One shining moment ...

Ishikawa sets club record with 10th straight win

Amid a cloud of reports about a second managerial change this season and a steady rain, the Yakult Swallows were able shine on the field against the Yomiuri Giants.
Masanori Ishikawa (12-8) carried a shutout into the eighth inning, and veteran Shinya Miyamoto had two hits, including his third homer, as the Swallows won 6-4 at Jingu Stadium on Thursday. It was the lefty's club-record 10th straight win.
The day started with club president Tadashi Suzuki addressing reports the club would replace interim manager Junji Ogawa with pitching coach Daisuke Araki.
The team said it would make an announcement soon.
In the meantime, fourth-place Yakult was down 0-2 in a three-game set with second-place Yomiuri. Ishikawa set down the first 11 and had the Giants scoreless on four hits through seven innings.
Jamie D’Antona doubled and scored in the second, and singled home a run in the fifth. Miyamoto hit a two-run shot in the sixth to help build a 6-0 lead as the Swallows snapped a three-game skid.
Shinnosuke Abe belted his 41st homer -- extending his career high -- a two-run shot that brought the Giants to within two at 6-4.
But Lim Chang Yong nailed it down with a perfect ninth for his 30th save and sent the Giants back into third place.

TIGERS 2, BAYSTARS 1
Matt Murton had three hits, including the 191st of the season to tie the club record set in 1950, and scored the tying run in the eighth on Takashi Toritani’s triple as Hanshin rallied to win at Yokohama.
Toritani scored the go-ahead run on Takahiro Arai’s sac fly as the Tigers moved back into second.

CARP 5, DRAGONS 3
Ace Kenta Maeda (14-6) toiled for 153 pitches, working around a career-worst-tying 10 hits to beat Chunichi at The Zoom and halt a five-game skid.
Maeda, who took over the league lead in wins, walked three and fanned seven in his CL-best fifth complete game to snap Chunichi's six-game winning streak.

PACIFIC LEAGUE
FIGHTERS 3, EAGLES 0
Masaru Takeda (13-6) tossed six scoreless innings and Nippon Ham made the best of three hits, scoring all three runs on two hits and two walks in the fifth.

BUFFALOES 7, LIONS 3
Takahiro “T.O.” Okada’s pinch-hit grand slam highlighted a five-run eighth as Orix came back to beat Seibu at Skymark Stadium.
It was Okada’s first career pinch-hit blast and his first slam.

MARINES 3, HAWKS 0
Bryan Corey (4-3) and four relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Tadahito Iguchi each homered as Lotte knocked off SoftBank at Chiba Marine Stadium.