Minoru Iwata went the distance and Tigers catcher Kazunari Tsuruoka drove in five runs in Hanshin's 11-4 trouncing of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in this season's interleague finale.
The Tigers, who lost their previous two games by a combined score of 26-2 over the weekend against the Orix Bufafloes, turned things around against the Fighters, who were knocked out of the interleague lead, and finished second behind the Pacific League rival Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
Tsuruoka, Hanshin's No. 8 hitter, broke the ice in the second inning with a two-run single off Fighters rookie Kohei Arihara (3-2), who allowed a one-out walk and a double to set up Hanshin's rally.
Iwata sacrificed Tsuruoka to second, then he scored on a double by Takashi Toritani.
Tsuruoka also cleared the bases with a three-run double in the Tigers' seven-run fourth inning.
On a rainy night at Hyogo Prefecture's Koshien Stadium, Iwata (5-3) gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out five.
Hanshin improved its interleague record to 10-8, the best among Central League teams, who lost the annual series for the 10th time in 11 seasons.
The PL won this year's series 61-44. Softbank's interleague title was the Hawks' fifth.
League play will resume Friday.
