Monday’s lone NPB game saw the SoftBank Hawks host the Seibu Lions at Kyocera Dome in Osaka, the home of the Orix Buffaloes.

Hawks 2, Lions 1

At Kyocera Dome, third-inning singles by SoftBank’s Akira Nakamura and Seiichi Uchikawa set up Yurisbel Gracial’s game-tying sacrifice fly, and the hosts manufactured a run in the fourth to move six games clear of second-place Seibu in the Pacific League standings.

Kenji Akashi singled to open the fourth, was bunted to second, went to third on a fly to the wall by Kenta Imamiya and scored on a wild pitch by starter Wataru Matsumoto (5-3). It was Seibu’s 52nd wild pitch, 16 more than the next-highest total in Japan, the 36 by the CL’s Yakult Swallows.

Hawks starter Yuki Matsumoto allowed a run over three innings, while rookie reliever Arata Shiino (4-2) threw three scoreless innings to pick up the win.

Game highlights are HERE.

News

Tigers deactivate Solarte

32-year-old infielder Yangervis Solarte, who energized the Hanshin Tigers upon his arrival, hitting a home run in his first game, has been deactivated after managing 13 hits in his first 69 at-bats over 20 games.