Kenichi Nakata threw one-run ball and struck out eight over seven innings to lead the front-running Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in a 9-2 rout of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Saturday.
With their sixth consecutive victory, the Hawks saw their magic number to clinch the pennant drop to four. Nakata (8-6) scattered seven hits and walked none in a 108-pitch outing.
Kenji Akashi got the ball rolling with a two-run homer in the third before Rakuten came within one run on a Ginji Akaminai RBI single in the fourth.