Pacific League home run leader Norihiro Nakamura, headed to the Sydney Olympics later this month, belted three homers in three straight at-bats to power the Kintetsu Buffaloes to a sixth straight win, 10-6 over the Orix BlueWave on Thursday in Kobe.
Nakamura's three homers put him four in front of Nippon Ham Fighters slugger Nigel Wilson, 37 to 33, in the PL home run derby.
Lefty starter Katsuhiko Maekawa allowed four earned runs over 7 2/3 innings and got his eighth win, sending Orix to its sixth straight loss.