With 66 of 108 interleague games done, the Pacific League’s prospects for winning the most games have darkened after two straight 1-5 days in the Central League’s parks. I’m now projecting a 56-52 CL interleague triumph. That could shift, of course, considering 36 of the remaining 42 games are in PL parks.

On Saturday, the CL got big games at the plate from Munetaka Murakami, Shugo Maki, a huge start from Koyo Aoyagi, and a lot of good relief work from the Swallows’, Dragons’ and Giants’ bullpens. Then there were the Hiroshima Carp.

Saturday’s games

Giants 2, Marines 1: At Tokyo Dome, C.C. Mercedes (5-1) allowed a run on seven hits over 7-1/3 innings in which he struck out six, Takuya Wakuhara stranded the tying runner in the eighth, and rookie Taisei Ota worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20^th save.