Yomiuri starter Yusaku Iriki pitched 81/3 solid innings and Hideki Matsui drilled his 250th career home run as the Giants edged the Chunichi Dragons 2-1 at the Nagoya Dome on Thursday.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | - |
| Chunichi | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 1.0 |
| Yakult | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 1.0 |
| Hanshin | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 1.5 |
| Hiroshima | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 2.5 |
| Yokohama | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 3.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Lotte | 8 | 6 | 1 | .571 | - |
| Seibu | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 0.0 |
| Orix | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 0.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 7 | 8 | 1 | .467 | 1.5 |
| Daiei | 7 | 8 | 0 | .467 | 1.5 |
| Kintetsu | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 | 2.5 |
Iriki, making his first appearance this year, held Chunichi to one run on five hits, walking two and striking out six en route to his first win in two years as the Giants grabbed the sole lead in the Central League standings.
With the Dragons leading 1-0 in the fifth, Matsui's solo clout tied the game, and Yomiuri went ahead for good on Toshihisa Nishi's sixth-inning solo homer.
Both home runs came off Chunichi starter Melvin Bunch (0-1), who held the Giants to three hits and fanned nine in a losing effort.
Lefty reliever Hideki Okajima pitched two-thirds of an inning for his fourth save.
Tigers 4, Swallows 3
Rookie shortstop Yoshinori Okihara singled home the go-ahead run as Hanshin improved to .500 with a win over Yakult at Koshien.
Trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Ivan Cruz tied the game with a solo blast off Swallows starter Kazuhisa Ishii (2-1) before Hanshin went ahead on Okihara's single.
Buddy Carlyle (2-0) combined with four relievers on a six-hitter while Toshihide Narimoto got the final two outs to earn his third save.
Carp 7, BayStars 6
Takahiro Arai drew a bases-loaded walk to snap a 2-2 tie before Takuya Kimura doubled home two runs to cap a five-run eighth inning as Hiroshima held off Yokohama's late-inning comeback attempt at Yokohama Stadium.
Veteran Shinji Sasaoka (1-2) earned his first win of the season.