Katsuhiko Yamada hit a tie-breaking infield single with two outs and the bases loaded to ignite a five-run outburst in the fourth inning as the Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks 7-5 at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
Hiroshi Narahara followed with a bases-clearing double off Toshiya Sugiuchi (1-1) as Nippon Ham batted around in the fourth, giving Chris Seelbach (1-1) the win for limiting the damage to two runs and six hits in seven-plus innings in the team's first home-game victory this season.
Lions 10, Buffaloes 6
At Seibu Dome, Scott McClain hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to provide Fumiya Nishiguchi (2-0) with more than enough run support as the Lions beat Kintetsu.
Marines 4, BlueWave 3
At Yahoo BB Stadium, Takashi Tachikawa drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a single to left field as Chiba Lotte beat Orix.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Swallows 6, Tigers 5
At Osaka Dome, Alex Ramirez tied the game in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly and drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the ninth as Yakult edged Hanshin.
Giants 9, Carp 4
At Hiroshima Stadium, Yomiuri sent 10 batters to the plate in a go-ahead four-run eighth as the Giants beat the Carp for their fourth straight win.
BayStars 7, Dragons 3
Takahiro Saeki went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and starter Chris Holt held Chunichi to one run over seven solid innings while fanning seven as Yokohama snapped its losing skid at six with a win at Hamamatsu municipal stadium.
Matsuzaka to skip start
TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. (Kyodo) Seibu Lions right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka has decided to skip his scheduled start for next week after talking over his leg injury with manager Haruki Ihara, baseball officials said Sunday.