawa (4-5) mixed five strikeouts between three hits and three walks over the distance as Yakult won at FYJ Dome.
The Hawks, who argued after a bunt by Lastings Milledge drew an errant throw from loser Tadashi Settsu (5-2) to start the winning rally, have lost five straight [a club-record skid in interleague play]. They have lost five straight and haven't gone deep in 10 games, their worst powerless stretch since 1978.
FIGHTERS 2, TIGERS 1, 10 INNINGS
Kensuke Tanaka’s bases-loaded single off Kyuji Fujikawa (1-1) gave Nippon Ham a walk-off win over Hanshin at Sapporo Dome.
Pinch-hitter Micah Hoffpauir’s one-out double kicked off the rally. Tanaka has hit in 10 straight.
*Interleague count
PL 37, CL 33, 7 TIES
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Maeda outlasts Shiomi in pitching duel in Sendai
The Hiroshima Carp nearly let one get away on Saturday at The Kleenex Box.
Hiroshima ace Kenta Maeda had just a little more than Rakuten’s Takayuki Shiomi (5-5), and the Carp survived their own bullpen and the Eagles to win 4-3 in interleague action.
Soichiro Amaya and Eishin Soyogi smacked back-to-back doubles in the eighth to break a scoreless tie, and Akihiro Higashide added an RBI single off reliever Shinichiro Koyama as the Carp put it together late.
Shiomi, a second-year lefty, had cruised through the first seven innings, but couldn’t get out of the eighth. Maeda, meanwhile, worked out of a second-and-third, two-out jam in the bottom of the eighth and sweated out a nervous ninth.
The Eagles rallied for three runs off “new closer" Kam Mickolio, but came up short. Takeru Imamura came on for Mickolio to get the final out, using three pitches to fan Toshihito Abe for his first save since last Oct. 23.
The Eagles, who seemed glad that even a tired Maeda was off the mound, lost their third straight.
MARINES 9, DRAGONS 0
Yoshihisa Naruse (6-2) blanked Chunichi on three hits to win his fifth straight start, and Tadahito Iguchi had three hits, including a solo shot, as Lotte cruised at The Q.
Tomoya Satozaki homered and doubled to drive in two, and Katsuya Kakunaka added a sac fly and an RBI double to back Naruse, who fanned six and walked three and hasn’t lost since Seibu beat him on April 20.
LIONS 7, BAYSTARS 4
Designated hitter Tatsuyuki Uemoto’s first longball of the season broke a 2-2 tie and sparked a four-run outburst in the fifth as Seibu rallied from two runs down and then held off Yokohama at Seibu Dome.
Takeya Nakamura also cracked his seventh longball [45th in interleague play] of the season, a three-run shot that highlighted the fifth and helped give Fumiya Nishiguchi (3-1) the win in a matchup of each league’s last-place team. Esteban German had three hits for the Lions.
Yokohama’s Alex Ramirez hit his 43rd interleague homer.
BUFFALOES 7, GIANTS 2
Hayato Terahara (2-3) recovered after a wobbly start to go seven strong innings, and first-year South Korean import Lee Dae Ho had his first four-hit game, going 4-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lift Orix past visiting Yomiuri.
SWALLOWS 7, HAWKS 2
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama’s bases-loaded go-ahead single sparked a six-run explosion, and Masanori Ishikawa (4-5) mixed five strikeouts between three hits and three walks over the distance as Yakult won at FYJ Dome.
The Hawks, who argued after a bunt by Lastings Milledge drew an errant throw from loser Tadashi Settsu (5-2) to start the winning rally, have lost five straight [a club-record skid in interleague play]. They have lost five straight and haven't gone deep in 10 games, their worst powerless stretch since 1978.
FIGHTERS 2, TIGERS 1, 10 INNINGS
Kensuke Tanaka’s bases-loaded single off Kyuji Fujikawa (1-1) gave Nippon Ham a walk-off win over Hanshin at Sapporo Dome.
Pinch-hitter Micah Hoffpauir’s one-out double kicked off the rally. Tanaka has hit in 10 straight.
*Interleague count
PL 37, CL 33, 7 TIES