Baseball: Hawks get past Orix ace Yamamato in top-of-table PL clash

Kohei Arihara outpitched Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday as the SoftBank Hawks resumed league play with a 7-1 win over the Orix Buffaloes and replaced them at the top of the Pacific League standings. For the first time since May 28, Japan's 12 teams squared off against league rivals following Wednesday's conclusion of interleague play. Arihara (2-0) allowed a first-inning home run at Fukuoka's PayPay Dome, Tomoya Mori's 11th, but only two other hits and no walks over eight innings. He struck out six. The right-hander, who began his career with the PL's Nippon Ham Fighters, joined SoftBank this ye...