03-08-2025
Baseball: Arihara, Downs lead high-flying Hawks past Eagles
FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- Kohei Arihara threw six innings of two-run ball and Jeter Downs contributed two RBIs, including a fifth-inning solo homer, as the SoftBank Hawks beat the Rakuten Eagles 5-2 on Saturday.
The Pacific League-leading Hawks improved to a season-high 22 games over .500 as they recorded their third straight win.
The home side took a 2-0 lead in the second inning at Mizuho PayPay Dome as Taisei Makihara and Ukyo Shuto drove in runs back-to-back.
Downs hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 in the third, and the Colombian-born import further extended the lead with his third long bomb of the season to left field with one out in the fifth. Keita Yamamoto added an insurance run with his seventh-inning solo blast.
"It felt good to get back on the board and give us the momentum again and help us just continue this nice little win streak we've got going on," Downs said.
The former Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals infielder praised veteran right-hander Arihara (9-5) for putting the team in winning position despite scattering seven hits in an at-times difficult start.
"He battled today, he didn't have his best stuff, but that's what a good pitcher does," Downs said. "Even when they don't have their best stuff, they still give you a chance to win, and that's what he did today."
In the Central League, Hanshin Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato crushed his Nippon Professional Baseball-best 27th home run in a 5-1 victory over the Yakult Swallows.
The 26-year-old Sato went long to lead off the fourth inning at Jingu Stadium for the CL leaders, who racked up four homers for the game, including two from Ryuhei Obata.
