Fiery battle …

Dragons blast Utsumi, take weekend series vs. Giants

[Hotel Internet wasn't accessible last night -- one day late.]

The Chunichi Dragons aren’t likely to win their second straight Central League title, but they held their fiercest rival to the flame in this weekend series.

Masahiko Morino had a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Motonobu Tanishige drove in three with a pair of hits as the Dragons took their three-game series at The Big Egg with an 8-3 win on Monday.

Tanishige, who sat out the middle contest, went 4-for-9 in two games with two homers and five RBI in the series.

The Dragons scored two in the first inning, Tanishige capping that brief rally with a clutch RBI single to left. The veteran knocked home two in the fifth with a solid double down the line in left to give the Dragons a 7-2 lead.

Hirokazu Ibata doubled twice, and Masahiro Araki had a single and a double for the Dragons, who had 12 hits and KO’d CL wins leader Tetsuya Utsumi (14-5) by scoring six runs -- three earned -- off the lefty in 4.1 innings.

Chen Wei-yin (7-7) went seven strong innings, holding Yomiuri to two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and a walk with six Ks.

SWALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 1

Norichika Aoki had two hits, including his third homer, and front-running Yakult outlasted stubborn Yokohama thanks to go-ahead balk in the sixth inning at at Jingu Stadium.

Hiroyuki Fukuyama stopped his motion with Kazuhiro Hatakeyama at third to put Yakult ahead. Ryoji Aikawa blasted his first homer of the season in the seventh to pad the lead and Lim Chang Yang closed it out in the ninth for his 27th save.


CARP 12, TIGERS 4

Brian Barden’s bases-loaded pinch-hit two-run single in a five-run third gave Hiroshima the lead after an early 4-0 deficit, and Ryuhei Matsuyama and Shogo Kimura each had four hits as the Carp bashed their way past Hanshin at The Zoom.

Hiroshima’s 21 hits were the highest in a CL game this season and it was the second straight year the team won on skipper Kenjiro Nomura’s birthday. The 45-year-old took over the team in 2010.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

LIONS 7, FIGHTERS 5

Hiroyuki Nakajima put Seibu ahead with a three-run blast, and Takeya Nakamura banged his Japan-leading 41st homer, the 200th off his nine-plus-year career, as red-hot Seibu topped fading Nippon Ham at Seibu Dome.

The Lions won their fifth straight -- their longest winning streak of the season -- and moved into fourth place with the victory.

The Eagles and Marines, and the Hawks and Buffaloes were rained out.