Tsuyoshi Wada threw seven scoreless innings and Kenji Akashi had three RBIs as the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks routed the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters 7-0 to see their magic number to clinch the Pacific League title fall to three on Wednesday.
Wada (14-5) scattered six hits — all singles — struck out eight and walked two, and two relievers finished off the shutout at Yahoo Dome. Masaru Takeda (10-11) was tagged for six runs in six innings in the loss.
Akashi had a sacrifice fly to open the scoring in the second and added a two-run single in a four-run fourth. Shuhei Fukuda went 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single.