KYODO NEWS - Jul 11, 2017 - 22:23 | Sports, All

Ginji Akaminai's two-out, two-strike RBI single off closer Dennis Sarfate lifted the Rakuten Eagles to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the SoftBank Hawks on Tuesday.

In a game that saw the Eagles waste numerous chances against their nearest pursuers in the Pacific League pennant race, Sarfate (1-1) hit a batter and walked a batter to open the door in the ninth inning.

Akaminai fouled off one pitch and took another for a strike before grounding a third into right.

"You always want to win these between the top teams," said Akaminai, who went 3-for-4 with a walk and a double. "We had chances and I had hits, but it feels really good to get the big one."

"I was 100 percent certain a fastball was coming. I was up there to get a good swing on one and I was lucky to get the big hit."

Eagles closer Yuki Matsui quickly gave up a leadoff single to Akira Nakamura, but a sacrifice, a strikeout and groundout ended the argument in Rakuten's favor as the lefty earned his 26th save.

Before 36,140 at Yafuoku Dome, Takahiro Norimoto got off to a rocky start and was punished for four early runs. Seiichi Uchikawa doubled in a run in the first, Seiji Uebayashi hit a two-run homer in the second and Nakamura made it 4-0 in the third with a sacrifice fly after the Hawks loaded the bases with no outs.

Rakuten got a run on the board against rookie starter

Shuta Ishikawa in the sixth on Carlos Peguero's 19th home run, but wasted a chance to tie it when Zelous Wheeler was gunned down at the plate.

The Hawks' fielding, which had been in the right place at the right time all night, cracked in the Eagles' three-run seventh.

Reliever Yuito Mori allowed a leadoff double and with one out and one on, Shinya Kayama walked a batter and gave up a Peguero infield single. An error by first baseman Uchikawa on the play allowed a run to score.

With two outs, Wheeler ripped a single to left that brought home two runs to tie it.

A leadoff walk and a booming single set the Eagles up to take the lead in the eighth, but Hawks catcher Takuya Kai picked the lead runner off third, and right-hander Sho Iwasaki pitched out of trouble.

-----

Buffaloes 8, Fighters 1

At Kyocera Dome, Yuki Nishi (4-4) allowed a run in eight innings, while Shunta Goto doubled and had a pair of RBI triples and four RBIs as Orix blasted Yuki Saito (1-3) to cruise past Nippon Ham.

-----

Lions 16, Marines 6

At MetLife Dome, Hideto Asamura homered twice and drove in four runs to pace Seibu's 17-hit attack in a win over Lotte. The Lions' 16 runs are the most this season in either league.

-----

Central League

Giants 2, Swallows 0

At Tokyo Dome, Tomoyuki Sugano (9-4) allowed five hits and no walks over seven innings, and Daisuke Nakai's sacrifice fly broke up a scoreless game in the fourth as Yomiuri held on to hand Yakult its ninth straight loss.

-----

Tigers 10, Dragons 1

At Kurashiki Muscat Stadium, Randy Messenger (8-5) allowed a run in seven innings and Hiroki Uemoto went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs as Hanshin snapped a four-game losing streak against Chunichi.

-----

BayStars 5, Carp 2

At Mazda Stadium, Kenta Ishida (3-3) allowed two runs in seven innings, CL batting leader Toshiro Miyazaki singled in a tie-breaking run in the fifth, and Hiroshima gave away two unearned runs in the sixth in a loss to third-place DeNA.