Rea pitches Hawks to 3rd straight win

Colin Rea threw his first Japan shutout on Monday, as the fourth-place SoftBank Hawks beat the third-place Rakuten Eagles to move a half game behind them and three back of the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes.

In the Central League, the Hanshin Tigers rallied for four runs in the ninth to scrape out a walk-off win that moved them two games clear of the second-place Yomiuri Giants, who were idle.

Hawks 8, Eagles 0

At Fukuoka’s PayPay Dome, SoftBank’s Colin Rea (3-1) struck out eight over the distance. The right-hander, who held Rakuten hitless through 7-2/3, allowed two hits, issued three walks and hit a batter.

The Hawks loaded the bases with one out in the first off Takahiro Norimoto (7-3, 2.94) and Yuya Hasegawa brought home all three with a double. Ryoya Kurihara singled off the top of the fence in right to bring in the first of three third-inning runs and the last to be charged to Norimoto in his three-inning start.

Tigers 4, BayStars 3

At Koshien Stadium, Yusuke Oyama completed a four-run ninth-inning comeback against closer Kazuki Mishima, smashing the last of a series of fat pitches in a six-single barrage.

Hanshin starter Koyo Aoyagi issued four walks and allowed four hits and four runs, one earned, over seven innings. The BayStars scratched out a run in the third on a single, an error, a walk and a groundout, and for the second straight day appeared headed for a 1-0 loss until Aoyagi walked a pair of hitters and rookie Kaito Mori’s double was misplayed in left by Jerry Sands, allowing a second run to score on the play.

DeNA’s Shinichi Onuki struck out six over six scoreless innings. Edwin Escobar and Yasuyuki Yamasaki each worked a scoreless inning before closer Kazuki Mishima ran into a rough patch. With two outs and a man on, three straight Tigers hitters hit line-drive singles to make it a one-run game and bring Jefry Marte to the plate with the tying run on third and the winning run on first.

Mishima appeared to have ended the game on an 0-2 outside pitch to Marte that umpire Hidetomo Ashihara called a ball, causing catcher Hikaru Ito to collapse back on his butt in disbelief. Mishima followed with a 154-kph fastball down the pipe that Marte lined into center to tie it. The next pitch, a 144-kph slider up and in the heart of the zone did the trick for the Tigers.

Carp 6, Dragons 2

At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Seiya Suzuki doubled in three first-inning runs off Yudai Ono (3-7), who surrendered another run in the first before settling down and being pulled for a pinch-hitter after four.

Daichi Osera (3-3) gave up a run after Yota Kyoda’s first-inning leadoff triple. He held the Dragons to a run in the fourth after back-to-back singles and worked a scoreless seventh after Chunichi again opened with two singles.

Starting pitchers

Pacific League

Fighters vs Buffaloes: Kushiro Stadium 1 pm, 12 midnight EDT

Takahide Ikeda (3-8, 3.19) vs Hirotoshi Masui (2-5, 4.42)

Lions vs Marines: MetLife Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Wataru Matsumoto (7-3, 2.72) vs Daiki Iwashita (7-4, 3.01)

Hawks vs Eagles: PayPay Dome 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Shuta Ishikawa (3-7, 3.02) vs Masahiro Tanaka (3-5, 3.00)

Central League

Giants vs Swallows: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT

Angel Sanchez (5-4, 4.31) vs Yasunobu Okugawa (3-2, 4.15)

Tigers vs BayStars: Koshien Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Raul Alcantara (2-1, 3.41) vs Yuya Sakamoto (2-2, 4.74)

Carp vs Dragons: Mazda Stadium 6 pm, 5 am EDT

Allen Kuri (6-5, 3.29) vs Koji Fukutani (4-8, 4.59)

Active roster moves 7/12/2021

Deactivated players can be re-activated from 7/22

Central League

Activated

Dectivated

Pacific League

Activated

None

Dectivated