Southpaw Darrell May tossed a three-hitter for his seventh victory as the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants blanked the Hanshin Tigers 6-0 at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday to snap their losing streak at three.
May struck out 12 batters and walked just one. He did not let a runner past second base en route to his second shutout of the season.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 36 | 30 | 0 | .545 | - |
| Yakult | 31 | 28 | 1 | .525 | 1.5 |
| Chunichi | 32 | 30 | 0 | .5161 | 2.0 |
| Hiroshima | 33 | 31 | 1 | .5156 | 2.0 |
| Yokohama | 28 | 32 | 1 | .467 | 5.0 |
| Hanshin | 27 | 36 | 1 | .429 | 7.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Seibu | 33 | 27 | 3 | .550 | - |
| Daiei | 35 | 30 | 1 | .538 | 0.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 36 | 31 | 1 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Orix | 30 | 28 | 1 | .517 | 2.0 |
| Kintetsu | 29 | 36 | 0 | .446 | 6.5 |
| Lotte | 27 | 38 | 1 | .415 | 8.5 |
Takayuki Shimizu, Yoshinobu Takahashi and Akira Eto belted solo homers off Tigers starter Keiichi Yabu (6-5) as the Giants sent lowly Hanshin to its fourth straight loss.
Swallows vs. Carp -- ppd.
BayStars vs. Dragons -- ppd.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Buffaloes 4, BlueWave 3
Hiroshi Takamura held Orix to three runs over seven innings and picked up his first win since May 21 as Kintetsu defeated the BlueWave at the Osaka Dome.
Trailing Orix 1-0, Yuji Yoshioka smacked a go-ahead RBI single in Kintetsu's four-run sixth inning. Akinori Otsuka worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save.
Fighters 8, Hawks 6
Michihiro Ogasawara, Nigel Wilson and Toshihiro Noguchi each connected for two-run homers as Nippon Ham beat Daiei at the Fukuoka Dome.
Fighters starter Satoru Kanemura gave up five runs on five hits over five innings but picked up the win.
Lions 4, Marines 4 (12)
Tetsuya Kakiuchi nailed a game-tying two-run homer with one out in the top of the ninth inning and both teams failed to score the rest of the way as Seibu and Lotte battled to a draw after 12 innings at Chiba Marine Stadium.
The Lions moved into sole possession of first place in the Pacific.
Hanshin adds Franklin
The Hanshin Tigers have acquired outfielder Micah Franklin from the Nippon Ham Fighters, officials of the Central League team said Tuesday.
Franklin posted a .238 batting average along with 30 homers and 80 RBIs in 131 games last season for the Fighters but with Sherman Obando and Nigel Wilson in the lineup has played in only five games this season.
The Tigers, who released infielder Howard Battle on Tuesday, have been struggling offensively with a league-worst .225 team batting average.
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