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Baseball: Sato, Matsuzaka lift Seibu to victory in PL+
[April 14, 2006]

Baseball: Sato, Matsuzaka lift Seibu to victory in PL+


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKOROZAWA, Japan, April 14_(Kyodo) _ Daisuke Matsuzaka struck out 13 in his first complete-game win of the season and Takahiko G.G. Sato drove home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Seibu Lions edged the Lotte Marines 2-1 in the Pacific League on Friday.



Matsuzaka (2-1) held the slumping Marines to five hits and no walks and got the win after Sato broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out single to left off reliever Yasuhiko Yabuta at Invoice Seibu Dome.

Takeya Nakamura homered in the fourth off Lotte starter Shingo Ono before Hisao Heiuchi replied with a leadoff shot in the sixth off Matsuzaka. Soichi Fujita (0-1), who allowed a leadoff single to Yoshihito Ishii in the eighth, was charged with the loss.


With the loss to the league-leading Lions, defending Japan Series champion Lotte dropped three straight games for the second time this season and is currently second to bottom in the league standings.

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Buffaloes 10, Eagles 2

Hirotoshi Kitagawa went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs and Kazuhiro Kiyohara hit his first homer in an Orix uniform on a 3-for-4 night in a rout of Rakuten at Skymark Stadium.

Kitagawa ignited a four-run second with a two-run shot off Shingo Matsuzaki (0-3) while Kiyohara capped the scoring with a solo drive in the eighth, helping veteran right-hander Masato Yoshii (2-0) notch his second win in three starts.

Yoshii limited last-place Rakuten to two runs on four hits and two walks over seven strong innings. Yoshitomo Tani and Masahiro Abe both had two hits for Orix.

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