Breaking even …

Hawks hand Lions another loss, end 1st half tied with Fighters

The Hawks were this blog’s overwhelming favorite to bag the Pacific League title, but even after winning the final game before the All-Star break, SoftBank is not alone at the top.

Nobuhiko Matsunaka drilled a three-run homer in the third inning and Nobuhiro Matsuda continued his breakout season, cracking his team-high 17th homer -- third in as many days -- to lead the host Hawks to a 4-1 victory over the limping Seibu Lions.

Tsuyoshi Wada (8-2) was sharp, holding the toothless Lions to six hits, while walking none and fanning eight over eight innings for a victory that only allowed the Hawks to keep pace with the Nippon Ham Fighters, who also won.

Hawks manager Koji Akiyama was handing out praise everywhere.

“First and foremost, the way Wada pitched was big for us. After that Matsunaka’s three-run shot I think allowed Wada to relax out there,” said Akiyama. “The ball really carried for [Matsunaka].”

The Hawks have won 17 straight when Matsuda goes deep and, the skipper said, “He hit the homer yesterday, too, and for a while he has also been getting hits to right field as well. He’s really on a roll right now.”

The third-year manager didn’t seem to be worried about the standings or the fact that his team is 24 games over .500, although he acknowledged the Fighters are going to be tough to shake.

“Nippon Ham isn’t losing, so we’re the same. We just want the whole team to play together and work hard to win every night,” Akiyama said about the second half.

Takehito Kanazawa worked the ninth for his second career save, first since June 1, 2002, as a member of the Hanshin Tigers.

The Lions, meanwhile, are in a nosedive. They have been swept in three straight series for the first time in club history. They are 15 games under .500 and were swept in a series for the fifth time this season.

FIGHTERS 3, EAGLES 1

The first matchup in two years between the PL’s two marquees hurlers went to Yu Darvish (13-2), who allowed a run on four hits and a walk with nine Ks as Nippon Ham topped Rakuten in home game at Tokyo Dome.

Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka (9-3) had one bad inning, allowing a walk and an RBI single before serving up a homer to Atsunori Inaba. The righty lost for the first time in a month, allowing five hits and two walks, while whiffing four.

Darvish has a Japan-best 13 wins, surpassing his victory total for last season.

MARINES 7, BUFFALOES 5

Keisuke Hayasaka’s go-ahead two-run single highlighted a six run sixth as Lotte came back to top Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Jose Castillo had four hits and an RBI, and Toshiaki Imae added two RBIs as defending Japan Series champion Lotte finished the first half in third place.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

GIANTS 2, DRAGONS 1

Shinnosuke Abe’s bases-loaded walk-off single in the 10th inning helped Yomiuri fight off Chunichi for a win at Niigata.

The Giants blew a 1-0 lead (and a Dicky Gonzalez victory) in the ninth, but Abe slapped his 12th career sayonara hit to the corner in right, pushing the Dragons two games under .500 at the break.

CARP 3, TIGERS 1
Pinch-hitter Tomonori Maeda’s high bouncer over a drawn-in infield plated two runs to break a 1-1 tie and complete Hiroshima’s comeback over visiting Hanshin.
The Tigers and Dragons are tied for second, eight games behind Yakult.

The Swallows and BayStars were rained out.