A pinch hit game tying solo homer by Osamu  Hamanaka catalyzed a five run Hanshin rally that enabled the Tigers to seize a 6-2 victory from Hiroshima at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium and rise to third in the Central League standings. Esteban Yan started for the winners and went six innings of two run, eight hit ball in a no decision. Instead, credit for the triumph went to rookie Ryo Watanabe, who tossed a scoreless seventh on a hit for his first ever shiroboshi at the top level. 

Masayuki Hasegawa started for the fish and went six innings of one run, six hit ball while striking out four and walking none for nada. 

Hanshin generated two hits in the first and couldn't turn them into anything. Hiroshima wasn't going anywhere, either. It wouldn't be until the third, when Tigers second baseman Kentaro  Sekimoto socked a forkball into the first row of the leftfield seats that somebody would claim a 1-0 lead. 

But the Carp responded in the bottom half with shortstop Eishin Soyogi's jack into the leftfield bleachers that tied it up at one all. Two outs later, a single to center by centerfielder Alex Ochoa and a single to left from first baseman Kenta Kurihara had them looking for more. However, third baseman Takahiro Arai flew out to center to paralyze the runners. They would get only one more hit through five. 

That knock was with two outs in the fourth and Yan balked the runner to second. Soyogi flew out, but Yan was called for his second balk of the inning, which meant that there was no pitch and Soyogi was called back to the plate. Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada went out to argue and Yan expressed his displeasure to the umpire who called it, but it was all to no avail. Yan then nailed Soyogi on a shoulder with a 91mph fastball and Carp shot caller Marty Brown leapt out of the dugout to argue that Yan should be ejected for intentionally hitting Soyogi. Yan unloaded verbally on Brown and the two men had to be separated as both benches emptied. Peace was eventually restored and Hasegawa grounded to short to put the inning in the books. 

The stupid thing here would be that if Yan really did seek to plunk Soyogi, he was an idiot. Soyogi was little more than a bystander in all this. So Yan risked an ejection and thus putting more pressure on an already overworked pen just to get his ya yas out. Moreoever, with the two balks, he is now one off of Chris Brock's single season record of 12. 

The Tigers put two on with nobody out in the fifth, but Hasegawa blew the next two men away and elicited a grounder to first to quell the disturbance. Hanshin wouldn't send out another baserunner unitl that big eighth inning. 

Hiroshima then forged ahead in the sixth, as Arai doubled to right and, one out later, rightfielder Go Kida singled to center to cash Arai in and make it 2-1. Catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara doubled to left. Soyogi was intentionally walked to get to the pitcher's spot. Shigeru Morikasa popped up to second and there was an out on the basepaths as well to ruin the uprising. 

That wouldn't stand the test of time, as Ikuro Katsuragi was assigned to pinch hit for Watanabe to begin the eighth. Brown countered by bringing in Koji Hiroike. Okada pulled Katsuragi and opted for Hamanaka, who is just back from another shoulder injury. Hamanaka got a 3-2 87mph fastball on the inner half of the plate and sailed it into the first row of the leftfield stands for his frst roundtripper of the year in his 85th plate appearance. Shortstop Takashi Toritani legged out a ground ball toward second and advanced to second on the resultant throwing error. A sacrifice put him on third. Third baseman Andy Sheets walked. Ueno spelled Hiroike and wild pitched Toritani in and Sheets over to second. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto singled to left and Sheets sojourned to the promised land while Kanemoto took second on the relay home before going to third on a groundout. Rightfielder Kodai Sakurai flied out to right and Sheets tagged up and scurried in. Catcher Akihiro Yano singled to center to set a new hits record for Hanshin receivers and somehow wound up at second. Sekimoto singled to left and Yano was plated for a 6-2 advantage. 

Tigers relievers Jeff Williams and Tomoyuki Kubota each posted perfect innings to ice it. Wiliams' ERAS is now 0.21. 

This victory also terminated Hanshin's eight game losing skein against the Carp and the Tigers are a seaosn best three over .500. 

The interesting thing about the near brawl was that Yan, according to Sankei Sports, was tutored at the Cap academy in the Domnican Republic when he was a youngster. 

Kida is 7-12 with four RBIs in his last five games. 

For Hiroshima, Ochoa was 1-4 and is at .333. 

For Hanshin, Sheets was 1-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and is at .234. First baseman Lin Wei-tzu is 0-4 and is at .312. Yan whiffed in both of his times up and is at .125. 

Chunichi centerfielder Masahiko Morino homered and drove in five runs to spearhead the Dragons past Yokohama 13-5 at Yokohama Stadium Friday. That was the most runs that the Bay Stars had surrendered all season and they are now in fourth after dropping their third straight. . 

Kenshin Kawakami started for the Nagoya crew and went seven innings of two run, seven hit ball for his 100th career win. 

Daisuke Miura started for Yokohama and was tattooed for nine runs on 11 hits in four innings to fall to 8-9.

Chunichi had two on and two out in the first, but Morino struckout to leave them loitering. 

In the second, though, third baseman Norihiro Nakamura doubled to left and went to third on a groundout. Catcher Motonobu Tanishige singled to center for a 1-0 lead. Tanishige was advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata went yard to left. Second baseman Masahiro Araki beat out a ground ball toward second and stole second. Rightfielder Kazuki Inoue singled to center and Araki reported. First baseman Tyrone Woods singled to center. Morino, the king of the three run homer, took Miura over the centerfield wall to hike it to 7-0. 

The Stars offered only token resistance in the home edition, as third baseman Shuichi Murata tripled to right and first baseman Takahiro Saeki singled to right to shove Murata in and make it 7-1. 

But in the fourth, Inoue singled to center with one out and Woods walked. Morino walked and that packed the sacks. Nakamura flew out to center and Inoue tagged up and hustled home. Leftfielder Takehiro Donoue singled to left to convert Woods to raise it to 9-1. Tanishige struckout to hinder further homeward incursions. 

Murata mashed a Kawakami delivery into the centerfield seats in the last of the frame to get within 9-2. But they would obtain only one other hit through six. 

Takeo Kawamura took the mound in the sixth for Yokohama and Inoue singled to left and, one out later, Morino doubled to left. Following another out, Donoue outran a ground ball toward second and Inoue did the cadillac walk home. Tanishige singled to right and that rolled Morino in to widen it to 11-2. Kawakami flied out and the fusillade ended. 

They came back for the seventh against Kawamura, though, and Araki walked with one out. One out later, Woods walked. Morino doubled to left and both Araki and Woods carried the mail home to increase it to 13-2. 

The Stars put two on with two out in their portion, but that was deep sixed on a groundout. 

They were more successful in the eighth, as second baseman Shingo Nonaka singled to left off of Santiago Ramirez and centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo singled to right, Nonaka turning and burning for third. Murata flew out to center and Nonaka tagged up and arrived home safely to make it 13-3. 

Catcher Ryoji Aikawa then got aboard on an infield hit in the ninth and, one out later, shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to center. Nonaka doubled to center to drive Aikawa in. Kinjo flied out to center and Ishii tagged up and found paydirt to put it at 13-5. Reserve third baseman Kimura grounded out and it was game setto. 

For Chunichi, Woods was 1-2 with three walks and is at .283. 

Yomiuri catcher Shinnosuke Abe homered twice and drove in all three of his team's runs for a 3-2 come from behind victory over Yakult at Meiji Jingu Stadium. Giants starter Tetsuya Utsumi went seven innings of two run, six hit ball while walking none and striking out four in a no decision. Consequently , the win was accorded to reliever Chiang Chin-ming, his second. 

Shugo Fujii started for the Swallows and went 7.2 innings of one run, three hit pitching in a no decision. 

Abe stepped into the batter's box in the second and blastered a Fujii selection over the centerfield wall for a 1-0 lead. 

But in the fourth, Yakult centerfielder Norichika Aoki singled to right and went to second on a sacrifice. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez doubled to leftcenter and cleared a path for Aoki to the plate for a 1-1 deadlock. A flyout and a groundout made Ramirez into a statue. 

However, they would creep ahead in the sixth when Aoki doubled down the rightfield line with one away and second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka singled to right to point Aoki home and make it 2-1. 

Noriyoshi Omichi pinch hit for Utsumi in the eighth and doubled to leftcenter with two outs. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi was intentionally walked to get to leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani. Righthanded Masao Kida was then called on to deal with Tani, who grounded to third.

Shingo Takatsu mosed in from the bullpen seeking to finalize things in the ninth. Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka doubled against the leftfield wall and went to third on a groundout. Abe got a 2-0 slider and crushed it into the rightcenterfield bleachers to lend the kyojin a 5-4 edge. 

Koji Uehara was flawless in the bottom stanza and that was the ballgame, Yomiuri picking up its third win in a row and interdicting a four game loss string against their crosstown rival. . 

This was Abe's sixth multihomer game of the year and right now he is the frontrunner for league MVP.

For Yakult, Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .341. Rightfielder Aaron Guiel was 0-4 and is at .253. First baseman Adam Riggs was 1-4 and is at .207. 

For Yomiuri, first baseman Seung-yeop Lee was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .264. Centerfielder Dave Hollins was 1-4 and is at .266. 

Yokohama Second baseman Akihiko Oya decided to rest second baseman Toshihisa Nishi, who had played in every game this season. He is expeted to start Saturday. 

Yomiuri Because of the hard artificial turf at Meiji Jingu Stadium, manager Tatsunori Hara decided to sit third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara again because of a nagging knee problem. 

Miscellaneous Colorado second baseman Kazuo Matsui was 3-5 Friday in a 9-2 victory over Atlanta. He also stole a base and is hitting .290. 

Yankees leftfielder Hideki Matsui went 0-4 Friday against Kansas City in a 7-1 victory amid rumors about owner George Steinbrenner's failing health and what it may portend for the disposition of the ballclub. 

Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima slammed a two run homer as part of a 2-4 night that helped propell his squad to a 7-4 win over Boston. Centerfielder Ichiro Suzuki was 1-4 with a walk. 

Philadelphia second baseman Tadahito Iguchi was 1-4 Friday as the Phillies dismantled the Brewers 17-2. 

Tampa Bay third baseman Akinori Iwamura was 1-4 to extend his hit string to nine in a 3-1 loss to Baltimore.