Akinori Iwamura hit a grand slam home run in the fifth inning Tuesday to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 10-3 come-from-behind win over the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers in Tokyo.
Despite the loss, the Tigers kept a 16.5-game lead over the Yomiuri Giants, who lost to the Yokohama BayStars. The Hanshin's magic number to clinch the league pennant shrank to four.
Iwamura's shot off Hanshin starter Hideki Irabu capped a seven-run inning. It was Iwamura's ninth homer of the season, and extended Yakult's winning streak to five.
Hideki Sato, who relieved Yakult starter Yuhei Takai in the fourth, got the win and improved to 5-4 after holding Hanshin scoreless for 1-2/3 innings. Irabu, formerly of the New York Yankees, picked up the loss and fell to 13-7 after giving up eight runs on seven hits over 4-2/3 innings.
At Yokohama Stadium, Seiichi Uchikawa's RBI single in the seventh inning led the Yokohama BayStars to a 8-4 victory over the Yomiuri Giants.
With the game tied at 4-4, Uchikawa hit a looper into left field, capping a four-run rally. Reliever Masahiro Tazaki got the win and improved to 4-2 after joining in the sixth inning and holding Yokohama hitless for two innings.
In Onomichi, Masafumi Hirai went the distance as the Chunichi Dragons blanked the Hiroshima Carp 3-0.
Catcher Motonobu Tanishige blasted a two-run shot in the fifth -- his 12th homer of the season -- off Hiroshima, and Kosuke Fukudome followed with his 25th homer in the sixth inning, both off Hiroshima starter Ken Takahashi.
Hirai improved to 8-6 after striking out nine, walking one and allowing only three hits over nine innings. Takahashi (9-7) took the loss after giving up three runs on five hits while striking out three.
In the Pacific League, Munenori Kawasaki drove in the winning run with a single in the fourth as the league-leading Daiei Hawks edged the Kintetsu Buffaloes 3-2 at Fukuoka Dome.
It was the Buffaloes' fifth straight loss. With the win, the Hawks opened up a 5.5-game lead over the second-place Seibu Lions, who lost to the Lotte Marines. The Daiei's magic number to clinch the league pennant was cut to 12.
Brandon Knight, formerly of the New York Yankees, picked up the win to go to 5-4 after allowing two runs on ten hits while striking out seven over 6 2/3-innings. Takayuki Shinohara picked up his eighth save after working for the last two innings.
Tuffy Rhodes, formerly of the Boston Red Sox, connected for his league-leading 45th homer -- a two-run shot -- in the fifth inning. But his batting was too little too late for the Buffaloes.
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
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