For a couple of teams in Japan, it was (thank God it’s) streak-ending Friday.

Tigers 6, Swallows 0: At Jingu Stadium, the Hanshin Tigers now have more wins this season than losing streaks thanks to a three-hit shutout by Koyo Aoyagi (2-0).

The right-handed side-armer faced his big test in the bottom of the sixth inning. With a 2-0 lead since the first, he gave up Norichika Aoki’s leadoff double and fell behind Tetsuto Yamada before striking him out with a pitch in the zone. He then did the same with Munetaka Murakami.

Swallows starter Hirotoshi Takanashi (2-2) worked six innings. With him gone, the Tigers treated new Swallow A.J. Cole to a baptism of fire, scoring four off him in the seventh.

Yusuke Oyama plated Teruaki Sato in the first with his third home run. Sato doubled in a run in the seventh before Mel Rojas Jr. blasted his third home run with two on to complete the scoring.

Swallows-Tigers highlights

Giants 7, Dragons 2: At Nagoya Dome, the duel between Yomiuri ace Tomoyuki Sugano (3-2) and Chunichi’s Yuya Yanagi (2-1) went completely south for the Dragons in the sixth as Yomiuri won its fifth straight.

Gregory Polanco doubled with two outs in the first and scored on a Kazuma Okamoto single before Sugano dodged a major bullet in the home half.

Naomichi Donue fouled off six two-strike pitches before singling with one out. Ariel Martinez singled, and Sugano only got out of the inning with the bases loaded Dayan Viciedo struck out looking at a pitch outside the zone for the second out.

Sugano surrendered Takaya Ishikawa‘s leadoff home run in the second, but the Giants took the lead in the fourth on a two-out double steal after singles from Yoshihiro Maru and Adam Walker.

Yanagi began throwing cookies in the sixth. Polanco singled in one run, Walker two more and Sugano capped the rally with an RBI single. Okamoto hit a seventh-inning solo homer, his sixth.

Carp 6, BayStars 1: At Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Daichi Osera (3-1) struck out nine over 8-1/3 and lost his shutout bid in the ninth, while Hiroshima sent Michael Peoples (0-2) packing after a four-run first inning, when Ryan McBroom brought home the first run with a double.

The Carp win snapped a four-game losing streak.

Lions 3, Eagles 0: At Seibu Dome, after a pair of midweek shutout wins over the Lotte Marines, Seibu proved they could hold another team scoreless. It was the first time in 29 years for the Lions to win three shutouts in a row.

Hotaka Yamakawa broke up a scoreless pitchers’ duel in the fourth with his fifth home run, off lefty Takahisa Hayakawa (2-1), who left after seven trailing 1-0. Seibu’s Kona Takahashi (2-2) scattered three walks and four hits over eight innings, and Kaima Taira worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save.

The Lions will send their top draft pick, rookie Chihiro Sumida to the mound Saturday against their former ace, Hideaki Wakui, to see if they can extend the streak, so that should be fun.

Marines 4, Buffaloes 0: At Osaka Dome, the Marines snapped their string of consecutive scoreless offensive innings at 29 when Tsuyoshi Sugano doubled to open the second and scored on a Toshiya Sato sac fly against southpaw Sachiya Yamasaki (0-3), while Enny Romero (2-0) threw 6-1/3 innings.

The lefty has not allowed a run since the third inning on March 29, making 23 full innings without being scored upon, which is five better than teammate Roki Sasaki‘s current streak.

Koki Yamaguchi and Hiromi Oka each hit solo homers in the fourth, who snapped their four-game losing streak.

Fighters 12, Hawks 5: At Sapporo Dome, Chusei Mannami hit a three-run home run, his third, off Colin Rea (1-1) in the Fighters’ four-run first as Tsuyoshi Shinjo and the gang made numerous withdrawals from the SoftBankers.

Kensuke Kondo, batting leadoff for the second straight night, also homered in back-to-back games, while Kazunari Ishii hit his third for the Fighters, who finished last in the league in home runs last season but lead the PL with 19 this year.

Nippon Ham’s Hiromi Ito (2-2) allowed three runs over six innings for the win.

Saturday’s starting pitchers

Fighters vs Hawks: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Naoyuki Uwasawa (0-2, 2.16) vs Sota Tanoue (0-0, 0.00)

Lions vs Eagles: Seibu Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Chihiro Sumida (1-2, 1.82) vs Hideaki Wakui (1-1, 4.50)

Buffaloes vs Marines: Osaka Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Taisuke Yamaoka (2-1, 0.92) vs Ayumu Ishikawa (2-1, 0.99)

Swallows vs Tigers: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Masanori Ishikawa (0-2, 5.40) vs Aaron Wilkerson (1-0, 1.50)

Dragons vs Giants: Nagoya Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Takahiro Matsuba (0-0, 0.00) vs Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 1.42)

Carp vs BayStars: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Masato Morishita (2-1, 4.50) vs Taiga Kamichatani (2-0, 1.50)

Active roster moves 4/22/2022

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/2

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

Dectivated

Saturday’s starting pitchers

Fighters vs Hawks: Sapporo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Naoyuki Uwasawa (0-2, 2.16) vs Sota Tanoue (0-0, 0.00)

Lions vs Eagles: Seibu Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Chihiro Sumida (1-2, 1.82) vs Hideaki Wakui (1-1, 4.50)

Buffaloes vs Marines: Osaka Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Taisuke Yamaoka (2-1, 0.92) vs Ayumu Ishikawa (2-1, 0.99)

Swallows vs Tigers: Jingu Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Masanori Ishikawa (0-2, 5.40) vs Aaron Wilkerson (1-0, 1.50)

Dragons vs Giants: Nagoya Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Takahiro Matsuba (0-0, 0.00) vs Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 1.42)

Carp vs BayStars: Hiroshima Citizen’s Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Masato Morishita (2-1, 4.50) vs Taiga Kamichatani (2-0, 1.50)

Active roster moves 4/22/2022

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 5/2

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

Dectivated