Kentaro Sekimoto hit a two-run homer Friday to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 9-4 win over the Yomiuri Giants.

News photoSapporo -- Shunsuke Watanabe of the Chiba Lotte Marines pitches against the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters at Sapporo Dome on Friday. The Marines won 7-5.

Sekimoto connected for his fourth homer of the season in the top of the first when the Tigers scored three runs.

The Giants came right back with four runs in the bottom of the first at Tokyo Dome but Makoto Imaoka and Tomoaki Kanemoto hit solo homers in the third inning to give Hanshin the lead for good.

Dragons 9, Carp 5

At Fukuyama Stadium, Motonobu Tanishige hit a three-run homer to power Central League-leading Chunichi over Hiroshima.

Tanishige connected off Yusashi Tsuruta in the top of the fourth to give the Dragons a 5-0 lead. Hirokazu Ibata, Alex Ochoa and Kazuki Inoue added solo homers.

With the victory, Chunichi opened up a 3 1/2-game lead over Yomiuri in the standings.

BayStars 6, Swallows 1

At Hiratsuka Stadium, Tyrone Woods hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs to power Yokohama past Yakult.

PACIFIC LEAGUE

Hawks 14, BlueWave 5

At Yahoo BB Stadium, Nobuhiko Matsunaka hit his league-leading 36th homer as front-running Daiei cruised to a win over Orix.

The win moved Daiei 4 1/2 games ahead of Seibu in the standings.

Buffaloes 7, Lions 2

At Osaka Dome, Hirotoshi Kitagawa drove in a pair of runs in the first inning with a single up the middle to spark Kintetsu to a win over Seibu.

Marines 7, Fighters 5

At Sapporo Dome, Kazuya Fukuura drove in a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to lift Lotte to a come-from-behind win over Nippon Ham.

Hillman agrees

SAPPORO (Kyodo) Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters manager Trey Hillman said Friday he has decided to continue for a third season with the Pacific League club.

Hillman, whose two-year contract expires at the end of the season, said he has reached a basic agreement on a one-year deal after discussing the matter over with his family and hopes to build a strong team rooted in Hokkaido.

Hillman, 41, is expected to sign a new contract later this month.

He said he had already received an offer from a club in the major leagues but opted to stay with the Fighters as his experience in Japan has been an invaluable one.

Kokubo honored

Kyodo News Yomiuri Giants infielder Hiroki Kokubo won the Central League's monthly award for his outstanding batting performance Friday while Daiei Hawks right-hander Nagisa Arakaki won the Pacific League honor for pitchers.

Kokubo, who once received the award when he played for the Daiei Hawks in the Pacific League, hit 11 homers with 25 RBIs in July to win the honor for the first time in the CL.

Arakaki, who won the award for the second time, posted three straight complete-game victories to claim the award for the first time since July 2003.

Yakult Swallows right-hander Ryota Igarashi claimed the CL's monthly pitching honor for the first time after posting seven saves, including five straight, to help Yakult win seven games in a row.

Nippon Ham Fighters infielder Michihiro Ogasawara led the PL with a .403 average and 29 hits in July and became only the third player to receive the accolade for the fifth time.