Roman fires 2nd straight shutout as Birds blank ’Stars
The Yakult Swallows have a lot of reasons they could be pouting and scuffling. Instead, they’re finding ways to win.
Orlando Roman tossed a second straight shutout -- his third straight gem -- as the Swallows blanked the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 1-0 on Thursday at Jingu Stadium.
Roman (7-7) -- who blanked Hanshin on Aug. 2 on four hits and beat Chunichi 9-2 a week before that -- surrendered seven hits and walked three, stepping up his game amid a myriad of injuries. He fanned seven to shut down the Yokohama lineup on a season-high 136 pitches and win his team-high seventh game.
“I just followed my catcher and tried to throw my pitches down in the zone,” Roman said in the hero interview. “I’m trying to get more outs on less pitches, that’s what I’m doing,” said 34-year-old first-year import, who has thrown 380 over his past three starts.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama knocked in the game’s only run with a first-inning single off Kentaro Takasaki (5-8), who pitched well enough to win his third straight start.
The fourth-place Swallows moved a half-game back of Hiroshima with the win.
GIANTS 4, TIGERS 1
Shinnosuke Abe launched a three-run blast after Yomiuri had struggled all night against Jason Standridge (5-8), to cap a Yomiuri rally in the eighth as the CL front-runners came back to win at Tokyo Dome.
It was Abe’s first homer since June 29 and helped rookie reliever Seiji Tahara (1-0) earn his first pro win after the righty worked a scoreless eighth. The Giants have won 24 straight games in which Abe has homered at Tokyo Dome.
DRAGONS 2, CARP 0
Enyelbert Soto (1-0) worked five-plus scoreless frames and “Mr. Zero” Jorge Sosa and Daisuke Yamai [notching his fourth save] protected a slim lead as Chunichi completed a three-game sweep of visiting Hiroshima to win its fifth straight.
Kazuhiro Wada and Masahiko Morino each knocked in runs to back Soto, who won his first game this season.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, LIONS 4
Katsuya Kakunaka put Lotte ahead with a two-run single in a five-run third, and Saburo Omura and Kazuya Fukuura also knocked in runs in a comeback win over Seibu at The Q.
Jose Ortiz had three hits, including his first homer in Japan since Aug. 14 last year, for Seibu.
EAGLES 7, BUFFALOES 4
Yoshinao Kamata (4-1) went 6.1 innings for his first win since June 17, and Motohiro Shima led a 14-hit attack with three hits as Rakuten downed Orix for a second straight win at The Kleenex Box.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 10, 2012 10:36 PM]
The Yakult Swallows have a lot of reasons they could be pouting and scuffling. Instead, they’re finding ways to win.
Orlando Roman tossed a second straight shutout -- his third straight gem -- as the Swallows blanked the Yokohama DeNA BayStars 1-0 on Thursday at Jingu Stadium.
Roman (7-7) -- who blanked Hanshin on Aug. 2 on four hits and beat Chunichi 9-2 a week before that -- surrendered seven hits and walked three, stepping up his game amid a myriad of injuries. He fanned seven to shut down the Yokohama lineup on a season-high 136 pitches and win his team-high seventh game.
“I just followed my catcher and tried to throw my pitches down in the zone,” Roman said in the hero interview. “I’m trying to get more outs on less pitches, that’s what I’m doing,” said 34-year-old first-year import, who has thrown 380 over his past three starts.
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama knocked in the game’s only run with a first-inning single off Kentaro Takasaki (5-8), who pitched well enough to win his third straight start.
The fourth-place Swallows moved a half-game back of Hiroshima with the win.
GIANTS 4, TIGERS 1
Shinnosuke Abe launched a three-run blast after Yomiuri had struggled all night against Jason Standridge (5-8), to cap a Yomiuri rally in the eighth as the CL front-runners came back to win at Tokyo Dome.
It was Abe’s first homer since June 29 and helped rookie reliever Seiji Tahara (1-0) earn his first pro win after the righty worked a scoreless eighth. The Giants have won 24 straight games in which Abe has homered at Tokyo Dome.
DRAGONS 2, CARP 0
Enyelbert Soto (1-0) worked five-plus scoreless frames and “Mr. Zero” Jorge Sosa and Daisuke Yamai [notching his fourth save] protected a slim lead as Chunichi completed a three-game sweep of visiting Hiroshima to win its fifth straight.
Kazuhiro Wada and Masahiko Morino each knocked in runs to back Soto, who won his first game this season.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 5, LIONS 4
Katsuya Kakunaka put Lotte ahead with a two-run single in a five-run third, and Saburo Omura and Kazuya Fukuura also knocked in runs in a comeback win over Seibu at The Q.
Jose Ortiz had three hits, including his first homer in Japan since Aug. 14 last year, for Seibu.
EAGLES 7, BUFFALOES 4
Yoshinao Kamata (4-1) went 6.1 innings for his first win since June 17, and Motohiro Shima led a 14-hit attack with three hits as Rakuten downed Orix for a second straight win at The Kleenex Box.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 10, 2012 10:36 PM]