Thursday, April 5, 2007

SENDAI (Kyodo) Koichi Isobe delivered an RBI double in the 12th inning, lifting the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to their third straight win in a 4-3 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday.

Carp starter Masayuki Hasegawa releases a pitch against the Yokohama BayStars at Hiroshima Stadium on Wednesday. The Carp won 3-2. KYODO PHOTO

Yosuke Takasu drew a walk with one out and came around on Isobe's hit down the third-base line for the walkoff victory in Pacific League action at Fullcast Stadium.

Fernando Seguignol got the Fighters on the board with a solo blast -- his fourth homer this season -- in the second and rookie designated hitter Yohei Kaneko added a two-run double that extended the lead to 3-0 in the seventh before the Eagles' dramatic comeback.

Jose Fernandez led off the ninth with a shot to right off Nippon Ham closer Micheal Nakamura, and Tsuchiya Teppei forced extra innings with his two-run, bases-loaded single off the right-hander that tied the game with two outs.

Kazuo Fukumori (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings in relief and Takehiko Oshimoto (0-1) took the loss.

Hawks 3, Lions 0

At Goodwill Dome, left-hander Toshiya Sugiuchi scattered five hits over seven sharp innings, leading Fukuoka Softbank to a shutout over Seibu.

Sugiuchi (2-0) mowed down the opposition with a nasty fastball, striking out eight batters with just one walk in chilly conditions.

Takahiro Mahara worked the ninth to pick up his third save.

Cleanup hitter Nobuhiko Matsunaka went 3-for-4, who two RBIs, featuring a run-scoring double that capped a two-run fifth.

Lions starter Alex Graman (0-2) surrendered three runs in five innings in taking the loss. Seibu slugger Alex Cabrera was held to two singles on a 2-for-4 night.

Marines 4, Buffaloes 3

At Kyocera Dome, Shingo Ono pitched eight-plus strong innings, allowing his only damage on a two-run drive to Tuffy Rhodes in the ninth, as Chibe Lotte scraped past Orix.

Dragons 6, Giants 3

At Tokyo Dome, Masahiko Morino hit a tie-breaking, three-run homer in the top of the ninth to lift Chunichi over Yomiuri.

Hitoki Iwase retired the side in the bottom frame with three consecutive strikeouts to earn his first save of the season. Shinya Okamoto (1-0) got the win after getting the last two outs with the bases loaded in the eighth.

Tomohiro Nioka hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Giants a 3-1 lead, but the Dragons answered in the sixth with a two-run shot by Tyrone Woods.

Carp 3, BayStars 2

At Hiroshima Stadium, Shigenobu Shima was 3-for-4 and Tomonori Maeda drove in the go-ahead run as Hiroshima edged Yokohama.

Tigers at Swallows -- ppd.

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