Fired up …

Dragons take down 1st-place Giants

Chunichi ace Kazuki Yoshimi held the first-place Yomiuri Giants down long enough for the Dragons to get into their opponent's bullpen and light a seventh-inning five-run fire.
And Kazuhiro Wada sparked the flames with his 23rd home run, a solo shot that broke a tie in the seventh inning, and the Dragons went on for a 6-3 win at Nagoya Dome.
Yoshimi (8-4) scattered four hits and a walk, while fanning six over seven innings. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.
The third-place Dragons, who are 6.5 games back of the three-time Central League-winning Giants, have beaten Yomiuri seven straight at Nagoya Dome.
“We have to beat the teams above us in order to move up, so I had that on my mind when I took the ball,” said Yoshimi, who worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth.
“I just tried to hang in there and keep the game where it was, and the guys came through with some runs late.”
The Dragons helped the Giants set a franchise record for consecutive games with double digits in hit allowed, stretching the streak to nine with 12 hits off five pitchers.
And it was Wada, who had made four outs in his first two bats by wrapping into a pair of double plays.
“My at-bat, and my second at-bat, I hit into double plays. As a batter, it was the worst thing I could have done,” said Wada, hitting cleanup for the Dragons.
“In my third at-bat, I just wanted to do something to make up for that.”
Michihiro Ogasawara hit a two-run homer in the eighth, but Hitoki Iwase came on in the ninth inning to nail it down for his 25th save.
Yomiuri starter Dicky Gonzalez (3-8) lost his career-worst eighth game before the All-Star break. His previous worst was seven as a Yakult Swallow in 2006.

TIGERS 6, BAYSTARS 5
Pinch-runner Hiroki Uemoto scored all the way from first base on an errant throw to second on his attempted steal, breaking a 5-5 tie and lifting second-place Hanshin past visiting Yokohama.
The BayStars got another homer from June 25 signee Brett Harper, his second, but Hanshin’s Matt Murton doubled three times raised his CL-leading average to .353.
Takahiro Arai went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Swallows and Carp were rained out at Jingu Stadium.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Eiichi Koyano had a two-run homer in a four-first inning that propelled Nippon Ham past Orix at Sapporo Dome in the PL’s only scheduled game.
Shota Ono and Yang Zhang-sho also added RBI hits in the first inning, in support of spot-starter Masao Kida (3-0). The 41-year-old righty went five innings, allowing three hits and a walk and two punchouts.