Teppei Tsuchiya capped a three-run ninth-inning rally with a "sayonara" single as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles beat the Yomiuri Giants 5-4 on Friday.
With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, the 2009 Pacific League batting champion lined the first pitch from Satoshi Fukuda (0-1) into left field in interleague play at Kleenex Stadium.
Rakuten rallied from a 4-0 deficit. Norihiro Nakamura got the Eagles within two in the eighth with a two-run blast to center.
Kenshi Kawaguchi delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to tie the score at 4-4 with one out in the ninth after Marc Kroon walked two and Fukuda walked another to load the bases.