Tatsuhiko Kinjo hit a grand slam to power the Yokohama BayStars to a 14-4 thrashing of the Yomiuri Giants on Wednesday.
Kinjo, playing in his sixth season, gave the BayStars a commanding 9-1 lead in the fourth inning at Yokohama Stadium with his first grand slam as a professional.
Takuro Ishii and Seiichi Uchikawa contributed to a four-run second inning with back-to-back RBI hits.
Yomiuri starter Hisanori Takahashi returned from injury but was rocked for five runs on eight hits over just two innings. Giants reliever Hiroshi Sato didn't fare much better and gave up four runs on three hits over two innings.
Yokohama starter Yuji Yoshimi picked up the win after giving up four runs on seven hits over eight innings.
Hitoshi Tamura added a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to complete the rout.
Yoshinobu Takahashi hit a pair of solo homers and Hiroki Kokubo chipped in with a late two-run blast in the eighth for the Giants, who lost their second straight to Yokohama.
In Hiroshima, Koji Nakamura drove in the winning run with a double in the top of the 10th inning to lead the Chunichi Dragons to a 5-3 win over the Hiroshima Carp. Motonobu Tanishige pounded a two-run homer in the seventh inning to help the Dragons move into first place in the Central League standings.
At Osaka Dome, left-hander Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi tossed a four-hitter over 6-1/3 innings to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 2-0 win over the Yakult Swallows.
Hanshin took advantage of sloppy defensive play by the Swallows to score single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.
In the Pacific League, Saburo Omura drove in a pair of runs with a clutch single up the middle as the Lotte Marines scored five runs in the first inning at Chiba Marine Stadium on their way to a 8-0 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
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