Hiroki Kokubo and Shotaro Ide homered as the Softbank Hawks held off the Nippon Ham Fighters 3-2 to snap a four-game losing streak on Sunday.
Nippon Ham Fighters baserunner Naoto Inada is tagged out by Softbank Hawks catcher Naoki Matoba at the plate in the third inning on Sunday at Sapporo Dome. The Hawks won 3-2.
KYODO PHOTOSoftbank took a 3-0 lead on Kokubo's two-run shot in the fourth inning and Ide's solo drive in the seventh, both off rookie lefty Kazunori Yamamoto (0-1), at Sapporo Dome.
Kazumi Saito (6-3) held Pacific League leader Nippon Ham to two runs and six hits in six-plus innings. Takahiro Mahara earned his league-leading 37th save with a perfect ninth.