A little burn ...

Dragons win 11-inning walk-off, keep CL race interesting

Talk of magic numbers and the thought of losing a home series to the preseason Central League favorite and front-running Yomiuri Giants fueled a little bit of fire that led to a walk-off win on Thursday at Nagoya Dome.

Ryosuke Hirata floated a fly ball to shallow center, and pinch-runner Shigeo Yanagida raced home to give the Dragons a 1-0 win in 11 innings and keep the Giants within grasping distance at 4.5 games in the chase for the CL title.

It was the fourth career walk-off RBI for Hirata, who hit the ball to defensive replacement Takahiro Suzuki [who came on mid-inning, just minutes before the 3.5-hour time limit kicked in], whose poor throw toward the plate was cut off by Hayato Sakamoto. The shortstop’s relay toss home got there a split second before Yanagida, but the runner snuck a fingernail onto the plate before the tag was applied.

“A win and a tie were completely different things in this series, so for us to win means we’re still in the race,” Hirata said. “We still have a chance to go for the [CL] title.”

Chunichi starter Kenichi Nakata worked seven innings of two-hit ball, fanning three and walking three for a no-decision, as did Yomiuri Sugiuchi [eight shutout frames]. Daisuke Yamai (4-3) got the win in Chunichi’s 20th shutout win, tossing a perfect 11th inning, and benefitting from a close call at first base for the third out.

CARP 4, SWALLOWS 2

Brad Eldred knocked home the go-ahead runs with an eighth-inning single, and Shota Dobayashi added an insurance run with an RBI infield hit as Hiroshima rallied late to top Yakult and move 2.5 games ahead of the Swallows in the race for third place.

Takaya Kawauchi (1-0) picked up the win [his first since Sept. 4, 2004] with 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, and Kam Mickolio slammed the door in the ninth for his 16th save.

TIGERS 4, BAYSTARS 4, 10 INNINGS

Ryota Arai homered in the seventh, a score-tying solo shot, and Hanshin came back to earn a draw against host Yokohama.

Taketoshi Goto stayed hot, blasting his fifth homer of the month [a solo shot in the fifth] and adding an RBI single in the sixth for Yokohama.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

EAGLES 1, FIGHTERS 0

A week after skipper Senichi Hoshino ripped him [saying he must not realize baseball games go nine innings], rookie righty Yoshinao Kamata (5-1) fired his first shout [second complete game], holding front-running Nippon Ham to five hits at The Kleenex Box.

Shintaro Masuda got the game’s only run in with a seventh-inning single that scored Jose Fernandez [who opened the frame with a hit] to back Kamata, who fanned seven with no walks and a hit batter. The Eagles won the series despite scoring just three runs over the three games.

HAWKS 3, MARINES 2, 10 INNINGS

Reserve Yuki Yanagita hit his second homer in as many nights, taking Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-4) out to right to open the 10th as SoftBank topped Lotte for the second straight night at FYJ Dome.

The second-year Yanagita said it was the first walk-off homer of his life, and it helped the Hawks get back to .500.

LIONS 4, BUFFALOES 4

Hiroyuki Nakajima had two RBI doubles and a run-scoring hit, but it wasn’t enough to get Seibu past host Orix as the teams finished in a deadlock at Kyocera Dome Osaka.