KYODO NEWS - May 4, 2017 - 18:25 | Sports, All

Shintaro Fujinami again had trouble finding the strike zone but held Yakult to one run on four hits over 7-1/3 innings as the Hanshin Tigers romped to a 7-1 victory over the Swallows on Thursday.

Fujinami (3-1) walked seven batters at Jingu Stadium -- two of them in the bottom of the eighth when he managed to get only one out before giving way to Suguru Iwazaki. The left-hander loaded the bases, but managed to get the next two outs without damage.

Kosuke Fukudome was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, driving in the game's first run in the third and hitting a two-run homer in the Tigers' five-run fifth, when Masahiro Nakatani hit a solo shot. Ryutaro Umeno and Fujinami each had an RBI single to make it 7-0.

"I've been struggling at the plate most of the time, so I'm relieved to have finally come through today," said catcher Umeno, who had three hits, including a solo clout in the fourth -- his first home run since 2015.

On defense, Umeno said he focused on framing pitches as well as he could for Fujinami.

"I tried to choose pitches so that (Fujinami) will somehow be able to throw strikes," Umeno said. "I could hear the spectators sighing at times, but the outcome was good so I hope you will give Shintaro a pat on his back."

Veteran Swallow southpaw Masanori Ishikawa (2-3) gave up 13 of Hanshin's 15 hits including all three home runs.

The Tigers remain two games behind the Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp, who they will host for a three-game series at Koshien Stadium starting Friday.

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Carp 8, Dragons 7

At Mazda Stadium, Hiroshima came from behind three times, with Ryoma Nishikawa hitting a game-tying home run and pinch hitter Takahiro Arai doubling in the final run of the game in the eighth to claim its third straight win over bottom-placed Chunichi.

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BayStars 5, Giants 2

At Tokyo Dome, Toshiro Miyazaki and Takayuki Kajitani both hit two-run home runs off Yomiuri's Ryosuke Miyaguni (0-3) and DeNA starter Joe Wieland (2-0) yielded two runs, one of them earned, on four hits while striking out seven over six innings for the win.

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Pacific League

Hawks 9, Lions 6

At Yafuoku Dome, Nobuhiro Matsuda and Alfredo Despaigne each mashed a two-run homer and pinch hitter Kenji Akashi hit a two-run single as SoftBank overpowered Seibu for its fourth win in a row.

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Fighters 6, Marines 4

At Sapporo Dome, Brandon Laird opened the scoring with a three-run blast in the first and Nippon Ham added three runs in the seventh with three RBI doubles as the Fighters swept a three-game homestand against Lotte, which fell to its fourth consecutive loss.

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Eagles 2, Buffaloes 1

At Kobo Park Miyagi, rookie Shu Sugahara (1-0) picked up his first career win after facing only one batter, getting him to ground out in a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the fifth as PL-leading Rakuten came from behind to edge Orix with Eigoro Mogi's RBI sacrifice fly and a run scored on a throwing error.