Kenta Imamiya made the most of a pair of bunt situations to help the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks past the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes 5-2 on Friday.
With the Hawks leading 2-1 in the fifth, the Hawks light-hitting shortstop came up with no outs and a runner on first, pulled back a fake bunt and swung away and drove a fat first-pitch fastball from All-Star right-hander Yuki Nishi into the gap in right-center to make it a 3-1 game.
The win lifted the second-place Hawks to within a half-game of first place.