Baseball: Hiroto Saiki hurls 4-hit shutout as CL-leading Tigers win
Saiki (8-5) scattered four singles without a walk in a 116-pitch gem at Koshien Stadium, striking out nine in his second shutout of the season.
Yusuke Oyama plated the opening run with two outs and runners on the corners in the first inning, singling to center off Anthony Kay (5-6).
The lefty regrouped to put up zeros but only until Teruaki Sato pulled his first-pitch four-seamer to right for a solo shot with one out in the sixth, with the Tigers' cleanup hitter going deep for the CL-leading 26th time.
Kay allowed two runs on three hits and three walks over six innings as the BayStars lost against the Tigers for the fourth straight time.
In other action, the Pacific League-leading Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Lotte Marines 5-0 behind three perfect innings from first-round draft pick and debutant Reo Shibata followed by six innings of three-hit relief from Drew VerHagen (2-2).
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'Well, after seeing how a lot of guys like Lee Smith and Ted Simmons and (other) guys had to wait their turn to get to this point and go through the veterans committee, and how hard it is to get in here, you know, it's well worth the wait,' Wagner said. Wagner, a seven-time All-Star, became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever, after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Mariano Rivera. Wagner is the only left-hander. Two others honored Saturday were longtime Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton, winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting, and retired Washington Post sports writer and columnist Tom Boswell, who received the BBWAA Career Excellence Award.
