Brian Buchanan went 4-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs Saturday as the Softbank Hawks beat the Seibu Lions 9-5 to extend their winning streak to five games and pull within one game of the first-place Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
Rakuten's Takeshi Yamasaki hits a home run in the fourth inning of the Eagles' game against Orix on
Saturday at Skymark Stadium. Rakuten won 4-3.
KYODO PHOTOSoftbank jumped out to a 4-0 lead on an RBI double by Nobuhiko Matsunaka and a two-run homer by Hiroki Kokubo in the first inning and Buchanan's solo home run off Kazuyuki Hoashi (1-3) in the second at Yahoo Dome.
Buchanan added an RBI double in a four-run third and capped Softbank's scoring with another solo shot in the fifth.