Alex Ramirez homered twice and drove in four runs Saturday and Shugo Fujii pitched seven strong innings as the Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 9-5 at Koshien Stadium to claim sole possession of second place in the Central League standings.
Ramirez crushed a two-run homer in the second inning and Hajime Miki added a run on an RBI single.
Fujii (5-2) allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings for his first win since May 29.
BayStars 2, Dragons 1
Boi Rodriguez broke a 1-1 deadlock in the eighth inning with an RBI single as Yokohama downed Chunichi at Yokohama Stadium.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Lions 2, BlueWave 1
Tom Evans drove in the game-winning run with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift front-running Seibu to its second straight "sayonara" victory over Orix at the Seibu Dome.
Fighters 6, Hawks 0
Tatsuya Ide, Sherman Obando and Michiro Ogasawara each homered to drive in five runs and Itsuki Shoda threw a six-hitter as Nippon Ham blanked Daiei at Takamatsu Stadium.
Obando and Ogasawara both connected for two-run shots, and Shoda (2-3) struck out four with just one walk to end the Fighters' four-game losing streak.