No lucky 'Stars ...

Giants have the edge

Obana vs. the Giants. Or students vs. former teacher. Either way you look at, Yomiuri’s former pitching coach sat across from the Giants on Tuesday for the first time as manager. And Takao Obana’s BayStars faded in the end, a 4-3 loss.
The team of Obana former charges the past four years did just enough to keep the BayStars from winning their home opener, with Marc Kroon shutting the door in the ninth after a walk, a stolen base and an infield single put the winning runs on.
Kroon induced a game-ending groundout to short from Seiichi Uchikawa, a one-time batting champ, to close it out.
Jose Castillo had put the BayStars up 3-1 with a three-run shot in the seventh, but the BayStars couldn’t hold the lead.
Hayato Sakamoto’s sacrifice fly scored Takahiro Suzuki with the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth after the Giants rallied to tie things up at 3-3 in the eighth.
“Everyone did a great job to create that scoring chance, so I wanted to at least get the minimum done and drive the run home from third,” said Sakamoto, who added that he no thoughts about the Giants’ former pitching coach.
“None at all because it’s one team vs. another team, so personally, I wasn’t thinking about [Obana],” he said.
Said Obana:“The Giants weren’t cruising out there, our players battled hard.”

SWALLOWS 5, DRAGONS 2
Norichika Aoki and Atsushi Fujimoto each had two hits and two RBIs as Yakult downed Chunichi at Jingu Stadium.
Rookie Masato Nakazawa earned the win in his first pro start, going 5.1 innings and holding the Dragons to two runs on Tony Blanco’s first longball this season.

TIGERS 6, CARP 3
Matt Murton had four of Hanshin’s 16 hits, including his first homer in Japan, and Atsushi Nomi (1-0) held Hiroshima to three runs, two earned, over seven innings as the visiting Tigers won at the Zoom (Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium).

PACIFIC LEAGUE

BUFFALOES 8, FIGHTERS 4
Shogo Akada capped a five-run second inning with a bases-clearing double, and Takahiro Okada had three hits, including a homer, as visiting Orix beat Hokkaido Nippon Ham at Tokyo Dome.
The Fighters have lost three straight (including a tie), while the Buffaloes are 6-1 and atop the PL standings.

LIONS 3, HAWKS 2
Hiroyuki Nakajima had two hits and two RBIs, and Takayuki Kishi (1-1) allowed two runs on two hits and four walks as Seibu topped Lotte at Seibu Dome.
G.G. Sato clubbed his first homer and Brian Sikorski collected his third save in four chances with a perfect ninth.

MARINES 6, EAGLES 1
Takashi Ogino had three hits and Shoitsu Omatsu drove in a pair with a double as Lotte took down Rakuten at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Yuki Karakawa (2-0) took a shutout into the ninth inning before leaving after 8.1 innings. He allowed two hits and fanned nine to help the Marines win their fifth straight.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, activated earlier in the day, earned his first pro save in the ninth.