|
|
|
2ND LD: Giants clinch 3rd consecutive CL title
|
|
 email this
 print this
|
TOKYO, Sept. 23 (19:29) Kyodo
|
|
(EDS: UPDATING WITH PL GAMES)
Yoshitomo Tani and Alex Ramirez both homered and Wirfin Obispo
pitched three-run ball over seven innings as the Yomiuri Giants beat
the Chunichi Dragons 5-3 to clinch their third consecutive Central
League title on Wednesday.
The Giants, led by manager Tatsunori Hara, achieved a feat no
other CL team has since they won nine consecutive titles from
1965-1973. Yomiuri swept Chunichi in three games and won its seventh
in a row for the first time this season.
Tani went deep off Daisuke Yamai (0-3) for a 1-0 lead in the
second and Ramirez led off the fourth with a shot to center, reaching
30 home runs for the second straight year. Shigeyuki Furuki and
Obispo had a run-scoring single and RBI bunt single, respectively.
Motonobu Tanishige hit a three-run drive to cut the deficit to
4-3 in the fifth but Ramirez cushioned Yomiuri's lead with a two-out
run-scoring single in the seventh.
Obispo (5-1) scattered five hits with no walks. Marc Kroon
worked the ninth to pick up his 27th save. Chunichi lost its sixth in
a row against Yomiuri.
Yomiuri first saw a magic number of 26 appear on Aug. 27 and
reduced it to one on Tuesday. Hara, who led Japan to its second
straight World Baseball Classic title in March, won his fourth
pennant in his sixth season with the Giants.
''This season was special for me in the sense that we had the
WBC and it was a very unsettling season. But the players took it upon
themselves to become strong on their own and really led the team to
victory,'' Hara said. ''The fact that we have several games left to
play and we were able to win the title already demonstrates the
players' strong competitiveness in the pennant race.''
The league title allows Yomiuri to enter the Climax Series
playoffs in the second round with a one-win advantage over the winner
of the first stage between the second- and third-place teams.
The winner of the playoffs will advance to face the Pacific
League playoff winner in the Japan Series. Yomiuri is seeking its
first Japan Series title since 2002.
-----
Tigers 6, BayStars 3
Takahiro Arai went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Hanshin bats
took advantage of a shaky Ryan Glynn to down Yokohama, snapping the
BayStars' three-game winning streak.
Arai had a two-run single to open the scoring in the first
inning followed by Kodai Sakurai's two-run double. Hanshin added two
runs on three hits for a 6-0 lead in the second at Yokohama Stadium.
Yusutomo Kubo (8-8) allowed three runs in 5-2/3 innings and
Kyuji Fujikawa pitched the ninth for his 23rd save. Glynn (3-15) got
rocked for six runs in two innings.
-----
Swallows 4, Carp 1
Yuki Tanaka threw his first complete game in seven years as
Yakult downed Hiroshima at Mazda Stadium.
Tanaka (5-5) allowed four hits and walked one in a 120-pitch
outing. Keisuke Imai (1-3) gave up one unearned run in 7-2/3 innings
of the loss.
Koji Onizaki had a two-out two-run double to highlight a
three-run ninth. Andy Phillips' sacrifice fly in the ninth was the
lone run for Hiroshima.
-----
Pacific League
Lions 6, Fighters 1
Takeya Nakamura hit a three-run blast for his Japanese baseball
leading 42nd home run as Seibu swept Nippon Ham in three games at
Sapporo Dome.
Nakamura had his third homer in four games, connecting to center
off Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-1) in the first inning and added a
run-scoring single in the fifth. Taketoshi Goto had a two-run single
in the third.
Fumiya Nishiguchi (4-3) took a shutout into the seventh inning
and allowed two hits in 6-1/3 scoreless innings to win his first
decision since May 14. PL leader Nippon Ham lost its fourth in a row.
-----
Marines 7, Hawks 5
At Yahoo Dome, Hisao Heiuchi had a tiebreaking RBI single and
Shoitsu Omatsu hit a grand slam with two outs in the same inning as
Lotte held off Softbank.
Heiuchi's single to left in the fourth broke a 2-2 tie before
Omatsu went deep to right off reliever Yasushi Kamiuchi. Shota Oba
(1-4) was charged with six runs in 3-2/3 innings of the loss.
Reliever Tomohisa Nemoto (1-0) got the win and Brian Sikorski
pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
-----
Eagles 4, Buffaloes 1
At Kleenex Stadium, Hiromichi Fujiwara pitched one-run ball over
eight innings and Masato Nakamura had a two-run double among his
three hits as Rakuten downed Orix.
Fujiwara (4-4) surrendered nine hits and walked none.
Fernando Seguignol gave Rakuten a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in
the third inning and Fujiwara doubled off Kazuki Kondo (8-11) with
none out and the bases loaded to extend the lead in the fourth. |
|
back to headlines >>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
