YOKOHAMA – Kim Tae Kyun hit a go-ahead three-run homer off closer Shun Yamaguchi (1-1) with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as the Chiba Lotte Marines rallied past the Yokohama BayStars, winning 6-5 on Saturday.
The BayStars turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead, featuring consecutive run-scoring singles by Takehiro Ishikawa and Tatsuhiko Kinjo in the second, as well as a solo homer by Terrmel Sledge in the third, before a Tomoya Satozaki solo blast closed the gap in the eighth at Yokohama Stadium.
Hawks 2, Tigers 0
At Koshien Stadium, Hiroki Kokubo delivered an RBI single to break a scoreless deadlock in the ninth inning as Fukuoka Softbank edged Hanshin.
Left-hander Toshiya Sugiuchi (3-2) threw eight shutout innings, allowing just two singles. He struck out 11 and walked four batters. Takahiro Mahara closed out the game for his fifth save.
Dragons 2, Lions 1 (11)
At Nagoya Dome, Ryosuke Hirata hit a “sayonara” solo homer in the 11th off Ryoma Nogami (0-1) as Chunichi beat Seibu to halt a three-game slide.
Hirata also delivered a game-tying single in the ninth and finished 3-for-5.
The Lions managed only two hits, including an RBI single by pitcher Kazuyuki Hoashi in the fifth.
Buffaloes 5, Carp 2
At Hiroshima’s Mazda Stadium, Tomotaka Sakaguchi and Takahiro Okada had two-run singles off Kenta Maeda (2-4) to rally Orix in a four-run third inning en route to beating Hiroshima for its fourth win in a row.
The Carp have lost eight straight for the first time in seven seasons.
Swallows 5, Fighters 1
At Tokyo’s Jingu Stadium, Kazuhiro Hatakeyama went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Masanori Ishikawa (4-2) threw one-run ball over seven innings and Yakult snapped Hokkaido Nippon Ham’s five-game winning streak.
The Fighters took a 1-0 lead in the second, but Hatakeyama and Wladimir Balentien had back-to-back RBI singles off fill-in starter Mitsuo Yoshikawa (0-1) and Ishikawa helped his own cause with a bases-loaded walk in the third inning.
Nippon Ham extended its streak of holding opponents scoreless to 52 consecutive innings after the first two frames, matching the Japanese pro baseball mark established by Hanshin in September 1942.
Giants 2, Eagles 0
At Tokyo Dome, Tetsuya Utsumi picked up his CL-leading seventh win with seven shutout innings as Yomiuri downed Rakuten.
Hayato Sakamoto hit a leadoff homer in the first off Takashi Kawai (0-3). Shigeyuki Furuki added an RBI double in the seventh.
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