Mac Suzuki carried a five hitter over eight sharp innings for his first win in nearly a month as the Orix BlueWave downed the Daiei Hawks 4-2 in the Pacific League on Wednesday.
Kazuhiko Shiotani and Takeshi Hidaka each hit solo homers as Orix took a 3-1 lead through the fourth and Suzuki (2-4), who struck out six and walked three, limited the damage to a solo shot to Tadahito Iguchi at Fukuoka Dome. The front-running Hawks lost their second straight to the last-place BlueWave.
Marines 5, Buffaloes 0
At Chiba Marine Stadium, Rick Short and Masaumi Shimizu hit RBI bases-loaded singles to highlight a four-run fourth inning as Lotte Marines halted a five-game overall losing streak to Kintetsu.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi (3-6), in his first start since last April, threw a good mix of sliders and fastballs, holding the Buffaloes to three hits over six innings for his career first win in the starting role. Jose Fernandez hit a solo blast to cap the scoring in the eighth and Kintetsu snapped three-game winning streak.
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Dragons 2, BayStars 1
At Nagoya Dome, Motonobu Tanishige drove in the game-winning run on a bases-loaded single off Daisuke Miura (3-4) in the eighth inning and Shinya Okamoto combined on a two-hitter with four relievers as Chunichi edged Yokohama.
Okamoto tossed four hitless innings allowing one unearned run and Eiji Ochiai (6-1), the fourth pitcher for Chunichi, pitched a perfect eighth for the win.
Late games:
Carp 3, Tigers 2 (10)
Swallows 6, Giants 5 (12)
Kato placed on DL
Lotte Marines lefty Kosuke Kato was removed from the active roster on Wednesday after he was diagnosed with an inflamed left wrist, officials of the Pacific League club said.