Seems like older times ...

44-year-old Yamamoto shuts down Tigers

Mired in a pitching slump last season Masahiro Yamamoto was banished to the farm team last September.
He resurfaced to make his season debut on Saturday at Nagoya Dome, tossing six innings of one-run ball and leading the Chunichi Dragons to a 4-1 win over the Central League’s second-place Hanshin Tigers. With the victory, he tied 47-year-old Seibu Lions lefty Kimiyasu Kudo’s record of posting a victory over 23 consecutive seasons.
Yamamoto didn’t allow a hit until a one-out single in the fourth inning by Takashi Toritani. The southpaw allowed a run in the sixth before departing, and the bullpen retired nine of 10 to close it out, with Hitoki Iwase collecting his CL-best 30th save. It was the sixth straight season Iwase has record at least 30 saves.
Yamamoto, a 25-year vet, posted his 45th victory over the Tigers and became the player with the longest career after Kudo [in his 29th season] and Katsuya Nomura [who played 26 years].
The second-place Tigers remained a half-game back in the standings.

CARP 8, GIANTS 2
Hiroshima beat up Yomiuri starter Satoshi Fukuda (2-3) for seven straight hits in the second inning to take the first two of a three-game set at Tokyo Dome.
Kenta Kurihara, back after being out injured for two months, returned with a bang, cracking his eighth homer to go with a single to power the Carp past the front-running Giants.

SWALLOWS 10, BAYSTARS 7
Josh Whitesell had a homer, a double and three RBIs to power host Yakult past lowly Yokohama.
Shinichi Takeuchi had three hits and two RBIs, and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama added a pair of hits and drove in two for Yakult.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 8, EAGLES 3
Sho Nakata blasted his seventh homer in 10 games, and Shota Ono led a trio of others with three hits by doubling twice and singling in a run.
Masaru Takeda (9-6) surrendered 10 hits over eight innings, but walked none and fanned 10 to earn the win.

MARINES 4, BUFFALES 0
Yuji Yoshimi (4-5) fired a six-hitter, walking two and fanning eight, for his first shutout (the fourth of his career) since June 19, 2007, as Lotte blanked Orix at Skymark Stadium.
Tadahito Iguchi and Kim Tae Kyun both homered and drove in two runs each for the Marines, who clinched their first series win in three matchups.

LIONS 5, HAWKS 4
Takumi Kuriyama had three hits and two RBIs, and Hiroyuki Nakajima also had three hits and drove in a run to lead Seibu past SoftBank for the second straight night at Seibu Dome.
It was the fifth straight loss for SoftBank.