FIGHTERS TIP GIANTS IN BATTLE OF JAPANESE LEADERS

Interleague play is underway in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, with both league leaders colliding in Sapporo. The Pacific League-leading Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Central League-topping Yomiuri Giants, 6-5, on May 20. The game was tied at 4-4 when the Fighters’ Shinji Takahashi cracked a leadoff homer in the sixth inning and pinch-hitter Luis Jimenez followed with a roundtripper of his own to put Nippon Ham ahead for good. Both homers came off Giants starter Seth Greisinger, whose record dropped to 5-3 with the loss.

Nippon Ham is now 25-14-0 and 2.5 games ahead of second-place Rakuten in the Pacific League. The 22-16-0 Eagles kept pace with a 2-0 shutout over the Yakult Swallows. Rakuten pitcher Masahiro Tanaka ran his record to 6-0 with a two-hitter for his third shutout of the season.

Despite their loss to the Fighters, Yomiuri held steady at the top of the Central League standings with a 25-12-3 mark, 2.5 games ahead of 22-14-0 Yakult. The third-place Chunichi Dragons missed a chance to move up a game by losing to the Seibu Lions, 2-1, in 10 innings. Hiroyuki Nakajima’s RBI single won the game for Seibu. Nakajima also homered in the fourth frame.