Tasuku Hashimoto broke a two-all tie with a two-run homer in the fourth inning and four Lotte pitchers made it stand for a 4-3 victory Monday as the Marines bumped off the Pacific League-leading Daiei Hawks at Chiba Marine Stadium.
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Orix | 26 | 19 | 4 | .578 | - |
| Daiei | 28 | 21 | 1 | .571 | 0.0 |
| Lotte | 25 | 23 | 2 | .521 | 2.5 |
| Kintetsu | 26 | 24 | 2 | .520 | 2.5 |
| Seibu | 25 | 25 | 0 | .500 | 3.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 15 | 33 | 3 | .313 | 12.5 |
Lotte's fourth win in a row lifted the Marines into a third-place tie in the PL standings.
Daiei, meanwhile, slipped into second place percentage points behind the idle Orix BlueWave.
Lotte starter Shingo Ono (4-3) held the Hawks to three runs on eight hits over seven innings while striking out eight.
Masahide Kobayashi pitched the ninth in relief for his 13th save.
Fighters 5, Buffaloes 3
Hiroshi Narahashi hit a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and and Toshihiro Noguchi doubled home two runs for insurance in the sixth as last-place Nippon Ham snapped its nine-game winless streak with a win over Kintetsu at the Tokyo Dome.
Fighters lefty Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi (5-3) overcame a shaky start and held the Buffaloes to three runs and nine hits over 62/3 innings.
Closer Carlos Mirabal pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
Kintetsu's winning streak came to a halt at six.