Eagles linked with swoop for star Jones

A number of former major leaguers have signed with Japanese teams this offseason, but they pale in comparison to the star the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles may have lured to Sendai.

According to reports from Nikkan Sports, the Eagles have reached an agreement with veteran outfielder Andruw Jones on a one-year deal in the neighborhood of ?300 million. An announcement is expected soon, pending the results of a physical.

In terms of star power, the 35-year-old Jones would represent the biggest signing by an NPB team in some while.

Jones mostly made his name by making spectacular plays in the Atlanta Braves outfield, where he was a Gold Glove winner from 1998-2007. His 24.1 defensive wins above replacement (defensive WAR), according to Baseball Reference, is tied with Hall of Famer George Davis as the 19th best all-time.

Jones is five-time All-Star with a career .254 batting average, 434 home runs, 1,289 RBIs and a 59.5 WAR over 17 seasons with the Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees.

He posted the best season of his career in 2005, hitting .263 with a .922 on-base plus slugging percentage while leading the majors with 51 homers and 128 RBIs. He finished second in the National League MVP voting to the St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols that season but was named the Major League Player of the Year by the Major League Baseball Players Association and won his only Silver Slugger Award.

Jones found little success after leaving the Braves following the 2008 season, never managing a WAR above 1.7 at any of his stops after putting up a 58.4 in 12 seasons with the Braves.

Jones heads to Japan on the heels of an unremarkable two-year stint with the Yankees, hitting .220 with 27 home runs and 67 RBIs in 171 games with the Bronx Bombers.

The Eagles could use the Jones of old. Rakuten hit an NPB-low 52 home runs last season, with Kazuo Matsui and Akihisa Makida leading the way with nine each. Makida and the recently-released Jose Fernandez were the only two Eagles to drive in more than 50 runs.

If all goes according to plan, Jones could take up residence somewhere in the middles of the Eagles' lineup.

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Lions rally in ninth, earn tie against Eagles

SENDAI — The Seibu Lions put themselves back in a game that appeared to be a lost cause.

The Lions did not get the desired win, but at least avoided a loss after scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning Thursday night en route to tying the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 5-5.

Down 5-2, pinch hitter Chris Carter hit a one-out double off Rakuten closer Koji Aoyama, and Esteban German, Takeya Nakamura and Jose Ortiz each singled to drive in three runs to tie it at Kleenex Stadium.

The fourth-place Eagles' tie assured the idle Fukuoka Softbank Hawks of at least a third-place finish this season to lock up a spot in the upcoming Climax Series first stage against the Lions. It also meant that Rakuten will finish in fourth or worse.

Now the only thing to be determined is who will have home-field advantage as the second-place team in the Climax Series, with Seibu leading Softbank by three games with two games remaining.

The third-place Hawks, who will make their fourth consecutive appearance in the Climax Series and eighth overall, including the playoffs in 2004-06, have three games left.

Rakuten jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, featuring a two-run single by Hiroaki Shimauchi, and Ryo Hijirisawa hit a solo homer in the fourth for a 5-1 lead. The Lions pulled one back in the fifth on Eagles starter Brandon Duckworth's balk.

Lions catcher Ginjiro Sumitani had to be carried out on a stretcher and taken to a hospital by ambulance after he was sent flying by Jose Fernandez, who took off for home from second on Shimauchi's single down the left-field line.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Swallows 4, Carp 0

At Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium, Kyohei Muranaka (10-7) pitched seven shutout innings to notch double-digit wins for the first time in two seasons, and Shingo Kawabata had a two-run double in Tokyo Yakult's win over Hiroshima.

Yuhei Nakamura drove in the opening run on an infield single off Kan Otake (11-5) in the second and Hiroyasu Tanaka added an RBI single followed by Kawabata's double in the three-run sixth. Tony Barnette got his 32nd save.

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Ortiz hits go-ahead home run as Lions edge Eagles

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — Jose Ortiz spent the first part of this season playing in Mexico, where he said he wasn't really doing too well.

From where the Seibu Lions stand, Ortiz is playing just fine now.

Ortiz broke a scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and Yusei Kikuchi was on top of his game for much of the night as the Lions earned a 3-2 victory over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Tuesday night at Seibu Dome.

"The game tonight was tight," Ortiz said. "I've been having some problems with men on base lately, so for me, it feels really good that I was able to put a good swing on that ball, hit it really hard, and give us some momentum."

The win was an important one for the Lions, who entered the night trailing the first-place Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters by 1 1/2 games and leading the third-place Fukuoka Softbank Hawks by 2 1/2 in the Pacific League standings.

"Everyday is a battle," Ortiz said. "We try our best everyday. It's exciting, but we have to control our excitement."

Eagles starter Yoshinao Kamata entered the sixth having allowed three hits. He retired the first two batters of the inning, but Lions slugger Takeya Nakamura kept the frame going with a single to left.

Ortiz then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it hurtling toward the seats in center to give the Lions a 2-0 lead.

"Both pitchers were doing very well," Ortiz said. "I thank God I was able to get a fastball inside and hit it out of the park.

"I was trying to hit the ball really hard. Nakamura swung 3-0 and he got a hit, and that's what you want, and I got a very good pitch to hit too."

Ortiz joined the Lions June 7, but is no stranger to Japan having previously played for the Orix BlueWave (2003-2004), the Chiba Lotte Marines (2007-2008) and the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (2009-2011). He's hitting .290 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 53 games with Seibu this season.

"I don't want to take anything for granted," Ortiz said. "I want to work every day, working on my batting, and make the most of any opportunity they give me."

Pinch hitter Chris Carter tacked on an insurance run for the Lions with an RBI single in the seventh.

Kikuchi got off to a strong start, allowing just one hit through seven innings, but ran into trouble in the eighth. Kikuchi (4-2) was charged with two runs and allowed a pair of hits while striking out two in seven-plus innings.

"His form was pretty good tonight," said Lions manager Hisanobu Watanabe.

Lions closer Hideaki Wakui worked a perfect ninth for his 27th save of the season.

Kamata (7-3) allowed three runs on six hits and struck out four. He also walked two batters in 6 1/3 innings.

"He was throwing some good pitches, but some pitches he missed," Ortiz said. "I knew he was missing some pitches inside, so I was ready to be aggressive. He was very good, he just missed a couple pitches during the game. We didn't get them in the beginning, but we came out with the win."

The Eagles got a rally started in the top of the eighth, with Ginji Akiminai drawing a walk and Akihisa Makita singling to send Kikuchi to the showers. Jose Fernandez followed with an RBI double against rookie Ken Togame and Motohiro Shima drew a walk to load the bases. Pinch hitter Toshiya Nakashima flew out to left for the first out, but reliever Randy Williams hit Ryo Hijirisawa to bring in another run.

Lions shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima fielded a grounder by Kazuya Fujita and fired home for the second out of the frame, and later threw Kazuo Matsui out at first to end the inning.

The loss dealt a blow to the Eagles' playoff chances. Rakuten entered the night trailing the Hawks by three games for the third and final Pacific League Climax Series spot.

Brandon Duckworth (2-1) will toe the rubber for the Eagles on Wednesday, with Kazuhisa Makita (12-7) getting the start for the home team as both teams continue their push to reach the postseason.

OSAKA — Fukuoka Softbank Hawks rookie Shota Takeda threw his first career complete game, shutting out the hapless Orix Buffaloes 7-0 on Tuesday night in the Pacific League.

The Buffaloes fired manager Akinobu Okada before the first pitch and lost their 12th straight, a new team worst.

Orix had initially placed Okada on leave earlier Tuesday, naming fielding and base running coach Hiroshi Moriwaki as acting manager for the remaining five games of the season.

The Buffaloes, however, changed their mind in a hurry, not waiting to see out the year as Yoshio Murayama, the team's head of baseball operations, notified Okada of his dismissal before the game at Kyocera Dome.

Okada, naturally, was stunned by the fast turn of events.

"I knew absolutely nothing about it," said Okada, who was told last week that he would not be brought back for next season but would still finish the year. "I came to the ballpark thinking I was going to be in charge of the game."

Takeda (7-1) allowed just four hits and a walk, striking out seven during a 111-pitch effort for the Hawks who were led at the plate by a 4-for-4 night from Yuki Yanagita.

Fighters 3, Marines 3 (10)

At Sapporo Dome, Chiba Lotte's Josh Whitesell made it a 3-3 game and forced extra innings with a solo home run in the eighth as the Marines managed a tie with Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 3, Carp 2

At Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium, Shinnosuke Abe kept alive his Triple Crown hopes by hitting a tie-breaking solo shot in the eighth, his 27th home run of the season, as newly crowned CL champion Yomiuri sent Hiroshima to its eighth straight loss.

Abe comfortably leads in the batting average (.342) and RBI (100) categories, but is now two homers behind Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Wladimir Balentien.

Swallows 3, Tigers 0

At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Shohei Tateyama (12-8) scattered three hits over eight scoreless innings as Yakult sent toothless Hanshin to its third defeat in four games.

Dragons 2, BayStars 2 (11)

At Nagoya Dome, Yokohama wasted a no-out, bases-loaded opportunity in the 10th, settling for a tie with second-place Chunichi.

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Eagles stay in playoff contention

SENDAI — Kazuo Matsui's seventh homer of the season could not have come at a more important time as his two-run walk-off shot in the 10th inning gave the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles a 3-1 win against the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks on Monday.

The Eagle has landed: Tohoku Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka pitches during the Golden Eagles' 3-1 win over the Hawks on Monday. KYODO

With one out and Kazuya Fujita on first, team captain Matsui took fellow former major leaguer Hideki Okajima (0-2) deep into the left-field bleachers for Rakuten's sixth sayonara win of the year.

"I had a couple of other chances earlier that I couldn't capitalize on and I was feeling bad about that," said Matsui, whose only hit of the game in five at-bats turned out to be the home run.

"But I'm glad we came away with the result we wanted in the end — in style, too. I've never homered for the right side of the plate (at Kleenex Stadium) so I wasn't sure where the ball was going when I connected."

The victory, the Eagles' third in five games, pulled Rakuten within three games of defending Japan Series champion Softbank for the Pacific League's third Climax Series spot. Rakuten has eight games remaining.

The Eagles nearly wasted a strong outing from their ace Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed one earned run on seven hits in nine innings, tying a season high with 13 strikeouts. Koji Aoyama (5-4) took the mound in the 10th for the win.

The Hawks, on the other hand, failed to provide run support for their starter Tadashi Settsu, who scattered seven hits and fanned nine over eight innings, allowing just one earned run.

Despite the morale-boosting victory, Matsui, who launched his fourth career walk-off blast, said his team cannot let up down the stretch run of the season.

"We won this one for all, all for one," Matsui said. "But we have to stay sharp because we just have no margin for error."

Marines 3, Buffaloes 0

At QVC Marine Field, Seth Greisinger threw his first shutout in three years for Chiba Lotte, pitching a three-hitter against Orix which tied a team worst with its 11th loss in a row and ensured itself of a last-place finish.

Greisinger (11-8) struck out six during a 102-pitch effort. The last shutout he pitched was on April 21, 2009, against the Yakult Swallows as a member of the Yomiuri Giants.

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Vick rallies Eagles late to beat Ravens

PHILADELPHIA — With the game on the line, Michael Vick made all the right decisions — again.

Take the high road: Eagles tight end Brent Celek hurdles Ravens safety Ed Reed during their game on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Eagles won 24-23. AP

Vick scored on a 1-yard TD run with 1:55 left, helping the Philadelphia Eagles overcome a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 on Sunday for their second straight comeback win.

The Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens led them to the Super Bowl in 2004.

"In the moment, you have to be at your best," Vick said. "It's got to be an any-means-necessary mentality."

Rookie kicker Justin Tucker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards for the Ravens, but Joe Flacco couldn't get Baltimore (1-1) in his range in the final minute.

Flacco overthrew Ray Rice on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens 46, and the Eagles ran out the clock.

Vick threw four interceptions at Cleveland last week, but rallied the Eagles to a 17-16 win.

He did it again, though the replacement officials almost made a costly mistake.

Down 23-17, the Eagles started at their 20 with 4:43 left. Vick threw passes of 24 and 13 yards to Brent Celek. A 19-yard pass to Clay Harbor coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at the 3.

Vick then threw incomplete as he was being hit by Haloti Ngata, but the play was ruled a fumble and it was recovered by the Ravens. A replay overturned the call and Vick scored on the next play.

"There's some serious calls the refs missed," Baltimore's Ray Lewis said. "It's just the way it is, man, all around the league. We have to correct that. These games are critical. Guys are giving everything they've got all across the league. But these are calls, with the regular refs, if they were here, we know the way the calls would be made."

The Eagles committed three turnovers in the red zone in the first half and lost two starting offensive linemen in the second. They have nine turnovers in two games, a major reason why they only have 41 points despite totaling 942 yards of offense.

"We have to get better at it," coach Andy Reid said. "You have to take care of the football. You have to throw the football to the right person. This isn't something we planned on having."

Vick finished 23 of 32 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Celek had eight catches for 157 yards and DeSean Jackson had seven receptions for 114 yards.

Giants 41, Buccaneers 34: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Eli Manning came up with a near-record performance in throwing for 510 yards, and Andre Brown scored on a 2-yard run with 31 seconds left.

Manning's yardage total was the second most for a Giants quarterback, and tied for the eighth highest in NFL history.

Cardinals 20, Patriots 18: In Foxborough, Massachusetts, backup quarterback Kevin Kolb threw for one touchdown and ran for another, Stephen Gostkowski missed a potential winning field goal in the final seconds, and Arizona moved to 2-0.

Panthers 35, Saints 27: In Charlotte, North Carolina, Cam Newton threw for 253 yards and ran for a career-high 71 yards to hand New Orleans its first 0-2 start since 2007.

One week after tying a franchise low with 10 yards rushing in a loss to Tampa Bay, the Panthers ran for 219 yards and Newton, DeAngelo Williams and Mike Tolbert all scored on short touchdown runs.

Colts 23, Vikings 20: In Indianapolis, Adam Vinatieri made a 53-yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give Andrew Luck his first NFL victory.

Minnesota (1-1) rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the final 5? minutes and tied the score on a 6-yard TD pass from Christian Ponder to Kyle Rudolph with 31 seconds left.

Dolphins 35, Raiders 13: In Miami, Reggie Bush ran for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and the Dolphins won a home opener for the first time since 2005.

Ryan Tannehill threw his first NFL touchdown pass, ran for another and avoided any turnovers after tossing three interceptions in his pro debut a week earlier.

Texans 27, Jaguars 7: In Jacksonville, Arian Foster ran for 110 yards and a touchdown, Ben Tate added 74 yards and two scores, and Houston dominated from the start.

The Texans improved to 2-0 for the third consecutive season by winning their fourth in a row against the AFC South rival Jaguars, who started 0-2 for the third time in the last five years.

Bills 35, Chiefs 17: In Orchard Park, New York, C.J. Spiller scored twice and had 123 yards rushing in sparking Buffalo.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes, including a 49-yarder to Stevie Johnson, and Leodis McKelvin scored on an 88-yard punt return — the second longest in team history — in the Bills' home opener.

Bengals 34, Browns 27: In Cincinnati, Adam "Pacman" Jones returned Cleveland's first punt 81 yards for a touchdown, and Andy Dalton matched his career high with three touchdown passes.

Steelers 27, Jets 10: In Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger passed for 275 yards and two touchdowns, and the Steelers smothered the Jets in the second half.

Roethlisberger completed 24 of 31 passes. He hit Heath Miller for a 1-yard score to give the Steelers (1-1) the lead late in the first half, then found Mike Wallace for a 37-yard strike early in the third quarter to break the game open.

Rams 31, Redskins 28: In St. Louis, Sam Bradford threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns and Danny Amendola caught 15 passes for 160 yards in rallying the Rams.

Seahawks 27, Cowboys 7: In Seattle, Marshawn Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the Seahawks' special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points.

Rookie Russell Wilson threw for 151 yards and directed a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead.

Chargers 38, Titans 10: In San Diego, tight end Dante Rosario had three touchdown catches for the first time in his NFL career and the Chargers' defense harassed Jake Locker all day.

Before the game, the Chargers (2-0) retired Junior Seau's No. 55. Seau, the hard-hitting, fist-pumping leader of the Chargers for 13 seasons, committed suicide May 2.

49ers 27, Lions 19: In San Francisco, the 49ers' stingy defense denied Matthew Stafford another milestone and Vernon Davis caught touchdown passes of 21 and 23 yards from Alex Smith.

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Kusano blasts grand slam to power Eagles past Hawks

FUKUOKA — Tohoku Rakuten's Daisuke Kusano belted a seventh-inning grand slam, and right-hander Brandon Duckworth (1-1) worked 7 2/3 innings to earn his first victory in Japan, leading the Golden Eagles to a 6-2 win over the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks on Thursday.The 36-year-old Duckworth, who has 23 major league wins under his belt, kept the Hawks off balance through good movement and change of pace, allowing four hits, while striking out eight and walking none at Yahoo Dome.Lions 8, Buffaloes 1

Key moment: The Golden Eagles' Daisuke Kusano his a seventh-inning grand slam against the Hawks on Thursday at Yahoo Dome. Tohoku Rakuen beat Fukuoka Softbank 6-2. KYODO

At Seibu Dome, Hideto Asamura's three-run double highlighted a seven-run sixth inning as Seibu came from behind to beat Orix.

Shogo Akiyama led off the inning with a single, scored the tying run on Esteban German's bases-loaded walk and capped the rally with an RBI single.

Kazuhisa Makita (11-7) allowed a run on four hits. The submarine right-hander struck out four without issuing a walk.

Fighters 6, Marines 6 (9)

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Lotte's Josh Whitesell drove in three runs as the Marines overcame a four-run deficit in a tie against Nippon Ham. The hosts loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Nippon Ham closer Hisashi Takeda, but the right-hander struck out Tomoya Satozaki to end it after 3 hours, 56 minutes.

Micah Hoffpauir homered twice and drove in three runs for the Fighters, tying the game 6-6 in the eighth with his 13th homer of the season. Hoffapauir was walked intentionally with the go-ahead runner on second base in the top of the ninth, and the Marines retired pinch-hitter Tomohiro Nioka to get out of the jam.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 4, Carp 1

At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri lefty Tetsuya Utsumi (13-6) held Hiroshima to a run in seven innings as the Giants beat the Carp and lowered their magic number to clinch the Central League pennant to eight.

Utsumi allowed five hits and two walks, while hitting a batter and striking out five as he moved into a tie for the league lead in wins with Kazuki Yoshimi of the Dragons and Kenta Maeda of the Carp.

Utsumi reached on a one-out infield single in the third and scored the game's first run on Hayato Sakamoto's single off Hiroshima starter Keisuke Imai (2-7).

Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe gave his pitcher some breathing room in the fifth, when he plated Sakamoto with a two-run homer. Back-to-back doubles by Shuichi Murata and pinch hitter Yoshinobu Takahashi in the eighth completed the scoring.

"As for my form, it wasn't very good tonight, but Abe pulled me along," Utsumi said. "We've been getting one good game after another from the team's young pitchers. I didn't want to be the weak link."

The Carp's run came in the sixth on Brad Eldred's seventh homer of the season.

Tigers 4, Swallows 1

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin's Jason Standridge (7-11) scattered nine hits and a walk over seven innings.

The Tigers turned three double plays and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth, when Tokyo Yakult second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka fumbled a chance to get an inning-ending double play, allowing a run to score from third.

Hanshin completed the scoring in the eighth on straight hits, Tomoaki Kanemoto's pinch-hit, bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly. Kyuji Fujimoto worked the ninth for his 23rd save.

Dragons 6, BayStars 6 (10)

At Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama's Sho Aranami tied the game at 6-6 as the BayStars overcame a five-run deficit, and Chunichi blew a chance to break the tie in the seventh as the clubs played to a tie.

Right-handed reliever Kazumasa Kikuchi allowed three runs in the seventh, but Masahiro Araki was caught stealing, and Masahiko Morino made the third out with Chunichi runners on the corners.

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'Sho Time' delivers Fighters past Eagles

The Hokkaido Nippon Fighters nearly broke through against Manabu Mima after a double by Sho Nakata in the sixth inning.

Coming through in the clutch: Fighters slugger Sho Nakata strokes a two-run double in the eighth inning against the Eagles on Tuesday at Tokyo Dome. Hokkaido Nippon Ham defeated Tohoku Rakuten 2-1. KYODO

That turned out to be just a dress rehearsal. In the eighth, however, it was "Sho Time."

Nakata hit a go-ahead two-run double off Mima late in the game to help propel the Fighters to a 2-1 win over the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Tuesday night at Tokyo Dome.

"I felt like it would be good to swing at the first pitch," Nakata said of his pivotal at-bat. "I'm really happy I could get a hit."

The victory extended the Fighters' unbeaten streak to five.

"We're just taking it one game at a time and will keep doing our best," Nakata said.

Mima had shut the Fighters out for 7 1/3 innings when pinch hitter Takahiro Imanami stepped to the plate. Imanami, hitting in place of Yuya Taniguchi, who ended the top of the eighth by nailing a runner at the plate from right field, singled into center and was replaced by pinch runner Kenji Sugiya.

Haruki Nishikawa hit a sharp grounder near first base and an error by Jose Fernandez allowed him to advance to second while Sugiya went to third. Nakata then got on top of a slider, and the ball bounced over Shintaro Masuda at third and into the outfield, allowing both runners to score.

"Nishikawa had done his best, so I just wanted to get on base by any means," Nakata said.

Eiichi Koyano singled into center to drive in an insurance run later in the inning.

Closer Hisashi Takeda retired the side the ninth for his Pacific League-leading 23rd save of the season.

Dustin Molleken (1-1), who joined the team in July, threw one-third of an inning to earn his first career NPB win in relief. Fighters starter Masaru Takeda threw 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball before leaving after twisting his left ankle in the eighth.

Mima (7-7) was charged with the loss, his first in three starts, after allowing three runs — two earned — on eight hits. Mima struck out eight and walked two.

The right-hander got almost no run support from the Eagles, with the team's lone run coming when Ryo Hijirisawa sent the third pitch of the game into the seats in right.

"It was good I could hit a home run in front of the fans who made the trip," Hijirisawa said, remarking that he doesn't hit for power often. The homer was his second of the season and first since July 29 against the Seibu Lions.

Having been stymied for most of the night, the Fighters showed signs of life in the sixth, when Nakata reached down to stroke a low curveball into center field for a one-out double, bringing Atsunori Inaba, who entered the game with a .343 average with runners in scoring position, to the plate with a chance to do damage.

The threat ended as suddenly as it began, as Mima struck out Inaba and the next batter, Koyano, to preserve the Eagles' slim advantage.

The Rakuten offense nearly paid Mima back in the eighth.

Motohiro Shima led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Reliever Yuya Ishii then entered the game and retired Hijirisawa before walking Ginji Akaminai. Fernandez lined a single into right and the third base coach sent Shima home, but Taniguchi scooped up the ball and made a strong throw to the plate, to nail the runner and end the inning.

Hawks edge Lions

Tokorozawa Saitama Pref. KYODO

Fukuoka Softbank's Kenji Akashi and Hitoshi Tamura hit back-to-back, two-out RBI singles in the 10th inning to make a winner out of starter Tadashi Settsu (14-5) who allowed three runs in nine innings. The Hawks defeated the Seibu Lions 5-3.

Buffaloes 3, Marines 1

At Kyocera Dome, Orix's Hiroshi Kisanuki (5-8) allowed a run in his fifth complete game of the season, holding Lotte to a run on four hits and sending Chiba Lotte to its fourth straight loss.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BayStars 2, Swallows 1

At Yokohama Stadium, Yoshitomo Tsutsugo drove in both of Yokohama's runs as the BayStars came from behind to beat Yakult and snap a three-game losing streak. Ace right-hander Daisuke Miura (9-7) allowed a run in eight innings, while Shun Yamaguchi recorded his 18th save.

Dragons 10, Carp 2

At Nagoya Dome, Chunichi's Tony Blanco homered twice and drove in five runs, and ace Kazuki Yoshimi (12-4) went the distance as the Dragons beat Hiroshima for the fifth straight time. Yoshimi moved into a tie for the league lead in wins.

Giants 7, Tigers 3

At Koshien Stadium, with the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning, the Yomiuri bench delivered.

Back-to-back, extra-base hits by Kenji Yano and pinch-hitter Yoshitomo Tani broke the tie and the Central League-leaders went on to beat Hanshin.

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Buffaloes ground Eagles

SENDAI — Rookie Shohei Kojima went 3-for-4 and drove in a run in the No. 2 spot, and right-hander Satoshi Komatsu allowed two runs over six innings as the Orix Buffaloes edged the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Monday night.

Mitsutaka Goto had a sacrifice fly in the first and Takayoshi Kawabata added an RBI single in the second at Kleenex Stadium. Takahiro Okada and Kojima both chipped in with run-scoring singles in the third and sixth, respectively.

"I got a chance from the team, so I am trying every day to produce results," said Kojima. "I wanted to drive in a run for us no matter how I did it. I went up to my at-bat with that determination. I have a lot of good batters hitting after me, so I want to do my part to create situations to get on base."

Komatsu (3-4) scattered eight hits, struck out two and walked none. Yoshihisa Hirano got the final four outs for his fourth save. Satoshi Nagai (1-3) took the loss.

Luis Garcia went 4-for-4 for Rakuten. Teppei Tsuchiya hit a two-run triple in the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh for all of Rakuten's scoring.

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Eagles beat Buffaloes for Hoshino's 1,000th managerial win

Milestone moment: Eagles manager Senichi Hoshino receives the winning ball from pitcher Koji Aoyama after his 1,000th managerial victory on Friday. KYODO

OSAKA — Tohoku Rakuten's Senichi Hoshino won his 1,000th career game as manager as the Eagles edged the Orix Buffaloes 3-2 for their third straight win Friday.

Hoshino, 65, is the 12th manager to accomplish the feat in Japanese baseball history and the first former pitcher to reach the milestone. In 15 years, he has 876 losses and 42 ties.

Former Nankai Hawks manager Kazuto Tsuruoka is the all-time leader with 1,773 wins.

Hoshino also managed the Chunichi Dragons over two different spells, winning the Central League twice in 1988 and 1999.

He won the pennant again in 2003 with the Hanshin Tigers and, after moving into the front office for several years due to health reasons, came back to manage Rakuten last year.

The Eagles were led at the plate at Kyocera Dome by Ryo Hijirisawa, who had four hits in five at-bats.

Rakuten scored twice in the opening frame, with ex-major leaguer Kazuo Matsui driving in the first run with a triple after Hijirisawa led off with a single. Jose Fernandez followed with a basehit to plate Matsui.

Throwing darts: Carp starter Kan Otake pitches against the Dragons on Friday in Hiroshima. The Carp won 1-0. KYODO

The Eagles added another run to make it 3-1 in the fifth. Orix pulled within one in the eighth on Lee Dae Ho's solo shot, the South Korean's fourth home run of the year, but Rakuten held on to make the evening a memorable one for its skipper.

Marines 6, Hawks 4

At QVC Marine Field, Tadahito Iguchi and Toshiaki Imae drove in two runs each as Lotte climbed into first place.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Tigers 3, BayStars 1

At Yokohama Stadium, Atsushi Nomi (3-3) held DeNA to one run on five hits and a walk in 7? innings as Hanshin rolled to its third straight victory.

Carp 1, Dragons 0

At Hiroshima's Mazda Stadium, Kan Otake (3-2) combined with two relievers for a six-hit shutout as Hiroshima beat Chunichi for the first time this season.

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Golden Eagles soar in Hawaii Bowl

HONOLULU — Austin Davis made the plays when it counted to send Southern Mississippi coach Larry Fedora out a winner.

Davis threw two touchdowns, including a 4-yarder late in the game, and No. 22 Southern Miss earned a school-record 12th victory by holding off Nevada 24-17 in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.

"It wasn't his best game, but he did enough to help us win this football game," said Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to take over at North Carolina.

Davis overcame a shaky game for the Conference USA-champion Golden Eagles (12-2), and the defense in the second half managed to shut down Nevada's potent pistol attack led by Lampford Mark.

"I thought we struggled the entire game offensively. We made a few big plays at the end, but really the defense, these guys were special and they've done that all year," Davis said. "We made a play or two on offense when we needed to."

Davis was off most of the night but made it count on the game-winning drive. On third-and-goal, he scrambled right and found Kelvin Bolden for the 4-yard score, capping a seven-play, 68-yard drive. He had just 59 yard passing at halftime and finished 18 of 41 for 165 yards.

On the winning drive, Davis was 3 of 4 for 66 yards, including a 43-yard completion to Dominique Sullivan down the right sideline and a 19-yarder to a crossing William Spight. Sullivan had five catches for 75 yards.

With Davis held in check, the Golden Eagles relied on their defense, stopping Mark on fourth-and-1 at midfield with 3:56 left. Mark had 183 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (7-6) but was held to just 21 yards in the second half.

"Our offense in the second half — our offensive front just didn't get it done at all and I was really disappointed in that aspect of it. We got stopped on two fourth-and-1s," Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault said.

Nevada was without its top receiver, Rishard Matthews, who has 91 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight TDs.

The game featured a Hawaii Bowl-record 17 punts, and the 41 combined points was the fewest in bowl history.

Cody Fajardo was 8 of 19 for 60 yards for Nevada. He also was held to just 14 yards rushing on nine carries before being replaced by Tyler Lantrip.

The Golden Eagles got another big win after capturing their fifth C-USA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Houston 49-28 in the conference championship game. This was the first 10-win season for Southern Miss since 1988.

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Ramirez, Tono guide Giants to win over Eagles

Getting the job done: Giants coach Takayuki Onishi congratulates slugger Alex Ramirez (right) after his solo home run in the sixth inning on Friday at Tokyo Dome. Yomiuri defeated the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-2. KYODO PHOTO

Brand new ball, same old Rami-chan.

Alex Ramirez snapped a long homer-less drought with a tiebreaking shot in the sixth inning and Shun Tono won for the first time in six starts as the Yomiuri Giants topped the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-2 on Friday in front of a crowd of 40,039 at Tokyo Dome.

"I was able to come through with a hit to tie the game in the first inning and happy I hit the go-ahead home run in the sixth," Ramirez said.

The home run was the first for Ramirez in 13 games, and the first by a Giants player at Tokyo Dome since Ramirez went deep against the Hanshin Tigers on May 5.

"It's been a long time since I hit a home run," Ramirez said. "So it was good I could hit one tonight and especially for our home fans and Tono."

Tono (2-5) won his start on Opening Day, didn't get a decision in his second outing and lost the next five before helping the Giants beat the Eagles.

"He finally got a win," Giants manager Tatsunori Hara said. "He's a tough pitcher, so if he keeps pitching like this, he will win many more."

Tono allowed a run to score on a wild pitch in the first, but went on to throw six innings of one-run ball.

"I gave up a run in the first without allowing a hit, but I was able to settle down after that," Tono said.

Tono allowed five hits and struck out six. Yuya Kubo and Jonathan Albaladejo each worked a scoreless inning in relief and Levi Romero earned his 11th save of the season despite allowing a run in the ninth.

"I'm glad I helped Tono today," Ramirez said. "He's been pitching great and he's been showing that he's our No. 1 guy. We haven't been able to produce lately, but today we did.

Hopefully we can continue helping him."

Ramirez finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. The home run in the sixth was his ninth of the year.

Ramirez had a chance to break a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with two outs and a runner on first, but Daisuke Fujimura was thrown out trying to steal second.

The Giants slugger made the most of the next opportunity, sending the first pitch of the sixth inning into the stands in left field.

Hisayoshi Chono finished 2-for-4 and drove in a run for Yomiuri and Shigeyuki Furuki was also credited with an RBI.

Veteran Takeshi Yamasaki led the way for the Eagles at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double. Motohiro Shima recorded the team's only RBI with a groundout in the ninth.

Rookie Takahiro Shiomi (1-2) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits in 5? innings.

The Eagles got off to an early lead with Tono's wild pitch allowing Ryo Hijirisawa to score from third in the first.

Ramirez tied the score with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning, then put the Giants ahead with his homer in the sixth.

Yomiuri added an insurance run on an RBI groundout by Furuki in the sixth, and Chono had an RBI single in the seventh.

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Darvish fans 15 batters in victory over Eagles

Tough break: Eagles hurler Hisashi Iwakuma yields a two-run sixth-inning homer to slugger Sho Nakata in a 2-0 loss to the Fighters on Tuesday. KYODO

SENDAI — Yu Darvish struck out a career-high 15 and pitched his first shutout of the season in a duel with Tohoku Rakuten ace Hisashi Iwakuma, leading the first-place Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters past the Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday.

In a meeting of potential future major leaguers, Darvish held Rakuten to six hits in a 136-pitch outing at Kleenex Stadium, where the Eagles lost their fourth in a row.

Darvish (4-1), tipped to be Japan's next biggest export to the majors, spent his high school years in northern Sendai at Tohoku High School. Miyagi Prefecture was one of the areas hardest hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

"I'm really happy about this," said Darvish. "I wanted to pitch well in front of the people here but at the same time, I felt a little uneasy about trying to beat Rakuten at their home."

"I'm glad I won in the end, though," he added.

Three of Darvish's 15 strikeouts came against former Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura. Another former big-league infielder, Kazuo Matsui, struck out twice.

"I thought my performance was good tonight facing a very good Rakuten lineup," Darvish said. "But it wasn't easy out there. It was tough."

Iwakuma (3-2) called it an evening after getting two outs in the ninth and throwing his 131st pitch. He allowed nine hits and walked two, striking out seven in his fifth start of the season.

Fourth-year slugger Sho Nakata backed up Darvish with a two-run shot off Iwakuma in the sixth over the center field wall, his fifth homer on the year.

Micah Hoffpauir also had three hits for Nippon Ham.

"I had a feeling he might hit one out and he did," Darvish said of the 22-year-old Nakata, who is starting to show signs of coming into his own. "He made it easier for me to be out there."

Hawks 10, Buffaloes 1

At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Softbank had a season-high 15 hits to pound Orix as Tsuyoshi Wada pitched seven scoreless innings to improve to 2-1.

Marines at Lions — ppd.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BayStars 8, Giants 1

At Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, Yokohama capped its first four-game winning streak in two years to climb out of the CL cellar behind five strong innings from Takayuki Makka (1-0).

Makka struck out seven and allowed one earned run on a solo shot to Hisayoshi Chono in the fourth.

Tigers at Carp — ppd.

Dragons at Swallows — ppd.

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Eagles triumph in dramatic opener

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles wanted to win this game. They wanted to win for themselves, but mostly they wanted to win in order to give their fans in Tohoku a little something to feel good about.

Big blast: Eagles slugger Motohiro Shima smacks a three-run home run in the seventh inning against the Marines on Tuesday at QVC Marine Field. Tohoku Rakuten defeated Chiba Lotte 6-4. KYODO

Which is exactly what they did.

Motohiro Shima hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, Hisashi Iwakuma pitched into the ninth and the Eagles held off a late rally to edge the Chiba Lotte Marines 6-4 in both teams' season opener on Tuesday at QVC Marine Field.

"What can I say," Iwakuma began. "It feels like our first-ever game as Rakuten in terms of everyone coming together and getting a victory. The cheers of the fans certainly gave us a boost."

The afternoon began with a moment of silence for the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Chiba Mayor Toshihito Kumagai then took the field afterward to make a brief statement and welcome the Eagles to Chiba.

"We hope the earnest play of the players encourages the areas that are suffering and the entire nation," Kumagai said.

Play was stopped briefly in the fourth as the effects of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that hit Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures on Tuesday afternoon were felt.

The game was tied 1-1 in the seventh when Shima followed singles by Akinori Iwamura and Randy Ruiz by homering on Opening Day for the first time in his career. He wasn't sure at first if the ball would reach the stands.

"I don't hit enough home runs to know what it feels like," Shima said. "So I was just running to first and I figured it out from the reaction of the crowd."

The victory gives Eagles manager Senichi Hoshino a win in his return to Japanese baseball following an eight-year absence. Iwakuma presented him with the winning ball after the game.

"It's like, 'Have we really won?'" Hoshino said. "It feels like I'm dreaming. I am relieved for sure."

It was a return of sorts for Iwakuma (1-0) as well. The right-hander was set to sign with the Oakland Athletics, after being posted over the winter, until negotiations fell apart and forced him to return to Sendai.

He came within two outs of a complete game before Kazuya Fukuura sent him to the showers with a three-run homer. Iwakuma gave up four runs — three earned — on seven hits and struck out four.

"I wanted to go the distance, but give credit to the batter (Fukuura)," Iwakuma said. "I don't have any regrets. I think it was a really huge win for us. The people up in Tohoku are doing their best and hopefully we can send them some good news."

Iwamura went 2-for-4 in his first game since returning from the major leagues and Kazuo Matsui, another former major leaguer, went 1-for-3 in his Rakuten debut.

Lotte's Yoshihisa Naruse was the better of the two starters before the Eagles got to him during the seventh. Naruse (0-1) lasted seven innings, giving up four runs on six hits and striking out nine.

Marines shortstop Takashi Ogino went 1-for-3 with a stolen base in his first game in place of Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who signed with the Minnesota Twins after being posted during the offseason.

He made a bold move to tag-up and advance to third on a ball hit to left in the fourth inning, sliding in safely ahead of the throw from Toshiya Nakashima. He came home later in the inning on a grounder hit by Kim Tae Kyun and was safe when Shima couldn't hold on to the ball at the plate, making the score 1-0.

Rakuten tied the game on a run-scoring sacrifice fly from Ryo Hijirisawa in the sixth and took the lead on Shima's homer in the seventh.

Takeshi Yamasaki and Yosuke Takasu each drove in an insurance run for the Eagles in the eighth, making it 6-1.

Fukuura gave the Marines new life with his one-out three-run homer in the ninth, but Ryan Speier relieved Iwakuma and picked up the final two outs to nail down the win.

The jurors charged with deciding the Barry Bonds perjury case will try again to reach a verdict when they return to court for a third day of deliberations.

The jury of eight women and four men failed Monday for the second day in a row to reach a verdict. The jury deliberated all day Friday as well.

Bonds is charged with three counts of lying to a grand jury in 2003 and one count of obstruction. Prosecutors allege that Bonds lied when he denied knowingly taking steroids and human growth hormone. The third count of making a false statement alleges that Bonds lied when he said that no one other than his doctor ever injected him with anything.

The fourth charge is a catch-all count of obstruction, which alleges that Bonds' hindered the grand jury's sports doping investigation by lying.

On Friday, the jurors asked to hear a replay of the 2003 secret recording made by former Bonds business partner Steve Hoskins in which Anderson talks about injecting the slugger. Before the resumption of deliberations Monday, the panel spent 71 minutes hearing court reporter James Yeomans read back the March 31 testimony of Bonds' former personal shopper Kathy Hoskins - Steve's sister. She testified that she saw Anderson inject Bonds near the navel in 2002, becoming the only one of 25 witnesses at the trial to claim firsthand knowledge of Bonds being injected.

"This was very damaging testimony that contrasted starkly with his denials of steroid use that are the heart of this perjury case," said legal observer Joshua Berman, a former prosecutor who is now a criminal defense attorney in Washington D.C.

However, it's impossible to discern how many of the 12 jurors are focusing on that testimony and whether they feel the injection answer was material, or in layman's terms, important, to the grand jury's investigation. To convict Bonds of making a false statement, the jury must find both that what Bonds said was a lie and one that had an effect on the grand jury.

Anderson was jailed during the trial because he refused to testify.

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