Nobuhiko Matsunaka homered twice and drove in five runs, leading the Softbank Hawks to a 6-2 win over the Lotte Marines on Friday.
Matsunaka connected for a two-run shot in the first inning and a three-run drive in the fifth, both off Shingo Ono (1-2), in Pacific League action at Yahoo Dome.
Tsuyoshi Wada (2-2) allowed one run and six hits in six innings. Lotte matched Softbank with 10 hits but left nine runners on base.
Eagles 12, Buffaloes 2
At Kleenex Stadium, Tohoku Rakuten sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the third inning against Orix en route to its third straight victory.
Daisuke Kusano hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the third among his three hits. Motohiro Shima also drove in three runs to back Satoshi Nagai (3-0), who threw his first complete game of the season.
Shinya Nakayama (0-2) gave up all 12 runs in eight innings of work.
Lions at Fighters (late)
At Sapporo Dome, Seibu scored a run in the top of the sixth and host Hokkaido Nippon Ham tied the game in the bottom half of the inning.
But the game, which entered the 12th inning, wasn't completed at press time.
Fighters ace Yu Darvish pitched nine innings, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out 11, walked three batters and hit three batters.
Lions hurler Hideaki Wakui worked 8 1/3 innings, yielding one run on six hits. He fanned seven and issued seven walks.
