Akira Nakamura opened the scoring with a two-run home run, and Alfredo Despaigne homered twice as the Pacific League-leading Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks rocked the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Hawks starting pitcher Ariel Miranda (7-4) allowed the first two Eagles to reach but stranded three runners in a scoreless first inning before the hosts put three on the board against Eagles right-hander Takahiro Norimoto (3-5).

Taisei Makihara singled to open the bottom of the first at Yafuoku Dome, and Nakamura punished a high mistake from Norimoto and launched it just over the dome's low inner fence and into the home run terrace in right field for his third homer of the season.