Daiei top guns Hiroki Kokubo, Nobuhiko Matsunaka and Kenji Jojima all hit homers as the Hawks downed the Kintetsu Buffaloes 8-1 at the Osaka Dome to take the Pacific League lead Friday night.
Central League WonLostTiedPct.GB Yakult 65 43 5 .602 - Yomiuri 64 57 2 .529 7.5 Hiroshima 53 53 6 .500 11.0 Chunichi 55 59 3 .482 13.0 Yokohama 53 58 3 .477 13.5 Hanshin 47 67 1 .412 21.0 Pacific League WonLostTiedPct.GB Daiei 66 55 1 .5454 - Seibu 67 56 0 .5447 0.0 Kintetsu 65 56 2 .537 1.0 Lotte 58 59 2 .496 6.0 Orix 56 60 4 .483 7.5 Nippon Ham 46 72 3 .390 18.5
Kintetsu has suffered a four-game losing streak and slid down to third place with one game behind from Daiei.