Darvish backed up by offense as Fighters down Eagles

Yu Darvish wasn't as dominant as he usually is but with the Fighters' offense clicking for once he didn't have to be.

Yomiuri Giants outfielder Luis Gonzales (second from right) is welcomed by his teammates after hitting a grand slam in the second inning against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium on Wednesday. The Giants won 11-1. KYODO PHOTO

Darvish threw eight strong innings and was backed by an inside-the-park home run and a few nifty plays in the field as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters pulled away in a four-run seventh to defeat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 6-0 on Wednesday at Tokyo Dome and clinch a playoff spot.

"It's good to see us score that many runs," Fighters manager Trey Hillman said. "With nine road games, these are home games (at Tokyo Dome) but they're on the road, and considering we went 6-3 that's a big bonus."

Working with a slim two-run lead most of the night, Darvish (15-5) threw his fourth shutout of the season to outpitch Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka (10-6) and win a match up between two of Japanese baseball's best young pitchers.

Kensuke Tanaka capped the Fighters' big inning by turning a Koichi Isobe mistake in right field into an inside-the-park homer.

"It's exciting anytime you get an inside-the-park home run Hillman said. "It's an exciting thing to see. You don't get a chance to see too many of them."

Darvish wasn't overpowering but was extremely effective and was able to escape two tricky situations.

Trailing by just two runs Rakuten managed to get its first two batters on base to lead off the sixth.

However, with runners on first and third and no outs Darvish struck out Takeshi Yamasaki, on three pitches and watched as first baseman Fernando Seguignol reacted quickly to catch a hard-hit ball by Isobe and step on the base for an inning-ending double play.

Rakuten put two on with no outs again in the seventh. With runners on first and second Darvish pounced on Shoji Ohiro's sacrifice bunt attempt to begin a 1-5-4 double play. He then retired Motohiro Shima to again escape unscathed with a 2-0 lead.

"We had some key plays," Fighters manager Trey Hillman said. "Obviously that was a big play in the sixth inning. First and second no out, double play. That was a key play for us and Darvish was pretty good."

The lead was extended in the seventh by Yukio Tanaka who got a hero's sendoff in what may be his last at-bat at Tokyo Dome. After a thunderous ovation when he was announced as a pinch hitter and flashbulbs going off from all sides, Tanaka hit a blooper into right for an RBI single. He received a standing ovation from supporters of both teams after the game.

"The game kind of scripted itself with Yukio getting the pinch hit," Hillman said. "Actually it was a hit-and-run. That was exciting. I was actually looking for a way to get him in. It was not exactly the same spot (on the field) but pretty close to the same spot that he got his 2,000th hit in. It was pretty cool for him."

Giants down Tigers

NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) Luis Gonzalez and Yoshinobu Takahashi led the offense with a grand slam and a three-run homer as the Yomiuri Giants crushed the Hanshin Tigers 11-1 to avoid a three-game series sweep in the Central League on Wednesday.

Late games

Dragons 6, Swallows 5

BayStars 11, Carp 10

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Lions 5, Buffaloes 3

At Kyocera Dome, Takumi Kuriyama hit a go-ahead two-run single and Hideaki Wakui became the first 17-game winner in Japanese baseball this season as Seibu beat Orix for its fourth consecutive win.

Late game

Marines 5, Hawks 1

Furuta confirms

Yakult Swallows player-manager Atsuya Furuta confirmed Wednesday he will step down from the helm and will also end his playing career at the end of the season.

"Professionals are responsible for results," the 42-year-old Furuta said at a press conference. The Central League club fell out of title contention early in the season and is languishing at the bottom of the six-team standings with a 52-74 record before Wednesday's games.

Yakult had asked Furuta to concentrate on his manager's job from next year but he had a strong desire to quit after the team's lackluster season.

"I have no excuses for our record and for disappointing fans," said Furuta.