Kosuke Fukudome hit a three-run homer in the second inning Wednesday as the Central League-leading Chunichi Dragons cruised to a 14-3 thrashing of the Yomiuri Giants.
Fukudome connected for his 16th homer of the season off Yomiuri starter Hisanori Takahashi with a towering blast over the right field wall at Sapporo Dome as the Dragons scored five runs in the second.
Alex Ochoa contributed to the onslaught by going 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Dragons won their second straight over the Giants and opened up a 1-1/2-game lead over Yomiuri in the standings.
Takahashi was rocked for eight runs on nine hits over one-plus innings. Chunichi starter Kenshin Kawakami picked up the win after giving up two runs on five hits over eight innings.
The Giants, picked by some to win the Central League pennant this season, were handed their third straight loss and have given up 24 runs in their last three games.
At Jingu Stadium, Tatsuhiko Kinjo belted a three-run homer in the top of the third inning to power the Yokohama BayStars to a 9-4 win over the Yakult Swallows.
Yokohama starter Ken Kadokura picked up the win after striking out 11 and holding the Swallows to one run on five hits over seven innings.
At Koshien Stadium, Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi survived a shaky first inning to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.
In the Pacific League, Michihiro Ogasawara drove in a pair of runs to lead the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 3-0 win over the league-leading Daiei Hawks.
Carlos Mirabal picked up the win after holding the Hawks to eight hits over 6-2/3 scoreless innings at Fukuoka Dome.
At Seibu Dome, Chang Chi-Chie gave up five hits over eight scoreless innings to lead the Seibu Lions to a 1-0 win over the Orix BlueWave.
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