Tomohiro Kuroki tossed six-hit ball for 8 1/3 innings and picked up his eighth win as the Chiba Lotte Marines ended Daiei's nine-game winning streak by beating the Hawks 3-1 at the Fukuoka Dome on Wednesday.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yomiuri | 72 | 50 | 0 | .590 | - |
| Chunichi | 60 | 57 | 0 | .513 | 9.5 |
| Yokohama | 59 | 58 | 1 | .504 | 10.5 |
| Yakult | 54 | 57 | 1 | .486 | 12.5 |
| Hiroshima | 54 | 64 | 1 | .458 | 16.0 |
| Hanshin | 53 | 66 | 1 | .445 | 17.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Daiei | 66 | 52 | 2 | .559 | - |
| Seibu | 61 | 54 | 5 | .530 | 3.5 |
| Nippon Ham | 61 | 58 | 1 | .513 | 5.5 |
| Lotte | 54 | 59 | 5 | .478 | 9.5 |
| Orix | 53 | 61 | 3 | .465 | 11.0 |
| Kintetsu | 54 | 65 | 2 | .454 | 12.5 |
Kuroki, who will be participating in the Sydney Olympics, allowed one run on six hits and walked none.
Koichi Hori drilled two solo homers -- both off Daiei starter Kenichi Wakatabe (9-10), who allowed three runs on nine hits over 7 2/3 innings.
Reliever Masahide Kobayashi pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning and got the save.
Lions 7, Fighters 5
Tetsuya Kakiuchi belted a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning as Seibu defeated Nippon Ham at the Tokyo Dome.
Kakiuchi's blast off Fighters reliever Akio Shimizu (5-9) narrowed Daiei's lead to 3 1/2 games ahead of the second-placed Lions.
Shinji Mori, who worked the last two innings in relief, got the win.
Buffaloes 8, BlueWave 7
Takashi Muto hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the seventh inning and lifted Kintetsu over Orix at the Osaka Dome. PL home-run leader Norihiro Nakamura, another member of the Japanese Olympic squad, slugged his 38th homer.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Tigers 4, Giants 1
Jason Hardtke slammed a three-run homer and Greg Hansell pitched six scoreless innings as cellar-dwelling Hanshin toppled Central League-leader Yomiuri at Koshien Stadium.
Despite the loss, the Giants lowered their "magic number" to seven as the second-placed Chunichi Dragons fell to the Hiroshima Carp.
Hansell held the Giants to three hits and struck out seven for his seventh win.
Hardtke homered in the sixth off Yomiuri starter Darrell May (11-7), who allowed three runs on six hits.
Carp 8, Dragons 6
Luis Lopez sacrificed home the go-ahead run in the seventh as Hiroshima edged Chunichi at the Nagoya Dome.
Swallows 7, BayStars 0 (7)
Tomohito Ito shut out Yokohama over seven innings, allowing five hits for the win in a game that was called after the bottom of the seventh due to heavy rainfall at Yokohama Stadium.
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