The SoftBank Hawks finally ended their 12-game nightmare, leaving the Nippon Ham Fighters to carry Japan’s futility torch. On Monday, the Hawks scored off Roki Sasaki and took a 1-0 lead into the ninth, and on Tuesday faced the daunting task of snapping their skid against Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Meanwhile, there was some big injury news.

Tuesday’s games

Carp 6, Swallows 3: At New Hiroshima Citizens Stadium, Matt Davidson singled and scored as Hiroshima came from behind to tie it 3-3 in a two-run sixth, and broke the tie in a three-run seventh, doubling to the wall to make it 5-3.

Yakult’s Dillon Peters, who has morphed into a strikeout pitcher, fanning eight in each of his last two starts, allowed two runs in 5-1/3 innings. Munetaka Murakami walked, doubled and scored two of the Swallows’ three runs off Allen Kuri, who worked six innings.