Ninth-year infielder Hiroyuki Takagi hit his career first grand slam in the second inning as the Seibu Lions beat the Kintetsu Buffaloes 7-5 in the opener of a three-game series in the Pacific League on Monday.
With their record at 56-45-1 and after three straight wins, the Lions replaced the Buffaloes as the second-place team in the PL standings, 5 1/2 games behind the front-running Daiei Hawks while the Buffaloes are a further game behind.
Matsuzaka (13-4) was charged with four runs -- three earned -- and eight hits over seven innings while fanning seven to improve his strikeout total to 157 and ERA to 2.15, both best in the league, after 20 games. Kiyoshi Toyoda picked up his 28th save of the season.
Fighters 8, BlueWave 2
At Tokyo Dome, Satoru Kanemura (7-5) pitched eight effective innings with six strikeouts and Yoshinori Tateyama closed out the ninth on seven pitches as Nippon Ham beat Orix.
Omi advances
NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Pref. (Kyodo) Teruya Onishi hit a three-run homer off Shota Hirogaki in the eighth inning as Omi of Shiga Prefcture, quarterfinalists in the spring invitational, defeated Mie's Ujiyamada Shogyo 9-5 in the first round of the national high school baseball tournament on Monday.
Earlier at Koshien Stadium, Daisuke Hattori limited the damage to a sole run and eight hits over the distance as Heian of Kyoto breezed past Nichidai Daisan of Nishi Tokyo 8-1.
In the third game, Masayoshi Kato and Takayuki Yokota had three RBIs apiece to lead a 16-hit attack as Tohoku of Miyagi Prefecture triumphed 11-6 over first-time participants Chikuyo Gakuen of Fukuoka Prefecture.
In the last game of the day, pitcher Hiroki Isobe struck out eight and allowed just four hits as Joso Gakuin of Ibaraki beat Oita's Yanagigaura 2-1.