Five relievers combined to allow a run over five innings and Nobuhiro Matsuda drove in four runs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks won Game 1 of the Pacific League Climax Series' final stage 8-4 over the Saitama Seibu Lions on Wednesday.

The win evened the stage at MetLife Dome outside Tokyo between the two-time defending PL champion Lions and the Hawks. As league champs, the Lions entered the six-game set with a one-win lead.

The visitors took the lead for good in a two-run eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Yuya Hasegawa singled in the tying run with two outs, and pinch-runner Ukyo Shuto put SoftBank in front by scoring on a passed ball.