Night of a lifetime …

Suzuki’s rare show of power lifts Buffaloes

Unexpected is the one way to put Fumihiro Suzuki’s six-RBI game. Unheard of might better describe it.
The part-timer had a career night with his first four-hit game -- going 4-for-4 with a three-run homer and three doubles -- and a half-dozen RBIs to power the Orix Buffaloes past the struggling Nippon Ham Fighters 8-4 at Kyocera Dome on Wednesday.
Suzuki hadn’t hit a longball in since March 30, 2003, and had 36 RBIs in 12-plus seasons as a pro.
He had about three season’s worth of production against the Pacific League’s last-place Fighters, who have lost seven of eight.
“I thought they wouldn’t be able to run it down,” Suzuki said of the moment he connected on his homer, which gave the Buffaloes a 6-4 lead. “All four hits were lucky,” said the catcher, who turns 35 next month. “I haven’t been able to put up any numbers on offense, but since camp this year I’ve been doing well.
“I’m glad I had good results today, but this is a little too much,” he said about having four extra-base hits.
The win gave Orix a three-game winning streak.
MARINES 6, EAGLES 0
Kazuya Fukuura had three hits and an RBI, and Shingo Ono (3-0) worked five scoreless innings before four Lotte followed to complete a five-hit shutout of Rakuten.

HAWKS 7, LIONS 1
Yuichi Honda’s bases-clearing triple in the eighth keyed a rally that broke open a tight game as SoftBank topped Seibu in the rain.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

GIANTS 4, BAYSTARS 2
Michihiro Ogasawara went 4-for-4 with a solo blast and an RBI single as Yomiuri beat Yokohama a second straight night.
Ogasawara upped his average to .372.
CARP 2, TIGERS 1
Jun Hirose’s RBI single tied the score in the seventh, and Tetsuya Kokubo’s solo shot in the top of the ninth was the difference as Hiroshima edged Hanshin at Koshien Stadium.

SWALLOWS 2, DRAGONS 2, 12 innings
Chunichi’s Kazuhiro Wada’s two-run homer in the seventh inning matched Yakult’s Jamie D’Antona, who slugged a two-run shot in the second, as the teams played to a tie at Nagoya Dome.