NAGOYA – Second-year right-hander Shintaro Fujinami threw his first career complete game with a 13-strikeout effort, Takahiro Arai drove in two runs on 3-for-4 hitting, and the Hanshin Tigers trounced the Chunichi Dragons 8-1 on Tuesday night.
Fujinami (7-4) was in dominant form, giving up just one unearned run and five hits while walking two in a 143-pitch outing.
“I am simply happy. I wanted to give the bullpen a rest, so it was great to throw a complete game,” said Fujinami.
He flew out of the gate with three consecutive strikeouts in the first and later rose to the occasion by escaping a second-and-third situation with a strikeout to end the eighth.
“My release point was solid. I was able to close the distance down between myself and the batters,” the 20-year-old Fujinami added.
Tigers captain Takashi Toritani sparked the offense with a three-run home run off Dragons starter Yudai Kawai (3-4) in the top of the first at Nagoya Dome.
Arai got in on the action along with younger brother Ryota Arai, as both men hit RBI singles in the sixth, then capped the night with a run-scoring double in the seventh that also featured a Matt Murton RBI single.
The Dragons got their only run in the bottom of the seventh when first baseman Mauro Gomez let the ball past his glove on a routine grounder by Shuhei Takahashi, allowing Atsushi Fujii to score all the way from first on the play.
BayStars 10, Carp 7
At Mazda Stadium, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo homered twice to drive in three runs and Taketoshi Goto had an RBI single among his four hits against Hiroshima as DeNA extended its undefeated streak to six games, including one tie. Hiroshima’s Allen Kuri (2-5) took the loss.
Giants 4, Swallows 3 (12)
At Tokyo Dome, Itaru Hashimoto rendered the decisive blow with a walk-off, RBI single with two outs in the 12th inning as CL-leader Yomiuri saw off Yakult. The Swallows took a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to solo homers from Yuhei Takai and Tetsuto Yamada before Yomiuri’s eighth-inning, three-run rally tied it.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Eagles 7, Buffaloes 1
At Osaka’s Kyocera Dome, Tohoku Rakuten left-hander Wataru Karashima (6-9) got the job done by allowing one unearned run over seven hitless innings and Zach Lutz dropped the knockout punch, a three-run homer in the seventh inning that sent Orix’s Yuki Nishi (11-4) to an early shower.
The Eagles won their third in a row.
Lions 3, Fighters 2
At Asahikawa Starffin Stadium, Takayuki Kishi (8-3) yielded two runs on three hits over eight innings en route to winning his first decision since June 7 as Seibu edged Hokkaido Nippon Ham.
Yuji Kaneko hit a sac fly in a two-run third. Yang Dai-kang drove in two runs, featuring a solo homer in the seventh, for the Fighters.
Hawks 3, Marines 3 (12)
At QVC Marine Field, pinch-hitter Kazuya Fukuura had a game-tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning as Lotte forced the game into extra innings and played out a 12-inning tie against PL-leader Softbank. The Hawks squandered three leads.
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