Kazuya Fukuura hit an RBI double and Benny Agbayani followed with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and the Chiba Lotte Marines went on to beat the Kintetsu Buffaloes 9-3 on Tuesday night and hand All-Star right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma his first loss this season.
Kintetsu's Hisashi Iwakuma heads for the showers after giving up six runs in seven innings in a 9-3 loss to the Chiba Lotte Marines at Osaka Dome. Iwakuma lost his first game of the season after posting 12 victories.
Iwakuma (12-1) had his winning streak snapped after giving up six runs and eight hits in seven innings.
Shunsuke Watanabe (8-6) went the distance, allowing three runs on seven hits for the Marines.
Hawks 5, BlueWave 3
At Fukuoka Dome, Nobuhiko Matsunaka homered for the fourth straight game with a tie-breaking three-run shot to help Fukuoka Daiei widen its Pacific League lead with a victory over Orix.
Fighters 7, Lions 5
At Sapporo Dome, Shinji Takahashi went 2-for-3, including a bases-clearing double in the first inning, to lift Nippon Ham over Seibu.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Giants 9, Dragons 7
At Nagoya Dome, Tomohiro Nioka hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning as Yomiuri held off a late rally to beat Chunichi.
BayStars 5, Tigers 0
At Yokohama Stadium, Scott Mullen (5-7) struck out six in six innings and combined with three relievers to shut out Hanshin.
Takuro Ishii went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the seventh that capped the scoring.
Swallows 4, Carp 3
At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Akinori Iwamura hit a two-run homer as Yakult edged Hiroshima.