CHIBA — Injuries have kept Tohoku Rakuten pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma from making much of an impact on the mound this season. After missing most of the year, and a chance to play in the All-Star game on his home field, Iwakuma was back on the mound Tuesday and made a big impact against the Chiba Lotte Marines.

News photoHanshin Tigers catcher Akihiro Yano hits a game-winning single to break a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning against the Yakult Swallows on Tuesday at Koshien Stadium. The Tigers won 4-3. KYODO PHOTO

The Eagles hurler pitched six solid innings and was backed by Rick Short's three-RBI day as Rakuten beat Lotte 11-7 at Chiba Marine Stadium.

The Eagles had to survive a late rally to get out of the Pacific League cellar as five relievers nearly squandered the 8-3 lead Iwakuma left them with in the sixth inning.

Marines catcher Tomoya Satozaki started the rally with a two-run single in the seventh to trim the lead to 8-5.

Short padded the Rakuten advantage in the eighth with a two-run double before the Eagles added another run on a fielding error.

Lotte made one last push behind Saburo Omura's two-run homer in the ninth before Shinichiro Koyama closed out the game for Rakuten.

"It was important to score every run tonight, because the Chiba lineup is very good," Short said. "They never quit, they're a good team, they're a veteran team and they keep coming at you. So it's important to keep scoring."

Iwakuma (2-2) gave up three runs on six hits and struck out eight to pick up his first win since May 4. He threw five scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the sixth.

"He has good stuff, he's a good pitcher," Marines manager Bobby Valentine said.

"We put some runners on base and got him out of there in the sixth. We battled, we battled all game. Against a pitcher like that, I thought we did a good job."

Lotte starter Masato Yoshii (1-8) took the loss after being charged with six runs on 10 hits over three innings.

"He left a lot of balls up," Valentine said of Yoshii. "But they got an awful lot of lucky hits off him."

With rib, leg and foot injuries keeping him off the field for much of the year, Iwakuma was making just his second start since May 18. The right-hander has appeared in seven games season after injuries limited him to just six in 2006.

"We didn't have (Iwakuma) for a while and now he's back," Short said.

"He's a veteran guy and it always helps to have pitching. Pitching is so important in this game."

He was backed by a strong night by the Rakuten hitters. Eight of the Eagles' nine batters recorded a hit and five had multi-hit performances. Teppei Tsuchiya led the way for the Eagles with a four-hit night.

Hawks' streak alive

FUKUOKA (Kyodo) Brian Buchanan keyed a four-run first inning with a bases-loaded double and the Softbank Hawks held on to beat the Orix Buffaloes 5-3 on Tuesday and extend their winning streak to seven games.

Lions 2, Fighters 0

At Goodwill Dome, rookie right-hander Takayuki Kishi threw a four-hitter for his second complete-game shutout as Seibu blanked Hokkaido Nippon Ham.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

BayStars 5, Giants 1

At Nagano Olympic Stadium, veteran left-hander Kimiyasu Kudo pitched one-run ball over 5 2/3 effective innings against his former team and Yokohama pulled off a victory over Central-League leading Yomiuri.

Kudo (4-5) scattered eighth hits, including an RBI triple to Takuya Kimura in the second for his only miscue. He struck out two and walked none.

Five Yokohama relievers held Yomiuri hitless in the final 3 1/3 innings.

Shuichi Murata had a run-scoring single in the first followed by Takahiro Saeki's tiebreaking two-run double that gave the BayStars a 3-1 lead. Toshihisa Nishi and Ryuji Aikawa added a sacrifice fly and RBI single in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

Dragons 4, Carp 3 (10)

At Hiroshima Stadium, pinch hitter Ryota Arai broke a 3-3 tie with an RBI single in the top of the 10th inning and Chunichi held on to beat Hiroshima to win its third straight en route to returning to first place in the standings.

Tyrone Woods hit a leadoff blast in the second, his 27th homer of the season.

Tigers 4, Swallows 3

At Koshien Stadium, Akihiro Yano drove in the tiebreaking run on a clutch single in the sixth inning as Hanshin scraped by to send Tokyo Yakult to its third straight loss.