Yu Darvish got his injury scare out of the way and threw eight dominant innings as the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters beat the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 5-1 to extend their season-high winning streak to nine games.
Darvish (13-3) held Softbank to five hits, including a sixth-inning solo homer by Nobuhiko Matsunaka, en route to a Japanese baseball-leading 13th win.
The right-hander made his first start after being struck in the pitching shoulder by a line drive in Game 1 of the All-Star series on July 24.
Lions 4, Buffaloes 2
At Kobe's Skymark Stadium, Taketoshi Goto broke a 2-2 tie with a solo homer in the seventh inning off Shogo Yamamoto (6-3), leading Saitama Seibu to a victory over Orix.
Marines 3, Eagles 1
CENTRAL LEAGUE
Swallows 3, Dragons 2
At Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, Shohei Tateyama pitched two-run ball over eight sharp innings, leading Yakult to a win over Chunichi.
Tateyama (12-2) became the first 12-game winner in the Central League after allowing six hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
Jamie D'Antona had an RBI single in the first inning and was 3-for-4 on the night.
Tony Blanco was hit by a pitch in his left elbow in the fourth and was replaced on defense in the bottom half of the inning. The Dragons slugger was then taken to a hospital.
Tigers 3, Giants 2
At Koshien Stadium, Craig Brazell hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning, lifting Hanshin over Yomiuri for its fourth win in a row.
Atsushi Nomi (5-7) limited the damage to one run, striking out eight with no walks over seven innings.
Tetsuya Utsumi (4-7) took the loss.
Hayato Sakamoto homered to give Yomiuri a 1-0 lead with one out in the sixth.
Alex Ramirez pulled the Giants within one with a leadoff shot off closer Kyuji Fujikawa in the ninth.
BayStars 7, Carp 6
