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Some rights reserved.
The old 9-to-6 force play helped the Rakuten Eagles stay out of trouble and some stellar defense turned out to be the difference in a 2-1 win over host Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night.
Jose Fernandez knocked in a run and ran over catcher Shota Ono to score the other on a single by Shintaro Masuda for a first-inning rally that held up against loser Masaru Takeda (4-4).
Takashi Kawai (2-0) carried a no-no -- thanks to some defensive help -- into the sixth inning before fourth-year pro Kenshi Sugiya's first pro homer broke it up and put the Fighters on the board.
But that run came after Kensuke Tanaka got gunned down on a fly that short-hopped Akihisa Makida in right in the fourth. Makida fielded the ball cleanly and fired to Kazuo Matsui at second to double off Tanaka for the first out of the inning.
Fernandez dove into the photographer’s well along the first-base line for a fine catch that helped Shinichiro Koyama get out of the seventh inning, and when it was all said and done, Kawai and three relievers had combined on a one-hitter.
The Eagles won their third straight decision, while the Fighters lost the game and lost Eiichi Koyano, who got plunked in the head by a relay throw while trying to break up a double play. He went to the hospital and needed nine stitches to close a gash in his head.
Nippon Ham, which lost All-Star Atsunori Inaba to injury on Friday, also saw Makoto Kaneko leave the game because of a leg injury.
LIONS 6, MARINES 3
Takayuki Kishi made a bases-clearing first-inning by triple Shogo Asamura stand up over seven inning as Seibu won at The Q.
Kishi (7-6) tossed seven scoreless -- allowing one hit, two walks, hit a batter, while fanning eight -- and Hideaki Wakui used the six-run cushion to survive the ninth. Seibu’s Hiroyuki Nakajima hit safely in his 18th straight game with a first-inning single.
BUFFALOES 0, HAWKS 0, 10 INNINGS
Kenji Akashi put together his first four-hit game as a pro, but it wasn’t enough to help SoftBank break away from Orix in a 10-inning stalemate at FYJ Dome.
Hideki Okajima of SoftBank worked his 26th consecutive game without allowing a run since the start of the season.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 3, TIGERS 1
Kazuki Yoshimi (5-2) held Hanshin to a run over eight innings and Takehiro Donoue's three-run blast in the first powered Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.
Hitoki Iwase, who has been sharp his past 11 outings, slammed the door in the ninth for his Japan-best 24th save.
CARP 5, GIANTS 2
Kan Otake (7-2), who won two games the past two seasons, pitched around seven hits over seven innings to win his fifth straight decision, and Takahiro Iwamoto went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs as Hiroshima downed Yomiuri at The Zoom.
Rookie of the year candidate Shota Dobayashi of the Carp hit his first longball at The Zoom, while Hayato Sakamoto had his first four-hit game since April 21.
SWALLOWS 8, BAYSTARS 6
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama had RBI singles in the third and fifth innings, and Yakult withstood a five-run seventh-inning rally to top Yokohama in Okinawa.