Giant fall ...

Yomiuri continues to fall

Maybe it was appropriate that Yomiuri Giants starter got the boot for a dangerous pitch, since the Giants are moving dangerously close to missing the playoffs.
Shun Tono got the thumb after hitting Naomichi Donoue in the head in the second inning, and the Chunichi Dragons ended up with their third three-game sweep over the Giants at Nagoya Dome with a 3-1 decision on Sunday.
The three-time defending Central League champion Giants are still 4.5 games ahead of the Yakult Swallows, but they’ve dropped six of seven (with a tie thrown in), and are 9-15 against the second-place Dragons.
The Giants have lost a franchise-worst nine straight at Nagoya Dome.
They scored a combined three runs in the series, Ken Nakata (5-3) finishing off another dominant performance by a Chunichi starter. He worked eight innings, allowing a run on five hits with one walk, while punching out six as the Dragons won their fifth straight.
Takuya Asao got one out in the ninth to set a Nippon Pro Baseball record by notching a hold in his 21st straight outing. Hitoki Iwase got the final two outs for his 37th save.
The Giants, who led the CL most of the first half, fell 2.5 games behind the Dragons and trail the first-place Hanshin Tigers by three games.
Tono (12-8) has lost his last five decisions as the Giants set a single-season club record for losses at an opposing venue with their 10th.
The Dragons lead the league with 69 wins, but have lost 54 and have 19 games to play. The Giants have 23 games left, while Hansin has 26.

TIGERS 11, CARP 5
Craig Brazell slugged his 40th homer, one off the CL lead, and Takumi Akiyama (2-1) earned his second pro win with a quality start of three runs allowed in 6.1 innings as Hanshin won at The Zoom.
Takashi Toritani had four of Hanshin’s 20 hits, including an RBI triple and three RBIs.

SWALLOWS 6, BAYSTARS 6, 12 INNINGS
Yakult's Ryuji Aikawa’s scoring flyball off Yokohama Shun Yamaguchi tied the score in the ninth and it stayed that way until the inning limit ended things after five hours and nine minutes at Yokohama.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
LIONS 6, EAGLES 5
Takeya “Okawarai-kun” Nakamura slugged a solo blast in the top of the ninth, his third homer in as many games, as Seibu fought past Rakuten at the Kleenex Box.

MARINES 5, FIGHTERS 1
Bryan Corey (3-3) worked five sharp innings and Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled twice and drove in a pair as Lotte downed Nippon Ham at Chiba Marine Stadium.

HAWKS 4, BUFFALOES 2, 10 INNINGS
Nobuhiro Matsuda tied the score with his 18th homer, a solo shot in the seventh, and Hiroki Kokubo delivered an RBI go-ahead double in the 10th to lift SoftBank past Orix at Skymark Stadium