Pedro Valdes singled two runs home in the third inning and Hiroshi Shibahara drove in a pair of insurance runs in the eighth Monday as the Daiei Hawks notched their 30th victory of the season, 6-3 over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 30 | 24 | 1 | .556 | - |
| Orix | 28 | 23 | 4 | .549 | 0.5 |
| Lotte | 29 | 24 | 2 | .547 | 0.5 |
| Kintetsu | 29 | 25 | 2 | .537 | 1.0 |
| Seibu | 27 | 27 | 0 | .500 | 3.0 |
| Nippon Ham | 17 | 37 | 3 | .315 | 13.0 |
The Daiei win at the Fukuoka Dome, coupled with Orix's 1-0 loss to Lotte in Chiba, lifted the Hawks to the top of the Pacific League standings -- half a game in front of the BlueWave.
Daiei starter Junji Hoshino (5-4) took a three-hitter into the seventh inning for the win while Rodney Pedraza worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Marines 1, BlueWave 0
In Chiba, Lotte's Shingo Ono (5-3) allowed only four hits over eight innings while striking out six as the Marines notched their eighth win in nine games to knock Orix out of first place.
Ryosuke Sawai led off the eighth with a double for Lotte and pinch-runner Saburo Omura, after moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, came home on a sacrifice fly by Makoto Kosaka for the only run.
Lotte closer Masahide Kobayashi surrendered a pair of hits in the ninth but held on for his 16th save, tops in both leagues.
Nobuyuki Ebisu (3-3), who allowed just six hits over 71/3 innings, took the loss.