Marines pull to within 1 game of interleague leaders
The Yomiuri Giants have made a strong bid to become the first Central League team to win the interleague title. But the final struggle looks like it’ll be the toughest.
Yoshihisa Naruse made a bid for a second straight shutout and had to settle for his sixth straight win [and second consecutive complete game] after handcuffing the Giants in a 2-1 win on Sunday at Tokyo Dome.
Naruse, who moved into the Pacific League lead in wins with seven, extended his personal winning streak against the Giants to four. But more importantly, the win pulled within a game of the interleague-leading Giants with five games remaining on the schedule.
Shoitsu Omatsu’s two-run homer in the second was all the scoring Naruse needed.
After Monday’s matchup with the Giants, Lotte plays host to Hiroshima and Hanshin to end interleague.
HAWKS 2, TIGERS 1
Wily Mo Pena and Toru Hosokawa drove in runs to back Shota Oba, who went six innings [not allowing a hit until the fifth] as SoftBank edged Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Oba (1-0) allowed just one hit and walked three, while fanning nine to earn his first win since Sept. 10.
LIONS 4, SWALLOWS 2
Takeya Nakamura had an RBI double in a two-run eighth and cranked his 11th homer in interleague play, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, to help lift Seibu past Yakult at soggy Koshien Stadium.
Esteban German’s sac fly in the eighth had given the Lions the lead, but Jun Matsui [who also homered] tied it with a two-out double in the ninth. Nakamura’s homer was his interleague-best 50th.
CARP 5, BUFFALOES 2
Shota Dobayashi had a pair of two-run singles for his first career four-RBI game, and Bryan Bullington (3-6) fanned 10 and walked one over seven innings to win his first game since May 2 [vs. the Giants] as Hiroshima topped Orix at The Zoom.
Tomonori Maeda’s pinch-hit single in the seventh gave the Carp the lead.
BAYSTARS 6, EAGLES 2
Kazunari Tsuruoka’s two-run triple highlighted a five-run eighth inning as host Yokohama rallied late to top Rakuten.
Kazuya Fujita had two hits and two RBIs for the Baystars, who stopped a three-game slide.
FIGHTERS 1, DRAGONS 1
Hirokazu Ibata’s bases-loaded RBI groundout in the ninth got Chunichi even with Nippon Ham as closer Hisashi Takeda blew starter Masaru Takeda’s lead in a time-limit draw at Nagoya Dome.
*Interleague count
PL 54, CL 48, 9 TIES
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The Yomiuri Giants have made a strong bid to become the first Central League team to win the interleague title. But the final struggle looks like it’ll be the toughest.
Yoshihisa Naruse made a bid for a second straight shutout and had to settle for his sixth straight win [and second consecutive complete game] after handcuffing the Giants in a 2-1 win on Sunday at Tokyo Dome.
Naruse, who moved into the Pacific League lead in wins with seven, extended his personal winning streak against the Giants to four. But more importantly, the win pulled within a game of the interleague-leading Giants with five games remaining on the schedule.
Shoitsu Omatsu’s two-run homer in the second was all the scoring Naruse needed.
After Monday’s matchup with the Giants, Lotte plays host to Hiroshima and Hanshin to end interleague.
HAWKS 2, TIGERS 1
Wily Mo Pena and Toru Hosokawa drove in runs to back Shota Oba, who went six innings [not allowing a hit until the fifth] as SoftBank edged Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Oba (1-0) allowed just one hit and walked three, while fanning nine to earn his first win since Sept. 10.
LIONS 4, SWALLOWS 2
Takeya Nakamura had an RBI double in a two-run eighth and cranked his 11th homer in interleague play, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, to help lift Seibu past Yakult at soggy Koshien Stadium.
Esteban German’s sac fly in the eighth had given the Lions the lead, but Jun Matsui [who also homered] tied it with a two-out double in the ninth. Nakamura’s homer was his interleague-best 50th.
CARP 5, BUFFALOES 2
Shota Dobayashi had a pair of two-run singles for his first career four-RBI game, and Bryan Bullington (3-6) fanned 10 and walked one over seven innings to win his first game since May 2 [vs. the Giants] as Hiroshima topped Orix at The Zoom.
Tomonori Maeda’s pinch-hit single in the seventh gave the Carp the lead.
BAYSTARS 6, EAGLES 2
Kazunari Tsuruoka’s two-run triple highlighted a five-run eighth inning as host Yokohama rallied late to top Rakuten.
Kazuya Fujita had two hits and two RBIs for the Baystars, who stopped a three-game slide.
FIGHTERS 1, DRAGONS 1
Hirokazu Ibata’s bases-loaded RBI groundout in the ninth got Chunichi even with Nippon Ham as closer Hisashi Takeda blew starter Masaru Takeda’s lead in a time-limit draw at Nagoya Dome.
*Interleague count
PL 54, CL 48, 9 TIES