After losing 23 straight Sunday games, the Orix BlueWave finally put a halt to their skid with a 9-4 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Sunday at Nagoya Dome.
Newly acquired right-hander Jason Phillips (1-0) pitched eight-hit ball over seven innings in his first outing in Japan, allowing three runs while walking one for the win.
Yoshitomo Tani went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, hitting an RBI single in Orix’s four-run third before belting a two-run homer in the fifth off Nippon Ham starter Itsuki Shoda (2-8).
Buffaloes 3, Lions 2
Tuffy Rhodes led off the sixth with a tie-breaking solo dinger off Seibu starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-3) to lift Kintetsu over the Lions at Seibu Dome.
Matsuzaka struck out eight and gave up three runs on seven hits in going the distance on 133 pitches.
Ken Kadokura (5-1) held the Lions to two runs over six-plus innings for the win. He gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Scott McClain in the second inning.
Hiroshi Takamura escaped a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth to post his third save.
Marines 5, Hawks 0
Naoyuki Shimizu (8-4) tossed a four-hitter over the distance, walking three while fanning seven as Lotte blanked Daiei at Fukuoka Dome.
Rookie lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (8-3) was tagged with the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits — including a solo homer to Kazunori Iyoda in the fourth — over four innings.
Kazuya Fukuura went 5-for-5 for Lotte.
Takahashi lifts Giants
Yomiuri outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi slammed a “sayonara” solo homer in the bottom of the 12th inning with two out to lift the Giants over the Chunichi Dragons 4-3 at Tokyo Dome.
Yomiuri rookie hurler Hiroshi Kisanuki struck out 15 batters over nine innings but did not figure in the decision.
Tigers 7, Swallows 2
Central League batting leader Makoto Imaoka went 3-for-4 and raised his average to .365 while bringing home two runs to help Hanshin beat Yakult at Koshien Stadium.
Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (5-2) picked up the win, allowing two runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings, while Swallows hurler Jason Beverlin (7-4) took the loss, givig up five runs on six hits over four-plus innings of work.
Carp 3, BayStars 2
Hiroki Kuroda (3-7) went the distance, holding Yokohama to two runs on five hits for the win as Hiroshima downed the BayStars at Yokohama Stadium.
Yokohama starter Domingo Guzman (4-8) took the loss.
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