Not golden just yet …

Iwase’s celebration put on hold

Chunichi Dragons closer Hitoki Iwase was all set up on Monday to notch his career 250th save. Then he started pitching.
Four hits and a walk later, the Seibu Lions had come from two runs down to top the Dragons 4-3 in interleague play at Nagoya Dome.
Hisahi Takayama tied it with a bases-loaded single, and Yoshihito Ishii’s RBI base knock put the Lions ahead.
Brian Sikorski allowed a two-out single before nailing down his 20th save with a scoreless ninth as Seibu swept the two-game set in Nagoya.
With his next save, Iwase will enter the Golden Players club, for pitchers with 200 wins or 250 saves, and players with at least 2,000 hits.
It was the first time Iwase (0-1) had allowed three runs in an outing since last April 25, and his first loss of the season.
Yudai Kawai worked seven scoreless innings, but the bullpen let him down. Takuya Asao allowed a solo homer in the eighth before Iwase’s meltdown in the ninth.
The Lions moved into first place in the interleague standings, a half-game ahead of the Rakuten Eagles.

GIANTS 1, EAGLES 0, 10 innings
Michihiro Ogasawara’s scoring flyball with the bases loaded in the 10th inning gave Yomiuri a hard-fought, walk-off victory over Rakuten at Tokyo Dome.
Marc Kroon (1-0) tossed a 1-2-3 10th inning to earn the win.

BUFFALOES 21, CARP 10
Hirotoshi Goto went 4-for-6 with two homers to lead a 25-hit attack as Orix posted its highest run total in team history in a rout of host Hiroshima.
Goto led three players with four RBIs and hit the franchise’s 7,500th longball. Tomotaka Sakaguchi went 5-for-7 for the Buffaloes, who combined with the Carp to bang out 43 hits.
The Buffaloes strung together a Japan-record 10 straight hits in the sixth inning.

MARINES 14, SWALLOWS 2
Kim Kyung Tae hit his 15th longball -- a grand slam that highlighted a 10-run seventh inning as Lotte crushed Yakult at Jingu.
The Marines put together a Japan-record 10 straight hits in the seventh.
Bill Murphy (5-0) allowed two runs over six innings to get the victory and become the first foreign pitcher in club history to win his first five decisions without a loss.

FIGHTERS 13, BAYSTARS 3
Shinya Tsuruoka was a triple shy of the cycle in his first pro four-hit game, and Eiichi Koyano homered and doubled to drive in three as Nippon Ham downed host Yokohama.
Righty Bobby Keppel (7-1) scattered six hits and a walk over seven innings for his team-high seventh win.

HAWKS 3, TIGERS 3, 12 innings
Yuya Hasegawa hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to help the Hawks tie the score as SoftBank and Hanshin played to a tie at Koshien Stadium.