Rookie outfielder Ikuro Katsuragi doubled home a run and Takeshi Hidaka singled in two more as the Orix BlueWave rallied for a 3-2 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 78 | 54 | 0 | .591 | - |
| Chunichi | 66 | 60 | 0 | .524 | 9.0 |
| Yokohama | 63 | 64 | 1 | .496 | 12.5 |
| Yakult | 58 | 63 | 1 | .479 | 14.5 |
| Hiroshima | 59 | 67 | 1 | .468 | 16.0 |
| Hanshin | 56 | 72 | 1 | .438 | 20.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 69 | 54 | 2 | .561 | - |
| Nippon Ham | 66 | 60 | 1 | .524 | 4.5 |
| Seibu | 61 | 58 | 5 | .513 | 6.0 |
| Orix | 56 | 62 | 4 | .475 | 10.5 |
| Lotte | 55 | 61 | 6 | .474 | 10.5 |
| Kintetsu | 57 | 69 | 2 | .452 | 13.5 |
Hisashi Ogura (7-5) turned in five solid innings for the win and Carlos Pulido slammed the door shut with four innings of hitless relief, helping the PL-leading Daiei Hawks cut their pennant winning magic number to five.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Dragons 4, Tigers 1
Veteran southpaw Masahiro Yamamoto threw 7 1/3 shutout innings to move to the top of the CL's pitchers rankings as Chunichi downed Hanshin at the Nagoya Dome.
Yamamoto (11-8) allowed only three hits and no walks for his 11th win this season.
Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-3 with a solo homer for the Dragons.
Giants 1, Swallows 0
Darrell May went the distance on 142 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.95 with a shutout as CL champ Yomiuri edged Yakult at Jingu.
May (12-7) notched 10 strikeouts and did not allow a runner past second base for his 12th win of the season.
CL home run leader Hideki Matsui hit his 41st homer in the fourth inning for the game's only run.
Hiroshima 5, Yokohama 1
Tomoaki Kanemoto and Takahiro Arai hit solo homers as host Hiroshima pulled Yokohama under .500.
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