Benny's blast highlights 7-run 2nd in Marines' win
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Agbayani's three-run homer, the first of his two longballs on the night, capped a seven-run second inning that lifted the Marines to an 8-1 victory over the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Thursday at Chiba Marine Stadium.
In taking two out of three in the three-game series--and winning on consecutive nights for the first time since Sept. 4-5--the Marines moved to within two games of the second-place Hawks in the PL standings.
In the playoff system, the second-place team gets the home field advantage in the first stage against the third-place finisher.
Shingo Ono (6-9) allowed one earned run over 6-2/3 innings, scattering eight hits while striking out four and walking one.
Soichi Fujita, Satoru Komiyama and Yoshihide Kanda combined to give up just one hit the rest of the way to finish up the victory.
In the second inning, two walks and a single off rookie SoftBank starter Kenji Otonari (2-3) loaded the bases with one out for Jose Ortiz, who singled in a run. One out later, a bases-loaded walk made it 2-0 before Daisuke Hayakawa delivered a two-run single.
Agbayani then cleared the bases with his 13th home run of the season to make it 7-0, then added a solo homer in the seventh.
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Carp's Sasaoka to retire
Hiroshima Carp veteran pitcher Shinji Sasaoka will retire after this season, it was learned on Thursday.
The 40-year-old right-hander, who informed the club of his decision and the club accepted it on Wednesday, said he had reached his physical limit.
Sasaoka, from Shimane Prefecture, joined the Central League team as a No. 1 draft pick in 1989 from NTT Chugoku. The fireballer went 13-11 with 17 saves in his rookie season in 1990.
The next year he had his best season, when he was named the Central League MVP while posting a league-leading 17 wins and 2.44 earned run average. He helped the Carp win the CL pennant, the last one they would capture during his career.
Sasaoka, who is 2-7 this season, has a career record of 138-153 with 106 saves and a 3.58 ERA.
[Full Article: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/20070921TDY23004.htm]