Long time coming ...

Seems like old times

The last time Daisuke Yamai won a game for the Chunichi Dragons, he threw eight perfect innings in the Game 5 clincher of their 2007 Japan Series title run. He hadn’t won a game since.
The righty had his arm and bat working on Tuesday, tossing five-plus strong innings and driving in a pair as the Dragons held off the Yokohama BayStars 5-3 at Yokohama Stadium.
Yamai (1-1) allowed three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out two, and left after walking the leadoff man in the sixth.
“My pitching has been pretty mediocre and I haven’t been able to get results, but I believed this day would come and I just kept working hard,” Yamai said in the on-field postgame interview.
Yamai got knocked around for five runs in 3.2 innings at Jingu in his first start, but bounced back against the BayStars.
“I was awful the last time out and I knew I couldn’t pitch like that again. I really let the fans down, so I wanted to do what I could to get us a victory.”
Yamai sent a dribbler through the infield to score a run with one out in the second inning, and drove a clutch single through the box in the fourth to give Chunichi a 3-1 lead.
“I just swung the bat and it somehow hit the ball. That was a bonus,” Yamai said.
Yamai hadn’t won a regular-season game since Sept. 30, 2007.

TIGERS 5, GIANTS 4
Tomoaki Kanemoto, playing in pain with a bad shoulder, drove a high slider out for a two-run homer in the seventh inning that broke a 3-3 tie, and Hanshin held on to down Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium.
Takahiro Arai also homered for Hanshin to back Atsushi Nomi (2-0), who worked seven innings, allowing four runs --two earned -- to pick up the win.
Kanemoto’s longball was the 444th of his career, tying him with Yomiuri great Shigeo Nagashima.
CARP 3, SWALLOWS 2
Eishin Soyogi singled, stole second and came home to score --on a close play at the plate --on Soichiro Amaya’s single to break a 2-2 tie in the top of eighth inning as Hiroshima got past Yakult at Jingu to halt a seven-game skid.
Aaron Guiel had just tied the score with his CL-best fifth homer in the seventh inning.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

LIONS 3, BUFFALOES 2
The fall of the Buffaloes continued as Takayuki Kishi (2-1) carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hitter as Seibu blanked Orix, which dropped its fourth straight.
Kishi fanned seven with no walks. It was the fourth-year righty’s first one-hitter and the sixth career shutout.

HAWKS 4, MARINES 2
Yuichi Honda’s RBI single in the fifth inning proved to be the difference as host SoftBank snapped Lotte’s four-game winning streak on skipper Koji Akiyama’s 48th birthday.
D.J. Houlton (1-2) allowed two runs over 6.2 innings to earn the win. Munenori Kawasaki and Nobuhiro Matsuda each had three hits for the Hawks.
The Marines the same day sent lefty Yusuke Kawasaki to Hanshin for cash.

EAGLES 3, FIGHTERS 1
Satoshi Nagai (1-2) held Nippon Ham to one run over eight innings, and Ryo Hijirisawa had two hits and an RBI as Rakuten sent the defending PL champions to their third loss in four games.