Kris Johnson took over the Central League lead in wins, allowing two runs in six innings before the Hiroshima Carp battered the Yokohama BayStars bullpen in an 8-2 win on Tuesday night.

The Carp, who are chasing their first CL pennant since 1991, remain 11 games ahead of the second-place Yomiuri Giants and clinched a berth in the postseason.

Before 31,689 at Mazda Stadium and wearing their red-chili makkageki uniforms, the Carp opened the scoring in the second on a two-run Ryuhei Matsuyama homer off Shoichi Ino (6-10). Yoshihiro Maru tripled in another run in the fifth on a two-out drive that was nearly caught in dead center.