Fighters' Nakamura comes out on top against Hawks

FUKUOKA — Right-hander Masaru Nakamura allowed a run in seven innings on Sunday to win for the first time in two seasons as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters came back to beat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 2-1.

Fight the good fight: Hokkaido Nippon Ham starter Masaru Nakamura pitches during the Fighters' 2-1 win over the Hawks on Sunday. KYODO

Nakamura (1-0) outdueled hard-throwing teenager Shota Takeda. Takeda (4-1), the Hawks' top pick last autumn, worked six innings at Yahoo Dome and surrendered a two-run homer in the fourth to Sho Nakata as he fell to his first defeat as a pro.

The Hawks, who had scored just one run in each of their previous four games, matched that in the first inning, when Yuichi Honda singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on a single by Wily Mo Pena.

But Nakamura, who effectively mixed an arsenal of solid breaking pitches with a well-located 135-kph fastball, kept the hosts off balance all afternoon. The 20-year-old, who was the Fighters' top draft pick in 2009, allowed four singles and a walk, while striking out six.

The victory was his first since he won his Pacific League debut on Aug. 11, 2010.

"It certainly has taken a long time (between wins)," said Nakamura. "But in the meantime, I have developed, as one can see by how much my command has improved."

The Hawks managed to put two on with two outs against Hirotoshi Masui in the eighth, and Hisashi Takeda in the ninth, but failed to push across another run.

Buffaloes 0, Eagles 0 (11)

At Kleenex Stadium, Tohoku Rakuten ace Masahiro Tanaka threw 10 scoreless innings for the second straight game, but this time came up empty as the Eagles played Orix to a scoreless tie in 11 innings.

Tanaka, who allowed six hits, while striking out 11 and walking none, was followed by Koji Aoyama, who threw a scoreless 11th. Rookie southpaw Tomoyuki Kaida threw seven innings in his first career start, and three Buffaloes relievers finished the double whitewash.

Lions 2, Marines 1

At Seibu Dome, Naoya Masuda (1-2) threw a wild pitch that scored the tiebreaking run from third with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting Seibu past Chiba Lotte for its third win in a row.

Esteban German doubled for his third hit of the night, reached third on a sacrifice bunt and came home on Masuda's errant pitch. Randy Williams (2-2) escaped a two-on jam in a scoreless eighth and Hideaki Wakui picked up his 21st save.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 2, BayStars 1

At Tokyo Dome, Shuichi Murata broke a 1-1 tie with an eighth-inning homer and drove in both of Yomiuri's runs against his former team as the Giants beat Yokohama to become the first team this season with 70 wins. Yomiuri is 8? games ahead of second-place Chunichi.

Murata unlocked a scoreless pitchers' duel with his second hit of the game, an RBI single off Kisho Kagami (2-3), who went the distance for the BayStars. Giants right-hander Ryosuke Miyaguni worked seven scoreless innings, but lefty Tetsuya Yamaguchi (3-2) blew the lead in the top of the eighth.

Swallows 1, Dragons 0

At Jingu Stadium, pinch hitter Kazuki Fukuchi broke a scoreless deadlock with a two-out walk-off RBI double off Shinji Tajima (4-3) in the ninth inning as Tokyo Yakult defeated Chunichi.

Lefty Kyohei Muranaka (8-5) threw a complete-game shutout, striking out two and walking three. Chunichi is winless in its last four games, including one tie.

Tigers 3, Carp 1 (11)

At Koshien Stadium, Ryota Arai saved the night with a game-ending two-run homer off Takeru Imamura (1-2) with two outs in the 11th inning, giving Hanshin a win over Hiroshima.

Ryota, the younger brother of the more well-known Takahiro, hit his 10th home run of the season for a career best. Akihiro Higashide opened the scoring with a run-scoring single in the second inning, but Tomoaki Kanemoto tied it with an RBI single in the fifth.

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Experience has taught Nakamura how to persevere

YOKOHAMA — If the J. League is looking for inspiration as it prepares to restart the season on Saturday, Shunsuke Nakamura knows more than a thing or two about triumph over adversity.

No looking back: Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, who played overseas for several seasons, says he has no regrets about the way his career has gone. AP

The Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder is one of hundreds of players getting ready to return to action this weekend, six weeks after the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast coast and cast the new J. League campaign into limbo with only one round of games played.

Nakamura, however, is more than just another player. A legend in Japanese soccer with 98 caps to his name and a bulging medal collection from four gilded years in Scotland with Celtic, Nakamura returned to Marinos early last season to see out his playing days at the club where it all began.

If that suggests a career of unfettered success, however, the reality is somewhat different. Last year's demotion from national team linchpin to World Cup bench-warmer was just the latest in a series of disappointments for a player who has inspired as many naysayers as disciples, and marked a cruel end to an international career that never had the chance to truly flourish on the biggest stage.

For all the setbacks, however, Nakamura's enthusiasm remains as strong as ever.

"Since the earthquake, everyone has been collecting money and doing other things to help," he said at Marinos' training ground earlier this week. "The fixture schedule changed after we had played only one game, and that has made it difficult to keep in good condition. So after all that, I'm glad that the J. League is about to restart. After everything that has happened, I want to help bring a bit of good news to people and give them something to enjoy."

Having retired from the national team after the World Cup, that enjoyment will have to come from watching Nakamura wear the blue of Yokohama alone.

"Now I only have to play in the J. League, and at my age that makes it easier to stay in shape," the 32-year-old said. "In the past, when I was in Italy or Scotland, it took a long time to come back to Japan by plane and it left me tired. Now I can concentrate only on Marinos and my family.

"Marinos was the club that I belonged to and supported when I was young, so coming back here only makes me happy."

But Nakamura's return to Yokohama last February was not quite so simple. An expected transfer after leaving Celtic in the summer of 2009 failed to materialize when he instead accepted an offer from Spanish side Espanyol, finally arriving at Marinos eight months later when it became clear that his failure to make an impact in La Liga was jeopardizing his place on the national team.

e_SDLqTransferring from one club to another is not an easy process, so what happens happens," he said. "I didn't play so many games in Spain and I wasn't able to show what I could do in that half-year. But it would be a waste not to use that experience, and in that sense it was a very important time for me. I don't wish that I had come direct from Scotland to Marinos, because going to Spain was a valuable experience."

The price he would ultimately pay for that experience, however, was his starting place in Japan's World Cup team. With Nakamura struggling for form and fitness and the national team heading to South Africa on the back of a string of poor results, manager Takeshi Okada took drastic action in the weeks leading up to the tournament.

A tactical reshuffle meant Nakamura was consigned to the bench, and he stayed there for all but the final 26 minutes of Japan's first-round defeat to the Netherlands. Having been left out of the 2002 World Cup squad and failing to do himself justice in 2006, the impact was devastating.

"I don't know if disappointed is the word," he said. "I didn't expect it — I didn't even play. It felt like my whole world had collapsed. But it was just one more experience for me, and I wanted the team to do well so I knew I had to get over it and do what I could. But it was disappointing."

Players with a weaker mentality would have crumbled in the same situation, but Nakamura has suffered enough disappointment to know that there is always a way back.

e_SDLqWhen you are lacking in something, you have to be humble enough to recognize that," he said. "For example, if I'm playing well and the manager substitutes me, rather than think 'this guy doesn't know what he's doing,' I'm the type to ask myself 'What is it that I haven't done well enough?'

"At the World Cup it was the same. I thought about what it was that I wasn't doing well enough and what I would have to do to overcome that.

"It's about the ability to take a good look at yourself and see where you're going wrong. Of course there are times when that doesn't work, but it all depends on how you reflect on what has happened and use it to move upward. That's a habit I've had since long ago."

Having now entered the final phase of his career, Nakamura certainly has plenty to reflect on.

"There is nothing that I wish I had done differently," he said. "Maybe I should have gone to Spain instead of Italy when I first went to Europe. But I've given my all in everything I've done, and if something didn't work, then I thought about why it went wrong. But I've got no regrets."

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