A shot in the arm …

[Apologies ... I tried to post this last night ... I guess I hit the wrong button.]

Masubuchi stars as Swallows avoid sweep

The pregame situation couldn’t have been much worse for the Yakult Swallows: Their closer is out, their ace righty was deactivated with a bad middle finger and they were 5-10-2 in August.

But Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi stepped up with his best pro performance, just missing his first complete game and shutout by going 8.2 innings as the Swallows topped the Yomiuri Giants 3-1 on Sunday at Tokyo Dome to avoid a sweep.

Wladimir Balentien bashed a long two-run homer in the second inning and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama had two hits and an RBI as the Swallows kept their lead in the Central League to five games.

It was all about Masubuchi, though. The fifth-year righty scattered six hits and two walks, while fanning three, and left after giving up a solo homer to Yoshinobu Takahashi in the ninth that spoiled his big day. Rookie lefty Kentaro Kyoko whiffed Michihiro Ogasawara for the final out for his first pro save.

Masubuchi, who evened his record at 6-6, even surprised himself.

“I never imagined I would pitch like this,” said Masubuchi, a 23-year-old who entered the season with six career victories. “I wasn’t thinking about it [a shutout] while I was pitching, but giving up a homer like that at the end, I still have a way to go.”

Masubuchi said he wanted to change the flow after Yakult dropped the first two games of the series.

“They got to [Kyohei] Muranaka and Yoshinori [Sato] so I just wanted to get them back,”

It was his first victory over the Giants, but the righty said he just focuses on himself.

“I don’t want to concentrate on who I face, I just want to go out each game and do my best to win. If I have a chance to get [a complete game or shutout], I’ll go for it,” he said.

Skipper Junji Ogawa was bubbling over with praise for Masubuchi’s performance.

“Up to now, he has pitched well but then he has a costly pitch,” Ogawa said. “I wanted to let him go the distance, but he gave up that run and there was nothing I could do -- I had to take him out. But he really pitched well for us. I think this will carry over to his next outing. I think he’ll gain confidence and I think we can count on him to do it again next time.”

CARP 1, DRAGONS 1

Brian Barden’s third-inning sacrifice line drive to center evened things for Hiroshima with Chunichi at Nagoya Dome, and neither team could push across another run in a 10-inning deadlock.

TIGERS 1 BAYSTARS 1

Yokohama’s Tatsuya Shimozono drew a bases-loaded walk to even the score in the seventh inning, and 11 innings weren’t enough to settle the stalemate at Yokohama Stadium.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

FIGHTERS 3, BUFFALOES 2

League RBI leader Sho Nakata put on an unexpected performance, zipping around from second base to score the go-ahead run on a fourth-inning wild pitch, and Brian Wolfe (11-4) and five relievers held Orix scoreless the final six innings to win at Sapporo Dome.

The victory, coupled with SoftBank’s loss, moved the Fighters to within two games of the top spot.

EAGLES 7, HAWKS 2

Tadashi Ishimine struck out three times, but his two-run double keyed a four-run fourth, and rookie Takahiro Shiomi (5-7) wriggled through five innings, holding SoftBank to two runs as Rakuten took the rubber game of its series at FYJ Dome.

Ryo Hijirisawa -- who had two RBIs -- tripled in a run and scored in the fourth to back Shiomi, who allowed eight hits and two walks with four Ks.

MARINES 4, LIONS 3

Tomoya Satozaki’s fielder’s choice in the ninth even the score and Shunichi Nemoto hit a walk-off single off Kazuhisa Makita (2-7) as Lotte rallied with two runs in the ninth inning to top cellar-dwelling Seibu.