Sendai – Takahisa Hayakawa allowed a run over 7⅔ innings as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Orix Buffaloes 4-1 in the Pacific League on Tuesday, ending their three-game losing skid.
Hayakawa (8-5) allowed five hits and a hit batsman without a walk and fanned five in a 100-pitch effort before the home crowd at Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi and was relieved after Yuma Mune singled in the Buffaloes’ only run in the eighth to make it a 3-1 game.
“It was a long, long tunnel but I could get through it thanks to many people’s support,” Hayakawa said after picking up his first win since June 6.
Hideto Asamura ripped a solo homer with two outs in the first inning off lefty Hiroya Miyagi (11-2), who has so far had an impressive season but was tagged with the loss on the day.
Hayakawa retired his first 10 batters and he had no trouble after giving up a single each in the fourth and fifth.
The Eagles added two runs in the home half in the fifth, Tsuyoshi Yamasaki getting a two-out RBI single with a runner on second before cleanup Hiroaki Shimauchi drew a bases-loaded walk from Miyagi.
Miyagi allowed six hits and three walks before he got the hook after the inning with 84 pitches. Eigoro Mogi’s solo shot in the eighth for Rakuten put the game to bed.
At MetLife Dome, Kona Takahashi (10-5) held the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a run over six innings as the Saitama Seibu Lions won 3-1.
At PayPay Dome, Brandon Laird hit a bases-loaded double to break a 1-1 tie in the eighth as the PL-leading Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 3-1 for their fifth straight win.
At Koshien Stadium, Jefry Marte slugged a three-run homer in the ninth as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers snatched a 4-4 tie with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
At Tokyo Dome, Masayuki Kuwahara’s solo shot in the sixth and Shugo Maki’s two-run homer in the seventh handed the Yokohama DeNA BayStars a 3-2 comeback win over the Yomiuri Giants.
At Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Naomichi Donoue drove in five runs in his two trips to the plate as the Chunichi Dragons hammered the Hiroshima Carp 10-1 for their fifth straight win.
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times