Making a name …

Murton ties club mark with game-winner as Tigers win

Hanshin’s Matt Murton made a name for himself by topping Ichiro Suzuki’s record last season. This year, the torrid Tiger is scratching his name deeper into Hanshin folklore.

Murton ripped a single up the middle in the fourth inning to equal the club record by hitting in his 28th straight as the Tigers held off the host Yokohama BayStars 2-1 on Sunday.

Murton's two-out knock put the Tigers on top, and Jason Standridge (9-6) and three relievers made it stand up less than 24 hours after a walk-off loss.

Murton, who added a double in the sixth, tied teammate Shijiro Hiyama and Tony Bernazard (Nankai Hawks) for the seventh-longest hitting streak all-time. Yoshihiko Takahashi of Hiroshima Carp tops the list with a 33-game streak in 1979.

Murton, who was informed by reporters after the game that he had tied his teammate, said he had no idea Hiyama was the franchise leader.

This is the longest hitting streak this year. Mitsutaka Goto of the Orix Buffaloes hit in 26 straight before having his streak snapped last month.

DRAGONS 1, GIANTS 0

Takehiro Donoue smacked a walk-off single to center over a drawn-in outfield as host Chunichi wrestled a 10-inning win away from Yomiuri after being no-hit for the first 6.2 innings against returning hurler Dickey Gonzalez.

Chen Wei-yin, who also got no decision, wiggled out of numerous jams and the Dragons, who were one-hit in a shutout the night before, finally scored after having the walk-off run thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.

SWALLOWS 4, CARP 3

Kazuki Fukuchi helped Yakult complete a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit with a walk-off single to the wall in right as the Swallows stayed a half-game behind Chunichi.

Fukuchi came on as a pinch-hitter and tripled and scored the tying run in the eighth.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

LIONS 6, FIGHTERS 2

Takeya Nakamura cracked his Japan-leading 45th homer and added a tiebreaking double to highlight a four-run eighth as Seibu got past Nippon Ham at Sapporo Dome.

Jose Fernandez followed Nakamura with a two-run double, and Kazuhisa Makita got the final four outs for his 20th save.

HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 1

Tadashi Settsu (14-8) went 7.3 innings, allowing one run, and Seiichi Uchikawa had two hits and an RBI as host SoftBank sent sputtering Orix to its fourth straight loss.

Yuichi Honda’s two-run double in the eighth put the finishing touches on the win, the seventh straight for the Hawks.

EAGLES 4, MARINES 3

Kensuke Uchimura had two hits and two RBIs as Rakuten got out front and edged Lotte at The Kleenex Box.