Shining ’Star …

Sledge hammers Hanshin for 3 HRs as BayStars win

Once in a while, the ’Stars rise.

Terrmel Sledge put together his second three-homer of the season, smacking around Hanshin pitching by going 5-for-5 with a grand slam and driving in a career-best eight runs as Yokohama won 9-5 on Saturday at Koshien Stadium.

“It’s probably my best game,” Sledge said in the barely audible on-field postgame interview.

The fourth-year Sledge cracked a solo shot to center in the third, hit the slam in the seventh to right and added a three-run shot in the eighth, just left of straightaway center, in his first five-hit game in Japan.

The outfielder -- who had three homers in the second game of the season, an 8-7 loss to Chunichi -- helped seal the win by leaving his feet in the ninth to pick off a line drive to the gap in left center off the bat of pinch-hitter Shinichiro Hiyama.

Sledge, who hit 28 longballs last season, increased his homer total this season to 17 while jumping into the Central League lead with 49 RBIs.

The CL’ s last-place BayStars go for their first series win of the month on Sunday.

Craig Brazell blasted two longballs and drove in three, while Takahiro Arai notched his 1,500th hit in a losing effort for Hanshin.

CARP 3, DRAGONS 0

Junpei Shinoda (4-3) worked eight scoreless innings, holding Chunichi to six hits and a walk, and Dennis Sarfate [friend of JBD] walked one but tossed a scoreless ninth to finish off a Hiroshima shutout at The Zoom.

Yoshihiro Maru drove in two runs, and Sarfate collected his CL-best 25th save.

GIANTS 2, SWALLOWS 2

Yoshitomo Tani’s two-out RBI single in the ninth off Lim Chang Yang helped Yomiuri come back to even things Yakult at Jingu Stadium, and the Swallows failed to score in the bottom of the frame in a draw that ended because of the 3.5-hour rule.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

HAWKS 3, FIGHTERS 2

Toshiya Sugiuchi (6-3) one-upped Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish, fanning 12 and holding the Fighters to two runs over the distance as first-place SoftBank clinched the weekend three-game series with a win at home.

Darivsh (13-3) fanned 11 over nine innings as the starters each had double digits in Ks. He gave up a tiebreaking two-run single to Hiroki Kokubo in the eighth that was difference. Kokubo drove in all three runs for the Hawks.

LIONS 7, BUFFALOES 2

Fumiya Nishiguchi (4-6) tossed five innings of one-hit ball and Takeya Nakamura socked his Japan-best 28th homer [a two-run shot in the first for his 11th in 12 games against Orix] to take over the PL RBI lead as Seibu cruised at home.

MARINES 6, EAGLES 2

Shota Ishimine and Yoshifumi Okada each had three hits and an RBI to lead third-place Lotte past fourth-place Rakuten at The Q.