Baseball: Sugimoto drives in only run as Buffaloes silence Swallows

Yutaro Sugimoto singled in the game's only run, and four Orix Buffaloes pitchers combined on a six-hit shutout in the Pacific League champs' 1-0 Japan Series Game 4 win over the Central League's Yakult Swallows on Wednesday.

Sugimoto, who struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the first inning, singled home Keita Nakagawa from second with two outs in the third inning at Orix's Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Orix trails two games to one in the series that goes to the first team to win four. Game 2 at Yakult's Jingu Stadium in Tokyo resulted in a 3-3 tie.

The series is a rematch of last year's clash, won by Yakult in six games, after both clubs repeated as league champs and advanced to the final via their leagues' playoffs.

Forty-two-year-old Yakult starter Masanori Ishikawa hit Nakagawa to open the third and took the loss. The low-velocity lefty kept the Buffaloes from getting good cuts at his pitches but working carefully led to four bases on balls.

With the lead in hand, Yakult's chances became fewer and farther between.

"That game was a killer," Orix manager Satoshi Nakajima said. "When we most needed to take the lead, he (Sugimoto) came through. Yakult has so many excellent hitters that I'm thankful we could keep them off the board."

Taisuke Yamaoka started for Orix. He allowed five hits and two walks and was pulled in the fifth after Yasutaka Shiomi's one-out triple.

Rookie reliever Yuki Udagawa, using a combination of blistering fastballs and big dropping forkballs, kept the runner at third with back-to-back strikeouts.

Udagawa walked two in the sixth but repeated his previous feat of leaving the tying run at third with a pair of strikeouts and earned the win in relief.

Orix's third pitcher, Soichiro Yamazaki, retired all six men he faced. The Buffaloes, who blew a three-run ninth-inning Game 2 lead, held this one. Jacob Waguespack worked around a leadoff double with two strikeouts and a pop fly to earn the save.

"We worked walks and had runners on base but couldn't get that one big hit," Swallows manager Shingo Takatsu said. "It's not an easy thing to accomplish, but somewhere along the line, you have to get at least one. There are lots of things we (including myself) need to look back on and address."

Thursday's Game 5 will be a southpaw duel between Orix's Daiki Tajima and Yakult's top signing from last year's draft, Hikaru Yamashita, who pitched just twice this season.

© Kyodo News