CHIBA – Designated hitter Lee Seung Yeop hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Wednesday as the first-place Chiba Lotte Marines edged the Orix Buffaloes 4-3 to extend their winning streak to six games in the Pacific League.
Yokohama BayStars catcher Ryoji Aikawa tags out Yakult Swallows baserunner Hirofumi Watarai during the the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game at Yokohama Stadium. The BayStars won 3-1.
Lee drove a two-out solo shot off Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara (0-1) into the right-field stands of Chiba Marine Stadium after Orix came back from a three-run deficit to tie the game in the seventh on an RBI single by Hiroaki Onishi and a two-run single from pinch-hitter Daisuke Hayakawa.
Dan Serafini pitched 6 1/3 innings and was charged with three runs before the Lotte bullpen held on. Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-2) worked a scoreless inning to earn the win and Masahide Kobayashi got the final three outs for his fourth save of the season.
Lotte moved one game over the Softbank Hawks after Wednesday’s victory, which came after the first two games of the three-game series were rained out.
Eagles 11, Hawks 9
At Fullcast Stadium, Yosuke Takasu hit a bases-loaded triple to ignite a 10-run third inning, in which Rakuten sent 14 batters to the plate and had nine hits on its way to snapping a four-game losing skid.
Ryutaro Tsuji, Luis Lopez and Koichi Sekikawa also had RBI hits in the third, Rakuten’s first double-digit inning in franchise history, while Takasu added an RBI single in his second at-bat of the inning.
Fighters 10, Lions 4
At Invoice Seibu Dome, designated hitter Kuniyuki Kimoto drew a bases-loaded walk before Tomochika Tsuboi and Atsunori Inaba added RBI hits in a four-run third inning as Nippon Ham went on to beat Seibu.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Giants 4, Tigers 2
At Koshien Stadium, Gabe Kapler singled home the go-ahead run to cap a three-run rally in the sixth inning as Yomiuri came from behind to beat front-running Hanshin.
Kapler’s single gave Yomiuri the lead for good after an RBI double by Yoshinobu Takahashi and a Hiroki Kokubo sacrifice fly tied the game at 2-2. Kazuhiro Kiyohara capped the scoring with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly.
BayStars 3, Swallows 1
At Yokohama Stadium, Hitoshi Tamura hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning and Kazuhiro Sasaki picked up his first save of the season in the BayStars’ first victory in three games.
Carp 8, Dragons 7 (10)
At Toyohashi Municipal Stadium, pinch-hitter Itsuki Asai drove home the go-ahead run with a two-out double in the top of the 10th inning as Hiroshima beat Chunichi in a seesaw contest.
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