Hear them roar ...

Lions start to take control of PL

Not injuries, mediocre performances, slumps or opponents have been able to keep the Seibu Lions down, and now they’re roaring toward another Pacific League title.
Ace Hideaki Wakui (14-7) held the Lotte Marines to a run on three hits and a walk over seven innings and Hisashi Takayama doubled and singled for three RBIs as the Lions won at home on Saturday.
The Lions drew a season-high 33,920, who watched them pull out a close game and be the first team to talk “magic number,” which was announced today at eight.
Wakui, who hadn’t won since Aug. 13, fanned five and is one win off the league lead.
“I was really hurting the team for the past month,” he said. “I’m just relieved to get a win.”
The Lions, who lead the second-place SoftBank Hawks by 3.5 games, have just 11 games left. The Hawks have 10 games remaining.
Brian Sikorski extended his career-best saves total to 33 with a scoreless ninth.
Takayama doubled in two in the first and had an RBI single in the third, while Jose Fernandez had two hits to drive his average to .314.

FIGHTERS 4, HAWKS 1
Yu Darvish (11-7) helped Nippon Ham inch closer to the third and final playoff spot by fanning 12 Hawks in a win at Yahoo! Japan Dome.
PL RBI leader Eiichi Koyano’s fourth-inning solo blast was the difference for Darvish, who scattered six hits and walked one over the distance.

EAGLES 5, BUFFALOES 1
Hisashi Iwakuma (10-8) shut down Orix on five hits and two walks over eight innings, and Motohiro Shima doubled home two runs in the fourth that prove to be the difference in a win at The Kleenex Box.

CENTRAL LEAGUE
DRAGONS 7, BAYSTARS 2
Tony Blanco had his second 4-for-4 game in Japan -- about two weeks after his first -- and homered twice in one game at Nagoya Dome for the first time to drive in four and lead Chunichi past Yokohama.
Masahiro Yamamoto (5-0) worked 5.2 innings, pitching around right hits and two walks for the win. It was his 210th win, putting him in sole possession of 19th on the all-time list.
The Dragons won their eighth game this month and increased their lead in the CL to 1.5 games over Hanshin by moving a season-high 16 games over .500.

GIANTS 11, CARP 6
Alex Ramirez went 4-for-4 with a season-high five RBIs, and Shinnosuke Abe hit a grand slam, his 40th homer, to put the game out of reach in the seventh inning as Yomiuri bombarded Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.
Abe became just the third catcher in NPB history to have at least 40 homers in a season, joining Katsuya Nomura and Koichi Tabuchi.

SWALLOWS 3, TIGERS 2
Josh Whitesell’s two-run shot in the seventh capped a three-run uprising off Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (3-3) as Yakult won at Koshien Stadium.