Tsuyoshi Wada threw five solid innings, backed by home runs from Kensuke Kondo and rookie Tomoya Inoue, as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks soared to a 10-1 win Monday over the Chiba Lotte Marines with potentially big implications for the Pacific League playoff race.
Locked in a three-way battle for the two remaining PL playoff spots, the Hawks and Marines both came in trailing the already-crowned league champion Orix Buffaloes by 17 games, with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles a further game back in fourth.
The one-sided result at Zozo Marine Stadium leaves Lotte a game behind the second-place Hawks, while also trailing the Eagles on win percentage following their 9-1 drubbing of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.