Taiwanese pitcher Chang Chi-chie tossed a one-hitter over the distance Saturday to lead the Seibu Lions to a 3-0 victory over the Lotte Marines.
Chang, who improved to 4-2, struck out 10 and walked only two batters at Chiba Marine Stadium. Lotte's only hit came on a double by Takashi Kita in the third.
Alex Cabrera, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, belted a solo home run in the second inning for his 18th homer of the season. Designated hitter Taketoshi Goto went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs.
Ham Fighters 13, BlueWave 4
At Tokyo Dome, veteran Yukio Tanaka went 4-for-5 and belted a two-run homer in the fifth to lead the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 13-4 win over the Orix BlueWave.
Michihiro Ogasawara, former Cincinnati Red DT Cromer and Ken Yamada also homered for the Fighters.
Nippon Ham starter Hiroyuki Sekine picked up the win after holding the BlueWave to three runs on seven hits over five innings as the Fighters snapped a four-game losing skid.
Hawks 3, Buffaloes 2
At Fukuoka Dome, Kazumi Saito improved to 8-2 after giving up two runs on seven hits over eight innings as the Daiei Hawks edged the Kintetsu Buffaloes 3-2.
Jeremy Powell, formerly of the Montreal Expos, took the loss despite striking out nine over eight innings.
Dragons 11, BayStars 2
In the Central League, Takayuki Onishi belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning and Masahiko Morino followed with another two-run homer in the top of the ninth as the Chunichi Dragons cruised to an 11-2 win over the Yokohama BayStars.
Former St. Louis Cardinals infielder Ivan Cruz, Hirokazu Ibata and So Tsutsui also homered for the Dragons.
Carp 12, Swallows 3
In Fukushima, Shigeru Morikasa and Yoshiyuki Ishihara both hit two-run homers to lead the Hiroshima Carp to a 12-3 victory over the Yakult Swallows. Itsuki Asai hit a solo homer in the fourth and added a three-run blast in the ninth to complete the rout.
Hawks 9, Bufaloes 2
Pedro Valdes slammed a three-run homer Sunday as the Pacific League-leading Daiei Hawks scored seven runs in the second inning on their way to a 9-2 victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Valdes, formerly of the Texas Rangers, connected off of Kintetsu starter Hisashi Iwakuma with a blast into the right field stands at Fukuoka Dome. It was his 12th homer of the season.
Lions 7, Marines 4
In Chiba, Kazuhiro Wada connected for a solo homer in the top of the seventh inning as the Seibu Lions defeated the Lotte Marines 7-4. Lotte scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull to within a run but Wada gave the Lions an insurance run with his 12th homer of the season.
Koji Mitsui picked up the win after holding the Marines to three runs on seven hits over 5-2/3 innings.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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