Armed & hammered ...

Nakata's HR backs Nakamura in pitching duel as Fighters win

The Nippon Ham Fighters have been scuffling recently, hit by injuries and unable to strike with force. They didn't hit the jackpot, but they did enough to knock out the SoftBank Hawks on Sunday at FYJ Dome.

Third-year righty Masaru Nakamura (1-0) provided the arm [earning his first win since Aug. 11, 2010] and Sho Nakata was the hammer, slugging a two-run go-ahead homer in the fourth inning of a 2-1 victory.

The Hawks touched up Nakamura for a run in the first, Wily Mo Pena smacking an RBI single to give them the lead. But then arms took over.

Nakamura went seven innings, surrendering two of his four hits to Pena, while rookie sensation Shota Takeda (4-1) yielded just five hits and two walks with eight Ks over six innings.

Hirotoshi Masui worked a scoreless ninth, and closer Hisahi Takeda put the go-ahead runs on second and third with two outs before nailing down his Pacific League-leading 22nd save.

The Fighters handed Takeda his first pro loss after his fourth quality start over his first seven appearances.

LIONS 2, MARINES 1

Esteban German had a soft cycle [a walk, single, double and triple] and scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch as Seibu edged Lotte.

Micheal Nakamura started and held Lotte to a run over four innings, and Randy Williams (2-2) got the win.

BUFFALOES 0, EAGLES 0, 11 INNINGS

Masahiro Tanaka might have deserved at least a decision after firing 10 scoreless innings [six hits, 11 strikeouts, no walks], but poor offense, rain delays and good pitching by Orix saw a battle at The Kleenex Box end in a scoreless draw.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

GIANTS 2, BAYSTARS 1

Former BayStars slugger Shuichi Murata somehow kept his massive eight-inning drive down the left-field line fair for a solo blast off loser Kishio Kagami (2-3) that lifted Yomiuri past Yokohama at Tokyo Dome.

It was his 11th homer of the season and made a winner out of Tetsuya Yamaguchi (3-2), who blew a 1-0 lead by allowing the tying run in the top of the eighth.

SWALLOWS 1, DRAGONS 0

Kyohei Murata (8-5) blanked Chunichi for the second time in as many starts, this time scattering six hits, as fourth-place Yakult pulled to within a game of third with a win at Jingu Stadium.

Kazuki Fukuchi's walk-off double backed Muranaka, who shut out Chunichi on Aug. 26 at Nagoya Dome.

TIGERS 3, CARP 1, 11 INNINGS

Ryota Arai connected for his first sayonara homer, a two-run shot that topped Hiroshima at Koshien Stadium.