Tuffy Rhodes belted his 44th homer of the season Sunday to regain a share of the lead in the Pacific League home-run derby and power the Kintetsu Buffaloes 7-2 over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Rhodes got Kintetsu on the scoreboard at Osaka Dome with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and then capped the Buffaloes scoring in the seventh with a two-run clout that pulled him even with the Seibu Lions' Alex Cabrera for the league lead in homers.
Meanwhile, the Fighters' Michihiro Ogasawara scored in the eighth inning to equal the Japanese pro baseball record for runs scored in consecutive games of 16 set in 1950 by Wu Chang-zheng of the Mainichi Orions.