Seibu catcher Tsutomu Ito went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Alex Cabrera had two hits, including a two-run homer in the first inning, to help lift the Lions over the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 7-2 at Nagano Stadium to take sole possession of the Pacific League lead.
Up 2-1 in the fourth, Ito doubled home two runs in a five-run outburst to put the Lions ahead by six.
Seibu starter Fumiya Nishiguchi tossed six solid innings, holding the Hawks to one run on five hits over six innings and won his fourth.
Daiei hurler Keizaburo Tanoue (1-4) took the loss, allowing six runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Fighters 4, BlueWave 3
Nippon Ham went ahead on David Cromer's RBI single in the eighth and added a run with Kazunari Sanematsu's solo homer in the ninth to beat Orix at Green Stadium Kobe.
Kiyoshi Sasaki pitched two hitless innings in relief of starter Satoru Kanemura and picked up the win.
Buffaloes 6, Marines 5
Yosuke Takasu nailed his first homer in three years for the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Osaka Kintetsu came from behind to beat Lotte at Chiba Marine Stadium.
With the Marines leading 5-1 in the third, Tuffy Rhodes -- who hit an RBI double in the first -- singled home a run for the Buffaloes.
In the fifth, Norihiro Nakamura cut the deficit to one run with a two-run double before Masahiro Abe tied the game in the sixth with an RBI single.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Carp vs. Swallows -- ppd.
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