Sunday, March 30, 2008

NAGOYA (Kyodo) Masahiko Morino and Tyrone Woods each hit a solo home run, leading the 2007 Japan Series champion Chunichi Dragons to a 5-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp on Saturday.

Tigers closer Kyuji Fujikawa works the ninth inning against Yokohama at Kyocera Dome. The hard-throwing right-hander picked up his second save of the season as host Hanshin edged the BayStars 4-3. KYODO PHOTO

Morino led off a three-run third inning with a shot into the right-field seats off Colby Lewis (0-1) and singled in another run an inning later in Central League action at Nagoya Dome.

After a two-run homer by Tomonori Maeda pulled Hiroshima within a run in the sixth, Woods, who had three hits in the game, added a solo drive for Chunichi in the seventh.

Kenta Asakura (1-0) allowed three runs, one earned, and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Hitoki Iwase closed out the ninth for his first save of the season.

Tigers 4, BayStars 3

At Kyocera Dome, Tomoaki Kanemoto went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and third-year lefty Minoru Iwata pitched six strong innings for his career first win as Hanshin edged Yokohama.

Kanemoto had a run-scoring double to highlight a two-run first, singled in the third and hit a solo blast off BayStars starter Mike Wood (0-1) with one out in the sixth. Takahiro Arai added an RBI single in the seventh.

Iwata (1-0) allowed one run and six hits, striking out five with two walks.

Yokohama rallied, featuring a solo drive by Yuki Yoshimura off reliever Tomoyuki Kubota in the eighth, but Kyuji Fujikawa pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Swallows 6, Giants 3

At Jingu Stadium, Aaron Guiel and Shinya Miyamoto drove in two runs apiece as Tokyo Yakult rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to beat Yomiuri.

The Swallows tied the score at 3-3 by scoring one run each in the second, fourth and fifth innings against former teammate Seth Greisinger.

In the seventh, Guiel put Yakult ahead with a two-run single and Miyamoto followed with an RBI single.

Takehiko Oshimoto (1-0) picked up the win in relief. South Korean right-hander Lim Chang Yong earned his first save in Japan.

Pacific League

Eagles 7, Fighters 2

At Kleenex Stadium, Masahiro Tanaka pitched a complete game yielding just four hits to win his first decision of the season as Tohoku Rakuten rallied in a rout of Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

Tanaka (1-0) struck out six and walked one in a 111-pitch outing. He surrendered a two-run homer to Fighters newcomer Terrmel Sledge in the first but was otherwise flawless.

Tied 2-2, Teppei Tsuchiya had a tiebreaking RBI double as the Eagles capitalized on two errors by Nippon Ham to score five times in the eighth.

Marines 3, Buffaloes 1

At Chiba Marine Stadium, pinch hitter Saburo Omura had a two-out bases-clearing double to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead as Chiba Lotte rallied in the eighth inning for a win over Orix.

Lions 10, Hawks 4

At Seibu Dome, Kazuhisa Ishii yielded two runs in seven effective innings en route to winning his career 100th decision in Japanese baseball as Seibu pounded Fukuoka Softbank in a come-from-behind victory.

Ishii (2-0) scattered nine hits and struck out five with no walks to win his second straight start and designated hitter Takumi Kuriyama drove in five runs in the 13-hit onslaught.

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