JAPAN – Justin Germano (see photo) scattered two runs over eight solid innings and the Pacific League’s top team Softbank Hawks feasted on a steady diet of fat pitches in a 15-2 rout against the Orix Buffaloes on Thursday at Kyocera Dome.

Rakuten Eagles Derail Lotte Marines

Teppei Tsuchiya drove in five runs with a pair of triples and Takashi Kawai threw five-plus shutout innings as Rakuten snapped an eight-game losing streak with an 8-3 win over Lotte at Kleenex Stadium.

Seibu Lions Halt Nippon Ham Fighters

Hiroyuki Nakajima broke a 1-1 tie with an RBIsingle in the third inning and Takeya Nakamura hit his Japanesebaseball-leading 29th homer as Seibu downed Nippon Ham 8-2 for its first six-game winning streak this season at the Seibu Dome.

Central League

Yomiuri Giants Blank Yokohama BayStars

Wirfin Obispo carried a shutout into the eighth inning as Yomiuri beat Yokohama 2-0 at Tokyo Dome in Central League action on Thursday.

Yakult Swallows Slay Chunichi Dragons

Shohei Tateyama threw his second completegame of the season and Ryoji Aikawa went 3-for-4 as Yakult defeated Chunichi 8-2 at Jingu Stadium.

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Tags: Japan