D.T. Cromer and Tomochika Tsuboi both hit three-run homers Sunday to lead the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 19-1 drubbing of the Lotte Marines at Tokyo Dome.
Cromer, formerly of the Cincinnati Reds, got the fighters rolling in the first inning with his second homer of the season as Nippon Ham jumped out to an early 4-0 lead.
Michihiro Ogasa-wara keyed a six-run fifth inning with a two-run home run before Tsuboi put the game out of reach with his fourth homer of the year in the sixth that gave Trey Hillman's squad a 14-1 lead.
Nippon Ham starter Carlos Mirabal gave up one run on four hits over seven innings to pick up his fifth win against four losses.
Buffaloes 10, BlueWave 6
In Kobe, Hirotoshi Kitagawa drove in the tying run with a single to left and Orix pitcher Jun Hagiwara walked in the go-ahead run as the Kintetsu Buffaloes rallied for four runs in the top of the eighth for a 10-6 win over Orix BlueWave.
With the victory, Kintetsu moved into a tie with Daiei for first place in the Pacific League standings.
Tuffy Rhodes returned from a two-game suspension and connected for his league-leading 19th homer -- a solo shot in the fourth -- as the Buffaloes won their fifth straight.
Rhodes, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, was suspended for two-games after charging the mound from first base in Wednesday's 11-3 win over Seibu after pitcher Hayato Aoki hit Norihiro Nakamura.
In Fukuoka, Kazuhiro Wada went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to lead the Seibu Lions to a 7-1 win over the Daiei Hawks.
Seibu starter Chang Chi-chie picked up the win after holding the Hawks to one run on eight hits over seven innings.
Tigers 6, Swallows 4
In the Central League, Tomoaki Kanemoto drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the eighth inning to lift the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers to a 6-4 win over the Yakult Swallows in Matsuyama.
Hanshin reliever Yuya Ando picked up the win after coming on in the seventh and holding the Swallows scoreless over two innings. Jeff Williams retired the side in the ninth for his 14th save.
On Saturday, Shinichi Sato went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Swallows downed the Tigers 5-3.
Hanshin starter Trey Moore was tagged for four runs on six hits over 1-2/3 innings to take his first loss of the season as the Tigers saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Dragons 6, Carp 4
In Hiroshima, Ivan Cruz belted a solo homer as the Chunichi Dragons scored four runs in the top of the sixth on their way to a 6-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp at Hiroshima Stadium.
Veteran lefty Shigeki Noguchi picked up the win after striking out 11 and holding the Carp to four runs on six hits over 7-2/3 innings. Eddie Gaillard retired the side in the ninth for his 13th save.
On Saturday, Motonobu Tanishige drove in the winning run with a single to left in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Dragons to a 3-2 win over the Carp.
Giants 4, BayStars 2
The Yomiuri Giants took advantage of a shaky performance by reliever Denny Tomori Saturday on their way to a 4-2 victory over the last-place Yokohama Bay-Stars.
With two out and runners on first and third in the top of the ninth at Yokohama Stadium, Tomori served up a wild pitch that allowed Ichiro Horita to trot home from third with the go-ahead run.
Tomohiro Nioka then singled to right to drive in an insurance run for the Giants.
Yomiuri Giants' rookie Hiroshi Kisanuki picked up the win after giving up two runs on 10 hits over eight innings and closer Junichi Kawahara retired the side in the bottom of the ninth for his sixth save of the season.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but