Relief effort ...

Bullpen scrambles up victory for Eagles

The Eagles hadn’t put up two runs in a game since May 5 and their starter walked gingerly off the mound in the first inning. That might have sparked a relief effort of a different kind, as Shinichiro Koyama led a herd of three relievers with 3.2 scoreless frames in a 5-1 win over the Lotte Marines on Sunday.

The Eagles notched their first RBI hit in 68 innings [67, according to the team] with a first-inning single, but righty Darrell Rasner allowed a run in the bottom of the inning and departed after one out and a runner on at QVC Marine Field. Koyama inherited a 2-0 count and walked Kim Tae Kyun, but got the next two batters to start a 8.2 string of shutout ball as the Eagles won the finale of a three-game set.

Rakuten rallied for four runs in the second inning, its biggest of the season, and the pitching that has carried the team so far, came from the pen.

Koji Aoyama worked three innings, allowing two hits and fanning three, while rookie Manabu Mima battled through the eighth, giving up a hit and hitting a batter before fanning cleanup man Kim Tae Kyun and inducing a groundout from Toshiaki Imae.

Romulo Sanchez worked a perfect ninth to nail it down as the Eagles didn’t waste their highest offensive output since the second game of the season. They've scored more than four runs only twice this season and were held scoreless in five of 11 games this month before Sunday.

FIGHTERS 9, BUFFALOES 2

Yoshio Itoi’s fourth home run, a two-run shot, highlighted his 3-for-4 day, and Makoto Kaneko went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs to lead Nippon Ham past lowly Orix.

Orix starter Yuki Nishi (4-1) who was the first Orix hurler since Shigetoshi Hasegawa to win his first four games, saw his streak end. He lasted six innings, giving up eight hits, two walks and hitting a batter for his first pro loss.

LIONS 3, HAWKS 1

Kazuyuki Hoashi (3-1) held SoftBank to one run over 6.1 innings, and Hideto Asamura homered and singled to drive in a pair as Saitama won on the road.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

SWALLOWS 5, BAYSTARS 3

Shinya Miyamoto broke a tie in the sixth with an RBI single and first-place Yakult added another run before holding off host Yokohama to sweep that series.

Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi (2-1) put in a quality start, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks with five Ks over six innings to win his fourth straight decision against the BayStars.

GIANTS 4, CARP 3

After yesterday’s meltdown, Yomiuri turned to former New York Yankee Jonathan Albaladejo to close out its one-run win over Hiroshima at The Zoom.

Hayato Sakamoto had an RBI single in the third and two-run homer in the fifth to pace the Giants, who won two of three from the Carp.

TIGERS 3, DRAGONS 1

Hiroki Uemoto, a replacement after Takashi Toritani went out in the first inning with an injured finger, broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI double in the fifth to help Hanshin salvage the finale of a three-game set against Chunichi.