Coach, closer down but Giants win 3rd straight
The Yomiuri Giants put aside thoughts of their ill coach and edged the Hiroshima Carp 6-5 at the Zoom on Saturday.
Base running and infield coach Takuya Kimura, who fell ill Friday with a brain hemorrhage and remained unconscious in a Hiroshima hospital while the Giants took on the Carp. He was listed in serious condition.
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Mike Schultz (0-1) in the ninth inning, and Hayato Sakamoto, who had three hits, scored on Michihiro Ogasawara’s groundout to give the Giants a 6-4 lead.
Righty stopper Marc Kroon threw one pitch before having to leave with an injury to the thumb on his pitching hand, but offseason pickup Masahide Kobayashi got the final three outs to post his first Central League save as the Giants rallied to beat the Carp.
It was Kobayashi’s first save in Japan since he closed a game for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Oct. 5, 2007.
Set-up man-turned-starter Tetsuya Yamaguchi had a rough debut for the Giants. He allowed four runs on six hits in 3.1 innings before being lifted.
Hiroshima is winless at the Zoom this season in four games. The Giants have won three straight.
DRAGONS 3, TIGERS 2
Chen Wei-yin kept the score close and hot-starting Kazuhiro Wada gave the Dragons a victory with a walk-off sacrifice fly as Chunichi won its third straight.
Takuya Asao (1-0) earned the victory with two scoreless innings after Chen held Hanshin to two runs on three hits and a walk with five Ks over seven frames.
SWALLOWS 13, BAYSTARS 12
Norichika Aoki homered twice and drove in four, and pinch-hitter Ryohei Kawamoto hit a walk-off two-run homer in the ninth as Yakult outslugged Yokohama at Jingu Stadium.
The BayStars, who outhit the Swallows 22-16, couldn’t get the final three outs as closer Shun Yamaguchi (0-2), who came on in the eighth, gave up two longballs in 1.2 innings to lose it.
The Birds are in sole possession of first place in the CL for the firt time in four years.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
MARINES 10, BUFFALOES 4
Kim Tae Kim was a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs, and Lotte sent 13 men to the plate in a seven-run fourth inning that lifted it past Orix at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
The victory gave the Marines the series win, their fourth to open the season to match the 1969 club. The Marines moved into sole possession of first place for the first time since July 5, 2007.
FIGHTERS 2, LIONS 1
Yu Darvish (1-1) fired eight strong innings and Kensuke Tanaka’s solo blast in the third inning was the difference as Nippon Ham stopped its five-game skid with a win over Seibu at Sapporo Dome.
HAWKS 10, EAGLES 4
Jose Ortiz knocked home the go-ahead run in the seventh and Hiroki Kokubo followed with a two-run shot as SoftBank came back to beat Rakuten at Kleenex Stadium Miyagi. Marty Brown extended his Japan pro baseball record with his ninth ejection.
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