Yasuyuki Kataoka drew a bases-loaded walk with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the front-running Seibu Lions came back from deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 to stay a half-game ahead of Softbank at the top of the league standigs.
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles starter Hiroki Yamamura delivers a pitch against the Seibu Lions on Saturday at Invoice Seibu Dome. The Lions won 8-7.
KYODO PHOTORakuten reliever Kazuo Fukumori (0-3) loaded the bases with three walks before giving up the winning run when he walked Kataoka on four pitches at Invoice Seibu Dome. Seibu tied the game at 7-7 in the seventh on an Alex Cabrera RBI double and a two-run homer by Jeff Liefer off Shinichiro Koyama.
Rick Short hit his first grand slam in Japan with a third-inning shot, giving Rakuten a four-run lead, before Seibu pulled within one run on a bases-clearing double from Kazuhiro Wada.