Shingo Ono pitched five scoreless innings and Tsuyoshi Nishioka hit a solo homer as the Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 3-1 in a preseason game on Friday.
Ono gave up two hits, walked one and fanned two batters, and three relievers combined to hold the Softbank bats to one run the rest of the way at Chiba Marine Stadium.
Nishioka went deep to the stands in left in the fourth and was 2-for-2 with a stolen base. Hawks left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada yielded two hits, including the blast to Nishioka, and three walks in four innings.
At Osaka's Kyocera Dome, the Orix Buffaloes erupted in a six-run eighth inning to come from behind to down the Yomiuri Giants 6-3.
After falling behind 3-0 through six innings, the Orix bats came alive, featuring a two-run, game-tying double by Mitsutaka Goto in the big frame.
Buffaloes starter Kazuki Kondo allowed two runs on three hits in five effective innings. Masafumi Tagano pitched six scoreless frames with six strikeouts for Yomiuri.
Lee Seung Yeop hit a two-run drive for his second homer of the spring. Alex Cabrera, Tuffy Rhodes and Jose Fernandez were held hitless for Orix.