The Eagle has landed: Tohoku Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka pitches during the Golden Eagles' 3-1 win over the Hawks on Monday. KYODOWith 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 0At 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.
Showing posts with label contention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contention. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
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. KYODOWith 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 0At 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.
The Eagle has landed: Tohoku Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka pitches during the Golden Eagles' 3-1 win over the Hawks on Monday. KYODOWith 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 0At 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.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Torres scores hat trick; Spurs stay in contention
LONDON — Fernando Torres got his first hat trick in more than 2? years on Sunday to lead Chelsea to a 6-1 English Premier League win over Queens Park Rangers.Tottenham returned to fourth place with a 2-0 win over Blackburn but Torres' first hat trick since September 2009 helped show that Chelsea is the in-form team of three aiming to qualify for Europe's club top competition.In their first match since reaching this season's Champions League final, the Blues hit four goals in the opening 25 minutes in heavy rain at Stamford Bridge.Daniel Sturridge scored after 49 seconds, John Terry headed in a corner and the rejuvenated Torres scored twice to give Chelsea a big early lead.Torres struck again in the 64th for his first treble since Liverpool's 6-1 win over Hull 31 months ago, and substitute Florent Malouda scored in the 80th.Djibril Cisse got a late goal for relegation-threatened QPR.After just eight goals in his first 61 games since joining Chelsea for $81.3 million, Torres has four in his past two matches."I was feeling very good, very sharp, playing well, but I couldn't score," Torres said. "Now I feel I'm not playing as well as before, but I am scoring goals, which is the important thing for the strikers."The Spain striker's first goal was very similar to the one that earned a 2-2 draw at Barcelona in midweek, a result that carried Chelsea to next month's Champions League final. He knocked the ball around the goalkeeper with one touch and rolled it into an unguarded net with his next.A large number of Chelsea fans jeered and taunted QPR defender Anton Ferdinand throughout for his accusation earlier this season that Terry had racially abused him.Terry lost the England captaincy and faces a criminal trial after the European Championship in the summer.MADRID — Karim Benzema scored two second-half goals as Spanish leader Real Madrid closed in on its first league title in four years by strolling to a 3-0 victory over Sevilla.The France striker struck twice in quick succession early in the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium as Madrid bounced back from its Champions League semifinal exit to Bayern Munich.
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