Masaki Saito threw a three-hitter over eight innings and hit a solo homer as the Yomiuri Giants rolled past the Yokohama BayStars 7-4 at the Tokyo Dome and cut their "magic number" for clinching the Central League pennant to four.

Central League
 WonLostTied Pct.GB
Yomiuri 73 51 0 .589 -
Yokohama 61 58 1 .513 9.5
Chunichi 60 58 0 .508 10.0
Yakult 55 58 1 .487 12.5
Hiroshima 54 64 1 .458 16.0
Hanshin 53 67 1 .442 18.0
 
Pacific League
 WonLostTied Pct.GB
Daiei 66 53 2 .555 -
Seibu 61 55 5 .526 3.5
Nippon Ham  62 58 1 .517 4.5
Lotte 54 60 5 .474 9.5
Orix 54 61 3 .470 10.0
Kintetsu 55 65 2 .458 11.5

Daisuke Motoki keyed a four-run fourth inning with a two-run homer and Hideki Okajima helped Saito out of a jam in the ninth inning, when Yokohama rallied for three runs, as Yomiuri ended a six-game losing streak to Yokohama.

Dragons 3, Swallows 2

Melvin Bunch struck out nine over 7 1/3 innings and Kazuyoshi Tatsunami had a pair of RBIs to lead Chunichi over Yakult at the Nagoya Dome.

Bunch (12-8) allowed only four hits and walked none for his 12th win. Eddie Gaillard worked the ninth to collect his 31st save of the season.

Tigers 3, Carp 2

Tsuyoshi Shinjo drilled his 25th homer, a two-run shot, in the eighth inning as Hanshin came from behind to beat host Hiroshima.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Fighters 4, Marines 1

Satoru Kanemura held Lotte to one run over six-plus innings to notch his eighth win as Nippon Ham beat Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.

Michihiro Ogasawara, who belted a two-run home run in the second inning off Lotte's rookie starter Naoyuki Shimizu, tied former Lotte Orions player Hiromitsu Ochiai for the Pacific League record of most runs scored in a season with 118.

Buffaloes 6, Hawks 0

At the Fukuoka Dome, Narciso Elvira (6-6) threw a five-hitter and struck out eight for his second complete game as Kintetsu won its fourth in a row and saddled league-leading Daiei with its third straight loss.

Lions at BlueWave -- ppd.