Julio Zuleta homered and Tsuyoshi Wada took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Wednesday, lifting the front-running Softbank Hawks to a 1-0 shutout of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

Zuleta connected off Yusaku Iriki (6-6) in the second for what proved to be the game winner with his 38th homer of the season as the Hawks moved a season-high 43 games over .500 and kept their five-game lead over the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Pacific League standings.

Wada (11-7) held Nippon Ham hitless until he allowed a seventh-inning leadoff single to Michihiro Ogasawara at Yahoo Dome. The southpaw left after 7 2/3 innings, giving up three hits while striking out 11 and walking four in winning his first decision since Aug. 3.

The Hawks bullpen held on, with Takahiro Mahara picking up his 19th save after getting the final two outs.