Teppei Tsuchiya broke the game open with a tiebreaking grand slam in the ninth inning as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles came from behind to beat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 7-4 on Friday.
The Eagles won their fifth straight and continued a surge toward clinching a berth in the Pacific League Climax Series playoffs.
Trailing 3-1, a run scored on third baseman Jose Ortiz's error and Naoto Watanabe's two-out RBI single tied it before Tsuchiya went deep to right-center off Takahiro Mahara (3-2) for a 7-3 lead at Yahoo Dome.
Marines 3, Fighters 2