The Seibu Lions overcame an injury to Daisuke Matsuzaka to beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 5-1 Friday, moving into a tie for first place with the idle Orix BlueWave in the Pacific League standings.
Katsuhiro Hiratsuka's RBI single put Seibu ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning and pinch-hitter Shogo Akada hit his first career home run with a two-run shot in the eighth to make it 4-1 at Tokyo Dome.
Jun Takeshita (1-1) scrambled out of the bullpen in relief of Matsuzaka, who sprained his right ankle in the second, and struck out five in 3 2/3 hitless innings to pick up the win. Kevin Ohme (1-1) allowed two runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Matsuzaka sustained the injury when he ran toward the plate to back up the catcher after Nippon Ham outfielder Tsutomu Ishimoto lofted a flyball to left with one out and runners at the corners.
After the shortest outing in his career, Matsuzaka was diagnosed with a sprained ankle at a Tokyo hospital and is expected to be removed from the active roster Saturday.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Carp 5, Giants 4
At Hiroshima Stadium, front-running Hiroshima capitalized on Yomiuri's miscues in a three-run second inning to send the Giants to their fourth straight loss.
Shuji Nishiyama drove home the tying run with a sacrifice fly before a throwing error by catcher Naoki Sugiyama and a fielding error by shortstop Masahiro Kawai gave Hiroshima the lead for good.
Shinji Sasaoka (4-0) allowed three runs -- two earned -- and seven hits in seven innings in becoming the first four-game winner in Japanese baseball this season. Balvino Galvez (0-3) took the loss.
Swallows at Tigers, ppd.