Hanshin Tigers Whip Chunichi Dragons 7-2

JAPAN - Takashi Toritani and Mitsunobu Takahashi homered and drove in five runs between them as the front-running Hanshin Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 7-2 in the Central League on Saturday.

Toritani turned a one-run deficit into a 3-1 lead with a third-inning three-run shot and Takahashi hit a two-run drive after Chunichi pulled within 3-2 in the fifth at Nagoya Dome.

Hanshin increased the lead in the eighth on RBI hits by Lewis Ford and Shinjiro Hiyama en route to its sixth straight win against the Dragons. Yuya Ando (8-5) worked five innings for the win.

Takashi Ogasawara (7-7) allowed both of Hanshin’s homers in taking the loss. Kazuhiro Wada and Tyrone Woods had run-scoring singles for Chunichi.

Giants 6, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, Alex Ramirez ignited the offense with a first-inning RBI single and Hisanori Takahashi pitched seven strong innings as Yomiuri stretched its winning streak against Yokohama to six games.

Ramirez’s hit and a Yoshitomo Tani RBI double helped Yomiuri to a 3-0 lead through four innings before Yokohama pulled within a run in the sixth on a two-run shot by Shunichi Murata, who homered for the fifth straight game and tied Ramirez for the league lead with 27 home runs.

A Shinnosuke Abe solo homer made it 4-2 in the eighth before Yomiuri added two runs in the ninth. Takahashi (4-3) allowed two runs and seven hits for the win, while Mike Wood (1-9) lost his third straight start.

Swallows 8, Carp 3

At Jingu Stadium, Kazuki Fukuchi hit a bases-clearing triple in a six-run sixth inning and Tatsuyoshi Masubuchi pitched six strong innings as Yakult held off Hiroshima for its third straight win.

Yasushi Iihara and Wilson Valdez had back-to-back RBI singles to open the sixth before Fukuchi’s triple and a Shinya Miyamoto run-scoring single made it 8-1. Shigenobu Shima and Kenta Kurihara homered for Hiroshima.

Masubuchi (3-3) won his first decision since May 7, limiting Hiroshima to a run and four hits. Michito Miyazaki (0-5) allowed eight runs in 5-2/3 innings and took the loss.

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