Hanshin hurler Shinobu Fukuhara tossed two-hit ball over six innings and picked up his fifth win as the Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 6-4 at the Nagoya Dome on Thursday.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yakult | 40 | 27 | 2 | .597 | - |
| Yomiuri | 44 | 32 | 2 | .579 | 0.5 |
| Chunichi | 35 | 38 | 1 | .479 | 8.0 |
| Hiroshima | 32 | 32 | 4 | .500 | 6.5 |
| Hanshin | 31 | 43 | 0 | .419 | 12.5 |
| Yokohama | 30 | 40 | 1 | .429 | 11.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Kintetsu | 44 | 33 | 2 | .571 | - |
| Orix | 38 | 34 | 4 | .528 | 3.5 |
| Daiei | 40 | 36 | 1 | .526 | 3.5 |
| Seibu | 39 | 37 | 0 | .513 | 4.5 |
| Lotte | 36 | 38 | 2 | .486 | 6.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 28 | 47 | 3 | .373 | 15.0 |
Trailing the Dragons 1-0 in the third, Yoshinori Okihara drew a walk with the bases loaded for the game-tying run, before Norihiro Akahoshi sparked a five-run burst with a go-ahead RBI single.
Osamu Hamanaka and Shinjiro Hiyama had two RBIs each for the Tigers.
Melvin Bunch (5-6) gave up five runs over four innings and took the loss.