The Lion king …

Ishii steps up to lead Lions over Marines

As bad as the Seibu Lions have been lately, it seemed like they'd need a near-perfect conditions to get a victory.

Kazuhisa Ishii, of all people, gave it to them.

The veteran lefty was perfect through five frames, and worked 8.2 shutout innings to help the Lions get only their fourth win this season in a 1-0 whitewash of the Lotte Marines at The Q on Friday.

Ishii (1-0) scattered five hits, walking none and fanning five, but came up short his first shutout since September, 2007 while firing 126 pitches.

He matched Lotte ace Yoshihisa Naruse (1-2) out for out, and got a break when the offensively challenged Lions got an RBI double from cleanup man Takeya Nakamura in the sixth to break up a scoreless tie.

Ishii, 38, took the mound in the ninth determined to close out, caught a huge break on a bunt turned a double play after he allowed a leadoff two-bagger. He served up a couple more singles and got the hook.

Enrique Gonzalez retired the next batter to end the game and give Ishii the help he needed for his first win this season.

“Well, I had gone that far, so I wanted to finish it out, but what can you do?” Ishii said in the hero interview. “We haven’t been playing well and I just wanted to make sure I didn’t give up the first run.”

FIGHTERS 5, BUFFALOES 0

Second-year righty Yuki Saito (3-1) -- pitching on the same day as the Texas Rangers’ Yu Darvish -- scattered eight hits and two walks with four Ks in his first career shutout as Nippon Ham shut out host Orix.

Yang Zhong-shou had three hits, including a solo blast for his first longball, and Eiichi Koyano had a two-run single in a four-run seventh that broke the game open. Saito, 23, posted his first complete-game victory by using a career-high 131 pitches to help the Fighters win for the fifth time in six games.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BAYSTARS 3, TIGERS 1

Norihiro Nakamura had three hits, including a two-run homer in the fourth inning, to help lift DeNA to its first win at Yokohama Stadium in seven tries.

Giancarlo Alvarado (1-2), whose offensive support consisted of one hit in two previous home games, tossed six scoreless innings, and the last of five relievers -- closer Shun Yamaguchi -- preserved the win. His first save didn't come easily as the Tigers loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth before he closed it out.

SWALLOWS 2, GIANTS 1

Kyohei Muranaka (2-0) shut down Yomiuri, holding it to a run on six hits and four walks over eight innings, and second-year import Wladimir Balentien broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth with a solo blast -- his first longball in Japan in the cleanup spot -- as Yakult won at Jingu Stadium

Balentien led three players with two hits, and Tony Barnette worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

DRAGONS 2, CARP 0

Soma Yamauchi (2-1) scattered seven hits and two walks over seven innings, and Motonobu Tanishige had two hits, including an RBI single in the seventh to break up a scoreless tie, as Chunichi blanked Hiroshima in the first of a three-game set at The Zoom.

Hitoki Iwase wobbled through the ninth, before closing it out for his Japan-best seventh save and preserving Chunichi’s sixth shutout.



[Edited by: jgibson on Apr 21, 2012 8:15 AM]