The Seibu Lions moved to within half a game of the Pacific League lead on Saturday, when they came from behind for the second straight day to defeat the front-running Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters at Seibu Dome.
Trailing 4-0 after the top of the second inning, the Lions completed the comeback in the eighth inning when veteran shortstop Makoto Kaneko dropped a potential double play grounder that allowed the go-ahead run to score in a 5-4 victory.
With the visitors leading 4-3 in the eighth, Hiroyuki Nakajima singled, and Yuji Onizaki laid down a two-strike sacrifice bunt that put two runners in scoring position. Esteban German then tied it with a single off right-hander Hirotoshi Masui (5-5).