Southpaw Kazuhisa Ishii pitched four shaky innings in his first preseason start Wednesday after returning to the Yakult Swallows following a four-year major league stint.
Nagisa Arakaki of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks pitches against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows during a preseason game at Yahoo Dome.
Ishii allowed three runs, all in the fourth inning, and six hits with a walk and a hit batter while striking out three against the Softbank Hawks at Yahoo Dome. The game ended in a 3-3 tie after nine innings.
Softbank right-hander Nagisa Arakaki, the Pacific League's strikeout leader in 2004, struck out eight in five innings. He gave up two runs and five hits with no walks. Hawks catcher Katsuki Yamazaki went 3-for-3, including an RBI single off Ishii.