Hisashi Iwakuma pitched seven scintillating innings to win his eighth-straight start Sunday and got loads of run support as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles trampled over the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 15-2.
Iwakuma (12-2), the winningest pitcher in Japanese baseball, struck out four with no walks retiring 16 in a row in one stretch at Yahoo Dome. Rakuten set a club record with 20 hits and scored a season-high 15 runs.
Takeshi Yamasaki hit a two-run homer in the second inning to start the festivities and went deep, again off Tsuyoshi Wada, with a solo blast in a five-run fourth, which also featured a Daisuke Kusano two-run double.