Tue, Jun 28, 2005 - Page 19 News List

Cobras, Bulls lead league

PRO BASEBALL The Cobras swept their series with the Bears to head the Chinese Professional Baseball League standings as the end of the first half of the season nears

By Paul Huang  /  CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Brendan Donnelly (5-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the victory, and Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his second save in as many games and 14th in 16 chances.

Pirates 5, cardinals 4

Jason Bay hit a pair of game-tying home runs and Jose Castillo hit a tiebreaking shot in the 10th inning, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bay had four RBIs for the Pirates, who earned a split in the four-game series and beat the Cardinals for only the second time in 16 meetings after losing the previous two games by a combined score of 16-1.

Bay's three-run shot tied the game at 3 in the third, and he tied it again with his 15th homer leading off ninth against Jason Isringhausen, who blew only his second save opportunity in 23 chances.

Castillo lined his fifth homer, and second in four days, on an 0-1 pitch from Al Reyes (2-1) leading off the 10th.

The Cardinals had runners on first and third with one out in the ninth before John Grabow (2-0) got pinch hitter Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds to foul out to the catcher.

Jose Mesa got the last three outs for his 19th save in 22 chances and the 311th of his career, passing Goose Gossage on the career list and tying Tom Henke for 14th overall.

NPB

AP, Tokyo

Catcher Tomoya Satozaki hit a pair of homers and rookie Yasutomo Kubo went the distance Sunday as the Chiba Lotte Marines downed the Orix Buffaloes 5-0 to snap a three-game losing streak.

Satozaki gave the Marines a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth at Skymark Stadium with a two-run homer off Orix starter Jeremy Powell.

Benny Agbayani doubled the lead in the eighth inning with a two-run homer and Satozaki made it 5-0 in the top of the ninth with a solo shot.

Kubo scattered eight hits while striking out two Orix batters for his second complete-game shutout of the season.

Powell took the loss after giving up four runs on nine hits over eight innings.

The Marines went into Sunday's game tied for first place in the Pacific League standings with the surging Softbank Hawks. The two teams open a key two-game series today at Chiba Marine Stadium.

Golden Eagles 16, Lions 9

At Nagano Olympic Stadium, Yasuo Nagaike hit a two-run homer as the Rakuten Eagles scored seven runs in the top of the 10th inning on their way to a 16-9 win over the Seibu Lions in a game that lasted over five hours.

Kazuo Fukumori, who worked a scoreless ninth inning, was the eventual game winner and improved to 4-1 on the season.

SWALLOWS 3, BAYSTARS 1

In the Central League, Akinori Iwamura went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 3-1 win over the Yokohama BayStars at Akita Stadium.

Masanori Ishikawa picked up the win after holding the BayStars to one run on seven hits over seven innings. Hirotoshi Ishii retired the side in the ninth for his 17th save of the season.

TIGERS 8, GIANTS 2

At Koshien Stadium, Makoto Imaoka hit a solo homer as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers scored five runs in the in the bottom of the fourth on their way to an 8-2 win over the Yomiuri Giants.

Naohisa Sugiyama gave two runs on nine hits over six innings.

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