Makoto Kaneko had a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning and the vaunted bullpen held off Yokohama, lifting Hokkaido Nippon Ham to a 5-3 victory Friday over the Yokohama BayStars and their ninth straight win.
Fighters lefty Mitsuo Yoshikawa delivers a pitch against the Yokohama BayStars at Yokohama Stadium on Friday. Hokkaido Nippon Ham won 5-3.
KYODO PHOTOAn Atsunori Inaba sacrifice fly and Eiichi Koyano's two-run blast gave Nippon Ham a 3-1 lead in the fifth before Takahiro Saeki connected for a two-run double in the bottom half to tie it at 3-all. Fernando Seguignol and Koyano had consecutive hits, setting up Kaneko's single to left with one out and the bases loaded. Reliever Takumi Nasuno (1-4) was charged with the loss.
Takehiko Oshimoto (1-1) got the win in relief and Micheal Nakamura pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save. Yokohama dropped its fourth straight and fell into fifth place.