Softbank Hawks Trips Chiba Lotte

Fukuoka Softbank’s young southpaw Kenji Ohtonari silenced Bobby Valentine’s Chiba Lotte Marines as the Hawks remained unbeaten with a 2-1 win Tuesday in Pacific League action at the Yahoo Dome. Ohtonari went the distance for the first time fanning 12 and surrendering only three hits in an impressive 124-pitch outing.

The Marines (2-3) struck first to take a 1-0 lead after shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka rapped an RBI double in the third inning. But the Hawks continued their late-inning heroics with a pair of runs in the seventh frame as second baseman Yuichi Honda drove in the game-winner.

The Hawks, who needed 12 innings to dispose of the Marines 6-5 on Monday and pick up their third sayonara victory, have gotten stellar pitching performances thus far with rookie closer Yuki Kume already bagging a pair of saves.

In other Pacific League action on Tuesday, Nippon lefty Masaru Takeda (1-0) tossed a four-hitter over seven innings as the Ham Fighters battered the Seibu Lions 9-1 at the Sapporo Dome.

Nippon roughed up Seibu starter Fumiya Nishiguchi (0-1) early as Kensuke Tanaka hit the first of his two home runs in the opening frame as the Ham Fighters raced out to a 4-0 lead. Tanaka, who finished the game with four RBIs, tagged Nishiguchi again in the fourth with his third homer of the season - a three-run blast - to make the score 7-0.

Eiichi Koyano went 3-for-4 and Yoshio Itoi knocked home three RBIs in a 14-hit offensive attack for Nippon which improved to 2-2 on the young season. The Lions suffered their third loss in four games.

The Orix Buffaloes spotted the Rakuten Eagles a 4-2 lead before scoring three runs in the fifth to claim a hard-fought 5-4 victory at the Kyocera Dome this past Tuesday in Pacific League action in Japan.

Orix starter Hidetaka Kawagoe had a shaky outing but was rescued by southpaw Yasunari Takagi (1-0), who picked up the win with a pair of scoreless innings, and closer Daisuke Kato who recorded the final three outs for his third save.

Mitsutaka Goto connected for his first home run of the season, a two-run shot off Rakuten starter Yasuhiro Ichiba (0-1), and the Buffaloes (3-1) got RBI singles from Greg LaRocca and Alex Cabrera to keep the Eagles winless in four outings.

(Courtesy of JapanBall.com)

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