Yomiuri slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara celebrated his return to the team Friday night, smashing a pinch-hit three-run homer in the seventh inning as the Giants triumphed over the Chunichi Dragons 9-1 at the Tokyo Dome.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 42 | 31 | 0 | .575 | - |
| Yakult | 33 | 32 | 1 | .508 | 5.0 |
| Chunichi | 35 | 34 | 0 | .507 | 5.0 |
| Hiroshima | 36 | 36 | 1 | .500 | 5.5 |
| Yokohama | 31 | 36 | 1 | .463 | 8.0 |
| Hanshin | 31 | 39 | 1 | .443 | 9.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Orix | 36 | 30 | 1 | .545 | - |
| Daiei | 38 | 32 | 2 | .543 | - |
| Seibu | 36 | 31 | 3 | .537 | 0.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 37 | 37 | 1 | .500 | 3.0 |
| Kintetsu | 32 | 40 | 1 | .444 | 7.0 |
| Lotte | 31 | 40 | 2 | .437 | 7.5 |
Kiyohara had played on the farm team since May 24 after suffering a hamstring injury.
Akira Etoh doubled in the opening run in a three-run third and Yoshinobu Takahashi belted a three-run homer off Chunichi starter Melvin Bunch (7-5) in the fifth.
Giants starter Kimiyasu Kudo (9-3), recovering from a calf injury, gave up a run on six hits and struck out nine over seven innings in his first game since June 24.
BayStars 3, Carp 0
Satoru Komiyama hurled a five-hit shutout over the distance for his first win in a month and seventh this season as Yokohama beat Hiroshima at Hiroshima Stadium.
Takanori Suzuki nailed a two-run homer in the third inning and Takahiro Saeki hit an RBI single in the fifth.
Tigers at Swallows -- ppd.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
BlueWave 8, Buffaloes 1
Yasuo Fujii hammered a two-run homer and Jonathan Nunnally and George Arias each hit solo shots, all off Kintetsu starter Kazuya Tabata (3-3) in the fifth inning, as Orix downed the Buffaloes at Kobe Green Stadium. Takeshi Hidaka also had a two-run homer in the fourth for Orix.
Orix starter Hidetaka Kawagoe allowed a run on six hits over 7 2/3 innings for his eighth win.
Lotte's Bolick fined
Lotte Marines infielder Frank Bolick on Friday received a warning and was fined 50,000 yen by the Pacific League for verbally abusing an umpire during Thursday's game against the Daiei Hawks in Toyama.
CL pair tabbed
The head of Japanese amateur baseball on Friday listed two Central League players for Japan's national team at the Sydney Olympics while reiterating his desire to see Yakult Swallows catcher Atsuya Furuta added to the list.
Eiichiro Yamamoto said that pitcher Masato Kawano of the Hiroshima Carp and catcher Fumihiro Suzuki of the Chunichi Dragons, both rookies, have virtually been confirmed as members of Japan's squad for the Sept. 15-Oct. 1 Games.
Amateur baseball officials met with representatives of the Dragons and the Carp on Thursday to request that Kawano and Suzuki be allowed to go to Sydney and both players gave their consent Friday, clearing the way for drug testing.
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