Yuichi Yanagisawa broke a tie with a two-run go-ahead double in the third inning Wednesday and the front-running Chunichi Dragons held off the Yomiuri Giants for a 5-3 victory in the Central League.
Kenji Jojima of Daiei is tagged out at home by Orix BlueWave catcher Daisuke Maeda at Fukuoka Dome, where the Hawks won 6-0.
Hirokazu Ibata hit an RBI single to right to cap a three-run fifth that made it 4-1 as the Dragons kept the lead for good in front of 39,000 fans at Nagoya Dome.
Carp 8, Swallows 1
At Jingu Stadium, Tomonori Maeda, Akihiro Higashide, Andy Sheets and Koichi Ogata each homered to drive in six runs for Hiroshima in an 11-hit attack.
Tigers 7, BayStars 4
At Yokohama Stadium, Tomoaki Kanemoto's three-run homer off Takashi Saito highlighted a five-run seventh as Hanshin overcame a two-run deficit to beat the BayStars.
PACIFIC LEAGUE
Hawks 6, BlueWave 0
At Fukuoka Dome, Nobuhiko Matsunaka homered for the fifth straight game with a three-run shot and drove in four runs, leading first-place Daiei to a blanking of lowly Orix.
Buffaloes 8, Marines 4
At Osaka Dome, Hirotoshi Kitagawa hit a go-ahead solo homer in the sixth inning and Masahiro Abe capped a three-run eighth with a two-run double en route to Kintetsu's victory over Lotte.
Lions 10, Fighters 5
At Sapporo Dome, Masahide Kaizuka delivered a one-out bases-clearing double as Seibu rallied for eighth runs in the eighth inning for a come-from-behind victory over Nippon Ham.
Alex Cabrera and Hiroyuki Nakajima both hit two-run homers in the big inning to put the game out of reach.