Hiroyuki Kobayashi pitched eight-plus strong innings and Toshiaki Imae drove in three runs as the Chiba Lotte Marines beat Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Seibu Lions 9-1 for their fifth straight victory Wednesday.
Lotte broke a scoreless tie when Imae blooped an RBI single to right in the fourth inning and made it 3-0 in the fifth on a run-scoring triple by Tsuyoshi Nishioka and an RBI grounder from Kazuya Fukuura at Invoice Seibu Dome.
Imae, who stretched his hitting streak to a club record 22 games, added a two-run double to cap a four-run seventh that also featured a solo homer by Val Pascucci and a Nishioka RBI double.
Kobayashi (11-5) allowed four hits and walked one and left after giving up a solo homer to Yoshihito Ishii in the ninth. Matsuzaka (9-12) was rocked for six runs on eight hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings while striking out six.