Norihiro Nakamura homered twice to drive in three runs Monday and Katsuhiko Maekawa held the Seibu Lions to five hits over 8 2/3 solid innings as the Kintetsu Buffaloes won their second straight with a 3-1 victory in the Pacific League.
Nakamura's two-out two-run blast in the bottom of the first at Osaka Dome rallied the Buffaloes from a one-run deficit and a solo shot in the sixth was enough to saddle Daisuke Matsuzaka with his first loss of the season.
Matsuzaka (6-1) allowed four hits while striking out nine and walking two in six innings.
Maekawa (2-3) gave up back-to-back hits with two outs in the ninth to put runners on second and third before Akira Okamoto retired one for the save. Despite the loss, the Lions' remain in a first-place tie in the PL standings with the Daiei Hawks.
Marines 3, Fighters 0
In Chiba, Naoyuki Shimizu tossed his first career shutout to snap Lotte's five-game losing skid with a win over Nippon Ham, which slipped a game back to .500.
Shimizu limited Nippon Ham to six hits over six innings using a deft supply of change-ups to notch his third win of the season. Koichi Hori and Ryosuke Sawai provided run support with solo blasts in the third and seventh innings respectively.