Tigers keep paws on 1st ...

6-run innings helps Hanshin chug past Yokohama

The Tigers couldn’t scratch out much over the first six innings on Wednesday night at Koshien Stadium. They tore it up in the seventh.
Kenji Jojima’s RBI single gave the Central League's new front-runners the lead, and they went on to pound out eight hits in a six-run seventh inning that propelled the Tigers to a 6-3 win over last-place the Yokohama BayStars.
The eight straight hits in the inning were one short of the club’s 64-year-old record for knocks in an inning.
CL batting leader Matt Murton had two base-knocks in the frame, and Craig Brazell had a two-run single in the frame for the Tigers, who moved into first the previous day.
Randy Messenger went six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks, while fanning six.
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-8), who held the Tigers to two hits for two-thirds of the game, surrendered six of the eight hits in the seventh to suffer the loss.

GIANTS 7, DRAGONS 4, 11 INNINGS
Hayato Sakamoto took reliever Masafumi Hirai to the upper deck in the outfield seats to emphatically end an extra-inning battle at Tokyo Dome.
It was Sakamoto’s second walk-off homer this season (his 18th overall), and helped the Giants stay a half-game behind Hanshin.
The Dragons, who had won seven straight, hit three solo homers to take a 3-2 lead by the fourth inning, and scratched out a run to tie the score at 4-4 in the seventh. Chunichi’s Motonobu Tanishige became the eighth player, the second catcher, to play in 2,500 games.

SWALLOWS 12, CARP 2
Josh Whitesell doubled three times and drove in five to lead an easy win over Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 4, EAGLES 2
Hidenori Tanoue’s three-run blast capped a four-run second inning, and Tsuyoshi Wada went the minimum to earn his Japan-leading 13th win as SoftBank won at home to stretch its winning streak to nine games.
Wada (13-4) did just enough, allowing two runs on six hits, before getting the hook. Closer Takahiro Mahara finished it out for the 21st time this season, becoming the ninth pitcher to reach 150 saves.

MARINES 9, LIONS 4
Tadahito Iguchi homered and doubled, and three others had two hits each to lead Lotte past host Seibu, which lost its season-long sixth straight.
The injury-depleted Lions also lost shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, who went out of the game after hurting his left shoulder in the seventh inning. He is day to day.

BUFFALOES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Kazuki Kondo (5-6) carried a shutout into the eighth and settled for the win as Orix took down Nippon Ham in the rain at Skymark Stadium for its season-high fifth straight win.