Twins 7, Devil Rays 4
At Minneapolis, Jacque Jones hit a bases-loaded triple in the eighth inning for Minnesota.
Jesse Crain (8-0) extended his AL record to 11 consecutive wins in relief to start a career, despite allowing a two-run homer in the eighth to Jorge Cantu that ran Johan Santana's home victory drought to eight.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 21st save after the Twins rallied for four runs in the eighth against Dewon Brazelton (1-8).
Veteran Fumiya Nishiguchi gave up one run on five hits over eight solid innings Saturday as the Seibu Lions downed the Chiba Lotte Marines 3-1.
Nishiguchi struck out only two Lotte batters at Chiba Marine Stadium but picked up his 10th win of the season in a 97-pitch effort. Shinji Mori retired the side in the ninth for his second save of the season as the Japan Series champion Lions snapped a seven-game losing skid, their longest in five years.
Shogo Akada hit a solo homer in the first inning and drove in a run in the fifth to lead the Seibu attack.
Lotte starter Dan Serafini took the loss after giving up three runs on eight hits over seven innings.
Tasuku Hashimoto accounted for Lotte's only run with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth off Nishiguchi. Lotte, which trails the Softbank Hawks in the Pacific League standings, has now lost three of their last four games.
Golden Eagles 7, fighters 6
At Fullcast Stadium, pinch-hitter Koichi Oshima drove in three runs with a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Rakuten Golden Eagles to a 7-6 walkoff win over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Nippon Ham held a 6-3 lead going into the ninth but reliever Yukiya Yokoyama gave up four runs in the ninth inning.
Rakuten reliever Hisashi Ogura picked up the win after working a scoreless top of the ninth.
Fernando Seguignol hit a two-run homer for the Fighters in the top of the fifth.
Swallows 9, dragons 4
In the Central League, Akinori Iwamura and Atsuya Furuta each drove in a pair of runs to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 9-4 win over the Chunichi Dragons.
Yakult starter Masanori Ishikawa picked up the win after giving up three runs on eight hits over 5-1/3 innings.
Major League Baseball is going international for its Home Run Derby during its annual mid-season All-Star Game festivities.
Instead of having four players from each league, the commissioner's office said Friday it will have eight players represent their native countries at the July 11 event. Major League Baseball plans to formally launch plans that day for its first World Baseball Classic, a 16-team event during spring training next year.
This year's Home Run Derby is at Detroit's pitcher-friendly Comerica Park, where the All-Star Game will be played the following night.
The top four players in the first round advance to the semifinals, and the top two in the semis move on to the final.
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