The streakers are streaking and the leads are shrinking as we enter the final weekend of July. The Carp, who have an 11-game winning streak, an 11-game losing streak, won their seventh straight, their third longest winning streak of the season.
After Friday’s games, the SoftBank Hawks lead the PL by 1-1/2 games after entering the second half with a seven game lead. The Yomiuri Giants, who came out of the all-star break leading by 10-1/2 games, now lead by 4-1/2 games over the DeNA BayStars.
They call them the streaks: 2019’s longest runs
| Team | Type | Length | Ending date |
| Yakult Swallows | Losing | 15 | May 31 |
| Hiroshima Carp | Winning | 11 | May 25 |
| Hiroshima Carp | Losing | 11 | July 10 |
| DeNA BayStars | Losing | 10 | April 28 |
| Rakuten Eagles | Losing | 10 | July 8 |
| SoftBank Hawks | Winning | 9 | July 6 |
Pacific League
Fighters 12, Lions 7
At MetLife Dome, Nippon Ham beat up Seibu starter Ken Togame for seven runs over 1-1/3 innings, but the Lions barely blinked. Japan’s best offense bounced back to tie it as Takeya Nakamura homered twice, tying it with a two-run shot in the fifth. The six-time PL home run champ now has 19 home runs and four over three games.
But after the game was tied, the Fighters rallied with two outs and no one on, loading the bases for Ryo Watanabe who tripled past center fielder Shogo Akiyama, who was playing shallow.
Bryan Rodriguez, who pitched three innings of scoreless relief, earned the win to improve to 5-2. The Fighters moved to within 1-1/2 wins of the PL-leading Hawks.
Game highlights are HERE.
Eagles 6, Marines 3
At Zozo Marine Stadium, Leonys Martin made his debut for Lotte, but the night belonged to Zelous Wheeler, whose 15th homer, a three-run shot, overturned a 3-2 deficit for third-place Rakuten.
Game highlights are HERE.
Buffaloes 6, Hawks 2
At Yafuoku Dome, Masataka Yoshida homered twice as SoftBank’s Kodai Senga (9-4) missed with too many pitches and Orix snapped a three-game losing streak with some help from Stefen Romero and Steven Moya.
“His pitches moved OK, but he lacked control,” manager Kimiyasu Kudo said of his top pitcher. “Next time, I expect he won’t make so many mistakes.”
Senga struck out eight over seven innings and now leads both leagues with 154 strikeouts.
Moya doubled in the third and scored from third on an error after Senga had trouble handling a smash off Romero’s bat. Romero homered in the sixth, and Moya singled in a run in the seventh.
Game highlights are HERE.
Central League
Tigers 4, Giants 2
At Tokyo Dome, Yangervis Solarte made his Japan debut, batting second and playing shortstop for Hanshin. He broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh with a two-run home run, and went 1-for-4 with a walk.
Jefry Marte singled and scored as Hanshin took a 2-0, second-inning lead against Yomiuri ace Tomoyuki Sugano. Pierce Johnson struck out two in a scoreless seventh, while Kyuji Fujikawa worked the ninth to save his first game of the season.
Game highlights are HERE.
Carp 12, Swallows 3
At Jingu Stadium, Hiroshima scored six runs, five earned, against Yakult lefty Keiji Takahashi (2-4) in three innings with new Carp Takumi Miyoshi homering for the second-straight day.
Kaito Kozono, Hiroshima’s top draft pick last autumn, hit his first career home run, a three-run shot, doubled twice and singled.
The Swallows’ Wladimir Balentien homered for the fifth-straight game.
BayStars 2, Dragons 1
At Nagoya Dome, DeNA’s atypical batting order made the difference as Japan cleanup hitter Yoshitomo Tsutsugo, batting in the No. 2 hole, homered with pitcher Kentaro Taira on board after singling from the No. 8 spot.
Taira (3-2) struck out seven over 6-2/3 innings, while allowing a run on three hits and no walks. The Dragons’ only run came on a Dayan Viciedo homer leading off the seventh.
Dragons starter Yuya Yanagi was the unlucky loser, allowing both runs on four hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out five but saw his record fall to 9-4
