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Hawks top Lions for 15th PL title…
The SoftBank Hawks stumbled out of the gate, but rose to great heights in winning their second consecutive Pacific League title -- 15th overall -- doing in style by setting a club record for shutouts with their 26th on Saturday.
SoftBank’s depth was on display in the form of Sho Iwasaki (6-2), who worked seven scoreless innings, and Shuhei Fukuda, who drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single in a two-run sixth of a 3-0 victory over the host Seibu Lions.
A strong rotation, backed by a shutdown bullpen and reserves galore have helped the Hawks reach a season-high 36 games over .500.
The Hawks topped the Lions the way they’ve been taking out competition all season, by getting strong production from reserve talent.
Three position players who were not in the Opening Day starting lineup contributed, including the recently hot-hitting Fukuda, who hit his first career homer the night before.
Kenji Akashi, who has played in fewer than 50 games, tripled in Fukuda to make it 2-0. In the seventh inning, Nobuhiro Matsuda continued his breakout season with a sac fly to score Yuichi Honda.
EAGLES 4, BUFFALOES 2
Masahiro Tanaka (17-5) moved back into a tie atop the PL in wins with eight tough innings, allowing two runs on nine hits, a walk and a hit batter as Rakuten cooled off Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Tanaka extended his club single-season strikeout mark to 223, and Kazuo Matsui stroked his career 300th double, which gave Rakuten the lead in the fifth.
FIGHTERS 2, MARINES 2
Yoshio Itoi’s eighth-inning RBI single tied things up and Nippon Ham and Lotte failed to score after 11 innings and the 3.5-hour time limit at The Q.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 6, CARP 2
Tetsuya Utsumi (16-5) worked seven innings of one-run ball, and Hisayoshi Chono gave Yomiuri the lead in the seventh with a go-ahead two-run single as the Giants dumped visiting Hiroshima.
DRAGONS 4, TIGERS 3
Hot-hitting Tony Blanco cracked his 11th homer, a solo shot in the sixth that broke a 3-3 tie, and Chunichi held on to top Hanshin at Koshien Stadium and move to within two games of the top spot.
BAYSTARS 10, SWALLOWS 3
Yoshitomo Tsutsugo cracked his sixth homer and drove in four runs, and Tatsuya Shimozno’s two-run single in the sixth put host Yokohama on top for good as the last-place BayStars topped front-running Yakult at Yokohama Stadium.