Six pack …

Swallows top Dragons in extras, open up 6-game lead

The Yakult Swallows appear to have the magic.
Ryoji Aikawa stroked a two-out RBI walk-off single off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase in the 10th inning as Yakult outlasted the Dragons 6-5 Wednesday at Jingu Stadium.

Front-running Yakult moved six games in front of the Dragons in the Central League standings, and are set up for a sweep Thursday night.

The Swallows improved to 7-1 against the Dragons, who tied the score in the ninth when Masahiko Morino cracked his second homer of the game. Morino took Yakult closer Lim Chang Yang deep, the first longball off the Swallows closer since Sept. 26 when Yokohama’s Shuichi Murata took him deep.

But super set-up man Takuya Asao (3-2) made a mess in his second inning of work, and Iwase was brought in the bail the Dragons out and help them escape with a tie. Instead, the lefty walked a man to load the bases and Aikawa took a high fastball into right to end the game.

“We really should have ended the game in the ninth inning with Lim Chang Yang, so I wasn't able to get the job done then as the catcher. That was on my mind as I went to the plate -- I’m glad we won.”

The Dragons came a few feet from taking the lead with a grand slam when Yohei Oshima cracked a deep shot to right that peeled just foul in the sixth. He eventually fanned to end the threat.

Morino, who has been hitting around .200 for much of the season, has been hot this week and went 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs.

TIGERS 2, GIANTS 1

Pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama’s sacrifice fly pushed home the game-winning run in the ninth for a walk-off win over Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium.

Kyuji Fujikawa (3-0) earned the win with a perfect ninth as the Giants continued to struggle on the mound with newest closer candidate Shun Tono (2-8) -- the Opening Day starter -- only getting one out in the inning to take the loss.

Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara, hitless in his last 11 at-bats, was benched by Giants skipper Tatsunori Hara.

BAYSTARS 1, CARP 0

Kentaro Takasaki (3-6) worked seven shutout innings and Kyohei Nakamura (0-2) was called for a balk with a runner at third for the game’s only run as Yokohama edged Hiroshima at The Zoom.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 1

Yu Darvish won his 12th in 14 starts, firing eight innings of one-run ball as Nippon Ham topped Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka and moved within a game of the Hawks in the PL.

Darvish (12-2) allowed five hits and two walk with seven Ks, and Hisashi Takeda tossed a hitless ninth -- after blowing the lead the previous night -- to lock up his 23rd save. Darvish has equaled his win total from last season before the All-Star break.

EAGLES 1, HAWKS 0

Ryohei Isaki (1-2) shut out front-running SoftBank over 5.2 innings, and Darrell Rasner tossed a perfect ninth to complete 3.1 scoreless innings of relief as Rakuten won a close one at The Kleenex Box.

Tsuyoshi Wada (7-2) held the Eagles to a run over eight innings, but took the loss. Rasner is 3-for-3 in save chances.

MARINES 6, LIONS 4

Toshiaki Imae capped a five-run first with a three-run blast and Shingo Ono (3-0) and three relievers made it stand up as Lotte topped Seibu at The Q.

Newcomer Jose Castillo had a two-run double in the first to help Lotte.