Koichi Isobe of Kintetsu drove in six runs with a two-run homer in the third inning off reliever Shintaro Yamasaki and a grand slam in the sixth off Hisashi Tokano as the Buffaloes triumphed over the Orix BlueWave 12-5 at the Osaka Dome on Friday night.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yakult | 31 | 22 | 2 | .585 | - |
| Yomiuri | 35 | 27 | 2 | .565 | 0.5 |
| Hiroshima | 26 | 25 | 4 | .510 | 4.0 |
| Chunichi | 30 | 29 | 1 | .508 | 4.0 |
| Yokohama | 24 | 31 | 1 | .436 | 8.0 |
| Hanshin | 23 | 35 | 0 | .397 | 10.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 36 | 25 | 1 | .590 | - |
| Kintetsu | 34 | 28 | 2 | .548 | 2.5 |
| Lotte | 31 | 28 | 2 | .525 | 4.0 |
| Orix | 30 | 28 | 4 | .517 | 4.5 |
| Seibu | 30 | 31 | 0 | .492 | 6.0 |
| Nippon Ham | 20 | 41 | 3 | .328 | 16.0 |
Norihiro Nakamura scored off reliever Masahiko Kaneda (4-3) for a game-tying run and Yuji Yoshioka hit an RBI single in a four-run first inning.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Dragons 5, Giants 1
Masahiro Yamamoto (4-4) struck out 10 and gave up five hits over eight-plus innings, helping Chunichi snap its losing streak at six games with a win over Yomiuri at the Nagoya Dome.
Yamamoto hit an RBI single in a two-run second inning, Kazuki Inoue doubled home a run in the fourth and Leo Gomez hit a run-scoring single before Kazuyoshi Tatsuhami hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to seal the win.
Swallows 10, Carp 4
Roberto Petagine singled home the opening run and Atsuya Furuta hit an RBI single in a five-run first inning in Yakult's 14-hit batting fiesta against Hiroshima at the Fukuoka Dome.
Yakult starter Satoshi Iriki extended his winning streak to six.
BayStars 6, Tigers 3
Satoru Komiyama hit a tie-breaking double in the second inning and Takanori Suzuki doubled home two runs in the third to carry Yokohama over Hanshin at Koshien Stadium, ending the Tigers' winning streak at three.