The SoftBank Hawks’ push to defend their Pacific League title continued on Wednesday with their fourth straight shutout as Kodai Senga, who has been hurt most of the season, worked six innings to earn his first win since April 6, and the team established a record by hurling 42 consecutive scoreless innings.
Hawks 3, Eagles 0
At Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Kodai Senga (2-1, 6.28) worked six innings. He allowed two hits, issued a walk and hit a batter while striking out six. Four relievers finished up allowing one base runner the rest of the way with Sho Iwasaki earning his sixth save.
SoftBank opened the scoring in the first after Rakuten rookie Takahisa Hayakawa (7-4, 3.47) retired the first two batters. Ryoya Kurihara doubled in Yuya Yanagita and scored on an Alfredo Despaigne single. Yanagita singled in a run in the second.
Marines 5, Lions 3
At Chiba’s Zozo Marine Stadium, Kazuya Ojima (6-3, 4.57) scattered five hits, three walks and a hit batsman to allow two runs over six innings. Yudai Fujioka singled in a run in Lotte’s two-run second off Zach Neal (1-4, 4.37) and tripled with one out in the fifth and scored to break a 2-2 tie. Adeiny Hechevarria’s two-out two-run single in the sixth made it 5-2. Lotte’s Naoya Masuda worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save.
Buffaloes 5, Fighters 2
At Hotto Motto Field Kobe, right-hander Glenn Sparkman allowed two runs over four innings in his Japan debut, and six relievers kept the Fighters off the board after that with Yoshihisa Hirano earning his 14th save.
Fighters lefty Ryusei Kawano (2-2, 1.85) allowed three runs in 4-2/3 innings to take the loss. Takahiro Okada’s two-out two-run single in the first opened the scoring. Wang Po-jung, however, singled in two with one out in the third. Ryoichi Adachi’s second double of the game plated leadoff man Shuhei Fukuda with the tie-breaking run in the fifth.
Fukuda went 4-for-5 and also scored on Masataka Yoshida’s eighth-inning two-run homer, his 19th.
Giants 3, Swallows 2
At Matsuyama Botchan Stadium, Takumi Oshiro set up two runs by singling and scoring in the fifth and doubling with one on to set up Hiroyuki Nakajima’s two-run single that brought Yomiuri back from a run down against former closer Taishi Ishiyama (0-5).
Forty-one-year-old wallows lefty Masanori Ishikawa allowed a run over six innings. After Munetaka Murakami opened the second against Daisuke Naoe with his 28th home run, Yuhei Nakamura doubled and scored on Ishikawa’s RBI single.
Brazilian flame thrower Thyago Vieira walked Nakamura to open the ninth, but recorded his 12th save.
Tigers 5, BayStars 2
At Tokyo Dome, rookie Masashi Ito (6-5, 2.70) allowed two runs over eight innings and earned the win when Hanshin came from behind in an eighth-inning meltdown by lefty reliever Edwin Escobar (2-2).
Mel Rojas Jr. hit his second home run in Japan to put the Tigers up 1-0 in the second, but DeNA tied it on Keita Sano’s fourth-inning RBI single. Tyler Austin put the hosts ahead 2-1 in the seventh with his 20th home run.
Kento Itohara doubled to open the eighth against Escobar, and the Tigers tied it after singles by Jerry Sands and Yusuke Oyama. A walk loaded the bases, and Escobar hit Rojas to force in the go-ahead run. Hanshin right-hander Robert Suarez earned his 26th save.
DeNA starter Shinichi Onuki allowed a run over five innings.
Dragons 3, Carp 0
At Vantelin Dome Nagoya, good things continued to not come in threes for the Hiroshima Carp who were one-hit in a 2-hour, 27-minute loss. The Carp returned to action after the break with a 9-3 win over the Tigers followed by a 9-3 loss, followed by three straight 3-0 losses.
Takahiro Matsuba (2-2, 4.02) allowed a hit, walked two and hit one over 5-2/3 innings, and things got worse from there. Shinji Tajima ended the sixth by retiring Seiya Suzuki with the bases loaded. Hiroto Fuku hit a batter in the seventh, the last runner allowed by Chunichi. Raidel Martinez recorded his 11th save.
Ariel Martinez singled in the second and scored on Naomichi Donoue’s fourth home run. Dayan Viciedo closed the book on Shogo Tamamura (2-4, 3.40) with an RBI single in the sixth.
Starting pitchers
Marines vs Lions: Zozo Marine Stadium 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT
Shota Suzuki (1-4, 4.13) vs Keisuke Honda (0-1, 3.12)
Buffaloes vs Fighters: Hotto Motto Field 6 pm, 5 am EDT
Soichiro Yamazaki (0-0, 0.00) vs Hiromi Itoh (7-4, 2.42)
BayStars vs Tigers: Tokyo Dome 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT
Yuya Sakamoto (3-2, 4.20) vs Shintaro Fujinami (3-2, 4.35)
Dragons vs Carp: Vantelin Dome (Nagoya) 5:45 pm, 4:45 am EDT
Yudai Ono (3-7, 3.59) vs Daichi Osera (4-3, 3.51)
Active roster moves 8/18/2021
Central League
Activated
| Giants | P | 54 | Daisuke Naoe |
| Tigers | P | 27 | Masashi Ito |
| Dragons | P | 38 | Takahiro Matsuba |
| Carp | P | 65 | Shogo Tamamura |
| Swallows | P | 19 | Masanori Ishikawa |
Dectivated
None
Pacific League
Activated
| Marines | P | 43 | Kazuya Ojima |
| Lions | P | 54 | Zach Neal |
| Eagles | P | 21 | Takahisa Hayakawa |
| Eagles | P | 52 | Taisei Tsurusaki |
| Fighters | P | 28 | Ryusei Kawano |
| Buffaloes | P | 56 | Glenn Sparkman |
Dectivated
None
