It’s easy being green …

Iwasaki answers back as Hawks end skid

Sho Iwakasi might have been green with envy at the way other pitchers in the SoftBank rotation were still getting a chance despite poor results, but no one could tell with the lime-green uniforms the Hawks wore in Monday night’s only game.

Iwasaki responded to getting bumped from the rotation for three weeks by carrying a shutout into the ninth inning　as the defending Japan Series champion Hawks downed the Seibu Lions 4-1 in a Hawks home game at Tokyo Dome.

Nobuhiko Matsunaka cracked a game-breaking two-run homer in the seventh [his third] to back Iwasaki (4-6), who scattered six hits, four walks and three Ks over 8.1 innings for his first win since May 6.

“I just wanted to show everyone that Iwasaki can do the job,” the pitcher said in the hero interview.

Lefty Masahiko Morifuku got the final two outs for his 10th save -- the first time in his five-plus seasons he has recorded double digits in saves.

Nobuhiro Matsuda doubled twice and drove in a run for the Hawks, who snapped a three-game skid and climbed back over the Lions and into fourth place in the Pacific League.

The Hawks gave out the lime-green jerseys to the 46,441 fans [their highest attendance figure since 2005], making the inside of the dome look like a Kermit The Frog convention.