Takashi Toritani went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, leading the Hanshin Tigers to a 5-3 win over the Lotte Marines in interleague play for their third straight win on Thursday.
Hanshin Tigers hurler Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi pitches against the Chiba Lotte
Marines at Koshien Stadium.
Toritani opened the scoring with an RBI double to right-center in the second inning and added an RBI single in the sixth to help push the lead to 5-1 at Koshien Stadium in a rematch of last year's Japan Series. Slumping Lotte has lost five straight and dropped below .500 for the first time since April 25.
Andy Sheets doubled in the first of Hanshin's three runs in the third and Tomoaki Kanemoto followed with a sacrifice fly. Makoto Imaoka added an RBI single off Yasutomo Kubo (2-3) to make it 4-0.