Tony Batista delivered a game-winning single in the ninth inning, lifting the Pacific-League leading Softbank Hawks to their 13th straight win with an 8-7 victory over the last-place Rakuten Eagles on Monday.
Takeshi Yamasaki of the Rakuten Golden Eagles hits a two-run homer off Softbank starter
Keizaburo Tanoue on Monday at Yahoo Dome. The Hawks won 8-7.
Tatsuya Ide reached on a pinch-hit single and took second on a sacrifice bunt followed by Batista's single to center for a dramatic finish after the Hawks blew a seven-run lead at Yahoo Dome.
Rakuten erased a seven-run deficit in the final two innings, featuring a bases-loaded two-run double by Yoshinori Okihara and Tadaharu Sakai's RBI triple in the ninth to tie it.