The older, the better ...

45-year-old Yamamoto becomes oldest to throw shutout

The fire still burns in Dragons 45-year-old lefty Masahiro Yamamoto.
He started the season with the farm team, but looks like an ace after tossing a six-hitter to become the oldest hurler to throw a shutout as Chunichi blanked the Yomiuri Giants 3-0 on Saturday at Nagoya Dome.
Intermittent spells of effectiveness have kept the veteran on the farm at times late in his 26-plus years, but the man who throws everything was sharp until the end.
“I’m really happy, but I want to continue to pitch well from here on out,” said Yamamoto, who walked one and fanned four.
“I’m happy I pitched well, but the big thing is that the team got a victory in a big game,” said Yamamoto, whose birthday is Aug. 11.
Yamamoto didn’t get the call to the first team until last month, beating Hanshin on Aug. 7. He is 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in five starts.
The win, Chunichi’s fifth straight, guaranteed the Dragons will hold second place in the Central League through the weekend.
It was Yamamoto’s 30th career shutout, his first since April 27, 2007.
The Dragons have knocked off the Giants eight straight times at Nagoya Dome.

CARP 8, TIGERS 3
Kenta Kurihara’s RBI double gave Hiroshima the lead in the third inning, and Justin Huber’s pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth put the game away as the Carp downed first-place Hanshin.

BAYSTARS 9, SWALLOWS 4
Brett Harper’s sixth-inning RBI single, his second of the game, gave host Yokohama the lead and sparked an eight-run outburst that carried the BayStars past visiting Yakult.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 1, MARINES 0, 12 INNINGS
Yuji Iiyama’s scoring flyball was the game’s only run as Nippon Ham outlasted host Lotte in a sparkling pitching display.
Nippon Ham’s Yu Darvish went eight scoreless, while Chiba’s Hayden Penn tossed 10 shutout innings, both leaving the mound with no decision.

EAGLES 7, LIONS 6
Randy Ruiz capped Rakuten’s biggest ninth-inning comeback with a with an RBI single as the Eagles rallied for five runs -- one off Seibu closer Brian Sikorski (1-3) -- to win at the Kleenex Box.
The Eagles used eight hits and a walk to rally past the PL front runners.

BUFFALOES 12, HAWKS 5
Alex Cabrera homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs as Orix sent SoftBank to its fourth straight loss with a win at Skymark Stadium.