The mighty have fallen ...

Persistent pitching problems push Giants into predicament

The way the Giants’ arms are going, they won’t have a leg to stand on.
Dicky Gonzalez was the latest starter to get knocked around, adding to his career-worst loss total as Chunichi battered the righty and sent the three-time defending Central League champs out of first place with a 10-3 win.
The third-place Dragons, meanwhile, are riding a season-high seven-game winning streak and season-best eight games over .500 after Tuesday’s win in Nagano in the first game after the All-Star break.
Masahiko Morino led a 16-hit attack -- nine coming off Gonzalez -- with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs.
Kazuhiro Wada also had three hits, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had two RBIs for Chunichi, which saw every starter have at least one hit for the first time this season.
The Giants needed four relievers to clean up after Gonzalez (3-9) allowed seven runs in 4.2 innings.
Chunichi starter Chen Wei-yin (9-7) won his second straight start, working eight strong innings. He pitched around nine hits -- including Shinnouske Abe’s CL-best 31st homer -- two walks and a hit batter.
The Hanshin Tigers won to send the Giants out of first place for the first time since May 2. The Dragons are 2.5 back of Hanshin.

TIGERS 3, BAYSTARS 3
Craig Brazell clubbed his CL-best-tying 31st and 32nd homers as Hanshin topped lowly Yokohama at Koshien Stadium and took over the CL lead.
Kenji Jojima also had two RBIs to back Jason Standridge (7-1), who allowed one run on three hits and a walks while fanning 11 over seven innings.

SWALLOWS 7, CARP 3
Kazuhiro Hatakeyama homered twice and doubled to drive in three and power host Yakult past Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 3
Yuichi Honda’s seventh-inning two-run triple off Hisashi Iwakuma (6-6) lifted SoftBank past host Rakuten and pushed the Hawks’ streak to eight games, their longest winning in three years.
The win also moved SoftBank atop the PL standings.

BUFFALOES 6, FIGHTERS 2
Alex Cabrera had four hits, including two doubles, as Orix pounded Nippon Ham at Skymark Stadium.

MARINES 5, LIONS 3
Tomoya Satozaki, Kazuya Fukuura and Shoitsu Omatsu all homered and Bill Murphy (9-2) tossed 6.1 innings of two-run ball as Lotte knocked Seibu out of first with a win at Seibu Dome.