Shuichi Murata lined a single for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Saturday as the Yokohama BayStars overcame six scoreless innings to beat the front-running Chunichi Dragons 8-4 in the Central League.
Seibu Lions left fielder Kazuhiro Wada dives in front of shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima to catch a fly ball by Kenshi Kawaguchi of Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in the fourth inning Saturday at Fullcast Stadium. The Lions won 4-1.
After Takahiro Saeki reached on a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a Hitoshi Taneda single, he came around to score the tie-breaking run on Murata's clutch hit off Shinya Okamoto (2-1) that put the BayStars up 5-4 at Yokohama Stadium.
Ryoji Aikawa, Takuro Ishii and Seiichi Uchikawa, who singled in the game-tying run in the four-run seventh, followed with RBI hits in the four-run eighth to extend the lead for good.