A bases clearing double to right by centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi in the bottom of the sixth at Koshien Stadium enabled the Hanshin Tigers to come from behind 4-3 to eventually claim a 6-5 victory against Yakult. Swallows second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka had a rather weird day, but more about that later. 

Ryan Vogelsong started for Hanshin and went six innings of four run, five hit ball for his fifth win on his wife Nicole's 29th birthday. She was in the stands taking it in. 

Matsuoka started for Yakult and went 4.1 innings of two run, four hit ball in a no decision. 

Vogelsong walked a pair in the third to find himself in a two on and one out fix, but a flyout and a strikeout supressed the rally. 

Matsuoka then walked second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto in the home version and Sekimoto advanced to second on a sacrifice. Shortstop Takashi Toritani doubled to rightcenter and Sekimoto motored home for a 1-0 lead. 

The birds attempted to counter in the fifth with a single and a walk, but they were both thrown out on steal attempts. 

The Tigers retaliated in the bottom portion, as Sekimoto singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. Toritani singled to center. That was it for Matsuoka, who was replaced by Yuhei Takai. Akahoshi beat out a ground ball toward short and Sekimoto hustled in. Third baseman Andy Sheets walked to load the bases. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto flied out to left and Toritani tagged up and busted in to make it 3-0. 

In the sixth, though, Yakult centerfielder Norichika Aoki doubled to right. Tanaka fouled a pitch off the bat handle on a check swing, but the plate umpire ruled that it had hit Tanaka. Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada went out to argue, but to no avail. Replays showed that the call was wrong. One out later, rightfielder Aaron Guiel walked to pack the sacks. First baseman Adam Riggs blasted a Vogelsong delivery into the centerfield seats for a grand slam and it was 4-3 Swallows. That was their last knock until the ninth. 

The Tigers wasted no time in roaring back, as Masataka Endo plunked rightfielder Kodai Sakurai, who was sacrificed to second. Sekimoto walked. Ikuro Katsuragi pinch hit for Vogelsong and Swallows boss Atsuya Furuta brought in Masato Hanada in response. Katsuragi singled to center to fill the bags. Toritani grounded into a 3-2 force, but Akahoshi clubbed a shot just inside the line near the rightfield wall and everybody hotfooted it for home on the double for a 6-4 edge. They were limited to two singles over the remainder. 

Relievers Tomoyuki Kubota and Jeff Williams were perfect in the seventh and the eighth respectively and it was handed off to closer Kyuji Fujikawa. Mitsuru Manaka pinch hit for the pitcher's spot and singled to right. Catcher Masakazu Fukukawa doubled to left. One out later, Aoki grounded to second and Manaka was in to trim it to 6-5. Tanaka took called strike three, but catcher Akihiro Yano let the ball get through him and Fukukawa dashed in. Tanaka, though, just stood there. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez shouted from the on deck circle in Japanese to run, but by the time Tanaka started for first, Yano had gotten to the ball and fired to first for the final out. 

Toritani was 3-5 for his 11th time out garnering that many safeties. 

For Yakult, Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .342. Guiel was 0-3 with a walk and three strikeouts. Riggs was 1-3 with a walk and is at .205. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 0-3 with a walk and is at .234. First baseman Lin Wei-tzu was 0-4 and is at .316. 

Yomiuri lefthander Hisanori Takahashi went seven shutout innings on five hits while striking out four and walking a similar number for his league and new personal best 12th win in a 2-0 victory over Yokohama at Yokohama Stadium to snare their third consecutvie series and open a one and a half game lead over second place Chunichi. . 

Matt White started for the Bay Stars and went seven innings of one run, four hit ball in easily his best showing since arriving in Japan, but he is now 0-2. 

With two outs in the first, White threw a 2-1 fastball that was up and on their inner half of the plate to shortstop Tomohiro Nioka, who lofted a long fly ball to right. White thought it was the third out, but the ball got up in the wind and carried over the wall for his 150th career homer and a 1-0 lead. 

White would go on to allow a baserunner in four of the next six innings, but never more than one because he had the ground ball going for him, amassing nine of them to accompany his seven strikeouts and he also tempted them into two other infield outs. 

Takahashi was touched for just two hits through four, but in the fifth, rightfielder Yosuke Shimokubo doubled down the leftfield line with one out and catcher Ryoji Aikawa walked. White bunted one towrd first, but it was too hard and first baseman Seung-yeop Lee pegged it to third for the force. Second baseman Toshihisa Nish flied out to left and that dilemma was solved. 

They would also press Takahashi in the sixth, as shortstop Shingo Nonaka singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. Third baseman Shuichi Murata was intentionally walked to get to centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo, who also walked to load the bases. But Yoshimura grounded into a 1-2 force and Shimokubo struckout to squander the opportunity. 

And Takahashi was dipped into a shark tank again in the seventh when Aikawa singled to right and moved to second on a sacrifice. Following another out, Hitoshi Taneda pinch hit for Nonaka and walked. However, leftfielder Takahiro Saeki grounded to first. 

Kiyoshi Toyoda took over for Takahashi in the eighth and Murata singled to center and advanced to second on a sacrifice. A groundout got Murata to third, but Takanori Suzuki pinch hit for Shimokubo and grounded to short. 

Atsushi Kizuka was inserted for Yokohama in the ninth and he issued one out walks to Nioka and Lee. Following another out, Michihiro Ogasawara pinch hit for centerfielder Damon Hollins, the first time in three years he has stood in for another batter, and singled to center to spring Nioka in to make it 2-0. 

Koji Uehara hermetically sealed the Stars order in the infield in the bottom half and it was over. 

Nioka has five homers in his last six games. 

The Bay Stars are going in the exact opposite direction of the Giants, losing their last three series to sink to a third place tie with Hanshin. They left ten on in this one. 

White was clocked at 91mph.

For Yomiuri, Lee was 1-3 with a walk and is at .267. Hollins was 1-3 and is at .267. 

For Yokohama, White was 0-2 and is at .000. 

Hanshin Shinobu Fukuhara started down in the Western League and went four innings of one run, two hit ball while striking out five. Nevertheles, Tigers skipper Akinobu Okada called the outing "less than adequate."

Hiroshima Pitcher Kan Otake experienced discomfort in his throwing shoulder after his most recent outing and has been taken off the roster to rehab it. The team trainer believes that it is minor and that Otake will be ready in ten days. 

Miscellaneous Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui earned his first Player of the Month honor for July after belting 13 homers and driving in 28 runs. His team then went out and dropped a 13-9 decision to the White Sox. Matsui was 1-5 with two strikeouts. 

Pittsburgh reliever Masumi   Kuwata tossed a scoreless inning on a hit and two walks against St. Louis in a 5-4 victory. Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi was 0-4. 

Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui was 2-4 and stole his 18th base in a 4-3 triumph over Florida. 

Boston lefthander Hideki Okajima spun a scoreless inning on just six pitches Thursday in a 7-4 victory over Baltimore. 

Philadelphia second baseman Tadahito Iguchi continues to contribute, as he dorve in a run with a sac fly and walked twice while going officially 0-3 in a 10-6 win over the Cubbies. 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura extended his hit streak to eight Thursday with a 2-3 showing while also driving in a run in a 6-2 victory over Toronto.