Window of opportunity …

Tigers labor past 1st-place Swallows

The Hanshin Tigers ate up their big scoring opportunity, the Yakult Swallows choked on theirs.

Pinch-hitter Kentaro Sekimoto smacked a two-out RBI double in the seventh that broke a scoreless tie, and the ensuing error allowed the eventual winning run to cross as the Tigers topped the Swallows 2-1 on Friday at Kyocera Dome.

The Central League’s front-running Swallows loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning and Shinya Miyamoto drew a walk from Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa to force in a run. But that was the extent of the Yakult offense.

Fujikawa locked down his 23rd save by fanning Wladimir Balentien -- who kicked Sekimoto’s double around in the right-field corner, allowing Craig Brazell to chug home -- and Ryohei Kawamoto to end the game.

Yasutomo Kubo, who turns 31 Saturday, worked eight scoreless innings and turned it over to Fujikawa, who made things interesting.

“When Kyuji comes into the game, I feel like it’s our game. I felt like I had done my job,” Kubo (4-4) said in the hero interview after making his second appearance since returning from an injury.

He handcuffed the Swallows on three hits with three walks and four Ks to win his first game in nearly two months, his seventh straight over Yakult since Sept. 9, 2009.

“I haven’t really thought about that once, but I’m going to work as hard as I can to keep it going,” Kubo said.

The Tigers had four hits, while the Swallows had five.

Second-year import Matt Murton, who left Thursday’s game because of illness, didn’t play for Hanshin for the first time in 225 consecutive games.

GIANTS 11, CARP 6

Hayato Sakamoto singled four times and drove in four, and Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs as Yomiuri came back from an early three-run hole to pound Hiroshima at The Zoom.

Yoshinobu Takahashi got the Giants even with a three-run blast to make it 4-4 in the third as Yomiuri struck for a season-high 19 hits.

BAYSTARS 3, DRAGONS 2

Naoyuki Shimizu (2-2) took his turn baffling the recently lifeless Dragons, shutting them down with two-run ball over seven innings, and Takehiro Ishikawa capped a three-run fifth with an RBI hit as Yokohama downed Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.

It was Shimizu’s first win at Nagoya Dome since June 10, 2005. Shun Yamaguchi nailed it down for him, tossing a scoreless ninth to make it two straight seasons with at least 20 saves.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

FIGHTERS 7, EAGLES 0

Bobby Keppel [friend of JBD] fired six scoreless frames, working around four hits and five walks, and Micah Hauffpauir homered twice to drive in three and power Nippon Ham past Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.

Sho Nakata led three others with two hits, driving in one as the second-place Fighters stopped their skid at five.

HAWKS 4, LIONS 4

Ginjiro Sumitani’s clutch RBI single in the sixth tied the score and neither team could push home a run as first-place SoftBank and Seibu finished even at Seibu Dome.

Lions new import Ryan Mulhern, acquired July 20, debuted by slugging a homer in his first plate appearance. The DH became the 52nd player -- the second Lions foreigner -- to homer in his first at-bat.

BUFFALOES 3, MARINES 0

Koji Yamasaki’s RBI hit was enough to take down Lotte as Evan MacLane (1-1) worked 6.2 innings of a shutout ball to beat Lotte at The Q.

MacLane allowed four hits, while walking two and fanning four.



[Edited by: jgibson on Aug 6, 2011 4:57 PM]