Shinnosuke Abe homered twice in going 4-for-5 and drove in six runs to power the Central League-leading Yomiuri Giants to a 12-6 victory over the Hiroshima Carp on Friday.
Abe connected off knuckleballer Jared Fernandez (3-6) in the fourth inning for a three-run shot to right and Yomiuri padded the lead to 7-0 in the fifth on four consecutive RBI hits by Michihiro Ogasawara, Abe, Tomohiro Nioka and Lee Seung Yeop.
Abe increased his season tally to 18 homers with a two-run drive off Koji Hiroike in a four-run eighth that also included a two-run double by Yoshitomo Tani at Hiroshima Stadium.
Rookie left-hander Norihito Kaneto (6-2) held Hiroshima to two hits through six innings before giving up a two-run homer to Takahiro Arai and a three-run shot to Jun Hirose in a five-run seventh that began with a fielding error by shortstop Makoto Kosaka. Kaneto left after yielding five runs, one earned, and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.