Fernando Seguignol drove in the go-ahead run and Satoru Kanemura pitched his third complete game of the season, lifting the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a 3-1 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Wednesday.
Nippon Ham put runners on the corners following singles by Hichori Morimoto and Atsunori Inaba before Seguignol's clutch single up the middle broke a 1-1 tie at Sapporo Dome, giving the Pacific League leader the lead for good.
Kanemura (5-3) held Orix to a run and three hits, including a first-inning homer to Greg LaRocca, while striking out five walking two in his first win since May 13. He retired the side in order in four of the final five innings.
The Fighters tied the game in the fifth when Takahito Kudo tripled and scored on a Makoto Kaneko single.
Lions 5, Marines 2
At Goodwill Dome, Hiroyuki Nakajima hit a grand slam in the seventh as Seibu rallied past Chiba Lotte to avoid a third straight defeat.
Eagles at Hawks — late
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Tigers 9, Giants 4
At Tokyo Dome, Kodai Sakurai hit a three-run drive for his first career home run and Takashi Toritani went 2-for-5 with two RBIs as Hanshin beat Yomiuri to win its third in a row.
Dragons 3, BayStars 1
Lefty Takashi Ogasawara pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball to set the pace as Chunichi moved within one game of Central League leader Yomiuri with a win over Yokohama.
Swallows at Carp — late