SENDAI – Shinya Nakayama carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Tomotaka Sakaguchi went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and the Orix Buffaloes continued their hot streak with a 9-1 rout of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles for their ninth straight on Wednesday night.
Nakayama issued a pair of walks and hit a batter with a pitch but kept the Eagles hitless before allowing a one-out double to Akihisa Makida in the eighth, followed by Ryo Hijirisawa’s run-scoring single with two outs at Kleenex Stadium.
Sakaguchi had an RBI single when Orix batted around in a five-run second and added a run-scoring single in the fourth before putting the game out of reach with a bases-clearing triple in the eighth.
The Buffaloes have won nine straight for the first time in 14 seasons.
Marines 2, Lions 0
At Tokorozawa’s Seibu Dome, Yuki Karakawa pitched seven scoreless innings, leading the way for Chiba Lotte to snap a six-game losing skid with a win over the Lions.
Karakawa (9-5) allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked two, digging himself in and out of trouble along the way.
Yasuhiko Yabuta picked up his 26th save. Hideaki Wakui (6-11) matched a career worst with his 11th loss of the season.
Hawks 7, Fighters 4
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Swallows 4, BayStars 0
At Yokohama Stadium, Katsuki Akagawa (2-1) threw seven shutout innings and Kazuhiro Hatakeyama hit a two-run single as CL leader Yakult blanked last-place Yokohama.
Hatakeyama drove in runners from second and third off Yuki Kuniyoshi (0-2) in the first inning and Ryoji Aikawa and Yasushi Iihara added an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the sixth and eighth, respectively.
Tigers 5, Carp 1
Dragons 3, Giants 2
Marlins shake things up
AP
The Florida Marlins shook up their baseball operations Tuesday by hiring Marty Scott and reassigning Jim Fleming, who has been with the franchise for nine years.
Owner Jeffrey Loria expressed disappointment earlier this season with the state of the Marlins’ minor league system. The team has had little draft success in recent years, especially in the first round.
Scott, who has spent 34 years in professional baseball, replaces Fleming as vice president of player development. Scott was director of player development for the Texas Rangers from 1985 to 1994, and he managed the minor-league Lincoln Saltdogs the past three seasons.
“This is about trying to maybe make things even better than we’ve done it in the past,” president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest said. “Marty Scott will maybe take a different look, a different approach. He has a lot of experience.”
Loria owned the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City from 1989-92.
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