1-2 punch ...

Yamai, Fujii lead 2nd-place Dragons past 1-st-place Tigers

Two players who haven’t been consistent contributors were as steady as could be on Wednesday at Skymark Stadium.
Daisuke Yamai (7-4) scattered eight hits -- with no walks -- with a career-high 11 strikeouts, while Atsushi Fujii had his first career five-hit game as Chunichi routed the Central League's front-running Hanshin Tigers 10-1 at Skymark Stadium.
Chunichi, which went a season-high 14 games over .500 and moved a half-game behind the Tigers, also got three hits and two runs from leadoff man Masahiro Araki.
The three-game showdown between the CL’s top two teams is tied at a game apiece, and the Dragons can leave the Kansai area in first place with a win Thursday.
The Dragons, a night after being shut out 1-0, rocked Randy Messenger (4-5) for five runs in the first inning.
Araki and stole second and the Dragons loaded the bases with one out for No. 5 man Tony Blanco. The Dominican singled in a pair and after an error allowed two runs to score, Fujii capped the rally with an RBI double.
Messenger got the instant thumb when he plunked Masahiko Morino in the head in the second inning, and Morino homered with a man aboard in the fourth.
Hanshin’s Craig Brazell smacked his 42nd homer, a solo shot that tied him with Yomiuri’s Alex Ramirez for the league lead and accounted for Hanshin’s run.
The Giants and BayStars were washed out at Yokohama, while the Swallows and Carp game at Jingu was called early in the afternoon because of a typhoon.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
HAWKS 5, EAGLES 0
Tsuyoshi Wada, who had lost three straight starts, finally earned his career-high 15th win by scattering five hits and a walk over eight innings as SoftBank blanked Rakuten.
Hitoshi Tamura belted a pair of homers, his 25th and 26th, and drove in four in support of Wada (15-8), who fanned seven for his first win since Aug. 11.

LIONS 8, FIGHTERS 3
Kazuhisa Ishii (9-4) lasted six innings, allowing two runs, and Jose Fernandez sparked a five-run outburst in the fourth with his seventh homer as Seibu topped Nippon Ham to keep pace with SoftBank.

BUFFALOES 6, MARINES 2
Alex Cabrera’s two-run homer highlighted a four-run third, and Hiroshi Kisanuki (10-10) went the distance to notch double digits in wins for the first time in three season as Orix topped Lotte at Kyocera Dome Osaka.