Fit to be tied ...

Tigers, Dragons show off just how close CL is with draw

The Central League figures to go down to the last pitch, and the Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers gave fans a glimpse of the playoff future in a 2-2 12-inning tie on Thursday at Koshien Stadium.
Moments after Yamato Maeda was caught stealing for the second out in the ninth inning, Shunsuke Fujikawa tripled to center and scored on pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama looping single over the infield to tie the score.
The top two teams in the CL failed to capitalize on their chances in extra innings, finishing the three-game set 1-1-1.
The Tigers ran out of position players in the 10th inning after Craig Brazell was doubled off at first on Ryo Asai’s liner to short. Hanshin skipper Akinobu Mayumi turned to pitcher Ken Nishimura, putting the righty in the outfield.
The pitcher moved back and forth from right to left, depending on Chunichi’s hitters.
The last out in the 12th came with Nishimura at the plate, instead of Brazell, as Takahiro Arai got thrown out trying to steal second.

BAYSTARS 10, GIANTS 7
Jose Castillo had three hits, including his 16th longball, and host Yokohama scored in double digits against Yomiuri for the first time in two years in a win at home.
Seiichi Uchikawa also had three hits, and Brett Harper led three others with two RBIs by hitting a pair of run-scoring singles as the BayStars collected 16 hits.

CARP 9, SWALLOWS 2
Kenta Maeda (13-6) scattered five hits and a walk, while fanning nine to become the CL’s top winner as Hiroshima downed Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Tomonori Maeda’s bases-clearing double in the seventh broke the game open, and seventh-year pro Shogo Kimura hit his first homer in the ninth, a two-run shot.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 5, LIONS 0
Brian Wolfe (3-3) worked seven shutout innings and two relievers finished off a four-hitter as Nippon Ham blanked host Seibu.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano homered twice (to give him 15) and drove in three, and Atsunori Inaba had three hits, including his 16th longball, to back Wolfe.

EAGLES 5, HAWKS 2
Hisashi Kitani (2-4) pitched hitless relief over 1.1 innings and Randy Ruiz had a double and drove in two as Rakuten stifled SoftBank at Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome.