Seibu Lions left-hander Yusei Kikuchi won his 11th straight start against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, who fell 10-3 in a crucial loss on Tuesday.
The Eagles defeat left them three games back of the second-place Lions in the race for home-field advantage in the Pacific League Climax Series first stage, a best-of-three series starting on Oct. 14.
Kikuchi (16-6) pitched out of some tough spots to allow three runs (one earned), on six hits in eight innings. He issued five walks, while striking out nine. He improved to 17-4 in his career against the Eagles and hasn't lost to them since May 12, 2016.