Teppei Tsuchiya hit a go-ahead two-run single in the top of the ninth inning as the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles rallied to beat the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers 6-3 in interleague play on Wednesday.
Hanshin Tigers reliever Jeff Williams plays his first game of
the season on Wednesday against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles at Koshien
Stadium.
Tsuchiya's one-out hit to right put Rakuten ahead 4-3 against closer Tomoyuki Kubota (3-4), who made things worse for Hanshin two batters later by committing a two-run throwing error on a comebacker by Kenshi Kawaguchi at Koshien Stadium.
Hanshin went ahead 3-1 in the fifth on a two-run single by Norihiro Akahoshi before Rakuten pulled within a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Rick Short. Jeff Williams and Kyuji Fujikawa pitched scoreless relief in the seventh and eighth.