NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. – Kentaro Sekimoto went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and five RBIs and Yuya Ando threw his second complete game of the season, leading the Hanshin Tigers to a 7-1 rout of the Chunichi Dragons on Friday.
Sekimoto capped a two-run first inning with an RBI single and extended Hanshin’s lead to 6-0 in the fifth when he connected off Kenshin Kawakami (7-5) for his first career bases-loaded homer in the Central League game at Koshien Stadium.
Ando (9-5) allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked none. The right-hander had a shutout until Masaumi Shimizu hit a run-scoring single with no outs in the eighth.
Hanshin scored the first run of the game on an error by right fielder Masahiko Morino, who made an errant throw to third base when Keiichi Hirano tried to get there from first on a single by Takashi Toritani.
Giants 3, Swallows 2
At Tokyo Dome, pinch hitter Yoshitomo Tani singled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Yomiuri rallied to beat Tokyo Yakult to move a season-high seven games above .500.
Trailing 2-1, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs on two hits and a walk. One out later, Yakult closer Lim Chang Yong (1-4) hit Shinnosuke Abe with a pitch, followed by Tani’s hit up the middle.
Yakult starter Shohei Tateyama limited Yomiuri to two hits over eight innings with 11 strikeouts. Daisuke Ochi (1-2) threw a scoreless ninth to earn his first career win.
BayStars 4, Carp 3
At Hiroshima Stadium, Shuichi Murata broke a 3-3 tie with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly and Yokohama held on to down the Carp.
Yuki Yoshimura tied the game at 3-3 in the third for Yokohama with a two-run shot — his fifth home run in as many games — before Murata drove in the go-ahead run.
Mike Wood (2-9) allowed three runs in five innings before the Yokohama bullpen held Hiroshima scoreless the rest of the way. Kenta Maeda (2-1) took the loss, allowing four runs in six innings.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Fighters 2, Lions 1
At Sapporo Dome, Eiichi Koyano homered and drove in two runs to back a solid pitching performance by Kazuhito Tadano as Hokkaido Nippon Ham ended Pacific League leader Saitama Seibu’s winning streak at three games.
Koyano opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the second inning and broke a sixth-inning tie with an RBI single off Kazuyuki Hoashi (9-3).
Tadano (6-3) held the hot-hitting Lions to one run and three hits over seven innings and Micheal Nakamura pitched the ninth for his 18th save of the season, helping second-place Nippon Ham narrow its gap on Seibu to 3 1/2 games.
Hawks 14, Marines 0
At Fukuoka’s Yahoo Dome, Hiroki Kokubo homered twice and drove in five runs on a 4-for-4 night and Kenji Otonari pitched his second complete-game shutout of the season as Softbank romped over Chiba Lotte.
Kokubo keyed a five-run fourth inning with a two-run homer and added a three-run shot in the sixth as the Hawks added five runs to make it 10-0. Takeshi Tsuji and Kenji Akashi hit back-to-back RBI doubles in a four-run seventh.
Kenta Nakanishi, Munenori Kawasaki and Nobuhiko Matsunaka also had RBI hits in a 17-hit attack, providing run support for Otonari (9-7), who held the Marines to three hits while striking out four and walking none.
Buffaloes 8, Eagles 1
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