Tigers top ’Stars, distance themselves from cellar
The Yokohama BayStars showed their stripes while the Hanshin Tigers kept theirs in line in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series.
Ryota Arai continued his strong season, driving home the game’s first run with an RBI single in the fourth, and Keiichi Hirano and Takashi Toritani knocked in runs in the eighth inning to pad the lead as Hanshin won 3-1 in Nagano.
The BayStars and Tigers are locked in what could be a rest-of-the-season battle to avoid a finish in the Central League cellar. The Tigers, who stretched their advantage over the BayStars to 4.5 games, played tough while the BayStars played tight.
Daisuke Miura (8-7) pitched well until allowing a triple [mostly because Yoshitomo Tsutsugo looked like a drunk baby giraffe stumbling toward the wall on a fly to deep right] to Hiroki Uemoto, a double to Hirano and a single to Toritani for two runs.
Kyuji Fujikawa wasn’t on his game [allowing three hits and a walk], but got a double play after allowing a run to lock up his 16th save. Yoshitomo Kubo (4-5) won it for the Tigers.
GIANTS 9, DRAGONS 0
Second-year righty Hirokazu Sawamura (9-8) improved his scoreless innings string at Nagoya Dome to 26 with seven shutout frames [since becoming a pro], and Shinnosuke Abe drove in three runs as front-running Yomiuri blanked Chunichi in a CL showdown.
One of Hisayoshi Chono’s three hits was his 13th homer [a solo blast], and Shuichi Murata doubled in a pair to back Sawamura, who scattered seven hits with four Ks and no walks.
SWALLOWS 4, CARP 2
Lastings Milledge slugged his 16th longball, a two-run shot in the third, and Takeru Imamura’s consecutive scoreless innings streak was snapped at 29 as Yakult beat Hiroshima in a third-place showdown at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Jose Fernandez plated Rakuten’s second run with an RBI single in the third and Satoshi Nagai (1-0) notched his first win since July 29 last year with 5.2 sharp innings in a win over Nippon Ham at The Kleenex Box.
Koji Aoyama had a 1-2-3 ninth as the last of four relievers who protected the one-run lead for Nagai, and the Eagles sent the Fighters to their fourth loss in six games.
MARINES 3, HAWKS 1
Seth Greisinger (7-6) tossed four-hit gem for his first win since June 6 [his first complete game since April 24, 2009, with Yakult] as Lotte topped SoftBank at FYJ Dome.
Greisinger fanned five with no walks, and Katsuya Kakunaka connected for his third homer, a two-run shot in the second inning as Lotte won its fifth game of August.
LIONS 3, BUFFALOES 2, 11 INNINGS
Chris Carter hit a solo shot in the second, Takeya Nakamura tied the score in the eighth with a solo blast and an error by Mitsutaka Goto in the 11th allowed Seibu to edge host Orix and move to within 1.5 out of first place.
Hideaki Wakui (1-3) notched his first win since Oct. 10, 2010, with a scoreless 10th, and Randy Williams hit a batter but got the last three outs for his fourth save.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 15, 2012 9:16 PM]
The Yokohama BayStars showed their stripes while the Hanshin Tigers kept theirs in line in Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series.
Ryota Arai continued his strong season, driving home the game’s first run with an RBI single in the fourth, and Keiichi Hirano and Takashi Toritani knocked in runs in the eighth inning to pad the lead as Hanshin won 3-1 in Nagano.
The BayStars and Tigers are locked in what could be a rest-of-the-season battle to avoid a finish in the Central League cellar. The Tigers, who stretched their advantage over the BayStars to 4.5 games, played tough while the BayStars played tight.
Daisuke Miura (8-7) pitched well until allowing a triple [mostly because Yoshitomo Tsutsugo looked like a drunk baby giraffe stumbling toward the wall on a fly to deep right] to Hiroki Uemoto, a double to Hirano and a single to Toritani for two runs.
Kyuji Fujikawa wasn’t on his game [allowing three hits and a walk], but got a double play after allowing a run to lock up his 16th save. Yoshitomo Kubo (4-5) won it for the Tigers.
GIANTS 9, DRAGONS 0
Second-year righty Hirokazu Sawamura (9-8) improved his scoreless innings string at Nagoya Dome to 26 with seven shutout frames [since becoming a pro], and Shinnosuke Abe drove in three runs as front-running Yomiuri blanked Chunichi in a CL showdown.
One of Hisayoshi Chono’s three hits was his 13th homer [a solo blast], and Shuichi Murata doubled in a pair to back Sawamura, who scattered seven hits with four Ks and no walks.
SWALLOWS 4, CARP 2
Lastings Milledge slugged his 16th longball, a two-run shot in the third, and Takeru Imamura’s consecutive scoreless innings streak was snapped at 29 as Yakult beat Hiroshima in a third-place showdown at The Zoom.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 2, FIGHTERS 1
Jose Fernandez plated Rakuten’s second run with an RBI single in the third and Satoshi Nagai (1-0) notched his first win since July 29 last year with 5.2 sharp innings in a win over Nippon Ham at The Kleenex Box.
Koji Aoyama had a 1-2-3 ninth as the last of four relievers who protected the one-run lead for Nagai, and the Eagles sent the Fighters to their fourth loss in six games.
MARINES 3, HAWKS 1
Seth Greisinger (7-6) tossed four-hit gem for his first win since June 6 [his first complete game since April 24, 2009, with Yakult] as Lotte topped SoftBank at FYJ Dome.
Greisinger fanned five with no walks, and Katsuya Kakunaka connected for his third homer, a two-run shot in the second inning as Lotte won its fifth game of August.
LIONS 3, BUFFALOES 2, 11 INNINGS
Chris Carter hit a solo shot in the second, Takeya Nakamura tied the score in the eighth with a solo blast and an error by Mitsutaka Goto in the 11th allowed Seibu to edge host Orix and move to within 1.5 out of first place.
Hideaki Wakui (1-3) notched his first win since Oct. 10, 2010, with a scoreless 10th, and Randy Williams hit a batter but got the last three outs for his fourth save.
[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 15, 2012 9:16 PM]