KYODO NEWS - Aug 27, 2017 - 22:14 | Sports, All

SoftBank southpaw Tsuyoshi Wada struck out nine in six scoreless innings to lead the Hawks to a 3-0 victory over the Lotte Marines on Sunday, in his first game back from elbow surgery.

Wada (3-0), in his first start since April 7, allowed only two hits while walking two, as the Pacific League-leading Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak.

Wada, who had surgery in May to treat elbow inflammation, also recorded his 1,500th career strikeout by whiffing former Hawks teammate Tadahito Iguchi in the fourth inning.

"I did everything I could at this stage," Wada said. "I may be in better shape than I was at the beginning of the season."

Wada was caught off guard in the fifth, when Lotte loaded the bases with two outs after walking Tatsuhiro Tamura and Wily Mo Pena. Wada, however, grounded out Takashi Ogino to get out of the jam.

"There is no point unless we become No. 1 in Japan. I'll keep pitching until then."

Dennis Sarfate struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth for his 43rd save, tying the PL single-season record he set last year.

The 36-year-old Sarfate is three saves away from matching the Nippon Professional Baseball record shared by the Chunichi Dragons' Hitoki Iwase (2005) and Kyuji Fujikawa (2007) of the Hanshin Tigers.

With 26 games left in the season, Sarfate also has a chance of becoming the first pitcher in Japanese baseball to notch 50 saves.

Before 38,585 at Yafuoku Dome, Alfredo Despaigne went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, including a third-inning double that opened the scoring off Kota Futaki (5-7), who went unrewarded for his eight innings in which he gave up three earned runs.

"I'm glad I could hit because today was an important game," Despaigne said.

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Fighters 5, Eagles 2

At Kobo Park Miyagi, Shohei Otani's game-tying sac fly highlighted a three-run third inning which Nippon Ham used to beat Rakuten for its fourth four-game winning streak of the season.

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Buffaloes 10, Lions 9

At MetLife Dome, Masataka Yoshida and pinch-hitter Eiichi Koyano each hit three-run shots as Orix came out ahead of Seibu in a 26-hit slugfest.

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Central League

Giants 6, Tigers 0

At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri rookie Seishu Hatake (4-1) allowed just one hit and struck out 11 in seven shutout innings, and Yoshiyuki Kamei's RBI double sparked a six-run seventh inning as the Giants defeated Hanshin.

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BayStars 7, Swallows 3

At Jingu Stadium, DeNA's Haruhiro Hamaguchi (8-5) pitched into the seventh inning, holding Yakult to three earned runs on six hits and a pair of walks.

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Dragons 6, Carp 5

At Mazda Stadium, Nobumasa Fukuda's two-run home run ignited a four-run first inning that set Chunichi on its way past first-place Hiroshima.