Royal treatment …
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Some rights reserved.
Even the Nippon Ham Fighters themselves are treating hype-heavy rookie Yuki Saito like royalty -- making the beginning of his career anything but common.
Saito overcame a wobbly start to complete six innings, and Eiichi Koyano cracked a tiebreaking solo shot in the fifth inning as Nippon Ham topped host Rakuten 5-3 in Kobe.
Saito, the team’s top pick in last year’s draft and a media darling with the nickname “Handkerchief Prince,” got tagged for a pair of solo homers early, but held the Eagles to three runs on eight hits and a walk, while fanning three.
“My pitches weren’t all that great, and the ones that were hit hard weren’t located well. But just like last time, the guys behind me helped out by playing well in the field and I let the bullpen take care of the rest,” Saito said.
“I got lucky. I gave up a lot of hits, but in the end the result was good.”
Three relievers each tossed an inning to close it out, giving the righty his second win in as many outings.
Yuji Iiyama and Yang Zhong-sho each had a pair of RBI singles, and Hisashi Takeda nailed down his fourth save with a perfect ninth for the Fighters, who won the three-game set.
Rakuten veteran Takeshi Yamasaki, 42, went 3-for-3 with a homer and has hit safely in all 12 games.
BUFFALOES 5, LIONS 3
Yuki Nishi tossed seven innings of one-hit ball, and Hirotoshi Kitagawa’s sacrifice bunt scored Mitsutaka Goto from second base on a quirky play that led to a four-run sixth inning as Orix topped visiting Seibu.
Nishi (2-0) walked one, hit two batters and fanned a half-dozen, and benefitted when Seibu catcher Ginjiro Sumitani and hurler Masamitsu Hirano (0-1) failed to cover home plate on Kitagawa’s bunt, allowing a heads-up Goto to race around and score from second.
HAWKS 5, MARINES 3
Hiroko Kokubo’s 350th career double in the first inning put SoftBank on top, and the Hawks edged Lotte at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BAYSTARS 3, TIGERS 1
Newcomer Shogo Yamamoto (1-1 ) tossed seven-plus innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks to help Yokohama snap a five-game skid by beating Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.
Another new face, fifth-year infielder Naoto Watanabe, slugged a solo homer in the third inning -- the fourth of his career and first since Aug. 28, 2009 -- to pad Yokohama’s lead in the team’s first win since April 15. Yamamoto pitched for 10 seasons in the PL with Kintestu and Orix, while Watanabe was with Rakuten his first four years.
SWALLOWS 8, CARP 3
Red-hot Kazuhiro Hatakeyama blasted a two-run shot to give Yakult a one-run lead in the seventh, and the Swallows scored a pair of runs in each of the final two frames to win going away at the Zoom and take over first in the CL.
Hatakeyama leads to team with five longballs and 11 RBIs in 10 games.