The struggling Yomiuri Giants fell a further game back of the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers on Saturday after a 1-0 loss to the Chunichi Dragons at Nagoya Dome.
The defending Japan Series champion Giants, owners of the highest payroll in Japanese baseball, fell 13-1/2 games back of the Tigers after Saturday's loss.
Despite being picked by many to win the Central League pennant this season, Yomiuri, who have lost five of their last six games, are only one game over .500.
The Dragons scored the only run of the game in the eighth inning when a Chunichi runner scored from third on Hirokazu Ibata's grounder to second.
Chunichi veteran Masahiro Yamamoto tossed a three-hitter and struck out six over eight innings to pick up the win.
Four home runs
In Hiroshima, veteran Atsuya Furuta belted four homers in four at-bats to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 14-4 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.
Furuta connected for solo homers in the second and fifth innings before adding a three-run blast in the sixth and a two-run shot in the eighth at Hiroshima Stadium to tie a Japan baseball record for most homers in one game.
Alex Ramirez, formerly of the Pittsburgh Pirates, connected for a grand slam in the fifth inning for his 21st homer of the season. With the victory, the Swallows improved to .500.
Yakult rookie Yuhei Takai picked up the win after holding the Carp to three runs on six hits over five innings.
At Yokohama Stadium, George Arias, formerly of the San Diego Padres, hit a solo homer in the fourth inning and Akihiro Yano added a two-run blast in the sixth to lift the league-leading Hanshin Tigers to a 5-3 win over the Yokohama BayStars.
With the victory, the Tigers improved to 49-21 and maintained an 11-1/2-game lead over the Chunichi Dragons in the standings.
Pacific league
Norihiro Nakamura connected for a three-run homer as the Kintetsu Buffaloes scored five runs in the top of the first inning on their way to a 7-6 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters at Tokyo Dome.
In Chiba, Koichi Hori hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning at Chiba Marine Stadium to power the Lotte Marines to 16-7 victory over the Orix BlueWave.
Nate Minchey, formerly of the Colorado Rockies, went five innings while giving up four runs on 11 hits for the win.
At Fukuoka Dome, Noriyoshi Omichi connected for a three-run homer and Nobuhiko Matsunaka added a two-run blast as the front-running Daiei Hawks scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on their way to a 13-1 victory over the Seibu Lions.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite