Roman shuts down Tigers as Swallows get 2nd win since All-Star break
Injuries have made the Yakult Swallows look like they’re trying to fly with one wing.
But first-year import Orlando Roman (6-7) helped them straighten up and fly right -- at least for a night -- as he fired his first shutout and beat the Hanshin Tigers 5-0 on Thursday night at Koshien Stadium.
Roman followed up his first complete game last week with a four-hitter, walking one and fanning seven to help the Swallows to just their second victory since the All-Star break.
He was the first foreign hurler to pitch a shutout for the Swallows since Seth Greisinger did it in 2007, and the first to go the distance in consecutive games since Terry Bross.
Lastings Milledge had three hits and an RBI, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama and Ryosuke Morioka each knocked in a run in the first inning as Yakult improved to just 2-4-2 since the July 25.
DRAGONS 3, GIANTS 2
Tetsuya Yamaguchi (0-1) plunked pinch-hitter Shigeo Yanagida with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth after Masahiko Morino doubled [just past the glove of a charging Yoshinobu] tied the score, helping Chunichi shock Yomiuri with two runs in the ninth for a win at Tokyo Dome.
Starter Toshiya Sugiuchi came out after a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt in the ninth, but Yamaguchi allowed a single and double and a hit batter to take the loss. Daisuke Yamai came on for a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his fourth career save, first since Sept.13, 2009.
On the day Hideki Matsui was released, a player named Yusuke Matsui homered -- his first in three years as a pro -- for Chunichi, which moved to within 3.5 games of front-running Yomiuri.
BAYSTARS 5, CARP 2
Kentaro Takasaki (5-5) won his second straight start, and Tatsuhiko Kinjo singled with the bases loaded in the seventh to give Yokohama the lead, and followed that with an RBI double in the eighth as Yokohama rolled past Hiroshima.
The game came to a standstill for nearly 20 minutes in the ninth inning when Yokohama closer Shun Yamaguchi hit pinch-hitter Tsubasa Aizawa in the head with a pitch. Aizawa was taken off the field by ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth but was alert.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 12, F IGHTERS 2
Josh Whitesell blasted a fifth-inning grand slam after rookie Daichi Suzuki tied the score with an RBI single as Lotte blew out visiting Nippon Ham.
Suzuki added a two-run single in a six-run eighth that backed Shingo Ono (2-1), who tossed eight innings of two-run ball as the Marines brought the gap between them and the Fighters to .5 games.
BUFFALOES 1, LIONS 1, 11 INNINGS
Bobby Scales drove in Orix’s only run with an RBI single to right in the eighth, but Hiroyuki Nakajima matched it with a solo blast [his 11th] in the bottom of the ninth as Seibu earned a tie at Maebashi.
Kei Igawa, who threw a shutout his last time out, went seven scoreless innings for Orix, while Kazuhisa Makita allowed a run over eight frames for Seibu.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 3, 2012 6:29 PM]
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 4, 2012 9:19 AM]
Injuries have made the Yakult Swallows look like they’re trying to fly with one wing.
But first-year import Orlando Roman (6-7) helped them straighten up and fly right -- at least for a night -- as he fired his first shutout and beat the Hanshin Tigers 5-0 on Thursday night at Koshien Stadium.
Roman followed up his first complete game last week with a four-hitter, walking one and fanning seven to help the Swallows to just their second victory since the All-Star break.
He was the first foreign hurler to pitch a shutout for the Swallows since Seth Greisinger did it in 2007, and the first to go the distance in consecutive games since Terry Bross.
Lastings Milledge had three hits and an RBI, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama and Ryosuke Morioka each knocked in a run in the first inning as Yakult improved to just 2-4-2 since the July 25.
DRAGONS 3, GIANTS 2
Tetsuya Yamaguchi (0-1) plunked pinch-hitter Shigeo Yanagida with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth after Masahiko Morino doubled [just past the glove of a charging Yoshinobu] tied the score, helping Chunichi shock Yomiuri with two runs in the ninth for a win at Tokyo Dome.
Starter Toshiya Sugiuchi came out after a leadoff single and a sacrifice bunt in the ninth, but Yamaguchi allowed a single and double and a hit batter to take the loss. Daisuke Yamai came on for a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his fourth career save, first since Sept.13, 2009.
On the day Hideki Matsui was released, a player named Yusuke Matsui homered -- his first in three years as a pro -- for Chunichi, which moved to within 3.5 games of front-running Yomiuri.
BAYSTARS 5, CARP 2
Kentaro Takasaki (5-5) won his second straight start, and Tatsuhiko Kinjo singled with the bases loaded in the seventh to give Yokohama the lead, and followed that with an RBI double in the eighth as Yokohama rolled past Hiroshima.
The game came to a standstill for nearly 20 minutes in the ninth inning when Yokohama closer Shun Yamaguchi hit pinch-hitter Tsubasa Aizawa in the head with a pitch. Aizawa was taken off the field by ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital. He was bleeding from the nose and mouth but was alert.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 12, F IGHTERS 2
Josh Whitesell blasted a fifth-inning grand slam after rookie Daichi Suzuki tied the score with an RBI single as Lotte blew out visiting Nippon Ham.
Suzuki added a two-run single in a six-run eighth that backed Shingo Ono (2-1), who tossed eight innings of two-run ball as the Marines brought the gap between them and the Fighters to .5 games.
BUFFALOES 1, LIONS 1, 11 INNINGS
Bobby Scales drove in Orix’s only run with an RBI single to right in the eighth, but Hiroyuki Nakajima matched it with a solo blast [his 11th] in the bottom of the ninth as Seibu earned a tie at Maebashi.
Kei Igawa, who threw a shutout his last time out, went seven scoreless innings for Orix, while Kazuhisa Makita allowed a run over eight frames for Seibu.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 3, 2012 6:29 PM]
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 4, 2012 9:19 AM]