Igawa now 6-1

May 10, 2002--The Hanshin Tigers retained their grip on the top spot in the Central League with a 7-2 victory over the second-place Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome on Friday night.

The win was the surprising Tigers' fourth in five games this year against their traditional rivals and earned the Kansai heroes a one-game lead in the standings.

Kei Igawa (6-1), who beat the Giants here on opening night, started for the Tigers and didn't find his rhythm until after he walked the first two men he faced in the second inning. The southpaw then recorded five straight strikeouts as his teammates made a game of it against Giants starter Masumi Kuwata and the relievers who followed.

George Arias broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the sixth inning with a two-out two-run home run off reliever Junya Sakai (1-1), his 11th of the season.

Tigers' No. 5 hitter Shinjiro Hiyama went 4-for-5 with a double, scored a run and drove in one to tie the game in the third.

"(Trailing 1-0) in the third inning, we said let's go get some runs," said Hiyama, whose average jumped to .374. "It was only one run, so it turned into a real tough game. Everyone helped each other out."

Unlike Igawa, Kuwata never really found his game. The 34-year-old put the leadoff hitter on board in every one of his five innings except the first.

Kuwata allowed two runs on seven hits. He struck out six and walked six, two intentionally.

Igawa gave up two runs in six innings on three hits. He walked three--but none after the second inning. The only trouble the 22-year-old had after that was a solo home run on an outside fastball to Keiji Fukui in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Hideki Matsui put the Giants in front in the first inning with a two-out double that scored Takayuki Shimizu, who drew a leadoff walk.

Makoto Imaoka, the CL's player of the month in April, led off the third inning with a double over the center fielder and was sacrificed to third before Hiyama brought him home.

Reserve infielder Fukui restored the Giants' lead by taking Igawa deep.

When the inning ended with Kuwata on deck, Giants manager Tatsunori Hara decided to leave his veteran pitcher in the game rather than use a reliever for just one inning.

But the Tigers took advantage of Kuwata to tie the game, although it could have been far worse. The right-hander walked No. 3 hitter Atsushi Kataoka for the third time to lead off the inning before Arias singled to put runners on first and second. After Hiyama was caught looking at a fastball inside for strike three, Derrick White cracked a double to the gap in left center that scored Kataoka.

White took third on a throw to the plate that gunned down Arias for the second out. With two outs and the No. 7 hitter up, Hara lived dangerously. He intentionally walked two hitters to load the bases for Igawa, who struck out to end the inning.

Imaoka, who singled twice and walked twice, singled to lead off the top of the sixth inning against Sakai, who then undid some of the damage by gunning down Imaoka on a fielders choice. Arias then reached the seats in left to make a winner out of Igawa.

Rookie catcher Ryo Asai, who came off the bench in the bottom of the fifth, smacked a one-out double in the seventh, advanced to third on a fly out and scored on wild pitch from Giants reliever Yukinaga Maeda.

The Tigers added two more in the eighth after two were out against rookie right-hander Masami Ishikawa. Hiyama doubled, White walked, and both scored on a double by Osamu Hamanaka.

Tigers right-hander Shinobu Fukuhara pitched the seventh and eighth, striking out four of the six batters he faced.