Wednesday, June 27, 2012

NAGOYA — Takehiro Donoue hit a three-run homer in the opening frame, and Kazuki Yoshimi limited the damage to one run over eight strong innings, leading the way in the Chunichi Dragons' 3-1 victory over the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday night.

Getting the job done: The Dragons' Takehiro Donoue belts a three-run home run in the first inning against the Tigers on Tuesday at Nagoya Dome. Chunichi defeated Hanshin 3-1. KYODO

Donoue took Jason Standridge (4-4) deep to right with two outs and runners at the corners following back-to-back one-out singles by Yohei Oshima and Kazuhiro Wada at Nagoya Dome.

Yoshimi (5-2) scattered five hits, struck out four and walked one before Hitoki Iwase shut the door with a perfect ninth, picking up his Central-League leading 24th save.

Yoshimi was never in any real trouble in a fast-paced game until he had to escape a two-out, two-on jam in the seventh, getting Craig Brazell to fly out to end the threat.

He surrendered a leadoff triple in the eighth to Kohei Shibata, who scored two outs later on Matt Murton's single to right for Hanshin's sole run.

The CL-leading Dragons have won four of their last five games.

Carp 5, Giants 2

At Mazda Stadium, Shota Dobayashi hit a tiebreaking solo drive in the fourth inning as Hiroshima pulled past Yomiuri with starter Kan Otake (7-2) and two relievers combining in a nine-hit victory.

Takahiro Iwamoto hit a two-run homer to get things rolling in the first inning and added a run-scoring single in the fifth in his 3-for-4 outing.

D.J. Houlton (5-6) lasted just four-plus innings.

Swallows 8, BayStars 6

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Lions 6, Marines 3

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Takayuki Kishi (7-6) tossed a one-hitter over seven innings and escaped with the win after closer Hideaki Wakui allowed three runs in the ninth as Seibu beat Chiba Lotte.

Hideto Asamura had a three-run double to put Seibu on the scoreboard in the first inning, and Yutaro Osaki keyed a three-run ninth with a two-run double.

Eagles 2, Fighters 1

At Tokyo Dome, Jose Fernandez and Shintaro Masuda hit RBI singles in the first inning off Hokkaido Nippon Ham's Masaru Takeda (4-4), and Takashi Kawai combined with three relievers in a one-hitter as Tohoku Rakuten extended its undefeated streak to four games to move back to .500.

Kawai (2-0) allowed a solo homer to Kenshi Sugiya — the fourth-year infielder's first career blast — in the sixth but was otherwise flawless in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two.

Hawks 0, Buffaloes 0 (10)

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