Atsunori Inaba went 4-for-4 to move within two hits of a career 2,000 as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 5-1 Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Inaba had four singles, giving himself a chance to become the 39th player in Japanese baseball history to reach the mark on Thursday.

The Fighters pounded out 15 hits to take over first place in the Pacific League from the Marines, who had their winning streak snapped at three games.