Ace combat …

Darvish tosses out Fighters’ skid

Nippon Ham finally showed some fight.
Yu Darvish won his career-high 17th game and Yoshio Itoi hit an opposite-field RBI single to break up a tie score as the Fighters stopped their nine-game free-fall and topped the SoftBank Hawks 2-1 at FYJ Dome on Thursday.

The first-place Hawks, whose fast-disappearing magic number stayed at three to win the Pacific League title, managed just two hits. Darvish (17-5) -- who hadn’t won in five starts -- and closer Hisashi Takeda, who notched his career 100th save.

“My last outing I was just a mess, and tried to figure out what adjustments I could make. Two days ago I had a really good bullpen and today my control was so good, even I was surprised,” Darvish said in the hero interview.

Darvish dominated, fanning 12 to record his 51st career double-digit strikeout game. He and walked none, departing after firing 117 pitches.

He probably could have finished off the game, but stepped aside for Takeda’s sake.

Kenshi Sugiya’s RBI single in the sixth inning was
Nippon Ham’s first run-producing hit with runners in scoring position in 54 innings. But his error led to Fukuoka’s only run in the bottom of the frame, Toru Hosokawa knocking it in with a sac fly to make it 1-1 as SoftBank scored without the benefit of a hit.

MARINES 4, BUFFALOES 1

Hiroki Ueno (4-4) fired eight innings of one-run ball to hold hot-hitting Orix to just two hits with two walks and three Ks as Lotte battled past the Buffaloes at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Katsuya Kakunaka’s ninth-inning add-on RBI single was the difference in the game as Lee Seung Yeop’s double off the base of the wall in right center scored a pair off Yasuhiko Yabuta, who got the final two batters to record his 29th save.

Orix fell 2.5 games behind second-place Nippon Ham.

LIONS 1, EAGLES 0

Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura smacked his Japan-best 43rd homer, and Kazuyuki Hoashi (9-5) worked 7.2 scoreless innings as Seibu bounced back from a loss with a shutout of Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.

The Lions moved back to within three games of third-place Orix, which lost at home.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

SWALLOWS 7, TIGERS 4

Shingo Kawabata ripped a two-run double in the eighth put Yakult on top and sparked a four-run outburst as Yakult showed first-place resolve, but fighting back to top Hanshin at home for their fourth straight win. It was their Japan-best 29th comeback win.

Wladimir Balentien, who hit his CL-leading 30th longball, followed with a scoring flyball and Shinya Miyamoto doubled home a run to complete the rally off Atsushi Nomi (8-9), from whom skipper Akinobu Mayumi might have tried to squeeze a few too many outs.

Lim Chang Yang had a rare 1-2-3 ninth for his 29th save.

DRAGONS 4, CARP 3

Tony Blanco broke up a 3-3 tie with an RBI single in the eighth to give Chunichi a win at Hiroshima and help the Dragons keep pace with Yakult.

Kazuki Yoshimi (16-3) managed his way through eight innings to win his eighth straight start. Motonobu Tanishige knocked in a run, extending his career-best RBI streak to 10 games and tying the club record.

BAYSTARS 5, GIANTS 2

Shuichi Murata [who notched his career strikeout 1,000th] kicked off a four-run rally in the third with a two-run double, and Futoshi Kobayashi (3-3) held Yomiuri to two runs over six-plus innings as Yokohama battled past Yomiuri to win at home and halt their latest skid [this one four games].