Left-hander Masanori Ishikawa pitched seven innings of one-run ball, Yuhei Takai homered and drove in five runs, and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows thumped the Chiba Lotte Marines 14-3 as the two clubs wrapped up their final interleague game on Wednesday.
Each of the Swallows’ starting nine had at least one hit in the 15-hit onslaught at Jingu Stadium. Yakult’s 14 runs were the most for the team in a game this season.
Hiroyasu Tanaka had a two-run triple to key a five-run fourth among his two hits, and Akinori Iwamura drove in two runs in a 2-for-3 outing, featuring a run-scoring double in the three-run fifth.
Ishikawa (5-5), the 2002 Central League Rookie of the Year, allowed five hits, walked none and had no strikeouts. Marines starter Yuta Omine (0-1) yielded seven runs — four unearned — in four innings of the loss.
Fighters 4, BayStars 2
At Yokohama Stadium, Hokkaido Nippon Ham’s Shohei Otani (7-1) gave up two runs over seven innings against Yokohama en route to winning his fifth consecutive decision. The right-hander struck out seven, featuring three straight in the seventh. Michael Crotta got his first save in Japan.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.