Giants restore order in CL

Shosei Togo got his seventh win and the Yomiuri Giants beat the first-place Hanshin Tigers to regain a tie for second place in the Central League, seven games back along with the Yakult Swallows, the same place the three times started when league play resumed Friday.

Giants 6, Tigers 2

At Koshien Stadium, Yomiuri’s Shosei Togo (7-3) struck out nine as he outdueled rookie Hanshin lefty Masashi Ito (4-4) over seven innings, Togo allowing two runs, Ito three. Takumi Oshiro broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the fourth for Yomiuri, his sixth. Captain Hayato Sakamoto made it 3-1 in the sixth with his eighth homer of the season and the 250th of his career, and Yoshihiro Maru, who doubled and had three hits, hit a two-run homer in the eighth, his fifth.

Tigers rookie Teruaki Sato closed the gap to a run in the sixth with his 17th homer.

Dragons 7, Swallows 3

At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Yohei Oshima twice drove in two runs to bring the Chunichi Dragons from a run down, in the second with a double and in the fourth with a triple. Catcher Takuya Kinoshita scored twice, while Toshiki Abe reached base four times, scored three runs and homered.

Tetsuto Yamada put the Swallows in front in the first against Shinnosuke Ogasawara (5-2) with his 18th home run. Swallows starter Yasuhiro Ogawa (6-2) singled in the tying run in the second with two outs before Ogasawara issued a bases-loaded walk. Ogasawara pitched out of a two-on one-out jam in the fourth and loaded the bases in the fifth with one out, but he and four relievers retired 13 of the last 14 Swallows hitters.

Carp 12, BayStars 11

At Tokyo Dome, Hiroshima’s rookie closer Ryoji Kuribayashi allowed one RBI single and a run to score after entering with two on and two outs in the ninth inning before ending a seven-run DeNA rally and earning his 14th save.

Carp rookie Kota Hayashi continued to mash, going 4-for-4 with a double, a walk, a home run and four RBIs, while Seiya Suzuki scored three runs. BayStars starter Michael Peoples allowed five runs over two-plus innings. Toshiro Miyazaki powered the late comeback by driving in five runs, including four on his sixth home run, in the ninth. Tyler Austin and Hikaru Ito homered in the first for DeNA. Austin’s was his 14th.

Hawks 5, Fighters 5

At Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome, SoftBank’s Nick Martinez pitched out of three jams to work six scoreless innings against his former team, before Nippon Ham tied it 4-4 against the Hawks’ bullpen in the seventh, three runs scoring on Yuto Takahama’s third home run. Daiki Asama homered for the second straight day in the eighth to make it 5-4. But after two quick outs in the ninth, Ryoya Kurihara hit his eighth homer of the year off closer Toshihiro Sugiura to seal the tie.

The Hawks opened the scoring in the fourth with a four-run inning that started with a leadoff homer and ended with three straight bases-loaded walks after lefty Ryusei Kawano entered with two outs and the bases loaded.

Lions 7, Marines 2

At MetLife Dome, Seibu’s Tomoya Mori hit a two-run homer, his eighth, in a six-run first inning off Toshiya Nakamura (0-2) in which four unearned runs scored.

Tatsuya Imai (5-2) allowed two runs over seven innings on four hits and four walks to earn the win.

Eagles vs Buffaloes

At Sendai’s Rakuten Seimei Park, rained out, to be made up Monday. Masahiro Tanaka (2-4, 2.90) was set to go against rookie lefty  Hiroya Miyagi (6-1, 2.31), who will pitch tomorrow, while Tanaka will take the day off.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Eagles vs Buffaloes: Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Takahisa Hayakawa (7-2, 3.30) vs Hiroya Miyagi (6-1, 2.31)

Lions vs Marines: MetLife Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Zach Neal (1-1, 3.00) vs Kazuya Ojima (3-2, 4.53)

Hawks vs Fighters: PayPay Dome 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Tsuyoshi Wada (4-4, 4.65) vs Takayuki Kato (3-4, 3.64)

Central League

Swallows vs Dragons: Jingu Stadium 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Yasunobu Okugawa (2-2, 5.45) vs Akiyoshi Katsuno (3-4, 3.96)

BayStars vs Carp: Tokyo Dome 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Yuya Sakamoto (1-2, 4.44) vs Haruki Omichi (2-0, 2.55)

Tigers vs Giants: Koshien Stadium 2 pm, 1 am EDT

Takumi Akiyama (6-2, 2.86) vs Yuki Takahashi (6-2, 2.80)

Active roster moves 6/19/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 6/29

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

None

Pacific League

Activated

Dectivated