Off the hook ...

Fish find themselves above water -- for a while

The Hiroshima Carp have been drowning near the bottom of the Central League for so long, being in first place must felt like being out of water for these fish. But they only spent half a day there.
Yoshihiro Maru cracked his first pro homer, a three-run shot that put the Carp on top, and Kenta Maeda and two relievers helped Hiroshima hold off the Yokohama BayStars 5-3 on Tuesday at Yokohoma Stadium.
The win over the now-.500 BayStars put the Carp alone atop the CL for first time since April 4, 2005 -- 2,206 days ago. But the second-place Hanshin Tigers ruined the standings in Wednesday’s paper, when they rallied to beat the Yomiuri Giants in a game that finished shortly after 10 p.m.
"My body just reacted [to the pitch]," said Maru, in his fourth year as a pro, after taking Tomokazu Oka deep with two on in the top of the fourth inning.
“I got it -- my first home run,” said the outfielder, who batted seventh.
The blast came right after Shingo Takeyama's solo blast had given Yokohama a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Kenta Kurihara put the Carp on the board with a two-run double and Takahiro Iwamoto singled to set the table.
Oka (0-1) took a second straight beating. He got touched up for five runs on eight hits and a walk before getting the hook after four innings. Oka was knocked around for five runs on six hits and two walks in just two innings in his first start last week, and has an ERA of 15.00.
Hiroshima starter Kenta Maeda (1-1), the reigning Sawamura Award winner, wasn't sharp, but danced through trouble long enough to go seven innings. He surrendered six hits and a walk, while fanning five for the win.

TIGERS 3, GIANTS 2
Ryota Arai knocked an opposite-field bases-loaded single in the 10th inning after older brother Takahiro’s infield hit kept the game going as Hanshin outlasted Yomiuri and stole a victory just before the 3.5-hour rule ended the game.
The Tigers rallied off new closer Tetsuya Yamaguchi (0-1), who is 2-for-3 in save opportunities.
Hanshin starter Atsushi Nomi at one point fanned seven straight to tie the club record held by three others.

SWALLOWS 4, DRAGONS 2
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama slugged his third homer in two games, and Tokyo Yakult ace Masanori Ishikawa (1-1) won his eighth straight game at Jingu by holding Chunichi to two runs on five hits and four walks over six innings.
Hatakeyama has three longballs in 11 at-bats.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

MARINES 2, LIONS 0
Yoshihisa Naruse (1-1) fired a 137-pitch four-hitter for his eighth career shutout as Chiba Lotte blanked Saitama Seibu at The Q.
Tadahito Iguchi had two hits and an RBI, and Takashi Ogino had three hits and drove in Chiba’s other run in the seventh. Iguchi has hit in all seven games.

EAGLES 2, HAWKS 1
Kazuo Matsui slapped an RBI double in the ninth inning off SoftBank closer Takahiro Mahara (0-1) and Rakuten wrestled a close game away from SoftBank in 10 innings at Y!J. Dome.
Hisashi Iwakuma (2-0) allowed one run over nine innings, fanning 10 and scattering five hits with no walks to win it.

FIGHTERS 8, BUFFALOES 2
Yoshio Itoi homered in drove in three, and Atsunori Inaba had a first-inning hit for his 3,000th total base to lead Nippon Ham past host Orix.
Yu Darvish (1-1) held Orix to a run over eight innings for his first win.


[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 19, 2011 11:36 PM]

[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 19, 2011 11:42 PM]

[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 20, 2011 1:25 PM]