Thursday, April 30, 2009

SENDAI (AP) Masahiro Tanaka pitched his fourth complete game in as many starts this season as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles edged the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 2-1 on Wednesday to give Katsuya Nomura his 1,500th career win as a manager.

In good hands: Tohoku Rakuten manager Katsuya Nomura receives a game ball from starter Masahiro Tanaka after winning his 1,500th game as a manager on Wednesday. KYODO PHOTO

Tanaka (4-0) struck out 11 and allowed just four hits with a walk, helping Rakuten move into a share of the Pacific League lead with Nippon Ham and the Orix Buffaloes.

"I pitched for the manager's 1,500th victory today, not for my complete-game streak," the 20-year-old right-hander said. "I know I need to keep improving as a pitcher. I want to continue to get wins."

Rakuten built a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Daisuke Kusano in the second inning and Fernando Seguignol in the sixth at Kleenex Stadium.

Terrmel Sledge homered to pull Nippon Ham within a run in the seventh, but the Fighters never got a runner in scoring position after that.

Nomura ranks fifth on the all-time list for wins by a manager. The late Kazuto Tsuruoka tops the list with 1,773.

Buffaloes 5, Marines 3

At Chiba Marine Stadium, Chihiro Kaneko took a shutout into the ninth inning against Chiba Lotte and led Orix to a share of first place, despite surrendering a three-run homer by Gary Burnham Jr. in a late scare.

Kaneko (2-2) allowed six hits and walked three in 8 1/3 innings. He yielded a one-out single by Tasuku Hashimoto and a walk to Saburo Omura to put runners at first and second in the ninth before Burnham connected to right-center for his first homer in Japan.

Takeshi Hidaka had an RBI double and a run-scoring single among his three hits as Orix took a 3-0 lead through the fourth against Shunsuke Watanabe (0-3). Keiji Obiki and Greg LaRocca hit back-to-back solo homers in the seventh.

Lions 7, Hawks 2

At Seibu Dome, Hiram Bocachica hit a pair of solo homers and Kazuhisa Ishii threw six-plus solid innings, leading Seibu over Fukuoka Softbank.

Bocachica connected off D.J. Houlton (2-1) in the third and fifth innings before Hiroshi Shibahara's pinch-hit RBI single pulled Softbank within 2-1 in the top of the seventh.

Seibu broke the game open by scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh that featured a two-run double from Yasuyuki Kataoka, followed by Takumi Kuriyama's two-run home run.

Ishii (1-2) carried a no-hitter until Munenori Kawasaki had a two-out double in the sixth. The veteran left-hander allowed one run and two hits.

Carp 2, Giants 0

At Mazda Stadium, Yuki Saito combined with four relievers on a four-hit shutout as Hiroshima completed a three-game sweep of Yomiuri.

Saito (2-1) allowed all four hits, all singles, struck out five and walked three in five innings. Katsuhiro Nagakawa pitched a perfect ninth to pick up his eighth save. Shun Tono (2-1) took the loss.

Akihiro Higashide broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the fifth and Masato Akamatsu added a run-scoring single in the seventh.

BayStars 7, Tigers 4

At Koshien Stadium, Shuichi Murata and Yuki Yoshimura drove in three runs apiece as Yokohama beat Hanshin.

Murata had a two-run double and Yoshimura added a bases-loaded triple in a six-run third inning that put Yokohama up 6-1. Murata also hit his first home run of the season in the eighth.

Swallows 7, Dragons 1

At Nagoya Dome, Shohei Tateyama threw one-run ball over the distance for his first complete-game victory in four years, leading the way in Tokyo Yakult's rout of Chunichi.

We welcome your opinions. Click to send a message to the editor.