Flight of the Swallow ...

Yakult keeps streak going on Friday the 13th

The Yakult Swallows are streaking harder than Will Farrell in “Old School.”
Yakult got run-scoring hits from seven players, including a three-run homer from Hiroyasu Tanaka and topped the Hanshin Tigers 9-6 at Kyocera Dome on Friday to win their 10th straight.
It’s the club’s longest winning streak since it won 11 straight in 2002. Proof of how hot the Swallows are: they racked up double figures in hits for a franchise-tying seventh consecutive game.
Josh Whitesell and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama each knocked in first-inning runs, and Tanaka capped a five-run sixth inning with his third longball this year to bury the Tigers, who fell a game back of the front-running Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings.
Shohei Tateyama (6-5), who doubled in a run in the sixth, held the Tigers to three runs over 6.2 innings to earn the victory.

DRAGONS 5, CARP 1
Kazuki Yoshimi (10-6) held Hiroshima to a run on five hits and two walks over seven innings and Chunichi pulled away late to cruise at Nagoya Dome.
Masahiro Araki had two hits and two RBIs, and brothers Naomichi and Takehiro Donoue each had RBIs to pace the Dragons.

GIANTS 8, BAYSTARS 6
Yoshinobu Takahashi, Hayato Sakamoto and Michihiro Ogasawara all hit solo shots and Alex Ramirez had four hits as Yomiuri outlasted visiting Yokohama.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
EAGLES 4, MARINES 0
Second-year righty Darrell Rasner (4-7) enjoyed his best start in Japan, tossing one-hit ball over seven innings as Rakuten blanked Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Akihisa Makida had three hits, including a homer, to back Rasner, who fanned seven.
Kazuya Fukuura had the only hit for the Marines, a one-out single in the seventh.

LIONS 4, BUFFALOES 2
Yasuyuki Kataoka had three hits and an RBI, and Hideaki Wakui (13-6) tossed 6.1 shapr innings as Seibu topped Orix at Seibu Dome to win its sixth straight.

HAWKS 5, FIGHTERS 1
Munenori Kawasaki had three hits and two RBIs and Roberto Petagine homered as SoftBank battered Nippon Ham ace Yu Darvish (10-6) for 11 hits in eight innings to cruise at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.