The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles moved into a tie for the Pacific League lead on Thursday following an 8-4 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines, who started the day with a one-game advantage.

Cleanup hitter Andruw Jones hit two-run home runs in consecutive at-bats to power the Eagles, whose lone top-three finish was second place in 2009. Ginji Akaminai, batting in front of Jones, went 4-for-4 with a double, a triple an RBI and three runs scored.

Lotte right-hander Takuya Furuta (1-1) who came within one out of a no-hitter in his previous start, surrendered a two-out double in the first to Akaminai and Jones followed with his 12th homer of the year.