Deceptive charm ...
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
The Seibu Lions weren't charmed to meet Alessandro Maestri on Sunday afternoon at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
They couldn't do anything with the guy with a funky three-quarter delivery over nine innings, mustering a run on just four hits and succumbing in a throw-their-hands-in-the-air 7-1 loss to the Orix Buffaloes.
The deceptive righty, making just his third start since Orix acquired him on July 9, fanned 11 without a walk on 109 nearly stress-free pitches.
South Korean slugger Lee Dae Ho "The Lineman," cracked his Pacific League-best 21st homer and Takahiro Okada had three hits and two RBIs. Mitsutaka Goto also collected two hits and an RBI as Orix snapped a three-game skid.
The loss temporarily toppled the Lions from first place but Nippon Ham, which lost in a night game to push Seibu back on top.
EAGLES 1, FIGHTERS 0, 10 INNINGS
Masahiro Tanaka (7-4) returned to his old form in time to work all 10 innings, picking up the win as rookie Takero Okajima legged out an RBI infield single with two outs for his first walk-off hit as Rakuten topped Nippon Ham at the Kleenex Box.
HAWKS 3, MARINES 3, 10 INNINGS
Pinch-hitter Kazuya Fukuura’s RBI double in the seventh inning pulled Lotte even with SoftBank, and the teams played to a stalemate at the Q.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
SWALLOWS 2, DRAGONS 0
Kyohei Muranaka (7-5) took a no-hitter into the seventh, and Lastings Milledge had two hits and an RBI as Yakult blanked Chunichi for the second straight day to take the series at Nagoya Dome.
It was Muranaka's second career shutout [his first was July 29 last year] and his fourth straight win at Nagoya Dome.
GIANTS 11, BAYSTARS 3
Shinnosuke Abe homered for the second straight day and drove in four with three hits, and Hayato Sakamoto added three hits and an RBI as Yomiuri ripped host Yokohama.
Ryosuke Miyaguni (4-2) lasted 6.2 innings, allowing two runs [none earned] on three hits and four walks for the win as the Giants reduced their magic number to 26.
TIGERS 3, CARP 2
Craig Brazell [friend of JBW] unloaded for a three-run homer -- on his son’s first birthday -- in the fourth inning and Jason Standridge (6-9) [7.2 innings pitched, seven hits, a hit batter and three Ks] and two relievers made it stand up to edge Hiroshima at The Zoom.