A pretty good Sho …
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Nakata drives in all four runs as Fighters sweep Eagles
One of the biggest media darlings of the past five years continues to blossom, while this season’s headline hog is looking more like something left out too long in the summer sun.
Fourth-year slugger Sho Nakata homered, raising his career-best total to 12, and drove in all four runs as the Nippon Ham Fighters swept a four-game set from the Rakuten Eagles with a 4-2 win at The Kleenex Box in Monday’s only game.
Nakata moved to the top of the Pacific League with 64 RBIs.
“The veteran players on the team are making it easy for me to play and do what I do, so I want to keep it going and do what I can to [contribute]," Nakata said in the hero interview.
“Handkerchief Prince” Yuki Saito lasted just 4.1 innings, leaving with the bases loaded, one out, one on and one in after the Fighters had staked him to a 4-0 lead.
“I struggled with my control and my rhythm was bad,” Saito told reporters. “I wasn’t able to do my job.”
Yuya Ishii (1-0) got the win thanks to one well-located fastball that Daisuke Kusano rolled to short as the Fighters turned a double play to escape the fifth-inning allowing just run. The lefty became the 31st pitcher to win a game while throwing just one pitch.
It was Ishii's first win since Oct. 9, 2008, when he beat the Yomiuri Giants while with the Yokohama BayStars.
Takahiro Shiomi (4-6) went five-plus innings, allowing all four runs on nine hits and two walks with a half-dozen Ks as the Eagles lost for the fifth time in six games.