Lions let out roar ...

Uemoto hits walk-off jack to lift Seibu, snap skid

Tatsuyuki Uemoto doesn’t get much playing time. The 79 games he has been in this represent his career high.
The backup catcher had different kind of career “high” on Sunday, slugging a walk-off homer to bring the Seibu Lions from the brink of defeat to a thrilling 5-3 victory over the Rakuten Eagles at Seibu Dome.
Uemoto, who had four homers last year, matched his 2010 total with a three-run shot off Shinichiro Koyama (3-3).
It was his second sayonara hit, but his first walk-off homer and it halted a seven-game slide.
“I have a feeling this game will be a turning point for us,” said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe, whose third-place Lions were in first before the skid.


HAWKS 2, MARINES 1
In what looks like it will be a Climax Series preview, SoftBank showed off its shutdown bullpen, protecting a one-run lead over four innings to edge visiting Lotte.
Five of the Hawks’ 10 hits were infield singles -- two of them from Hitoshi Tamura, who beat out a roller to short for an RBI in the fourth that put SoftBank on top.
Takahiro Mahara finished it off for his 28th save.

BUFFALOES 9, FIGHTERS 6
Makoto Moriyama snapped an eighth-inning tie with his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and Mitsutaka Goto followed with a triple as Orix rallied for three late runs to beat Nippon Ham at Kyocera Dome Osaka.
Alex Cabrera had four hits to raise his average to .340, inching to two points behind PL batting leader Kensuke Tanaka (.342) of Nippon Ham.

CENTRAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 12, CARP 11
Hisayoshi Chono had three hits and two RBIs, and Alex Ramirez had three hits and a run batted in as Yomiuri piled on the runs and held off host Hiroshima.
Michihiro “Guts” Ogasawara hit his 29th longball to lead three others with two hits and two RBIs.
Micheal Nakamura relieved closer Marc Kroon in the ninth and earned his first CL save, his last one was Sept. 27, 2008, with the Nippon Ham Fighters.

BAYSTARS 2, DRAGONS 1
Tomokazu Oka (5-7) scattered eight hits over seven innings as Yokohama edged visiting Chunichi.
The Dragons had 10 hits, but hit into a pair of late-inning double plays to spoil their scoring chances.

TIGERS 12, SWALLOWS 5
Takashi Toritani went 4-for-5 with a homer and five RBIs, and Kenji Jojima went deep twice as Hanshin tore up Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Craig Brazell cracked his 38th homer, one of 20 Hanshin hits, to move three shy of the CL lead.