Pinch hitter Shuhei Fukuda broke a 2-2 tie with a sixth-inning grand slam to lift the interleague-leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to an 8-3 come-from-behind victory over the Yomiuri Giants on Friday.
Hawks starter Kodai Senga (7-2) allowed two runs as he scattered six hits and four walks over six innings, while striking out 11. The win lifted SoftBank a full game ahead of the Giants in the interleague standings with two games left to play between the clubs at Tokyo Dome.
Trailing by two in the sixth inning, Seiji Uebayashi homered to open the inning against Cristopher Mercedes (5-4). The Giants starter left the game after allowing a pair of two-out singles, but the bullpen failed to bail him out.