CHIBA – Atsunori Inaba hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Chiba Lotte Marines 5-3 on Tuesday to take the Pacific League lead for the first time since May 10.
Inaba’s ninth home run of the season, off Seth Greisinger (6-5), gave Nippon Ham a 4-1 lead at QVC Marine Field. The veteran first baseman also hit a sacrifice fly and finished the night with four RBIs.
Lotte pulled within 5-3 in the seventh when Takashi Ogino doubled in two runs, but the Nippon Ham bullpen ended the home team’s rally.
Masaru Takeda (8-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings for the win, while Hisashi Takeda picked up his 15th save.
Greisinger was charged with five runs over 6⅔ innings.
Buffaloes 7, Lions 1
At Saitama’s Seibu Dome, Aarom Baldiris went 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs, leading Orix to a rout of Seibu.
Lee Dae Ho homered for the third straight game, taking his PL-leading home run total to 18 with a solo shot off Kazuhisa Ishii (7-4). Hiroshi Kisanuki (4-6) pitched a complete game.
Hawks at Eagles — ppd.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Dragons 2, Giants 0
At Tokyo Dome, Yudai Ono (2-0) and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as Chunichi ended Yomiuri’s eight-game unbeaten run.
Masahiko Morino broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a two-run double off Hirokazu Sawamura (8-8).
Tigers 7, Swallows 2
At Nishinomiya’s Koshien Stadium, Hanshin pounded out four extra-base hits to score four runs in the fifth inning en route to a win over Tokyo Yakult.
Veteran Tomoaki Kanemoto hit an RBI triple to give Hanshin the lead for good at 3-2 in the fifth. Hanshin finished with 14 hits.
BayStars 4, Carp 4 (10)
At Hiratsuka Stadium, Tomohiro Abe hit his first career home run with a solo drive that tied the game at 4-4 in the fifth as Hiroshima played to a 10-inning tie with Yokohama.
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