Hidenori Kuramoto, Tyrone Woods and Norihiro Nakamura all homered Tuesday to power the Chunichi Dragons to a 3-1 victory over the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League.
Dragons slugger Tyrone Woods watches his solo homer leave the field in the fourth inning against Yomiuriat Tokyo Dome on Tuesday. Chunichi defeated the Giants 3-1.
KYODO PHOTO
Michihiro Ogasawara put Yomiuri ahead with an RBI single in the first inning but Kuramoto tied it in the second with his shot before Woods’ go-ahead drive in the fourth and Nakamura’s blast in the sixth helped the Dragons take a one-game lead in the league.
Daisuke Yamai (1-2) settled down after a shaky start to work six innings for his first win in two years, allowing two hits and four walks. Hitoki Iwase got his league-leading 33rd save.
Hisanori Takahashi (12-3) took the loss after giving up three hits — all homers — over seven innings as Yomiuri fell a game behind Chunichi. Takahashi struck out seven and walked four.
BayStars 9, Carp 4
At Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, Shuichi Murata hit a three-run homer to cap an eight-run fourth inning. Yokohama sent 12 batters to the plate in the big inning and got RBI hits from Yuki Yoshimura, Hayato Terahara, Toshihisa Nishi and Tatsuhiko Kinjo before Murata’s homer made it 8-0.
Terahara (9-9) threw six innings yielding two runs on seven hits. Yasuhiro Oyamada (0-1) was charged with eight runs, three earned, on six hits and four walks.
Tigers 9, Swallows 7
At Jingu Stadium, pinch-hitter Shinjiro Hiyama hit a grand slam in a five-run fourth inning and Akihiro Yano delivered a go-ahead homer in the fifth as Hanshin came back from seven runs down to beat Tokyo Yakult.
Yakult raced to a seven-run lead after two innings on seven hits, including a two-run homer by Alex Ramirez, a walk and a pair of hit batters but starter Kenichi Matsuoka and its bullpen collapsed.
Fighters 1, Buffaloes 0
At Sapporo Dome, Masaru Takeda and two relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as Pacific League-leading Hokkaido Nippon Ham edged Orix for its first win in three games. Takeda (8-2) held the Buffaloes to three hits with two walks over 7 2/3 innings before Hisashi Takeda got out of a two-on jam in the eighth and Michael Nakamura closed out the ninth to earn his 28th save.
Hawks 6, Lions 0
At Fukuoka’s Yahoo Dome, Tsuyoshi Wada pitched eight shutout innings and Nobuhiko Matsunaka homered to lead off a four-run second inning.
Marines 8, Eagles 3 — late