George Arias hit his 34th homer to take sole possession of the lead in the Central League home run derby and went 3-for-5 with five RBIs, but the Hanshin Tigers were outslugged by the Chunichi Dragons 9-7 in a seesaw contest Saturday at Nagoya Dome.
Hanshin's George Arias connects for a solo home
run in the third inning against Chunichi on Saturday at Nagoya
Dome. The Dragons won 9-7.
Trey Moore allowed Kosuke Fukudome to match a club record with his fifth homer in as many games and did not last an inning as the Tigers lost their fourth in five games and delayed the earliest possible day to clinch the CL pennant to Sunday.
Kazuki Inoue hit a pinch-hit, two-run double off Keiichi Yabu (8-3) with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to ignite a five-run frame in which the Dragons sent 11 batters to the plate, while three Tigers pitchers issued a combined six walks.