The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters still aren't getting much run support, but as long as they keep winning they'll take what they can get.

News photoChunichi Dragons starter Masahiro Yamamoto delivers a pitch against the Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium on Tuesday. The Swallows won 3-2. KYODO PHOTO

Masaru Takeda pitched seven shutout innings to protect a one-run lead and Hichori Morimoto's third homer of the season added an insurance run late as the Fighters defeated the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 2-0 on Tuesday night at Tokyo Dome.

"That was a big win for us," Fighters manager Trey Hillman said. "We were able to beat a real good team. They've played us hard since the All-Star break. We were able to beat a real good pitcher and we got a great performance out of Masaru."

Takeda, who played for Eagles manager Katsuya Nomura in the industrial league in 2005, won for the first time since beating the Orix Buffaloes on Aug. 21. He had lost his last two decisions.

"I was shaky in the last outing (against Rakuten) so I wanted revenge by any means," Takeda said, referring to the six runs he gave up in an 11-1 loss on Aug. 27.

Makoto Kaneko broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth to put the Fighters ahead 1-0. Morimoto homered in the seventh to double the lead.

"It gave us some breathing room," Hillman said of the home run. "Not much but every little bit helps."

Takeda (9-4) didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning and struck out one. He bounced back quickly from a first inning in which he hit two of the first four batters.

"I've not been able to contribute to the team lately, I've been struggling," Takeda said. "But from today's game on I think I'll be able to pitch well. Shinji (catcher Shinji Takahashi) helped me a lot by giving me a lot of detailed advice throughout the game."

Micheal Nakamura pitched the ninth to pick up his 33rd save of the season.

Kaneko finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and was one of only two Fighters to finish with a multi-hit game. Atsunori Inaba finished 2-for-4.

Eagles starter Hisashi Iwakuma (4-4) lost his second straight decision despite allowing only two runs and striking out six over seven innings.

Cabrera lifts Lions

OSAKA (Kyodo) Alex Cabrera turned the game around with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning as the Seibu Lions overcame a four-run deficit to edge the Orix Buffaloes 6-5 on Tuesday night at Kyocera Dome.

Hawks 3, Marines 2

At Chiba Marine Stadium, Hidenori Tanoue hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning as Softbank held off Lotte for its third straight win.

Munenori Kawasaki and Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled and advanced on a Hiroki Kokubo bunt before Naoyuki Omura was intentionally walked to set up Tanoue's sacrifice fly at Chiba Marine Stadium.

Softbank scored on a wild pitch by Hiroyuki Kobayashi in the second and a Matsunaka sacrifice fly in the fifth. Naotaka Takehara and Koichi Hori homered as Lotte tied the game in the bottom of each inning.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Tigers 5, Giants 4

At Koshien Stadium, Ken Kadokura threw a wild pitch that pushed over the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, lifting Hanshin past archrival Yomiuri for the second night in a row.

Swallows 3, Dragons 2

At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Shugo Fujii (7-9) pitched two-run ball over six effective innings as Yakult denied Chunichi a third straight win.

Carp 6, BayStars 4

At Yokohama Stadium, Alex Ochoa drove in three runs on 2-for-4 hitting in support of rookie Takahiro Aoki, who limited the damage to one run over five effective innings in Hiroshima's win over Yokohama.