A Giant breakthrough ...

Miura gets milestone by beating Yomiuri for 1st time in 7 years

“Hama no Bancho” has a whole bunch of wins that he can concentrate on instead of thinking about the collection of loses to the Yomiuri Giants since 2006.

Daisuke Muira (7-4) held the Giants to three runs on seven hits and two walks over seven innings to record his 150th career win on July 4, and his first against the Giants in seven years, in a 4-3 win on Wednesday at Yokohama Stadium.

He became the fifth pitcher in franchise history to reach that milestone, the 47th in NPB history.

In his 21st season, the 38-year-old took four starts to reach the milestone, and after a rainout, he wasn’t about to give up his chance to throw.

“If I hadn't have pitched tonight, I didn't think they’d let me in the building again,” Miura quipped in the hero interview.

"I'm glad I was able to do it here. I'm I stayed in Yokohama," said Miura, referring to making the decision to remain with the BayStars after earning free agency.

Shun Yamaguchi used a 1-2-3 inning to close it out after Sho Aranami’s RBI double broke the 3-3 tie.

Norihiro Nakamura’s two-run single and Alex Ramirez’s RBI single got Miura even in the third.

SWALLOWS 12, DRAGONS 3

Wladimir Balentien connected for his third three-homer game in one-plus seasons and drove in a career-best eight runs [one shy of the club mark for a game] as Yakult stamped Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.

Masanori Ishikawa (6-6) was the beneficiary of big night, working eight innings and holding the Dragons to four runs on nine hits with two walks and three Ks.

The Dragons have lost 14 straight decisions in games in the Kanto region.

CARP 3, TIGERS 1

For the second straight night, visiting Hanshin helped Hiroshima by allowing the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch, Ryosuke Kikuchi scampering home with the eventual winning run in the Carp’s two-run victory.

Hanshin fell into fifth place with the loss.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

BUFFALOES 5, FIGHTERS 1

Lee Dae Ho drove in two runs and Yuki Nishi (5-2) scattered four hits with no walks and two Ks over seven innings to help host Orix beat Nippon Ham for its first series win in 12 matchups.

Nippon Ham lost its fourth straight

LIONS 7, HAWKS 2

Takumi Kuriyama slugged a pair of doubles to go along with his first longball of the season as Seibu easily topped SoftBank at FYJ Dome.

MARINES 3, EAGLES 2

Yoshihisa Naruse (8-3) tossed seven innings, working around eight hit and two walk with one K to help Lotte edge Rakuten at The Q.



[Edited by: jgibson on Jul 5, 2012 10:56 PM]