Tomoaki Kanemoto and Makoto Imaoka hit back-to-back RBI singles to highlight a four-run rally in the fifth inning as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Chunichi Dragons 5-2 in the Central League on Tuesday.
Takashi Toritani and Norihiro Akahoshi singled and Andy Sheets walked to load the bases with one out before timely hitting by Kanemoto and Imaoka gave Hanshin the lead for good at 4-2.
After Santiago Ramirez replaced veteran Chunichi starter Masahiro Yamamoto (0-2), Osamu Hamanaka singled to reload the bases and Akihiro Yano drew a run-scoring walk to cap the rally at Koshien Stadium. Yano had cut the Dragons' lead to 2-1 with an RBI single in the fourth.
Dominican right-hander Esteban Yan (2-0) won his second straight start.
Carp 5, Giants 4
At Hiroshima Stadium, Takahiro Arai and Kenta Kurihara homered to lead the offense and the Carp bullpen held off a Yomiuri rally.
BayStars 7, Swallows 4
At Yokohama Stadium, Shuichi Murata and Yuki Yoshimura homered in a five-run fifth inning as the BayStars came from behind twice to defeat Yakult.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Lions 4, Eagles 1
At Sendai's Fullcast Stadium, Takeya Nakamura hit a two-run homer and Hideaki Wakui threw his second complete game of the season as Seibu beat Tohoku Rakuten to extend its winning streak to five.
Hawks 13, Marines 1
At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Brian Buchanan went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and Nagisa Arakaki threw eight solid innings in Softbank's rout of Chiba Lotte.
Buffaloes 4, Fighters 2
At Sapporo Dome, Tuffy Rhodes homered twice and Yoshihisa Hirano pitched seven shutout innings as Orix beat Hokkaido Nippon Ham to snap a three-game losing streak.