Alex Ramirez homered and drove in two runs and Roberto Petagine broke the game open with a three-run clout Saturday as the Yakult Swallows rolled past the Yokohama BayStars 8-3 in a Central League contest in Sendai.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 23 | 14 | 1 | .622 | - |
| Chunichi | 20 | 17 | 1 | .541 | 3.0 |
| Hiroshima | 17 | 15 | 2 | .531 | 3.5 |
| Yakult | 16 | 16 | 2 | .500 | 4.5 |
| Hanshin | 14 | 21 | 0 | .400 | 8.0 |
| Yokohama | 13 | 20 | 0 | .394 | 8.0 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 23 | 15 | 0 | .605 | - |
| Orix | 21 | 15 | 2 | .583 | 1.0 |
| Kintetsu | 20 | 18 | 1 | .526 | 3.0 |
| Seibu | 19 | 20 | 0 | .487 | 4.5 |
| Lotte | 17 | 20 | 2 | .459 | 5.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 13 | 25 | 1 | .342 | 10.0 |
Ramirez's first homer in 21 games broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning and Petagine's three-run shot in the seventh gave the Yakult pitching staff some breathing room as Satoshi Iriki (2-1) picked up the win in relief.
Yokohama jumped out to a quick lead, but starter Ryuichi Kawahara let the Swallows knot the game 3-3 in the fifth. Side-arm reliever Atsushi Kizuka gave up the homer to Ramirez to take the loss.
Carp 9, Tigers 1
At Koshien, Eddy Diaz hit a pair of three-run homers and Masayuki Hasegawa threw a four-hitter as Hiroshima romped over Hanshin.
Hasegawa (1-0), getting his first start of the year, went the distance on 151 pitches, striking out eight as he posted his first win in two years and his first complete game in six years as a pro.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Buffaloes 11, Marines 7
Kintetsu pounded out 15 hits and erased a first-inning grand slam by Frank Bolick to get the win at the Osaka Dome over Lotte.
Koichi Isobe went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to pace the Buffaloes, who jumped on Lotte rookie southpaw Kosuke Kato (2-3) for seven runs on six hits and a pair of walks in the first inning.
In addition to Bolick's slam, Derrick May went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in.