Daisuke Kusano went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Takeshi Yamasaki hit his Pacific League-leading 43rd home run, leading the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles to an 8-2 rout of the Softbank Hawks on Sunday.
Chiba Lotte Marines starter Shunsuke Watanabe delivers a pitch against the Nippon Ham Fighters on Sunday at Chiba Marine Stadium. Watanabe went the distance for his ninth win in the Marines' 2-1 victory.
KYODO PHOTOKusano broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the seventh inning and added an RBI single in the ninth. Yamasaki capped the scoring with a two-run shot, breaking a tie in the home run race with the Orix Buffaloes' Tuffy Rhodes, who is nursing a groin injury in the United States.
Yasuhiro Ichiba (6-2) held Softbank to two runs and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. Nagisa Arakaki (7-9) was charged with five runs in seven innings.