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2ND LD: Iwakuma outpitches Darvish to lift Rakuten in season opener
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SAPPORO, April 3 (22:24) Kyodo
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(EDS: ADDING SEIBU-LOTTE GAME)
Hisashi Iwakuma threw six solid innings to outpitch his World
Baseball Classic teammate Yu Darvish as the Rakuten Eagles beat the
Nippon Ham Fighters 3-1 on Friday, opening day in Japanese baseball.
Iwakuma (1-0), who formed the three-man starting rotation with
Darvish and Daisuke Matsuzaka in Japan's successful WBC title
defense, allowed one run and six hits without walking or striking out
a batter at Sapporo Dome.
''I was a bit tired, so I handed the lead to the bullpen after
six innings. I did my minimum required job as a starter,'' Iwakuma
said.
''I was looking for this pitching duel with Darvish. It'll be
inevitable for us to face each other in important games. I'll try to
be in better shape next time,'' said last season's 21-game winner.
Rakuten jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning
against Darvish.
Rick Short, the 2008 Pacific League batting champion, led off
the game with a single, moved to second on a Makoto Kosaka sacrifice
bunt and scored when Teppai Tsuchiya tripled off the center-field
wall.
Fernando Seguignol followed Tsuchiya with a homer into the
right-field seats.
Darvish (0-1) gave up three runs and eight hits in a complete
game effort, walking none and striking out five.
''My velocity was off early on. I should've turned to breaking
balls earlier,'' said the 22-year-old right-hander, who lost to
Rakuten for the first time since April 13, 2006.
Kanehisa Arime picked up the save after working two perfect
innings. Rakuten made a winning start to the season for the first
time since its inaugural season of 2005.
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Lions 5, Marines 2
Toru Hosokawa and Hiram Bocachica each homered and drove in five
runs between them as 2008 Japan Series champion Seibu rallied from a
2-0 deficit to beat Lotte.
Bocachica went deep to pull Seibu within 2-1 in the fifth and
Hosokawa hit a three-run homer off Naoyuki Shimizu (1-0) an inning
later before Bocachica added a sacrifice fly in the eighth at Chiba
Marine Stadium.
Hideaki Wakui (1-0) allowed two runs and seven hits in six
innings. Alex Graman pitched the ninth for the save.
Tadahito Iguchi, who returned to Japanese baseball after four
seasons in the major leagues, doubled in two runs in the third for
Bobby Valentine's team.
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Hawks 8, Buffaloes 0
Nobuhiko Matsunaka went 3-for-3 with five RBIs to back a shutout
gem by Tsuyoshi Wada in Softbank's rout of Orix.
Matsunaka opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first
inning, drove in three more runs with a pair of doubles and added an
RBI single in the seventh at Yahoo Dome.
Wada (1-0) tied a career high with 14 strikeouts and threw a
three-hit shutout without allowing a runner to reach second.
Satoshi Komatsu (0-1) surrendered seven runs on eight hits in
five innings.
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Central League
Carp 6, Giants 3
Scott Seabol hit a game-tying two-run homer and Masato Akamatsu
followed with a two-run single in a five-run fourth inning as
Hiroshima batted past WBC championship manager Tatsunori Hara's
Yomiuri to win the season opener.
Seabol's drive to left tied the game at 3-3 and Akamatsu and
Akihiro Higashide added to the damage with back-to-back singles,
giving Hiroshima the lead for good at Tokyo Dome. Colby Lewis (1-0)
yielded three runs and six hits in six innings.
Seth Greisinger (0-1), who took CL honors for the second year in
a row with 17 wins last season, got roughed up for six runs and nine
hits in 3-2/3 innings.
Michihiro Ogasawara had a two-run shot and Alex Ramirez followed
with a solo drive in the third to give Yomiuri a 3-1 lead before
Hiroshima's rally against the 2008 CL champion.
-----
Tigers 5, Swallows 2
Yuya Ando threw two-run ball over seven innings en route to
victory on opening day for the second year in a row and Tomoaki
Kamemoto and Kentaro Sekimoto contributed with five runs between them
as Hanshin downed Yakult.
Kanemoto opened the scoring with a run-scoring double in the
first and Sekimoto's shot off lefty Masanori Ishikawa (0-1) in the
second with two out and runners at the corners extended the lead to
4-0. Kanemoto went deep to right leading off the next inning at
Kyocera Dome.
Ando (1-0) gave up seven hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Aaron Guiel hit a solo homer and Hiroyasu Tanaka doubled three times
for Yakult.
-----
Dragons 4, BayStars 1
Third-year right-hander Takuya Asao limited the damage to one
unearned run over eight innings before handing the game over to
closer Hitoki Iwase in Chunichi's win over Yokohama.
Asao (1-0) allowed five hits, struck out four and walked none
before Iwase picked up the save with a perfect ninth. Kazuhiro Wada
hit two of the four solo home runs for Chunichi, which also got
blasts from Tony Blanco and Masahiko Morino at Nagoya Dome.
Yokohama starter Daisuke Miura (0-1), who yielded four runs in
seven innings, suffered his seventh consecutive defeat as the opening
day pitcher and first in two seasons. |
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