The Yokohama BayStars scored the tie-breaking run on lefty reliever Takahiro Matsunaga's wild pitch in the eighth inning and staved off the Chiba Lotte Marines in a 4-1 win on Saturday afternoon.
Takehiro Ishikawa was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and after a failed bunt, Tony Blanco went up the middle with his second line single of the game to put runners at the corners. With two outs and Hiroyuki Shirasaki at bat, Matsunaga (2-2) threw a slider into the dirt to bring home the go-ahead run for a 2-1 lead.
In the ninth, rookie Tomo Otosaka added a pinch-hit solo home run to right field in his first career at-bat. Shigeo Yanagida's two-out RBI single capped the scoring.