Utsumi leads Giants in shutout of Tigers

Tetsuya Utsumi had a memorable 30th birthday by pitching seven scoreless innings to lead the Yomiuri Giants to a 2-0 win over the Hanshin Tigers on Sunday.

Many happy returns: Yomiuri's Tetsuya Utsumi pitches during the Giants' 2-0 win over the Tigers on Sunday. KYODO

Utsumi (2-3) combined with two relievers on an eight-hit shutout at Tokyo Dome as the once-struggling Giants won their third straight game. The left-hander scattered seven hits while walking one and striking out three in a 99-pitch outing.

Hanshin put runners in scoring position four times against Utsumi, with the biggest threat a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the sixth.

But Utsumi got former Seattle Mariner Kenji Johjima to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.

"I'm glad I got a win on my birthday," Utsumi said. "In the sixth inning, I tried to ease my mind by telling myself I could allow a sacrifice fly and one run would be inevitable.

"When I'm off, I leave my fastball in the middle of the zone in a situation like that. But today was different.

"I've started to throw a two-seam fastball only recently. Before the game, (catcher Shinnosuke) Abe-san told me we were going to use it a lot today. It worked very well."

Backup outfielder Ryuichi Kajimae opened the scoring in the second when he drove in captain Abe from second with a two-out single up the middle off Minoru Iwata (1-4).

"I wanted to get a hit for Utsumi-san in that situation," Kajimae said. "I was determined to go aggressive and swung at the first pitch. The manager put me in the starting lineup yesterday, but I didn't do well.

"Today I was finally able to contribute to the team's win."

Shuichi Murata hit a sacrifice fly to give Yomiuri a much-needed insurance run in the eighth off Daiki Enokida.

Kentaro Nishimura pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save after Tetsuya Yamaguchi worked the eighth.

Johjima, back in Hanshin's starting lineup for the first time in five games, went hitless in four at-bats, striking out once and hitting into two double plays. Hanshin outhit Yomiuri 8-7.

Carp 3, Swallows 0

Show of strength: Nick Stavinoha (right) and Yusuke Nomura celebrate the Carp's victory over the Swallows on Sunday. KYODO

At Mazda Stadium, rookie Yusuke Nomura (2-1) allowed just one hit over eight innings and Nick Stavinoha hit a two-run homer in the sixth as Hiroshima beat Tokyo Yakult to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jun Hirose delivered an RBI single in the first innng among his three hits. Orlando Roman gave up three runs in six innings for Yakult, whose unbeaten streak ended at seven games.

Dragons 3, BayStars 0

At Nagoya Dome, Shinji Iwata (2-0) struck out 12 and allowed just two hits in seven innings as Chunichi handed Yokohama its fourth consecutive loss.

Hirokazu Ibata and Naomichi Donoue hit RBI singles in the fifth off Yuki Kuniyoshi (0-3) to push Chunichi's lead to 3-0. Hitoki Iwase picked up his 10th save.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Fighters 4, Eagles 0

At Kleenex Stadium, Terrmel Sledge homered and drove in three runs, Masaru Takeda pitched his second shutout of the season and PL leader Hokkaido Nippon Ham beat Tohoku Rakuten.

Sledge gave Nippon Ham a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out RBI double and added a two-run shot in the sixth off Kenji Tomura (2-1). Takeda (4-0) allowed just two hits and two walks in a 96-pitch outing.

Atsunori Inaba, who recorded his 2,000th career hit on Saturday, went 2-for-4 for Nippon Ham.

Marines 2, Hawks 1

At QVC Marine Field, Yuki Karakawa (4-1) threw his second complete game of the season as Chiba Lotte edged Fukuoka Softbank to snap a three-game losing streak.

Saburo Omura hit a sac fly in the first and Katsuya Kakunaka added a solo homer in the fourth off Sho Iwasaki (2-3). Softbank moved within a run in the ninth, but Katsuki Yamazaki grounded out for the final out with two men on base.

Lions 3, Buffaloes 1

At Kyocera Dome, Shogo Akiyama went 3-for-3 with an RBI, leading Seibu over Orix for its fourth straight victory.

Seibu right-hander Ryoma Nogami (1-1) gave up nine hits but limited the damage to one run in 5? innings for the win. Hiroshi Kisanuki (2-2) took the loss.

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Isles' Nabokov records 51st shutout of career

WASHINGTON — Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 shots to hand the Washington Capitals their first shutout of the season, and the New York Islanders got two goals from PA Parenteau in a 3-0 victory Tuesday night.

Down but not out: Dallas' Radek Dvorak (bottom) tries to clear the puck as Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg gives chase on Tuesday. AP

The last-place Islanders ended Washington's seven-game home winning streak and denied the Capitals' bid to move past idle Florida into first place in the Southeast Division.

It was the 51st career shutout for the 36-year-old Nabokov and first with New York. He has 301 career wins, including eight this season.

Playing the last of back-to-back games and for the fourth time in six days, the Islanders converted three of 28 shots against Tomas Vokoun, who came in 14-3 with a 2.03 goals-against average in 17 starts at home.

John Tavares extended his point streak to a career-best 10 games with a power-play goal at 12:05 of the first period.

Rangers 3, Predators 0

In New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the Rangers stayed atop the NHL standings with a victory over Nashville that stopped the Predators' winning streak at five.

John Mitchell scored midway through the second period and defenseman Dan Girardi had a goal in the first. Ryan Callahan was awarded a goal when he dived to try to knock the puck into the empty net in the final minute, and Martin Erat dived on top of him.

New York leads the NHL with 62 points.

Lightning 5, Bruins 3

In Tampa, Dominic Moore scored a tiebreaking goal with 3:45 remaining, and the hosts beat Boston.

Steven Stamkos added his NHL-leading 31st goal into an empty net during the final minute.

Flyers 5, Wild 1

In Philadelphia, Sean Couturier scored a short-handed goal to lead a balanced attack, and the Flyers topped Minnesota.

Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Braydon Coburn and Jakub Voracek also had goals, and Jaromir Jagr had two assists for Philadelphia, which got points from 12 players.

Darroll Powe scored against his former team for the Wild's lone goal.

Devils 5, Jets 1

In Newark, New Jersey, Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals, giving him seven in six games, and the Devils routed Winnipeg.

Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists, and Petr Sykora and David Clarkson also scored to give New Jersey its third straight win and fifth in six games.

Blue Jackets 4, Oilers 2

In Columbus, Derek MacKenzie scored 32 seconds into the third period to help Columbus rally from a two-goal deficit and beat Edmonton.

Ryan Johansen and Derick Brassard also had goals, and Derek Dorsett added an empty-netter for the Blue Jackets.

Senators 3, Maple Leafs 2

In Toronto, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza scored, Craig Anderson made 37 saves, and Ottawa edged the Maple Leafs.

Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO)

In Pittsburgh, James Neal beat Cam Ward on the stick side in the shootout to lift the Penguins over Carolina.

Evgeni Malkin netted his 22nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and then scored to lead off the shootout as the Penguins won their third straight.

Red Wings 3, Stars 2 (SO)

In Dallas, Jiri Hudler scored in the second round of the shootout, Detroit's Ty Conklin was perfect in all three rounds, and the Red Wings beat the hosts.

Kings 3, Canucks 2 (SO)

In Vancouver, Justin Williams and Mike Richards scored in the shootout, and Los Angeles handed the hosts their second straight home loss.

Sharks 2, Flames 1 (SO)

In San Jose, Michal Handzus and Brent Burns scored in the shootout, and the Sharks rallied to a victory over Calgary.

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Bruins hammer Flames; Rask posts another shutout

BOSTON — Any fears that Bruins coach Claude Julien might have had about his team looking past Calgary and toward a Stanley Cup rematch with Vancouver were quickly laid to rest Thursday.

The Flames didn't last long, either.

Nathan Horton and Patrice Bergeron each had two goals and an assist, Tuukka Rask earned his third shutout in four starts and the rampaging Bruins cruised to a 9-0 blowout of the road-weary Flames.

"To be honest with you, no one talked about Saturday in the dressing room. We were all worried about tonight," Bergeron said. "That's the approach we've had all year and now our next job is Saturday — so now we really have to worry about them. It's going to be a tough game, so tomorrow we need a good practice and be ready for that."

Boston beat the Canucks in seven games last year in the Stanley Cup finals and Saturday is the only time the teams will play during the regular season.

Julien said last season's playoff run taught his players how to focus on the game at hand.

Playing for the second straight night Thursday, the Bruins came out flying and scored three goals in the first 8:49.

The win was the ninth in 10 games for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Flyers 5, Blackhawks 4

In Philadelphia, James van Riemsdyk's second goal on the power play with 32.8 seconds remaining lifted the Flyers to a victory over Chicago.

Rangers 3, Panthers 2 (OT)

In New York, Marian Gaborik scored 3:29 into overtime to lift the Rangers.

Maple Leafs 4, Jets 0

In Toronto, Jonas Gustavsson stopped 24 shots for his second career shutout to lead the hosts past Winnipeg.

Senators 4, Lightning 1

In Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and two assists, Craig Anderson made 35 saves and the Senators beat Tampa Bay to extend their winning streak to four games.

Blues 4, Oilers 3

In St. Louis, Matt D'Agostini capped a three-goal surge early in the third period and Carlo Colaiacovo had three assists, rallying the Blues past Edmonton.

Stars 4, Predators 1

In Nashville, Mike Ribeiro scored two goals in the first period and Dallas beat the hosts.

Sharks 2, Blue Jackets 1

In San Jose, Joe Thornton scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period of his 500th game with the club and the Sharks went on to beat Columbus for their third straight win.

Kings 1, Coyotes 0 (OT)

In Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick tied a career best with his NHL-leading sixth shutout and defenseman Drew Doughty scored during a goalmouth scramble 38 seconds into overtime to lift the Kings over Phoenix.

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Swallows' Tateyama hurls five-hit shutout

Wladimir Balentien got hit in the face with a shaving cream pie during his hero interview.

Shut 'em down: Swallows right-hander Shohei Tateyama holds the Dragons to five hits in Tokyo Yakult's 2-0 win on Thursday at Jingu Stadium. KYODO PHOTO

As for Shohei Tateyama? Well, he didn't get hit by much.

Tateyama tossed a five-hit shutout and Balentien hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to help the Tokyo Yakult Swallows finish off a three-game sweep of the Chunichi Dragons with a 2-0 win on a cloudy Thursday afternoon at Jingu Stadium.

"I saw Yoshinori throw a shutout against the Dragons," Tateyama said, referring to the three-hit shutout teammate Yoshinori Sato tossed against Chunichi on Wednesday. "Watching Yoshinori pitch gave me a good idea about the Dragons' batters."

Tateyama (1-0) struck out three, walked three and threw 123 pitches. He was rarely in trouble and induced double-play groundballs after each of his three walks.

"I had a good pace today," Tateyama said.

"Everyone was playing really well behind me," he later added.

Chunichi was held without an extra-base hit and never managed more than one hit in a single inning against Tateyama.

"His control was good," Yakult catcher Ryoji Aikawa said of Tateyama. "His forkball was really effective and he was able to get outs with it. Because his forkball was good, he was able to throw strikes and get outs with his fastball, shuuto and slider."

Balentien provided Tateyama with all the run support he needed with his two-run homer in the fourth, the only extra-base hit of the afternoon.

"I feel very good to give my pitcher a push and a couple of runs," Balentien said. "Because he was pitching very well and he needed a couple of runs to win this game."

The Swallows outfielder flashed some glove in the eighth, giving chase to Motonobu Tanishige's flyball and making the grab on the run to rob the Chunichi veteran of a sure double.

"He hit it very well and I just tried to make a play on the ball," Balentien said.

Dragons starter Yudai Kawai had a decent outing, but was tagged with the loss after allowing both runs. Kawai (0-1) gave up five hits, struck out two and walked one over five innings.

There wasn't much in the way of offense for either side, with the Swallows settling for four singles in addition to Balentien's homer and the Dragons combining to hit five singles.

Joel Guzman led the way for Chunichi at the plate, snapping a 17 at-bat hitless streak with a 2-for-3 day.

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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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Marines' Naruse tosses four-hit shutout

CHIBA — Yoshihisa Naruse pitched his first shutout of the season for his first win, four-hitting the Seibu Lions to lead the Japan Series champion Chiba Lotte Marines to a 2-0 victory Tuesday.

Naruse, who struck out six, needed 137 pitches to tame the Lions in beating their ace Hideaki Wakui for his second career shutout against Seibu, which dropped its fifth in a row at QVC Marine Field dating back to last July.

The Lions never reached third base against Naruse, who led the team with 13 wins last season.

"I had a good time out on the mound today. I just regret the one walk I had," Naruse said.

Wakui allowed both runs on 10 hits in seven innings of work as he suffered his first defeat.

"I got beat, hands down," said Wakui, who shares the same alma mater as Naruse at Yokohama High School. "Compared to my last time out, I made a lot of mistakes today."

Complementing Naruse's gem was Takashi Ogino, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the seventh inning to hit safely in his seventh straight game. He also scored the Marines' first run in the sixth, coming home on Tadahito Iguchi's RBI single to right.

Eagles 2, Hawks 1

At Yahoo Dome, former major leaguer Kazuo Matsui drove in the game-winning run with a double in the top of the 10th as Tohoku Rakuten edged Fukuoka Softbank.

Eagles starter Hisashi Iwakuma moved to 2-0 after striking out 10 in nine innings. He allowed one earned run on just five hits.

Fighters 8, Buffaloes 2

At Kobe's Hotto Motto Field, Yu Darvish rebounded from the worst start of his career to pitch eight strong innings in Hokkaido Nippon Ham's win against Orix.

Darvish, who allowed seven earned runs in seven-plus innings in his season debut against the Lions on April 12, struck out eight and gave up one earned run on four hits.
Darvish was backed by Yoshio Itoi's two-hit, three-RBI effort that included a two-run home run off Buffaloes starter Hiroshi Kisanuki in the third.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Tigers 3, Giants 2 (10)

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin pinch hitter Takahiro Arai had the first "sayonara" hit of his career as the Tigers edged Yomiuri.

Hanshin's Atsushi Nomi racked up 10 strikeouts in seven innings, giving up one earned run on four hits. The Giants have not won since beating the Swallows in their first two games of the season.

Carp 5, BayStars 3

At Yokohama Stadium, Sawamura Award winner Kenta Maeda picked up his first win, holding Yokohama to three earned runs over seven innings.

Maeda, who led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts last season, fanned five but allowed a pair of home runs, a solo shot in the third inning to Shingo Takeyama and a two-run homer to Yuki Yoshimura in the fifth.

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