Hiroshi Yagi hit a game-tying two-run double and Tom Evans singled home Yagi for the winning run in the sixth inning as the Hanshin Tigers beat the Yomiuri Giants 5-3 Wednesday at Koshien Stadium.
| Central League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Yakult | 45 | 31 | 3 | .592 | - |
| Yomiuri | 47 | 40 | 2 | .540 | 3.5 |
| Hiroshima | 36 | 37 | 5 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Chunichi | 38 | 43 | 2 | .469 | 9.5 |
| Yokohama | 36 | 42 | 2 | .462 | 10.0 |
| Hanshin | 37 | 46 | 0 | .446 | 11.5 |
| Pacific League | |||||
| Won | Lost | Tied | Pct. | GB | |
| Kintetsu | 48 | 38 | 2 | .558 | - |
| Daiei | 47 | 40 | 1 | .540 | 1.5 |
| Seibu | 46 | 41 | 0 | .529 | 2.5 |
| Orix | 42 | 40 | 4 | .512 | 4.0 |
| Lotte | 42 | 42 | 2 | .500 | 5.0 |
| Nippon Ham | 31 | 55 | 3 | .360 | 17.0 |
The Tigers extended their season-best winning streak to six games. It's their longest streak since April 2000.
Hideki Matsui singled home a run in the first inning and the Giants made it 3-0 when Shinnosuke Abe and Masumi Kuwata hit back-to-back RBI singles in the second inning.
In the fifth, however, Evans nailed a solo home run off Kuwata (0-3), who pitched for the first time in two months. He had been sent to the farm team because of early season woes. The Tigers jumped on Kuwata for three runs on four hits in the sixth inning, which sent him to the showers.
Akihiro Yano drove in an insurance run in the eighth.
Carp 2, Swallows 1
Pinch hitter Takahiro Arai ripped a solo homer off Ryu Kawabata to break a 1-1 tie in the top of the ninth inning, lifting Hiroshima over Yakult at Jingu Stadium.
Hiroshima took a 1-0 lead when Tomoaki Kanemoto sacrificed home a run in the first inning. But it allowed the Swallows to even the score on catcher Terunobu Seto's fielding error in the seventh.
Shigeo Tamaki (4-2) retired the last six batters to earn the win.
BayStars 5, Dragons 1
Yokohama third baseman Hitoshi Taneda went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs as Yokohama defeated Chunichi at the Nagoya Dome.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Lions 3, Fighters 2 (10)
Kazuo Matsui slugged a solo home run off Carlos Mirabal that ended a 2-2 deadlock in the top of the 10th inning, lifting Seibu over Nippon Ham at the Tokyo Dome. Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-10) gave up six hits and struck out eight over the distance to pocket the win.
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