Osaka Kintetsu slugger Tuffy Rhodes smashed a go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth inning off Seibu Lions reliever Yoshihiro Doi as the Buffaloes came from behind to beat the Pacific League-leaders 8-4 at the Seibu Dome on Saturday.
WonLostTiedPct.GBYomiuri 27 18 0 .600 -Hanshin 25 17 1 .595 0.5Yakult 23 20 0 .535 3.0Chunichi 21 20 1 .512 4.0Hiroshima 19 19 1 .500 4.5Yokohama 10 31 1 .244 15.0Pacific League
WonLostTiedPct.GBSeibu 26 14 1 .650 -Daiei 23 18 1 .561 3.5Kintetsu 21 19 1 .525 5.0Nippon Ham 22 22 0 .500 6.0Orix 17 24 0 .415 9.5Lotte 14 26 1 .350 12.0
Tied 4-4 in the ninth, the Buffaloes loaded the bases before Rhodes slugged his 19th clout of the year and put a halt to Seibu's winning streak at four games.
In a game which all the runs were scored on homers, the Lions opened the scoring in the first with Hisashi Takayama's three-run dinger.
In the third, Buffaloes catcher Tetsuya Matoyama -- who went 3-for-4 -- nailed a two-run homer.
Kintetsu tied the game at 3-3 with Norihiro Nakamura's solo homer to lead off the fourth.
BlueWave 4, Marines 2
At Chiba Marine Stadium, Scott Sheldon and Fernando Seguignol each hit solo homers to back a steady six-inning outing by right-hander Hisashi Tokano as Orix defeated Lotte.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Tigers 3, Dragons 0
Trey Moore tossed a one-hitter in his first complete game shutout in Japan to pace Hanshin over Chunichi at the Nagoya Dome.