KYODO NEWS - Jun 30, 2017 - 22:35 | Sports, All

Tomohiro Anraku earned his first win of the year as the Rakuten Eagles moved a game and a half clear of the SoftBank Hawks at the top of the Pacific League standings on Friday after edging them 4-3.

Zelous Wheeler hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Hawks lefty Nao Higashihama (7-3) to give his team the lead for good. Anraku (1-2) allowed three runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings but never surrendered the lead.

"It was a must-win game given it was the first of the series," Anraku said. "I was behind in counts lots of times but I just believed in (catcher Motohiro) Shima and the players behind me."

"I was feeling the fans' expectations but it was a tough start to the season with injuries. I've finally got the first win so hopefully I can go on a roll from here."

Higashihama allowed two singles before Wheeler went deep with one out. Nobuhiro Matsuda led the second with a triple for SoftBank and scored his team's first run on a groundout, but Carlos Peguero's solo shot made it 4-1 in the third off Higashihama, who struck out seven but allowed four runs over 6-2/3 innings on five hits and three walks.

Yuki Yanagita connected on Anraku's fat 1-0 fastball for a two-run shot in the fifth before the right-hander got the hook after the inning, but four Rakuten relievers each threw a scoreless inning to hold out.

-----

Buffaloes 3, Lions 0

At MetLife Dome, Chris Marrero plated all three runs with two homers off Seibu lefty Yusei Kikuchi (7-4) behind eight shutout innings from Orix starter Taisuke Yamaoka (3-6).

-----

Fighters 7, Marines 4

At Zozo Marine Stadium, Nippon Ham snapped its five-game losing skid after Brandon Laird gave Nippon Ham the lead for good and Takuya Nakajima cleared the bases with a triple in the six-run seventh off Lotte right-hander Hideaki Wakui (3-6).

-----

Central League

BayStars 3, Giants 1

At Utsunomiya Kiyohara Stadium, Jose Lopez broke a tie-game with a two-run shot off Yomiuri starter Tomoyuki Sugano (7-4) -- who surrendered all the runs on two hits he allowed -- in the seventh as DeNA returned to .500. Shoichi Ino (3-4) earned the win after allowing a run on four hits over seven innings. Kohei Arihara allowed a run in eight innings (5-5).

-----

Swallows 4, Tigers 3

At Koshien Stadium, Yakult came from a run down after scoring all its four runs in the fifth off Hanshin starter Koyo Aoyagi (3-3), who allowed three hits and a walk, and hit three batters in the inning en route to his team's eighth straight defeat.

-----

Carp 8, Dragons 3

At Mazda Stadium, Brad Eldred turned the game around with a three-run homer in the third off Raul Valdez as CL-leading Hiroshima brought Chunichi's three-game winning streak to a halt. Kris Johnson (3-2) held the Dragons to three runs over seven frames.