Takumi Kuriyama hit a grand slam and helped the Seibu Lions widen their lead in the Pacific League with an 8-1 win against the second-place Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on Monday.
With the victory, the Lions saw gained a magic number of 11 toward clinching the PL pennant for the first time in 10 years.
In his fifth start for the Hawks, lefty Ariel Miranda (3-1) got into a one-out, bases-loaded jam on a hit and two walks in the first inning.