Little brother Yang’s Fighters upstage big brother's Hawks
One parent wore the jersey of the visiting SoftBank Hawks, and the other wore the jersey of the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Nippon Ham just wore out the Hawks, jumping back into sole possession of the Pacific League lead with a 4-2 win over SoftBank at Sapporo Dome on Saturday.
Yang Zhong-shou had a hit and scored one of the two runs off SoftBank’s Yang Yao-shun (2-2), his older brother, as the Fighters used four pitchers to get their second straight victory.
Brian Wolfe (9-9) held the Hawks scoreless over his seven innings, scattering five hits with no walks, and Hisashi Takeda had to come in and get the final two outs and snuff out a two-run SoftBank rally in the ninth for his PL-best 26th save.
Wolfe said he knows the daily musical-chair-like battle for the pennant will come down to the very end.
“It’s good to be there [in first place] right now,” he said in the hero interview. “We’ve got one more with SoftBank and we still have six more with the [second-place] Lions, so we kind of control our own destiny in that sense.”
Eiichi Koyano doubled in the first run of the game in the second inning and the elder Yang uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the second run to come across. An error allowed the third run to score and Shota Ono doubled in a run in the sixth for a 4-0 lead.
EAGLES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Luis Garcia’s RBI double in the fifth inning was the difference as Rakuten downed Orix at Kyocera Dome.
Takuro Okajima had three hits and an RBI groundout to back fifth-year righty Yasunori Kikuchi (1-0), who allowed two runs [one earned] over six innings for his second pro win [first since Sept. 23, 2010].
MARINES 5, LIONS 4
Saburo Omura’s two-out, two-run double off the wall in left-center field capped a three-run rally in the seventh as Lotte came back to nip Seibu at The Q.
Takeya Nakamura had two hits, including his league-best 24th longball, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 1, CARP 0
Kenshin Kawakami (2-1) tossed six shutout innings, holding Hiroshima to a hit with no walks and three Ks, for his first win since March 31.
Naomi Donoue’s RBI groundout in the first was the game’s only run. Donoue had two hits, and Daisuke Yamai, the fourth Chunichi pitcher, let the tying run reach third before collecting his 13th save.
TIGERS 2, GIANTS 0
Atsushi Nomi (9-9) continued his hot stretch, tossing at least eight scoreless innings for the third straight start, and Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each homered as visiting Hanshin blanked title-seeking Yomiuri to keep its magic number at six.
It was Toritani's career 100th homer for Hanshin, which stopped a 10-game losing streak at Tokyo Dome.
SWALLOWS 6, BAYSTARS 3
Ryosuke Morioka broke a 3-3 tie with an RBI triple in the eighth, and pinch-hitter Genki Nitta later added a two-run single as Yakult got past Yokohama at Jingu Stadium to take over sole possession of third place.
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Little brother Yang’s Fighters upstage big brother's Hawks
One parent wore the jersey of the visiting SoftBank Hawks, and the other wore the jersey of the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Nippon Ham just wore out the Hawks, jumping back into sole possession of the Pacific League lead with a 4-2 win over SoftBank at Sapporo Dome on Saturday.
Yang Zhong-shou had a hit and scored one of the two runs off SoftBank’s Yang Yao-shun (2-2), his older brother, as the Fighters used four pitchers to get their second straight victory.
Brian Wolfe (9-9) held the Hawks scoreless over his seven innings, scattering five hits with no walks, and Hisashi Takeda had to come in and get the final two outs and snuff out a two-run SoftBank rally in the ninth for his PL-best 26th save.
Wolfe said he knows the daily musical-chair-like battle for the pennant will come down to the very end.
“It’s good to be there [in first place] right now,” he said in the hero interview. “We’ve got one more with SoftBank and we still have six more with the [second-place] Lions, so we kind of control our own destiny in that sense.”
Eiichi Koyano doubled in the first run of the game in the second inning and the elder Yang uncorked a wild pitch that allowed the second run to come across. An error allowed the third run to score and Shota Ono doubled in a run in the sixth for a 4-0 lead.
EAGLES 3, BUFFALOES 2
Luis Garcia’s RBI double in the fifth inning was the difference as Rakuten downed Orix at Kyocera Dome.
Takuro Okajima had three hits and an RBI groundout to back fifth-year righty Yasunori Kikuchi (1-0), who allowed two runs [one earned] over six innings for his second pro win [first since Sept. 23, 2010].
MARINES 5, LIONS 4
Saburo Omura’s two-out, two-run double off the wall in left-center field capped a three-run rally in the seventh as Lotte came back to nip Seibu at The Q.
Takeya Nakamura had two hits, including his league-best 24th longball, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 1, CARP 0
Kenshin Kawakami (2-1) tossed six shutout innings, holding Hiroshima to a hit with no walks and three Ks, for his first win since March 31.
Naomi Donoue’s RBI groundout in the first was the game’s only run. Donoue had two hits, and Daisuke Yamai, the fourth Chunichi pitcher, let the tying run reach third before collecting his 13th save.
TIGERS 2, GIANTS 0
Atsushi Nomi (9-9) continued his hot stretch, tossing at least eight scoreless innings for the third straight start, and Takashi Toritani and Takahiro Arai each homered as visiting Hanshin blanked title-seeking Yomiuri to keep its magic number at six.
It was Toritani's career 100th homer for Hanshin, which stopped a 10-game losing streak at Tokyo Dome.
SWALLOWS 6, BAYSTARS 3
Ryosuke Morioka broke a 3-3 tie with an RBI triple in the eighth, and pinch-hitter Genki Nitta later added a two-run single as Yakult got past Yokohama at Jingu Stadium to take over sole possession of third place.