With a little extra ...

Dragons win back-to-back, extra-inning walk-offs

Masahiko Morino was having a day to forget, and the Dragons looked like they couldn’t remember how to hit.
Morino had left six runners on base before an error and an intentional walk put the cleanup man with a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Morino, who benefitted from a drawn-in outfield, gave the Dragons a 3-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp at Nagoya Dome for their fourth straight win and 10th walk-off this season.
Chunichi skipper Hiromitsu Ochiai told Morino a hit meant the Dragons wouldn’t have to practice on Monday.
“I guess he really didn’t want to practice tomorrow,” the manager quipped about Morino, who was 1-for-9 in the series before getting the game-winning hit.
Righty set-up man Takuya Asao (8-3) picked up his career-best eighth win with a scoreless 10th, working around an error by shortstop Masahiro Araki.
Araki, though, didn’t get much help from first baseman Ryota Arai, whose footwork on a throw wide of the bag left a lot to be desired. In fact, Ochiai yanked the fifth-year infielder -- who let a ball through his legs in the second to allow both Carp runs, from the game at that point -- later saying he has to work on his defense.

BAYSSTARS 5, GIANTS 1
Tomokazu Oka (4-6) limited Yomiuri to a run on four hits and two walks over 7.2 innings, and Shun Yamaguchi fanned all four batters he faced to nail down the save as the BayStars topped the Giants to avoid a sweep at Tokyo Dome.
Yamaguchi whiffed Michihiro Ogasawara, Alex Ramirez, Yoshinobu Takahashi and recently hot Edgar Gonzalez to close it out.

TIGERS 9, SWALLOWS 5
Tomoaki Kanemoto had three hits and three RBIs as Hanshin won the rubber game of a three-game set at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Takayama belted homers in back-to-back trips to the plate for the first time in nine seasons to give him six longballs, and Fumiya Nishiguchi (2-2), in his first start since June 1, tossed six scoreless as Seibu topped host Orix.
Nishiguchi extended his Japan pro baseball record, making his 85th consecutive start without going the distance.

MARINES 6, EAGLES 3
Toshiaki Imae’s three-run walk-off homer lifted host Lotte over Rakuten as the Marines kept pace with first-place Seibu.

FIGHTERS 9, HAWKS 5
Eiichi Koyano sparked a five-run sixth with his career-best 12th homer, a two-run shot, and Yoshio Itoi added a go-ahead RBI double as Nippon Ham added late runs to win going away over host SoftBank.