Veteran Masahiro Kawai drove in the winning run with a single to left in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday to lift the Central League-leading Chunichi Dragons to a 5-4 win over the Hiroshima Carp.
Hirokazu Ibata drove in the tying run in the ninth inning with a grounder to shortstop Andy Sheets. Sheets threw home but Hiroshima catcher Yoshikazu Kura dropped the ball as the Chunichi runner scored from third base.
With the victory, Chunichi opened up a comfortable six-game lead over the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings.
BayStars 6, Tigers 5
At Yokohama Stadium, Seiichi Uchikawa and Ryoji Aikawa each drove in a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the BayStars over Hanshin.
Yokohama reliever Atsushi Kizuka picked up the win after coming on in the eighth and holding the Tigers scoreless.