Kensuke Tanaka had a tiebreaking single in the fourth inning and the Nippon Ham Fighters held on to beat the Rakuten Eagles 3-1 on Tuesday.
Keisaku Itokazu (1-3) limited the damage to one run and two hits in six innings, combining with three relievers on a three hitter in his first career win.
Hawks 13, Buffaloes 2
At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Kenji Otonari pitched one-run ball over eight innings and got plenty of run support in a 16-hit onslaught as Softbank clobbered Orix to win its third in a row.
Otonari (3-3) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked one. Softbank grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first, featuring Hiroki Kokubo's two-run single and Jose Ortiz added a two-run homer in the second to give the home team a 6-0 lead.
Nobuhiro Matsuda had a two-run triple and Munenori Kawasaki contributed with a two-run double in a six-run outburst in the eighth.
Marines 8, Lions 6
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Giants 4, Carp 3
At Gifu's Nagaragawa Stadium, Alex Ramirez hit a two-run single to highlight a four-run seventh inning as CL-leading Yomiuri staved off a late charge by Hiroshima to earn its 40th victory of the season — the quickest to reach the benchmark in either league.
Dragons 5, Tigers 4
At Nagoya Dome, Atsushi Fujii hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to rally Chunichi over Hanshin en route to winning its seventh in a row.
BayStars 3, Swallows 2
