Yoshiyuki Ishihara hit a walk-off solo homer in the 10th inning, giving the Hiroshima Carp a 3-2 victory over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Thursday.
Ishihara homered just inside the right-field foul pole leading off the bottom of the 10th in interleague play at Mazda Stadium, on an 0-2 pitch from Koji Aoyama (0-3).
"I wanted to get on base no matter what in that situation," said Ishihara, who fouled off a bunt attempt on the first pitch before giving Hiroshima its first walk-off win of the season.
"I haven't done well at the plate this season. I'm so glad about what I did tonight," the catcher said.
Katsuhiro Nagakawa (1-3) picked up the win with a scoreless 10th.
Hiroshima rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score in the seventh against Masahiro Tanaka, who gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Kan Otake allowed two unearned runs over eight innings while hitting an RBI single in the fifth. Rakuten saw its winning streak snapped at four games.
Marines at Swallows — late
Iwakuma sidelined
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma was removed from the active roster Thursday due to pain in his pitching elbow.
Iwakuma, who helped Japan win its second consecutive World Baseball Classic in March, was diagnosed with inflammation in his right triceps.
The 2008 Pacific League MVP and Sawamura Award winner is struggling to regain his form this season.
Unable to pitch into the late innings, he is 6-4 with a 2.84 ERA in 11 starts.
"I've caused trouble for the team. I would like to return to the roster sometime soon," Iwakuma said.
