FUKUOKA (Kyodo) — Kohei Arihara pitched eight innings as the Pacific League-leading SoftBank Hawks arrested a brief two-game losing streak with a 4-0 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Friday.
Arihara (13-7) allowed two hits and one walk while striking out seven at Mizuho PayPay Dome. Kenta Imamiya hit a third-inning solo home run, Ryoya Kurihara hit a two-run eighth-inning homer, and reliever Darwinzon Hernandez closed it out in the ninth.
“This was an important game. I wanted to pitch as many innings as I could,” said Arihara, who struck out two batters in the first to escape a two-on one-out jam before cruising the rest of the way.
After back-to-back losses this week to the second-place Nippon Ham Fighters, the Hawks’ magic number to clinch their first pennant in four years dropped to four.
The Fighters beat the playoff-contending Rakuten Eagles 7-3 behind two three-run home runs from Franmil Reyes.
In the Central League, the Yomiuri Giants lowered their magic number to clinch to six, beating the Hiroshima Carp 8-2, while the second-place Hanshin Tigers fell 9-6 to the third-place DeNA BayStars.
Baseball: Pennant-chasing Hawks shut out Buffaloes, snap skid
