Alex Cabrera hit a two-run homer and Hideaki Wakui pitched eight solid innings as the Seibu Lions defeated the Softbank Hawks 8-1 to regain sole possession of first place in the Pacific League on Saturday.
Swallows third baseman Akinori Iwamura points the sky as he scores after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning Saturday at Jingu Stadium. Hanshin beat the Swallows 10-4.
KYODO PHOTOWakui (11-5) allowed three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
Fighters 6, Marines 5
At Chiba Marine Stadium, Hichori Morimoto hit a tiebreaking single to cap a five-run seventh inning as Hokkaido Nippon Ham rallied to beat Chiba Lotte for its first win in three games.
Atsunori Inaba triggered the rally with a two-out solo homer and the Fighters also got an RBI double from pinch-hitter Tomoyuki Oda, a two-run triple from Makoto Kaneko and Morimoto's go-ahead single off Kevin Beirne (3-4).
Eagles 5, Buffaloes 3
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Dragons 3, Giants 0
At Tokyo Dome, Masahiko Morino went 2-for-4 with a homer and Masahiro Yamamoto pitched eight scoreless innings as Chunichi handed Yomiuri its 11th straight loss to the Central League leader.
Tigers 10, Swallows 4
At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Shinobu Fukuhara worked seven innings and helped his own cause with a pair of RBIs as Hanshin beat Tokyo Yakult for its first win in three games.
Atsushi Fujimoto opened the scoring with a two-run double and Fukuhara (9-3) followed with the first of his three singles on the night to help the Tigers take a three-run lead in the fourth.
BayStars 11, Carp 9
At Yokohama Stadium, Takahiro Saeki and Tatsuhiko Kinjo hit back-to-back homers in a five-run seventh inning as the BayStars battled back from six runs down to beat Hiroshima for only their second win in seven games.