Eiichi Koyano had a two-run triple in a three-run sixth inning as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters rallied to beat the Pacific League-leading Softbank Hawks 3-2 on Thursday.
Hidenori Tanoue had an RBI single to give Softbank a 1-0 lead in the fifth before Koyano tripled to left off Toshiya Sugiuchi (9-2) with runners at first and second with two outs for the lead in the sixth at Yahoo Dome. Nippon Ham moved within a half game of Softbank.
The third run scored on second baseman Yuichi Honda's throwing error in the sixth. Jose Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly to pull the Hawks within one in the eighth. Hisashi Takeda got the final four outs for his PL-leading 17th save.