Lions rout Hawks to even series

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — A number of Seibu Lions fans spent their time outside Seibu Dome looking into a television camera and imploring their team to get a win. The Lions' players weren't quite ready for the season to end yet either.

Pitcher Takayuki Kishi (left) and shortstop Hiroyuku Nakajima wave to the crowd after the Lions' 8-0 win on Sunday at Seibu Dome. KYODO

In the end, everybody got what they wanted. Well, maybe not the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

The Lions broke open a scoreless affair in a seven-run third inning and never looked back, staving off elimination with an 8-0 win over the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Game 2 of the Pacific League Climax Series first stage on Sunday afternoon at Seibu Dome.

"We were fortunate to win, but it won't mean anything if we drop tomorrow's game," Lions shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima said. "We definitely want to win."

The victory evens the series at 1-1. The teams will meet in a decisive third game Monday, with the winner advancing to face the PL champion Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in the final stage. As the higher seed, Seibu would advance in the event of a tie.

Nearly everyone chipped in for the Lions. Eight of Seibu's nine starters finished with a hit, and all but three recorded an RBI.

The Lions' Yutaro Osaki finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, and Ginjiro Sumitani had two hits and drove in a run.

Lions starter Takayuki Kishi got off to a shaky start, putting runners on the corners with one out in the first, but with all the run support behind him it didn't matter.

"I was only trying to get out of it without giving up any runs," Kishi said. "Overall, my fastball felt good, and my curves were good as well."

Kishi allowed six hits and struck out eight without walking a batter over six scoreless innings.

Hawks rookie Shota Takeda had a much rougher time on the mound. The 19-year-old rookie got off to a good start, but his command failed him in the third. Struggling to hit his spots, he helped set the stage for the Lions' big inning before being pulled out of the game.

Takeda took the loss and was charged with five runs — four earned — on two hits. He walked four and struck out three.

"Overall I was pressing," Takeda said. "I didn't have the inner strength and things got worse as I went. Since I was given the task of starting such an important game, and couldn't keep us in the game, I feel sorry for the team. I'm so frustrated."

Seibu batted around in the third, and had eight of its nine starters get on base during the frame.

Sumitani walked to begin the inning, and Takuya Hara moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. Sumitani took third on a passed ball, and Hideto Asamura drew a walk to put runners on the corners. Shogo Akiyama drove in the first run of the game with a single, and Nakajima doubled to make the score 2-0.

"I'd watched his (Takeda's) fastball and watched him throw sliders against other batters," Nakajima said. "So I'd seen his pitches and tried not to chase one that would be difficult to hit."

Takeya Nakamura drew a walk to load the bases, and Jose Ortiz followed with an RBI single to left. Esteban German struck out for the second out of the inning, but Osaki plated a pair with a double to right.

Sumitani stepped to the plate for the second time in the inning and hit an RBI single to make the score 6-0. The Lions then executed a double-steal, with Osaki swiping home, before Sumitani was thrown out at the plate while trying to score on a single by Hara.

Nakamura added to the lead with an RBI single in the fourth.

The Hawks will send lefty Kenji Otonari (12-8) to the mound to start Game 3. Kazuhisa Ishii (10-5) is scheduled to toe the rubber for the Lions.

Staff writer Kaz Nagatsuka contributed to this report

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Settsu fires Hawks past Lions in playoff opener

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — Tadashi Settsu was a long way from Fukuoka, wearing his road uniform and standing on the mound in another team's stadium.

Strong outing: Softbank starter Tadashi Settsu pitches against Seibu in Game 1 of the first stage of the PL Climax Series on Saturday. KYODO

Despite all that, the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks ace felt right at home.

Settsu threw eight scoreless innings, and reliever Masahiko Morifuku pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to help the reigning Japan Series champion Hawks edge the Seibu Lions 2-1 in Game 1 of the first stage of the Pacific League Climax Series on Saturday at Seibu Dome.

"I wasn't really thinking too much about anything as I pitched," Settsu said. "My mind was blank. Even after I got some run support, I kept pitching as if it didn't happen."

The victory gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. Softbank can advance to the final stage against Hokkaido Nippon Ham with a win or a tie in Game 2 on Sunday.

Settsu has owned the Lions at their place, improving to 7-0 with a 1.60 ERA and 39 strikeouts in his last eight starts at Seibu Dome.

Settsu is 6-1 overall in seven starts against the Lions this season.

"We knew he was a good pitcher," Seibu manager Hisanobu Watanabe said. "When you play like we did against him early in a game, you get beaten. So at the end of the day, we should've played differently."

On Saturday, Settsu allowed four hits and struck out five. He left the game after the eighth, and that's when things got interesting.

Reliever Brian Falkenborg walked Takeya Nakamura to start the inning and gave up a double to former teammate Jose Ortiz that put runners at second and third. He then walked Esteban German to load the bases, prompting Hawks manager Koji

Akiyama to bring lefty Morifuku out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and none out.

"I have no excuses," Falkenborg said. "That's just not very good pitching. "I just gotta throw strikes. Coming in, 2-0 lead, you gotta put the ball over the plate. I was extremely lucky today that Morifuku came in and did an outstanding job."

Lions pinch hitter Chris Carter hit an RBI groundout to cut the lead to one, but Tatsuyuki Uemoto popped out to short for the second out of the inning. Morifuku then retired Hisashi Takayama to end the game.

"I was pretty nervous out there," Morifuku said. "I was told to be the back up (in case Falkenborg struggled), so I was ready to go."

The Hawks needed a good performance out of Settsu, because they didn't do much with their bats. Softbank had six hits after three innings, but didn't record another until the ninth.

Kenta Imamiya gave the Hawks the lead with a squeeze bunt in the second and Seiichi Uchikawa doubled the advantage with an RBI single in the third.

Seibu starter Kazuhisa Makita kept the Hawks at bay with a valiant outing in defeat. The submarine hurler went the distance, allowing two runs on seven hits and striking out five. He retired 13 consecutive batters at one point.

Hawks third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda collected the first of his two hits leading off the second. Matsuda took third on a hit by Hitoshi Tamura and came home when Imamiya was able to connect with a low pitch to lay down his squeeze bunt.

"I tried to make contact by any means," Imamiya said.

Yuichi Honda kicked off the third with a triple and Uchikawa's RBI single later in the inning made the score 2-0.

"Honda came up with the triple and (Yuya) Hasegawa didn't follow (with a hit), so I wanted to do whatever it took to give ourselves a run," Uchikawa said.

Before coming out, Settsu pitched himself into a jam in the eighth. He walked Takuya Hara to start the inning, then retired Hideto Asamura.

Shogo Akiyama reached on an error by first baseman Kenji Akashi, leaving Settsu to deal with runners on first and second with one out and Hiroyuki Nakajima and two-time defending PL home run champion Nakamura due up in the order.

Nakajima worked the count full, but hit a grounder to third, where Matsuda scooped it up and started an inning-ending double play, leaving Nakamura on deck.

The Hawks will try to wrap up the series on in Game 2 on Sunday. Softbank rookie Shota Takeda (8-1, 1.07 ERA) will take the mound against Seibu's Takayuki Kishi (11-12, 2.45).

Staff writer Kaz Nagatsuka contributed to this report.

NAGOYA — Kazuhiro Wada drove in three runs and scored two to lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 6-1 victory over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in Game 1 of the Central League Climax Series' first stage on Saturday. The Dragons can now clinch a spot in the second stage with either a win or a tie.

Wada opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the fourth inning after Swallows southpaw Masahiro Ishikawa walked the leadoff man. Wada singled with one out in the sixth and scored the Dragons' third run, and singled in a run in their three-run seventh.

"I was just trying to build a rally," Wada said. "I wasn't thinking about who was coming up behind me and was able to make a very smooth swing."

The right-handed hitter dove into a low sinker over the plate and drove it into the stands in left.

Right-hander Kenichi Nakata allowed three hits over five scoreless innings to beat the Swallows for the third straight time this year. He struck out five without walking a batter and also set up a scoring opportunity with a one-out double in the third.

Ishikawa, who was 1-1 against Chunichi this season, lasted just four innings, allowing four hits and two walks. He scraped out of jams in the first and third innings when he couldn't throw strikes, and opened the fourth in similar fashion by walking Tony Blanco on five pitches.

The lefty was pulled for a pinch hitter with two on and two out in the top of the fifth, but Nakata retired veteran Atsushi Fujimoto for the final out.

In the sixth, Wada reached on an infield single, went to second on a groundout and scored on Takehiro Donoue's single.

The Swallows threatened to tie the game in the top of the seventh, when CL home run leader Wladimir Balentien went deep to open the inning off rookie right-hander Shinji Tajima. A pair of walks put the potential tying runs on base with one out, but Takuya Asao, the CL's 2011 MVP, stopped Yakult with two straight outs.

Dragons leadoff man Yohei Oshima, who went 3-for-5, singled to open the seventh against lefty Ryo Hidaka, who loaded the bases with another hit and a walk. With one out, Wada singled to start the runs flowing again. Hirokazu Ibata followed Wada with a sacrifice fly, and pinch hitter Ryosuke Hirata singled in the hosts' final run.

Trailing 6-1 in the eighth, the Swallows threatened against right-hander Jorge Sosa, but Daisuke Yamai got the final out with the bases loaded and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save.

It was just the second time in 11 games against the Swallows at Nagoya Dome this year that the Dragons scored more than two runs. Yakult went 6-3 with one tie there during the regular season.

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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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Nakata powers Fighters past Lions

SAPPORO — Sho Nakata has become the Seibu Lions' biggest nightmare. The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters cleanup hitter homered twice on Friday, driving in five runs and driving a wedge into the Lions' pennant pretensions.

The Fighters' 5-0 victory at Sapporo Dome boosted their Pacific League lead to three games over the Lions and lowered Nippon Ham's magic number to win the pennant to four. Nakata's big night came six days after he drove in four runs to lead the Fighters to a crucial come-from-behind victory over the Lions at Seibu Dome.

Nippon Ham lefty Mitsuo Yoshikawa (14-5) allowed two hits and a walk in his third shutout of the season. He struck out seven en route to lowering his ERA to a league-leading 1.71.

Nakata opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer off Ryoma Nogami (8-5), who allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings.

"I just wanted to give us the first lead," said Nakata, who came up with two outs and a runner on first.

In the fifth inning, Nakata once more came up with two outs but this time with runners on the corners. He hit an 0-1 fastball from rookie Ken Togame and drove it high down the left-field foul line for his 23rd homer of the season.

"I got all of that one," the 23-year-old Nakata said. "I wasn't looking for any pitch in particular. I just wanted to take a full swing and hit whatever came."

Yoshikawa who lost to the Lions in the opener of their previous series, barely gave the visitors a chance.

"They made me look bad last time, so I knew I had to turn the tables on them here," said the 24-year-old southpaw, who needed just 95 pitches to go the distance. "It was a game we couldn't afford to lose, so I just focused on taking care of one batter at a time."

"Nakata's first homer gave me a big boost. After he hit his second, I knew it was my duty to go all the way."

The Fighters have five regular season games left to play, while the Lions have eight.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Swallows 6, Tigers 3

At Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult's Ryoji Aikawa drove in three runs, tying the game 3-3 in the seventh with his second RBI single, and Wladamir Balentien hit a two-run homer, his 30th, in the eighth as the Swallows came from behind to beat Hanshin.

The Swallows' victory lifted them 7 1/2 games clear of the fourth-place Hiroshima Carp in the battle for the Central League's final playoff spot.

Giants 3, BayStars 3 (9)

At Yokohama Stadium, Yomiuri's Kenji Yano drew a leadoff walk in the ninth inning and scored the tying run on a wild pitch by Yokohama closer Shun Yamaguchi, who blew a chance to record his 22nd save. Giants right-hander Satoshi Fukuda then retired the BayStars in the ninth to ensure a tie in the 3-hour, 57-minute game.

Hisayoshi Chono brought the Giants to within a run in the sixth inning with a two-run, pinch-hit single. The BayStars' Alex Ramirez drove in one of the hosts' runs with a fifth-inning infield single. Ramirez needs 11 more hits to reach 2,000 in his Japan career. Yokohama has 10 regular season games remaining this season.

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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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Fighters beat Lions to consolidate first place

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters maintained their grip on the Pacific League lead on Sunday with a 6-2 come-from-behind victory over the Seibu Lions.

Tough at the top: Hokkaido Nippon Ham's Dustin Molleken pitches during the Fighters' 6-2 win over the Lions at Seibu Dome on Sunday. KYODO

Sho Nakata tied the game in the sixth with a two-run homer off Lions starter Takayuki Kishi (10-11), and gave his club the lead in the seventh with a two-run double as the Fighters avoided a three-game sweep at Seibu Dome.

"If I fail to drive in runs, I get aggravated," said the 23-year-old Nakata, who had gone 1-for-8 in the crucial series' first two games which the Lions came from behind to win.

"It wouldn't do for us to get swept because I failed to hit."

The victory put 1? games between Nippon Ham and the second-place Lions, who would have moved into first place with a win. The Fighters' Yoshio Itoi added a two-run homer in the ninth.

Dustin Molleken (2-1), who took over for starter Masaru Nakamura in the bottom of the sixth, earned the win. After blowing late leads for two straight days, Nippon Ham's bullpen was rock solid on Sunday, retiring 12 straight batters after Molleken walked the leadoff man in the sixth.

"They got us the last two days, so the thing today was to not get down on ourselves. We did that even though we fell behind," said Fighters skipper Hideki Kuriyama. "Nakata was the epitome of a cleanup hitter today and the relievers were super."

The Lions took the lead in the bottom of the first, when slugger Takeya Nakamura singled with one out and two on against Fighters starter Nakamura. The hosts made it 2-0 in the fifth, when Shogo Akiyama reached third as a result of a single, a stolen base and an error, and scored on Jose Ortiz's two-out single.

Itoi led the Fighters' comeback in the sixth with a leadoff double. He went to third on right fielder Yutaro Osaki's error and scored on Nakata's 21st homer.

"I was really looking for curveballs (from Kishi) today," said Nakata, who hammered one for a line out in the first inning and pounded another over the fence. "I hadn't been hitting the curve recently, and so I figured I would see one sooner or later. When it came, I really timed it well.

"More than that, however, I was laying off pitches out of the zone. That was something I needed to do and I succeeded at it."

In the seventh, Yang Dai-kang singled off Kishi with one out after fouling a pitch off his left shin. Randy Williams entered and got one out before walking Itoi and surrendering Nakata's two-run double.

The two teams will play twice more, on Friday and Saturday in Sapporo.

"We achieved our minimum goal here by winning two games," said Seibu skipper Hisanobu Watanabe. "A sweep would have been nice, but the guys played their hearts out for all three games."

Hawks at Eagles — ppd.

Buffaloes at Marines — ppd.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 2, Swallows 0

At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri's D.J. Houlton (12-7) threw seven innings to outduel Tokyo Yakult's Orlando Roman (9-10), and Taishi Ota, the Giants' highly touted first-round draft pick in 2008, hit his first homer.

Roman allowed a run on five hits and four walks over six innings, while hitting a batter, and Giants veteran Yoshihito Ishii drew a bases-loaded walk for the new CL champs in the fourth inning.

Tigers 5, Dragons 2

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin overcame a two-run deficit to avoid a sweep at the hands of Chunichi.

Takashi Toritani homered to halve the visitors' lead in the fourth and three Tigers singled in a run apiece in the sixth inning.

Tigers cleanup hitter Ryota Arai tied it with an RBI single, Matt Murton brought home the go-ahead run and Issei Morita capped the rally with another RBI single to make a winner out of Randy Messenger (8-11), who allowed two runs in six innings.

Carp at BayStars — ppd.

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Scrappy Lions edge PL-leading Fighters

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — The Seibu Lions moved to within half a game of the Pacific League lead on Saturday, when they came from behind for the second straight day to defeat the front-running Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters at Seibu Dome.

Getting the job done: Lions reliever Shuichiro Osada pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win in Seibu's 5-4 victory over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Saturday at Seibu Dome. KYODO

Trailing 4-0 after the top of the second inning, the Lions completed the comeback in the eighth inning when veteran shortstop Makoto Kaneko dropped a potential double play grounder that allowed the go-ahead run to score in a 5-4 victory.

With the visitors leading 4-3 in the eighth, Hiroyuki Nakajima singled, and Yuji Onizaki laid down a two-strike sacrifice bunt that put two runners in scoring position. Esteban German then tied it with a single off right-hander Hirotoshi Masui (5-5).

With runners on the corners, pinch hitter Chris Carter hit a tailor-made double play ball to short, but Kaneko, for years the linchpin of the Fighters' stellar defense, fumbled it and could only get one out.

"I thought that eventually, I would get a chance to contribute," said Onizaki, who has not had a hit for Seibu since being acquired in a 2011 trade. "I can't say there was no pressure. I did, however, believe I was going to get the bunt down."

Hideaki Wakui came on in the ninth to collect his 26th save.

The Fighters jumped on 39-year-old Kazuhisa Ishii for three runs in the first inning starting with the lefty's second pitch, which Yang Dai-kang drove out the opposite way at the right-field foul pole. Back-to-back, two-out RBI singles from Eiichi Koyano and Micah Hoffpauir made it 3-0.

Rookie Ken Togame was called on to get the final out in the first inning and surrendered a run in the top of the second before the Lions began to get into the game against Brian Wolfe.

Ginjiro Sumitani singled in Seibu's first run in the bottom of the second. Three straight singles in the third produced a run but Shogo Akiyama made an out on the bases and that was all the hosts could muster.

Wolfe allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings, and Yuya Ishii kept the lid on the Lions through the sixth. Seibu, however, scratched out a run in the seventh with the help of an error. Masato Kumashiro opened with a pinch-hit single, was bunted to second and took third on an errant pickoff throw from lefty Naoki Miyanishi.

"We didn't give up when we were down 4-0," said Lions second baseman Hideto Asamura who went 3-for-4 and singled in the seventh-inning run. "We may lose, but we're not going to give up."

Hawks 4, Eagles 2

At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, Fukuoka Softbank's Yuichi Honda singled in two runs with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie after an error by Tohoku Rakuten third baseman Ginji Akaminai gave the visitors an extra out.

Masahiko Morifuku (2-5), the second of four Hawks relievers after starter Yang Yao-hsun allowed two runs in five innings, got the win. The five Softbank hurlers combined to hold their hosts to just three hits.

Marines 8, Buffaloes 3

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Chiba Lotte rookie Takahiro Fujioka (6-6) went eight innings to win his second straight start, and Toshiaki Imae delivered the knockout blow with a fifth-inning grand slam as the Marines sent Orix to its first 10-game losing streak in five years.

Ikuhiro Kiyota opened the scoring with one out in the first with a solo homer off Orix rookie Tomoyuki Kaida (0-3), while Josh Whitesell and Katsuya Kakunaka each singled in a run in the third. Kiyota did the same in the fourth to make it 4-0.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Swallows 9, Giants 3

At Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Yakult sent 13 batters to the plate in an eight-run third inning to hammer Yomiuri after the Giants celebrated winning the Central League pennant the night before.

Toshiya Sugiuchi (12-3) allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings to take the loss, while Swallows ace Masanori Ishikawa (7-11) gave up 11 hits but just one run over seven innings. The win lifted third-place Yakult seven games ahead of fourth-place Hiroshima in the race for the CL's final playoff spot.

BayStars 7, Carp 4

At Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 21 as Takayuki Kajitani belted a three-run, fifth-inning homer off rookie Yusuke Nomura (9-10). Hiroshima lost a season-high seventh straight game and guaranteed a sub .500 finish for the 11th straight season.

The BayStars' Yoshitomo Tsutsugo had three hits, while Alex Ramirez drove in two runs, going 0-for-3 and not reaching base. Closer Shun Yamaguchi worked the ninth to reach 20 saves for the third straight season.

Dragons 2, Tigers 0

At Koshien Stadium, Chunichi's Junki Ito (1-0) worked 6-2/3 innings in his belated season debut and three relievers completed the four-hit shutout against Hanshin.

Yohei Oshima singled in a run in the second, while Hirokazu Ibata and Masahiko Morino had back-to-back hits in the eighth to set up the visitors' second run.

Tigers starter Atsushi Nomi (9-10) allowed two runs in eight innings to take the tough loss as the Tigers fell 20 games under .500 for the first time in 11 years.

CHIBA — The Pacific League's Orix Buffaloes announced Saturday that manager Akinobu Okada will not be offered a new contract when his current three-year deal expires at the end of the season.

The 54-year-old Okada came to Orix in 2010 after managing the Hanshin Tigers from 2004 to 2008. Hanshin won the Central League pennant in 2005 but was swept out of the Japan Series in four games. The Tigers reached the CL Climax Series in 2007 and 2008, but Okada stepped down after the team fell for the second straight season in the first stage.

The Buffaloes finished fifth in his first year at the helm and fourth last season, but have crashed into last this season. On Sept. 18, the team was eliminated from playoff contention.

A slugging second baseman, Okada starred at Waseda University and was a key member of the Tigers' only Japan Series championship team in 1985. The Osaka native finished his playing career with the Orix BlueWave.

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Lions pounce at right time to take control of Pacific League

All season the Seibu Lions have put the 'cats have nine lives' theory to the test, and so far the Pacific League's resident felines are still kicking.

On June 4, the Lions were 19-27-1 and in last place, 11 games behind the first place Chiba Lotte Marines, with an awful offense and a pitching staff that was somehow even worse.

Today, those same Lions are atop the standings with a shot at completing a run from basement to penthouse in the PL. The Lions have already pulled off one unlikely feat, becoming the fifth team to reach first place after being nine games below .500 at one point during a season, according to Nikkan Sports.

Seibu's rise hasn't come without a few breaks. The Marines aided their own demise with bad pitching, falling from first to fourth. Likewise, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, second for much of the year, began losing games that had broken their way earlier in the season.

Not that the Lions haven't done their part.

Seibu entered June 17-26-1 with a minus-21 run differential. Since then, the Lions are 42-21-7 (the Marines are 26-36-8 and the Fighters 32-30-7 over that span) and have a plus-36 run differential. Offensively, the Lions have hit more home runs and have been more active on the base paths — the team registered 38 stolen bases in July and August after stealing 38 from March 30 to June 30 combined — to help put themselves in better position to generate runs.

While Seibu's pitching had been atrocious, the problem was compounded by an ineffective offense that gave the pitching staff little margin for error. The Lions hit .212 and .246 in the first two months of the season before hitting .288 in June and .267 in July, a slight uptick that coincided with their climb up the standings. The team slumped to .256 in August, but made their hits count with a season-high 21 homers and 102 runs during the month.

Hiroyuki Nakajima is having an MVP-caliber year, hitting .324 with 12 home runs, 63 RBIs and an .869 on-base plus slugging percentage, while Takeya Nakamura, now leading the PL with 22 home runs, is knocking the ball out of the park with a little more frequency, helping pace an attack that's doing just enough, though the recent loss of Takumi Kuriyama to injury is a concern.

Right-hander Ryoma Nogami has been a revelation on the mound, going 6-0 in nine starts since his last loss June 27, Kazuhisa Ishii and Takayuki Kishi have also turned in a few good performances, while Opening Day starter Hideaki Wakui has shaken off a horrendous beginning to the season and an unnecessary public shaming — over his extracurricular activities with a hostess — to emerge as the solution at the back of the bullpen with 18 saves, a win and three holds in 32 appearances since returning from a suspension on June 22.

In the pennant race, the Lions still have five games left with the second-placed Fighters, six with the third-place Hawks and five with the Marines. They'll also have to be mindful of Tohoku Rakuten and Orix in spoiler roles.

No team has ever been nine games below .500, rallied into first place and hung on to win the pennant. This year's PL race looks set to go down to the wire, but if we've learned anything so far, it's that there's a lot of life left in these Lions.

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Sugiuchi helps Giants tame Lions

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — The interleague-leading Yomiuri Giants improved to 6-0 against the Pacific League this season, when former PL strikeout king Toshiya Sugiuchi pitched eight-plus innings in a 2-0 victory over the Seibu Lions at Seibu Dome on Wednesday.

Birds of a feather: Marines captain Toshiaki Imae (left) and pitcher Seth Greisinger celebrate after Lotte's 5-1 win over Yakult on Wednesday. KYODO

Yomiuri is 9-0 with three ties since its last loss on May 5.

Sugiuchi, who led the PL in strikeouts in 2007 and 2008 before moving to the Central League this season as a free agent, outdueled Lions right-hander Takayuki Kishi, who fell to 4-4 despite a solid eight innings.

Two-time CL home run leader Shuichi Murata hit his third homer since joining the Giants over the winter, a leadoff shot in the second that gave Sugiuchi the only run he'd need.

The Giants, who had just three hits and no walks, added a run in the eighth on a safety squeeze by former Lion Yoshihito Ishii.

Sugiuchi (6-1) allowed four hits and issued four walks, while striking out eight. The lefty left after walking the first two batters he faced in the ninth.

Tetsuya Yamaguchi came on and walked the bases loaded before striking out a batter and inducing a game-ending double play.

The Giants moved to within one game of the CL-leading Chunichi Dragons, who lost in Sendai.

Hawks 6, Carp 3

At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Hiroki Kokubo's bid for his 2,000th career hit will have to wait after he went 0-for-3 in Softbank's win over Hiroshima.

Seichi Uchikawa opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single and Nagisa Arakaki (4-1) allowed three runs in 6? innings.

Marines 5, Swallows 1

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Seth Greisinger (5-1) allowed four hits without issuing a walk in seven scoreless innings as PL-leading Lotte handed Yakult its fourth straight loss.

Toshiaki Imae broke the ice for the hosts with an RBI single in the fifth. Katsuya Kakunaka's two-run triple made it 3-0 in the sixth and Shunichi Nemoto tripled in another run in the seventh.

Fighters 3, BayStars 1

At Sapporo Dome, PL ERA leader Mitsuo Yoshikawa (4-1) allowed a run in five-plus innings despite giving up seven hits and two walks as Hokkaido Nippon Ham downed Yokohama. Yoshikawa has a 1.13 ERA.

Kensuke Tanaka opened the scoring with a first-inning RBI triple and scored himself on an infield single by Atsunori Inaba. Daikan Yoh's sacrifice fly plated Inaba in the fourth.

Eagles 4, Dragons 0

At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, Shintaro Masuda belted his first career home run, a two-run shot, and four Rakuten pitchers combined on an eight-hit shutout as the Eagles beat Chunichi for their third straight win.

Wataru Karashima (2-1) kept the ball down and held the Dragons to five hits and a walk over six innings. Chunichi lefty Kenichi Nakata (3-3) allowed three runs in seven innings.

Tigers 8, Orix 2

At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, lefty Minoru Iwata (3-5) gave up two runs in 5? innings and Hanshin had 11 hits in taking the second game of this year's Kansai derby over Orix.

The Buffaloes, who had won three straight since losing star center fielder Tomotaka Sakaguchi to injury on May 17, deactivated slugging outfielder Takahiro Okada before the game due to a hamstring injury that has plagued him since April.

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Lions to retire Inao's No. 24 jersey

The Seibu Lions will retire former Nishitetsu Lions ace Kazuhisa Inao's No. 24, sources familiar with the matter said Saturday.

It will be the first retired number since Seibu began to own the Lions in 1979. Inao died of cancer in November 2007 at age 70.

In 1958, Nishitetsu came back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win the Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants, with Inao winning four straight decisions from Game 4, three of them complete games.

Three years later, Inao won a Japanese baseball single-season record-tying 42 games.

Widely known as one of Japanese baseball's greatest pitchers of all time, Inao logged a lifetime 276-137 record with a 1.98 ERA, spending his entire career with the Lions until 1969.

Inao led the PL in wins four times and in ERA five times. In 1993, he was inducted into Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame.

Seibu plans to have all players on the team wear No. 24 in a game this summer.

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Saints pummel Lions

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are pouring on the points, racking up the wins and rewriting the record books nearly every time they play.

Saints marching on: Saints quarterback Drew Brees throws a pass against the Lions during their NFC wild-card game on Saturday in New Orleans. The Saints won 45-28. AP

Things sure are rollin' on the river.

Brees led an unstoppable offense by throwing for 466 yards and three touchdowns, and New Orleans dominated the second half for a 45-28 NFC wild-card victory over the Detroit Lions on Saturday night.

New Orleans broke the postseason mark for total yards with 626, beating the record set 49 years ago.

"We were pulling out all the stops," Brees said. "We play aggressive. We're not going to apologize for that. That gives guys in the huddle a lot of confidence. We're not going to pull the reins back. It's pedal to the metal."

Brees hit on 33 of 43 passes while throwing for the most yards in a regulation playoff game. He highlighted his night with three completions of at least 40 yards.

"We just focus on winning. We're not focused on yards and records," Saints coach Sean Payton said. "I'm serious when I say that."

As usual, the quarterback had plenty of help from an offense that set an NFL record for yards from scrimmage this season (7,474), outgaining Detroit on the ground 167 yards to 32. The Saints (14-3) will travel to San Francisco (13-3) for next Saturday's second-round game.

Matthew Stafford threw for 380 yards and three TDs for the Lions (10-7), who simply could not keep pace in their first playoff appearance since the 1999 season. They have lost seven straight postseason games.

"It's a learning experience for the whole team. We'll get better. We'll be back," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. "Obviously it hurts right now."

All-Pro receiver Calvin Johnson had 12 receptions for 211 yards and two touchdowns in his playoff debut for Detroit, but that was not nearly enough as the Saints' defense responded in the fourth quarter with two interceptions by Jabari Greer.

"We did make the playoffs this year and that's a great accomplishment," Johnson said. "We have some things to work on and we will. We know what we have to do to make the next step."

The teams combined for 1,083 yards, tying an NFL playoff record set by Buffalo and Miami on Dec. 30, 1995. The Superdome will likely host a much different contest on Monday night, when defensive stalwarts LSU and Alabama meet for the BCS national title. Fans in the dome cheered wildly for the LSU band as it played before the game and at halftime, then enjoyed a second half that culminated in what they hope will be the first of two Big Easy celebrations in three nights.

Pierre Thomas finished with 66 yards and one touchdown rushing, while Sproles added 51 yards, two scores and several other clutch plays.

The Lions became only the second visiting team all year to lead at halftime in the Superdome, where the Saints were unbeaten during the regular season.

"So going into halftime at a deficit, we just realized, 'Listen, just bear down, one play at a time, one drive at a time,' " Brees said, "and I think we scored on every drive in the second half. I guess that's what you hope for."

New Orleans has won nine in a row overall and will travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers in the next round.

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Lions, Saints prep offenses

NEW ORLEANS — Sean Payton cautioned against assuming that a game featuring prolific quarterbacks Drew Brees and Matt Stafford would escalate into a shootout.

If Payton really believes that, it is only because coaches must consider wide-ranging possibilities and show respect to players on both sides of the ball.

Odds makers have different priorities, and they've set the over-under at 59 for Saturday night's first-round playoff game between the Detroit Lions (10-6) and New Orleans Saints (13-3). That is the highest ever for an NFL playoff game — likely because no game has ever involved two quarterbacks coming off seasons quite so good.

Brees set single-season NFL records for yards passing (5,476) and completion percentage (71.2) this season, while Stafford joined Brees among two of only four quarterbacks ever to pass for more than 5,000 yards in a season. Moreover, Brees and Stafford will be in ideal passing conditions inside the Superdome.

Brees said he could understand why an offensive feast could be expected when the Lions return to the Crescent City for the second time this season, but he also agreed with his coach that assuming how a game will play out can be risky.

"Obviously I know how explosive Detroit is offensively," Brees said. "I also know that I think we feel like we're playing (good) football as a team and as an offense. But you know, it seems like, typically, when you get weeks like this where everybody's hyping up one side of the ball . . . and kind of predicting it to be a shootout or whatever, the defenses are off kind of quietly in the corner making sure they come out with their best performance."

The previous high over-under was 57 when Brees' Saints hosted Arizona in the 2009-10 divisional round, and it was the over that hit by 2 when the Saints rolled to a 45-14 victory. The record for points scored in a playoff game is 96 — a 51-45 Arizona victory over Green Bay, in the 2009-10 season.

Statistically, there are plenty of reasons to anticipate the Saints and Lions racking up loads of yards, if not points. When these two quarterbacks last shared the field in a Sunday night game on Dec. 4, Stafford completed 31 of 41 passes for 408 yards, while Brees connected on 26 of 36 for 342 yards. New Orleans won 31-17, but Detroit might have scored more if not for a rash of penalties, including several offensive pass interference calls and a personal foul.

"We can't shoot ourselves in the foot. We can't hurt ourselves in penalties," Stafford said. "We had over 100 yards of offense called back. Those yards would have led to points. . . . We did some things that were really unfortunate. You do that against another team that is playing good football, it's going to be tough to win."

Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said the team will use every tool within increasingly stringent rules regarding helmet hits to plant the threat of pain in the minds of a talented receiving corps led by Calvin Johnson.

"We do play very physical and one of the things that we do is, guys that are 6-5 (196 cm) end up being 5-5 (165 cm) when they get flipped over on their head," Williams said. "They didn't say the rule says that the ground couldn't hurt their head, so we've got to find ways to make the ground be a part of it."

Detroit's defense allowed Green Bay backup Matt Flynn to throw for 480 yards and six TDs in a 45-41 loss last Sunday. Still, Detroit has some feared defensive playmakers, and some of them, including defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and cornerback Chris Houston, did not play in the first trip to New Orleans.

"There's no telling what's going to happen," Lions cornerback Eric Wright said. "They've got the ability to put up as many points as you can imagine, but every week is different. . . . I'm just glad we've got some guys back that we didn't have the last time we were down there. I always like our chances to avoid a shootout because we have a good defense. You can't let one game make you forget how you look at yourself."

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Lions plan to accept Nakajima bid

The Seibu Lions will officially accept the posting bid for shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima on Wednesday morning, the Pacific League team announced Tuesday.

The Lions have not divulged the posting fee, but had indicated that they were prepared to accept. Major League Baseball said at least one club bid for the sweet-hitting Seibu captain.

The San Francisco Giants reportedly made a bid, and the New York Mets, who will have a vacancy at shortstop after Jose Reyes agreed to a deal with the Florida Marlins, have also been mentioned as a possible destination for the 29-year-old Nakajima.

The bid winner has 30 days to work out a deal with Nakajima, who batted .297 with 16 homers and 100 RBIs this season.

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Lions blow 5-0 lead, lose in 11th

Hiroyasu Tanaka hit a game-ending sacrifice fly in the 11th inning as the Tokyo Yakult Swallows rallied to beat the Seibu Lions 6-5 on Tuesday night.

Seibu reliever Alex Graman (1-1) loaded the bases on an error and two singles before Tanaka smacked a line drive to left to push across the winning run at Jingu Stadium.

"I was trying to stay positive in each at-bat and the results followed for me tonight," said Tanaka. "My timing had been off somewhat but I was able to stay patient at the plate. I haven't been performing well for the team, so I wanted to do something."

The wheels fell off for Seibu in the bottom of the ninth after having built an early 5-0 cushion in the first three frames.

Reliever Atsushi Okamoto allowed a two-out infield single to pinch hitter Ryuji Miyade and after Norichika Aoki was hit by a pitch, the right-hander threw a wild pitch, placing runners at second and third. Tanaka then singled to left to tie the ballgame at 5-5.

Josh Whitesell was then tossed by plate umpire Tomoya Ishiyama for arguing a called strike for a 2-1 count, and pinch hitter Masakazu Fukukawa grounded out to end the threat.

In the first inning, Hiroyuki Nakajima had a sacrifice fly to center to give Seibu a 1-0 lead.

The Lions struck again in the second with a leadoff double to right by Jose Fernandez, who scored one out later on Masato Kumashiro's single down the left-field line.

Nakajima added a one-out RBI double in the third — a liner that bounced over the outstretched glove of left fielder Kazuhiro Hatakeyama — and Fernandez clobbered a 1-1 fastball off right-hander Minoru Yamagishi to the stands in left-center for a 5-0 lead.

Yakult pulled one back in the fourth after consecutive singles by Tanaka and Whitesell put runners at the corners. Tanaka, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, scored when Hatakeyama hit into a 1-4-3 double play.

Pinch hitter Yuichi Matsumoto tacked on an RBI double to right in the next inning for Yakult. Catcher Ginjiro Sumitani thought he had tagged out Atsushi Fujimoto, who scored all the way from first on the play, but Ishiyama called him safe.

Wladimir Balentien, who had flied out in his first two at-bats, came alive with a two-run shot to left in the sixth, pulling his team within one. It was his Japanese-baseball leading 16th homer of the year.

Seibu starter Takayuki Kishi gave up four runs on five hits, striking out five with two walks in six innings.

Yamagishi, who was making his first start of the season in place of Yoshinori Sato who was scratched before the game with inflammation in his left side, got the hook after allowing five runs in three innings.

Buffaloes 9, BayStars 0

At Yokohama Stadium, Hayato Terahara (6-4) pitched eight shutout innings as Orix sent Yokohama to its third loss in a row.

Tomotaka Sakaguchi went 5-for-6 with four RBIs for the Buffaloes. BayStars starter Shogo Yamamoto (2-8) took the loss.

Tigers 1, Fighters 0

At Koshien Stadium, Kentaro Sekimoto delivered a walk-off single off Hirotoshi Masui (0-2) in the ninth inning as Hanshin snapped Hokkaido Nippon Ham's winning streak at six games.

Minoru Iwata (3-5) pitched his first shutout of the season in an 11-strikeout effort.

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Sumitani bashes go-ahead homer for Lions

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. — Ginjiro Sumitani hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning as the Seibu Lions edged the Tokyo Yakult Swallows 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Pinpoint control: Seibu Lions hurler Takayuki Kishi fans seven batters in seven innings in a 3-2 victory over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Saturday at Seibu Dome. KYODO PHOTO

Seibu won its third straight in interleague play and returned to .500 for the season.

The Swallows took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, which featured an RBI single by Wladimir Balentien, and Masanori Ishikawa kept his shutout alive until Hiroyuki Nakajima teed off the left-hander with a game-tying two-run blast in the sixth at Seibu Dome.

After Hisashi Takayama went down on a called third strike to start off the bottom of the seventh, Sumitani lofted the first pitch — a slider — he saw from Ishikawa (3-2) into the seats in left to give the Lions the lead.

"That felt good. This is the first time I've done something like this, so I am especially happy," said Sumitani. "I struck out in my second at-bat against him (Ishikawa), so I was just trying to get on base and create a chance."

Takayuki Kishi (2-1) yielded two unearned runs in seven innings, striking out seven and walking one. Atsushi Okamoto worked the ninth for his sixth save.

"I was doing my best to be aggressive against the hitters. I was really flying out there," said Kishi, who threw 124 pitches. "I've been throwing too many pitches each week, so I need to conserve my energy as much as possible."

Fighters 1, Carp 0 (11)

At Sapporo Dome, Atsunori Inaba played hero with a walk-off single with two outs in the 11th to give Hokkaido Nippon Ham a win over Hiroshima, which lost its third in a row.

Closer Hisashi Takeda (1-0) got the win after two scoreless innings. Carp reliever Dennis Sarfate (1-1) took the loss.

Hiroshima starter Kan Otake left after just 1? innings due to an injury after being hit with a batted ball.

Giants 2, Marines 0

At QVC Marine Field, Tetsuya Utsumi threw a four-hitter in his first shutout of the season, posting his CL-leading sixth win as Yomiuri snapped a four-game skid with a win over Chiba Lotte.

Utsumi (6-1) struck out 10, walked three and stymied the Marines batters with his nasty breaking ball. Hisayoshi Chono and Kenji Yano hit sacrifice flies in the first and sixth, both off Yuki Karakawa (4-2).

Dragons 5, Buffaloes 1

At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, Hirokazu Ibata went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Takehiro Donoue homered to put the icing on the cake in the ninth inning as Chunichi downed Orix.

Kazuki Yoshimi (4-1) pitched one-run ball over seven strong innings, painting the edge of the strike zone. He struck out four and walked none.

Yuki Nishi (4-2) took the loss.

Eagles 3, Tigers 2 (10)

At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, Fuminori Yokogawa had a game-winning single in the 10th as Tohoku Rakuten beat Hanshin.

With one out, Yokogawa singled deep to left off Daiki Enokida (1-1) to drive home pinch runner Wataru Nishimura from second. Koji Aoyama (1-1) won in relief.

Hawks 6, BayStars 5

At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, pinch hitter Nobuhiko Matsunaka hit a game-tying, two-run single with two outs in the eighth and substitute catcher Hidenori Tanoue followed with a go-ahead single as Fukuoka Softbank rallied over Yokohama.

Takehito Kanazawa (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the Hawks, who are undefeated in their last nine games, including two ties.

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Orix right-hander Park holds Lions in check

OSAKA — Park Chan Ho gave a vintage performance over seven shutout innings on Friday, leading the way in the Orix Buffaloes' 2-0 win over the Seibu Lions.

Quality outing: Buffaloes starter Park Chan Ho keeps the Lions off the scoreboard for seven innings on Friday as Orix defeated Seibu 2-0. KYODO PHOTO

The 37-year-old South Korean, who had stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers in his heyday from 1994-2001 and last played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010, allowed three hits, struck out six and walked four at Kyocera Dome.

The veteran right-hander was instrumental in helping Orix snap a three-game losing streak.

"This was a very significant game for us. One of our catchers got hurt (in the third inning). I have to take my hat off to the two catchers that helped me pitch a great game tonight," Park said.

Park yielded three runs in 6 innings in a 3-2 loss to the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles in his first start in Japan on April 15, but prevailed this time in another nail biter.

Mamoru Kishida worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the season.

Koji Yamasaki had a sac fly in the second inning and Hirotoshi Kitagawa chipped in with an RBI single in the third.

Kazuhisa Makita (0-1) took the loss for Seibu, which has lost five straight.

Fighters 4, Eagles 3

At Hotto Motto Field, Yang Dai-kang hit a tiebreaking RBI single to shallow left field in the top of the ninth and Hokkaido Nippon Ham held off Tohoku Rakuten to pick up its fifth win in a row.

Kensuke Tanaka tied the game with his two-out, RBI single, setting the stage for Yang's heroics with runners on first and second. Bobby Keppel (1-0) got the win and Ryan Speier (0-1) was tagged for the loss for the Eagles.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Tigers 4, BayStars 3

At Koshien Stadium, Takahiro Arai came to the rescue with a walk-off RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning as Hanshin avoided consecutive defeats with a win over Yokohama.

Hanshin closer Kyuji Fujikawa (1-0) fanned three in the ninth for the win. Matt Murton had an RBI double in the second and a game-tying solo homer in the seventh against reliever Clayton Hamilton.

Shigeru Kaga (1-1) took the loss for the BayStars, who have lost five in a row.

Yokohama slugger Terrmel Sledge hit his CL-leading sixth homer.

Swallows 5, Carp 0

At Mazda Stadium, Hitoshi Yamamoto went seven scoreless innings as Tokyo Yakult notched its third straight shutout, beating Hiroshima for its fifth consecutive victory.

Yamamoto (1-0), making his first start of the season, gave up two singles, struck out five with two free passes on the night en route to his first career victory.

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Watanabe, Okada lead Marines past Lions

CHIBA — Shunsuke Watanabe threw one-run ball over seven sharp innings, Yoshifumi Okada had a bases-clearing triple and the Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Seibu Lions in three games, closing the door in a 7-1 victory on Thursday.

Watanabe (1-0) earned his first win of the season in his second start, yielding just two hits — including a solo homer by Hiroyuki Nakajima in the fourth — and walked none at QVC Marine Field.

The Lions lost their fourth in a row.

Japan Series MVP Toshiaki Imae, batting ninth, assisted with an RBI double in a three-run third and Okada hit a ball into the pocket in left-center with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh for a 6-1 lead. Tadahito Iguchi added a run-scoring single in the same frame.

The Marines got another dazzling performance from their starting rotation, following shutouts by ace Yoshihisa Naruse and Yuki Karakawa on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Fighters 4, Buffaloes 0

At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, Masaru Takeda went seven shutout innings, Sho Nakata hit a solo drive and Hokkaido Nippon Ham won its third straight on the road, blanking Orix

Takeda (2-0) allowed two hits — both singles — and struck out six with no walks, retiring the first 18 batters he faced. Alfredo Figaro (0-2) lost his second start in a row for the Buffaloes, who dropped their third straight.

Hwks 8, Eagles 3

At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Seiichi Uchikawa went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Jose Ortiz and Nobuhiro Matsuda all hit solo homers as Fukuoka Softbank pounded Tohoku Rakuten.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Carp 11, BayStars 8

At Yokohama Stadium, Hiroshima outfielder Yoshihiro Maru went 4-for-5 with a game-tying solo homer and a go-ahead double, powering Hiroshima to its fifth win in a row by beating Yokohama.

Maru's blast to right tied it at 3-3 in the fourth and he gave his team a 4-3 lead with his double to right-center off Naoyuki Shimizu (0-1) in the sixth before adding an RBI single in the seventh, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle.

Bryan Bullington (2-0) got the win and Dennis Sarfate picked up his fifth save.

Giants 3, Tigers 1

At Koshien Stadium, harrd-throwing Yomiuri rookie Hirokazu Sawamura lived up to the hype despite some control issues, limiting the damage to one run on six hits in seven innings to earn his first win in pro baseball as Yomiuri downed Hanshin.

Sawamura (1-0) struck out six and walked two, mixing in a variety of offspeed stuff with his fastball that clocked in the low 150-kph range. Alex Ramirez had a two-run single for a 2-0 lead against Minoru Iwata (0-2) in the sixth and Hisayoshi Chono added a run-scoring double in the eighth.

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Karakawa shutout blunts Lions' claws

CHIBA — Yuki Karakawa became the second Chiba Lotte pitcher in as many days to throw a shutout, leading the Marines to a 3-0 win over the Seibu Lions on Wednesday.

Karakawa (1-1) struck out eight and scattered six hits in a 117-pitch outing at QVC Marine Field. Seibu lost its third straight game.

Saburo Omura hit a two-run double in the first inning among his three hits off Kazuyuki Hoashi (1-1). Takashi Ogino added a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

"It feels good to be on the pitcher's mound at the end of a game," Karakawa said. "(After Lotte took a 2-0 lead) I said to myself: I'll be good as long as I don't allow them to take the lead, so up to two runs are fine.

"That mind-set helped me swing my arm hard throughout the game."

The Lions had runners on second and third with one out in the fifth, but Karakawa got Shogo Akiyama to ground out and Yasuyuki Kataoka to fly out to end the inning.

"I got a lot of strikes with my slider," the 21-year-old right-hander said. "I was able to throw that pitch low in the zone in key situations."

Lotte ace Yoshihisa Naruse pitched a shutout Tuesday, also against Seibu.

Hawks 10, Eagles 3

At Kitakyushu Stadium, Seiichi Uchikawa hit his first home run with Softbank, D.J. Houlton (1-1) pitched seven innings of two-run ball and the Hawks trounced the Golden Eagles.

Fighters 9, Buffaloes 5

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Swallows 1, Dragons 0

At Jingu Stadium, Tokyo Yakult pinch-runner Kazuki Fukuchi scored the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth inning on a throwing error by Chunichi reliever Junichi Kawahara as the Swallows edged the Dragons.

Kawahara (0-1) threw to an empty third base when Masayoshi Miwa tried to move Fukuchi to third with a sacrifice bunt. Chunichi shortstop Masahiro Araki was late to cover the bag.

Yoshinori Sato (1-1) pitched a three-hit shutout while walking five and striking out five.

Carp 2, BayStars 0

At Yokohama Stadium, the Carp extended their unbeaten streak to five games as Jumpei Shinoda (1-1) threw a two-hitter against the BayStars for his first shutout since April 12, 2009.

Giants 5, Tigers 4

At Koshien Stadium, Hisayoshi Chono capped his 4-for-4 night with a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning as the Giants beat the Tigers.

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Lions rough up Darvish

Takumi Kuriyama and Hiroyuki Nakajima drove in four runs apiece to lead a 12-hit onslaught against a shaky Yu Darvish in Seibu's 12-3 romp of Hokkaido Nippon Ham on Tuesday.
Darvish (0-1) was rocked for a career worst seven runs in seven innings. Hideaki Wakui (1-0) threw three-run ball over eight innings. Nakajima hit a three-run blast off Darvish in the seventh.

Buffaloes, 2, Hawks 2 (12)

Aarom Baldiris and Mitsutaka Goto hit solo homers in the eighth and ninth inning, respectively, and Tsuyoshi Wada failed to protect the lead as Orix played PL champion Softbank to a 12-inning tie.

Giants 9, Swallows 2

At Ube, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Hisayoshi Chono hit a three-run drive to break open the game in the seventh inning, Shun Tono (1-0) won the decision in his first role as Opening Day pitcher and sloppy defensive play led to Yakult's defeat at UPR Stadium.

Tigers 7, Carp 4

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin rallied in a three-run sixth inning, Atsushi Nomi (1-0) allowed three runs in 6? innings and Hanshin rallied to beat Hiroshima. Kenta Maeda (0-1) took the loss.

BayStars 5, Dragons 4

At Yokohama Stadium, Yuta Naito had a pinch-hit game-ending single in the ninth inning, for his career first walkoff hit as Yokohama edged the Chunichi.

In an effort to conserve electricity, Japan pro baseball is planning to hold some weekday games in the daytime in April due to the crisis facing the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

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