Hiroki Kokubo belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to lift the Daiei Hawks to a 3-1 "sayonara" victory over the Pacific League-leading Orix BlueWave at the Fukuoka Dome.
Yasuo Fujii drove in a run in the sixth to give Orix a 1-0 lead but BlueWave reliever Hisashi Ogura gave up a single to Nobuhiko Matsunaka and a walk to Melvin Nieves in the ninth before Kokubo's game-winning blast to left.
Fighters 5, Buffaloes 3
At the Osaka Dome, Makoto Kaneko drove in two runs with a triple in the seventh and Nippon Ham added another run on a squeeze play en route to a win over Kintetsu.
Marines 5, Lions 3
In Akita, Akira Otsuka's bases-loaded line drive to left drove in a pair of runs as Lotte rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth for a victory over Seibu.
Closer Brian Warren worked the ninth for his sixth save for the Marines.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Carp 4, BayStars 1
Starter Nathan Minchey (5-3) scattered eight hits over seven-plus innings while giving up one run as Hiroshima downed Yokohama.
Infielder Luis Lopez connected for a solo blast in the second inning at Kamoike Stadium in Kagoshima, his first homer since being reacquired by Hiroshima earlier this month.
Swallows 6, Tigers 4
In Chiba, Satoshi Takahashi belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the second inning to spark Yakult past last-place Hanshin.
Dragons at Giants
Later Sunday, Yomiuri was hosting Chunichi in the lone night game.
At the Tokyo Dome on Saturday evening, the Giants beat the Dragons 11-3 as outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi went 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs and Koji Uehara tossed seven solid innings for Yomiuri in a battle for top spot in the CL.