Recovery length ...

(Still have a sore left arm and hand from beating up on the SUV, but the baseball show must go on. Thank you for well wishes!)

Eagles take down Sugiuchi

Rakuten Eagles No. 2 starter Masahiro Tanaka is down, but second-year import Darrell Rasner is stepping it up.
Rasner, who won just four games in 15 first-team starts last season, notched his third straight quality start, working seven strong innings in a 4-1 home win over the SoftBank Hawkson Tuesday.
Takeshi Yamasaki was 1-for-3 with a double and walked with the bases loaded in the second inning to push across the second run. The Eagles scores another run in the second on an error for a 3-0 lead to back Rasner (3-7).
The former Yankee held SoftBank to four hits and a walk, while fanning four to help the Eagles snap a six-game losing streak to the Hawks.
Hawks starter Toshiya Sugiuchi (11-4) allowed four runs, three earned, over six innings, surrendering eight hits and three walks. He fanned seven to move to 141 and take over the Pacific League lead in punchouts.

MARINES 1, BUFFALOES 0
Bryan Corey (1-2) worked six shutout innings and three relievers finished off Lotte’s lowest hit total allowed in a combined three-hit shutout of Orix at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Corey allowed two hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts to win his first game in Japan since July 6, 2004, when he was with the Yomiuri Giants.
Hard-luck loser Hiroshi Kisanuki (8-6) went the distance, allowing just three hits with four walks and a hit batter.

FIGHTERS 9, LIONS 1
Shinya Tsuruoka had a three-run double and Eiichi Koyano had two hits and three RBIs as Nippon Ham won at Seibu to move into a tie for third place.
It’s the first time the Fighters, who have beaten front-running Seibu four straight, have been in the league’s top three all season.

CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 7, TIGERS 6, 12 INNINGS
Rookie Hisayoshi Chono slugged a three-run homer, his 13th, in the top of the 12th inning in the rain at Koshien Stadium and Marc Kroon barely hung on as Yomiuri edged Hanshin.
The Tigers pounded out 13 hits, making it 12 straight games Giants pitchers have allowed double digits in hits to tie a 60-year-old CL record.

BAYSTARS 4, CARP 3
Recent addition Brett Harper hit a solo blast and added an RBI single as Yokohama held off visiting Hiroshima.

The Dragons and Swallows were rained out.