Going the distance …

Takeda shuts down Lions for career-best 11th win

A consistent contributor to Nippon Ham’s three Pacific League titles the past four seasons, Masaru Takeda had never won more than 10 games.
He reached his career-high 11th win on Sunday, shutting down the front-running Seibu Lions over the distance in a 4-1 win at Sapporo Dome.
The fifth-year pro, who has six losses, fired just 89 pitches to set down the Lions, allowing five hits with no walks, while fanning six.
He surrendered just an unearned run in the fourth.
Eiichi Koyano and Tomohiro Nioka each had two-run singles in a four-run first inning as the Fighters won their fourth straight.
Koyano moved into the PL lead for RBIs with 92.

BUFFALOES 5, MARINES 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada cracked his 29th and 30th homers, the latter in a four-run sixth that lifted Orix past Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Keiji Obiki’s single put the Buffaloes up and helped them avoid a sweep.

EAGLES 4, HAWKS 0
Masahiro Tanaka (11-5) scattered 10 hits with no walks and nine Ks to record his first shutout since May 20 last year as Rakuten avoided a sweep to SoftBank at The Kleenex Box.
The Eagles scored three in the first with the help of four walks from Hawks starter Shinsuke Ogura (4-7), who got just two outs, and two errors.

CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 3, TIGERS 0
Hideki Asai (2-1) tossed six scoreless innings, and Hayato Sakamoto continued his best power season, smacking his 24 th homer as host Yomiuri completed a sweep of Hanshin.
The Giants moved to within percentage points of first place, in a virtual tie with the Tigers atop the standings.

SWALLOWS 3, DRAGONS 2
Yashushi Iihara slapped a bases-loaded single to right to cap a two-run, ninth inning off Chunichi closer Hitoki Iwase (1-2) as Yakult rallied to win at Nagoya Dome.
Hiroyasu Tanaka’s dribbler to short against a drawn-in infield tied the score. Lim Chang Yong loaded the bases in the ninth before recording his 26th save.

CARP 6, BAYSTARS 1
Jun Hirose homered and Yuki Saito (3-4) scattered eight hits and two walks as Hiroshima routed Yokohama at The Zoom.