Starter Bryan Rodriguez battled through five innings before the bullpen took care of the rest as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters held on for a 5-4 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Pacific League on Wednesday night.
Dominican right-hander Rodriguez improved to 3-2 after striking out three, walking three and surrendering three earned runs on nine hits in his eighth game for the PL Climax Series-bound Fighters.
Relievers Takayuki Kato, Kazutomo Iguchi and Hiroshi Urano contributed an inning apiece before closer Naoya Ishikawa finished the job with a three-up, three-down ninth inning at Sapporo Dome.