Hiroyuki Kobayashi stretched his personal winning streak to seven games in a complete-game effort Tuesday as the Lotte Marines secured at least a share of first place in interleague play with an 8-2 win over the Yakult Swallows.
Kobayashi (9-2) also doubled home a run to cap a two-run second inning as all of the starting nine had at least a hit at Jingu Stadium.
The Marines have won 23 out of 34 interleague games played so far. But they could be joined at the top by the Softbank Hawks and forced to share the 50 million yen top prize money if the Hawks win their last two games.
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