Tetsuya Kakiuchi and Tony Fernandez both connected for two-run homers Thursday as the Seibu Lions downed the Orix BlueWave 11-7 to move into first place in the Pacific League standings.
Kakiuchi capped a four-run first inning at Green Stadium Kobe with his fourth homer of the season and Fernandez followed with another two-run blast in the second inning as the Lions jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead.
Seibu reliever Yukihiro Nishizaki (2-0) came on in the sixth inning and tossed 1 2/3 innings for the win as the Lions handed the BlueWave their fourth straight loss.
Hawks 6, Fighters 3
Tadahito Iguchi belted a three-run homer in the fourth inning to power Fukuoka Daiei over Nippon Ham at the Tokyo Dome.
Buffaloes 10, Marines 5
In Chiba, red-hot Norihiro Nakamura smacked a grand slam in the top of the third -- his 14th homer of the season -- as Kintetsu doubled up Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
BayStars 9, Tigers 1
At Koshien Stadium, veteran hurler Satoru Komiyama (5-2) went 6 2/3 solid innings for his fifth win of the season as Yokohama cruised past last-place Hanshin.
With Yokohama up 5-1 after six, outfielder Takahiro Saeki belted a grand slam homer in the top of the seventh to seal the victory.
Carp 7, Giants 5
Luis Lopez and Kenjiro Nomura hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning to power the Carp past Yomiuri at Hiroshima Stadium.
Nieves sanctioned
Daiei Hawks outfielder Melvin Nieves was fined 50,000 yen by the Pacific League on Thursday after insulting the home plate umpire in Wednesday's 6-5 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters at the Tokyo Dome.