Tomohiro Abe was the hero again on Thursday, when the Hiroshima Carp lowered their magic number to clinch the Central League pennant to eight with a 6-4, come-from-behind win over the Hanshin Tigers.
Abe, whose walk-off homer ended Tuesday's series opener against the second-place Tigers, went 3-for-4 with a double and a tie-breaking, fifth-inning RBI triple for the defending league champions, who won their sixth straight game.
Before 31,316 at rain-soaked Mazda Stadium, the Tigers took a three-run, first-inning lead off lefty Kris Johnson. Although last year's Sawamura Award winner only managed to go four innings, he helped get a run back in the third, when he singled off Takumi Akiyama (12-5) and scored on Kosuke Tanaka's sixth home run.
Akiyama took a 4-2 lead into the fifth, but was punished the third time through the powerful Carp lineup. Tsubasa Aizawa, who delivered the walk-off single in Wednesday's win, opened the inning with a pinch-hit double. With one out and runners on the corners, Yoshihiro Maru singled home Aizawa. Ryosuke Kikuchi hustled to third on the single to right, and scored on Ryuhei Matsuyama's sac fly.
Abe tripled past center fielder Masahiro Nakatani, and scored on a Ryoma Nishikawa double.
"The top-of-the-order hitters made that inning, set the table for me, and I was just looking to keep the rally alive," Abe said. "I received a considerable amount of power from our great supporters."
After the Tigers scored four off Johnson in four innings, the Carp bullpen shut them down. Allen Kuri (7-5) worked two perfect innings to earn the win, while Ryuji Ichioka, Takeru Imamura and Shota Nakazaki posted one scoreless inning apiece.
Tigers third baseman Takashi Toritani moved to within one hit of Japan's iconic 2,000-hit milestone. He went 1-for-4 with a ninth-inning single.
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Swallows 11, BayStars 1
At Yokohama Stadium, Preston Guilmet (1-1) threw seven shutout innings in first start, while Wladimir Balentien hit his 30th home run, a three-run, first-inning shot off Shota Imanaga (10-7), as Yakult beat DeNA to snap a nine-game losing streak.
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Pacific League
Eagles 6, Fighters 4
At Tokyo Dome, Hiroaki Shimauchi doubled in two insurance runs and saved two runs in left field in Rakuten win over Nippon Ham. With two outs and tying runs on base in the fifth inning, Brandon Laird hit a deep fly to left, and Shimauchi made a tough catch against the wall to end the threat.
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Seibu 3, Marines 0
At MetLife Dome, Yusei Kikuchi (14-6) allowed four hits and a walk, while striking out 10 over the distance. Hotaka Yamakawa and Shogo Akiyama homered in Seibu's shutout win over Lotte.
