Monday, June 15, 2009

Records to be broken: A single from Norichika Aoki (left), a grand slam from Aaron Guiel (center) and a double from Yasushi Iishihara (right) helped the Yakult Swallows break the Japanese record for most hits in consecutive at-bats. KYODO PHOTO

OSAKA (Kyodo) The Yakult Swallows set a Japanese baseball record by getting hits in 11 consecutive at-bats during a 10-run fifth inning in their 14-10 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday.

With the game tied 2-2, Norichika Aoki led off the big inning with a single up the middle. The next eight batters all had base hits before a walk to Aoki loaded the bases for Aaron Guiel in interleague play at Kyocera Dome.

Guiel hit a grand slam and Yasushi Iihara followed with a double.

Guiel finished a double shy of the cycle and had six RBIs, while Ikki Shimamura hit a grand slam and a sacrifice fly in Orix's late charge.

Masanori Ishikawa (7-3) allowed three runs in six innings for the win. Akio Shimizu (0-1) took the loss.

The previous record of hits in 10 consecutive at-bats had been shared by the Swallows (1998), the Daiei Hawks (2003) and the Lotte Marines (three days ago against the Hiroshima Carp).

Eagles 9, BayStars 0

Hisashi Iwakuma dug himself out of a rut, pitching six shutout innings en route to winning his first decision in nearly a month as Rakuten blanked Yokohama at Kleenex Stadium.

Iwakuma (6-4), who snapped a three-game losing skid with his first win since May 16, allowed four hits, struck out three and walked two. Daisuke Miura (6-4) took the loss for Yokohama, which dropped its fourth in a row.

Hisanori Nishitani, Takeshi Yamasaki and Akihito Fujii drove in seven runs between them. Nishitani had a squeeze bunt to open the scoring in the third and a two-run single in the fifth. Yamasaki hit a pair of solo homers in the 15-hit onslaught.

Marines 4, Tigers 1

Pinch-hitter Naotaka Takehara hit a two-run triple to break a 1-1 tie and Hiroyuki Kobayashi pitched one-run ball over eight innings as Lotte beat Hanshin for its third consecutive win.

Tomoya Satozaki had a tying solo homer in the fifth inning. After Takehara's triple, Satozaki laid down a squeeze bunt in the eighth at Chiba Marine Stadium.

Kobayashi (1-4) allowed five hits, including Craig Brazell's third home run in as many games for Hanshin, which lost its fifth straight. Jeff Williams (1-1) was charged with the loss.

Dragons 11, Fighters 10

Hirokazu Ibata and Hidenori Kuramoto drove in seven runs between them and Kazuhiro Wada went 4-for-5 with a homer as Chunichi came from behind to beat Nippon Ham for its first win in three games.

Nippon Ham took a 4-0 lead in the first before Chunichi rallied with a three-run second and batted around in a seven-run third, featuring Kuramoto's go-ahead two-run single. Two-run homers by Makoto Kaneko and Yoshio Itoi helped narrow the gap for Nippon Ham.

Yudai Kawai (5-0) allowed six runs — four earned — while walking none in six innings. Hitoki Iwase retired the side in the ninth for his 15th save. Keisaku Itokazu (0-3) got roughed up for 10 runs in 2-2/3 innings at Sapporo Dome.

Carp 4, Lions 4, tie, 12 innings

Hiroshima and Seibu played out a 12-inning tie after both teams' closers failed to get the job done at Seibu Dome.

Pinch-hitter Masafumi Suenaga broke a 3-3 tie with a single off Chikara Onodera in the 10th, only for Yoshihito Ishii to retie the game with a two-out RBI single off Katsuhiro Nagakawa in the bottom half of the inning.

Go Kida hit a solo homer for Hiroshima in the fourth. Seibu squandered a bases-loaded opportunity with none out in the 12th.

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