By Steve Trautlein

Sports Aug. 31, 2011 - 06:48AM JST ( 1 )

Minoru Iwata pitched six innings of two-hit ball and Kyuji Fujikawa picked up his 31st save as the Hanshin Tigers downed the Chunichi Dragons 6-3 at Nagoya Dome on Tuesday night. After holding the Dragons’ batters in check for most of the game, Hanshin weathered a spirited rally in the final two innings to maintain a share of second place in the Central League.

The Tigers got off to a quick start when second baseman Keiichi Hirano led off the game with a double and scored two batters later on shortstop Takeshi Toritani’s line drive to center. Hanshin went on to pick up single runs in the sixth and seventh, then struck for three in the eighth to take a seemingly comfortable 6-1 lead. But the Dragons responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning and loaded the bases in the ninth before Fujikawa closed the door, helped in large part by two nifty over-the-shoulder catches from Toritani.

Elsewhere in the Central League, the Giants blanked the BayStars 3-0, and Hiroshima edged Yakult 3-2 in 10 innings. In the Pacific League, Chiba beat Nippon Ham 5-3, Rakuten edged Seibu 2-1, and Orix defeated first-place Softbank 4-1.