Baseball: Carp move to top of CL with 10th straight win

Lefty Hiroki Tokoda worked into the eighth inning and batterymate Tsubasa Aizawa singled in two runs for the Hiroshima Carp, who took over the Central League lead with their 10th straight win, 4-1 Thursday over the Yakult Swallows.

Tokoda (9-2) allowed a run on four hits and a walk in 7-1/3 innings. He left the game after hurting his hand throwing a pitch.

“Aizawa called a terrific game, and though I forced a pitching change on us at the end, I was determined not to allow another run,” Tokoda said.

The game was tied 1-1 through six innings, with 43-year-old Swallows southpaw Masanori Ishikawa ...