In the face of danger …

Tigers rally after catcher plunked in the face

Hiroshima had its sights set on its first seven-game winning streak in three years, but those ideas were shockingly dashed in a hurry.

Hiroshima starter Kan Otake (1-1) was shown the gate after a dangerous pitch, and replacement Junpei Shinoda got knocked around for four runs in the third inning as the Hanshin Tigers beat up on the Carp 10-2 in Central League action on Tuesday at The Zoom.

Takashi Toritani had two hits, including his first homer of the season, and drove in three, and Takahiro Arai added two hits and two RBIs for Hanshin, which lost catcher Akihito Fujii when a pitch from Otake struck him in the face when he squared around to bunt in the second inning.

Otake got the boot, while Fujii, who was hit near the left eye, was taken to the hospital.

“He was conscious and I understand that could see, but other than that, I’m just worried about him,” said Hanshin skipper Yutaka Wada. “We only have two catchers so we have to figure something out.”

Craig Brazell had a pair of hits and two RBIs as did Takahiro Arai, who also had two walks for Hanshin.

Randy Messenger (1-0) enjoyed the offensive explosion, yielding two runs [one earned] over seven innings.

SWALLOWS 2, BAYSTARS 1, 10 INNINGS

Hiroyasu Tanaka’s RBI single in the 10th pushed host Yakult past Yokohama for its third straight win.

Closer Shun Yamaguchi (0-1) couldn’t keep the Swallows off the board, allowing the run with one out in the ninth as Yokohama dropped its sixth straight.

DRAGONS 6, GIANTS 6

Hirokazu Ibata’s throwing error allowed the tying run to score in the ninth, and the Dragons escaped Tokyo Dome with a tie after Ryosuke Hirata gunned down pinch-runner Takahiro Suzuki at the plate on a two-out single to right by Shuichi Murata.

The Dragons’ Hitoki Iwase blew the one-run lead in the ninth, allowing three hits, and 3.5-hour rule ended the game without extra innings.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

HAWKS 3, FIGHTERS 1

Nobuhiro Matsuda cracked his second homer of the season, a tiebreaking two-run shot in the fourth, to help lift SoftBank past Nippon Ham at FYJ Dome.

Hiroki Yamada (1-1) twirled seven innings of one-run ball, holding the Fighters to five hits with no walks and five Ks.

MARINES 2, BUFFALOES 1

Seth Greisinger (2-0) shut out Orix on two hits over eight innings, and Josh Whitesell’s RBI single in the eighth was the difference as Lotte edged the Buffaloes at The Q.

Tadahito Iguchi ripped his first homer of the season in the sixth.

LIONS 4, EAGLES 0

Takayuki Kishi (2-0) fired 7.2 scoreless innings, and one of Hideto Asamura’s two hits was a solo blast that helped Seibu to a victory over Rakuten at The Kleenex Box.

Enrique Gonzalez had blood pressures rising after allowing a hit and a walk in the ninth, but preserved the win for Kishi, who allowed six hits and two walks while fanning three.