Sports

Swallows inch closer to Central League pennant after riveting tie with Tigers

The Central League-leading Tokyo Yakult Swallows tied the second-place Hanshin Tigers 0-0 in a scintillating pitcher’s duel on Wednesday that trimmed Yakult’s magic quantity to clinch the pennant to 3.

Within the ultimate regular-season assembly between the golf equipment, Tigers right-hander Joe Gunkel was razor sharp as he struck out 9 whereas permitting 4 singles however no walks over 7⅔ innings at Koshien Stadium. Three of his strikeouts got here towards cleanup hitter Munetaka Murakami, whose 39 residence runs have him tied for the league lead.

Swallows lefty Keiji Takahashi was almost nearly as good, hanging out eight over seven innings whereas permitting 4 singles and hitting a batter. Setup man Noboru Shimizu struck out two in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Tigers setup man Suguru Iwazaki took over with two outs within the Swallows’ eighth and stranded a runner. Nearer Robert Suarez stranded a runner within the ninth to forestall the Swallows from probably securing a win, however Yakult nearer Scott McGough acquired the ultimate two outs with the potential profitable run on second base.

The Tigers, chasing their first CL pennant since 2005, can solely hope the Swallows lose a couple of of their remaining six video games.

“We now have to win, as a result of we’re in a troublesome spot,” Tigers supervisor Akihiro Yano stated. “We are able to’t do something to alter this tie outcome, however we will preserve enjoying good ball in our remaining video games.”

“His (Gunkel’s) management was good, his pitches moved, and he actually stepped up in huge spots. We have to rating, however I imagine our method is diligent and sound.”

Giants 3, BayStars 2

At Yokohama Stadium, Yoshihiro Maru hit a tie-breaking seventh-inning residence run in a win over the DeNA that moved third-place Yomiuri nearer to securing the CL’s ultimate playoff spot. The win snapped a 13-game winless streak that included 10 losses.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Eagles 5, Buffaloes 2

At Kyocera Dome Osaka, Takahiro Norimoto (11-5) allowed two runs over eight innings whereas hanging out seven for third-place Rakuten in a win over Pacific League-leading Orix. The Buffaloes now path the second-place Chiba Lotte Marines on profitable proportion, .553 to .551.

Lions 7, Fighters 5

At Tokorozawa’s MetLife Dome, Haruka Yamada’s three-run second-inning double introduced Seibu from behind in a win over Nippon Ham, which dropped beneath the Lions into the PL cellar.

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