Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009

HIROSHIMA (Kyodo) Yoshiyuki Kamei hit a three-run homer and Shinnosuke Abe added a grand slam Wednesday as the Yomiuri Giants routed the Hiroshima Carp 16-5 for their fifth straight victory.

Acrobatic play: Eagles second baseman Kensuke Uchimura gets the force out on Nobuhiko Matsunaka at second on a ground ball hit by Hitoshi Tamura in the third inning at Kleenex Stadium on Wednesday. Tohoku Rakuten beat Fukuoka Softbank 5-1. KYODO PHOTO

Kamei's shot to right off Keisuke Imai (0-1), his third home run in four games, put Yomiuri ahead 5-4 in a five-run third inning at Mazda Stadium.

Scott McClain hit a solo homer to pull Hiroshima within 7-5 in the sixth, but Yomiuri blew the game open with a nine-run seventh that included Abe's grand slam.

Hayato Sakamoto went 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs. Alex Ramirez and Takahiro Suzuki also drove in two runs apiece and Tetsuya Matsumoto had four hits in Yomiuri's 23-hit attack.

Shun Tono (5-6) got the win despite giving up five runs in five-plus innings. Hiroshima starting pitcher Imai hit a bases-loaded triple in the second but was chased after three innings.

Tigers 6, Dragons 1

At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, Minoru Iwata pitched his second complete game of the season as Hanshin beat Chunichi to snap a three-game losing streak.

Iwata (2-2) held Chunichi to four hits with nine strikeouts and a walk. The left-hander also helped himself with an RBI single in the fourth after Craig Brazell homered to give Hanshin a 1-0 lead.

Chunichi pulled within 2-1 in the top of the seventh, but Hanshin broke open the game in the bottom half on a two-run double by Tomoaki Kanemoto and a pinch-hit, two-run triple from Kodai Sakurai.

BayStars 4, Swallows 3 (12)

Buffaloes 8, Fighters 2

At Tokyo Dome, Alex Cabrera, Jose Fernandez and Osamu Hamanaka all homered in a seven-run fourth inning, leading Orix past Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

Cabrera and Fernandez each hit two-run homers, Hamanaka added a solo shot and Naoyuki Omura capped the seven-run outburst with a two-run single.

Kazuki Kondo (6-7) threw two-run ball over eight innings. Hideki Sunaga (0-1) gave up four home runs in five innings of work.

Eagles 5, Hawks 1

At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, rookie left-hander Hiromichi Fujiwara pitched seven solid innings and Ryuji Miyade hit a pair of sacrifice flies as Tohoku Rakuten downed Fukuoka Softbank.

Fujiwara (2-3) limited Softbank to one run on four hits. Todd Linden hit a solo home run in the seventh off Kenji Otonari (5-7) and scored twice for Rakuten.

Lions 5, Marines 3 (12)

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