SENDAI (Kyodo) — Lefty Takahisa Hayakawa allowed three runs over six innings Saturday as the Rakuten Eagles handed the Nippon Ham Fighters a 7-5 loss that put a dent in their fading Pacific League pennant hopes.
Hayakawa (11-4) gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out two at Sendai’s Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi. He left with a 7-3 lead that the second-place Fighters, who entered the day trailing the SoftBank Hawks by 8-1/2 games, nearly erased in the ninth.
Nippon Ham’s Shun Mizutani hit the game’s first pitch for a home run, but Hayakawa was able to put up zeroes for the next four innings with the help of a terrific fourth-inning catch in left by reserve outfielder Yukiya Ito.
“I came into the game intent on not letting them score first,” Hayakawa said. “That went out the window on the first-pitch home run, but I’m glad I was able to hold them down after that.”
Ito, who went 4-for-4, delivered a two-run triple in the Eagles’ three-run fifth. Hideto Asamura hit a three-run home run in the sixth and the game appeared all but over.
Nippon Ham fought back, however, starting with Kotaro Kiyomiya’s eighth-inning solo home run. The Fighters loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against closer Takahiro Norimoto, who allowed a run but struck out Mizutani to secure his 30th save.
Among Saturday’s other games, the PL-leading SoftBank Hawks routed the Orix Buffaloes 10-1, while the Hanshin Tigers edged the Hiroshima Carp 4-3.
Baseball: Hayakawa, Eagles hit Fighters’ pennant hopes
