Daiei slugger Koji Akiyama notched his 2,000th career hit on Friday night, but his Hawks fell to the Lotte Marines 8-5 at Kitakyushu Stadium to slide down from the top of the Pacific League standings to second, two percentage points behind idle Seibu.
Akiyama, 38, hit a single in a five-run fifth inning to become the 28th player to reach the 2,000-hit plateau in Japanese pro baseball history. Melvin Nieves later homered for three runs in the frame to cut Lotte's early lead to 6-5.
Lotte had scored six runs on seven hits off Daiei starter Junji Hoshino (3-3) in the first inning.
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