Pacific League

Hawks 3, Lions 2

At MetLife Dome, SoftBank’s Kodai Senga (13-7) followed his no-hitter from last Friday with seven scoreless innings before surrendering a run in the eighth against Seibu. He worked eight innings and struck out nine as the Hawks regained the top spot in the PL.

Lions starter Ken Togame allowed eight runners but no runs through three innings and left with the game scoreless after seven.

Yurisbel Gracial homered to open the eighth against reliever Katsunori Hirai (5-3) who allowed three hits and two runs in one-third of an inning.

Game highlights are HERE.

Fighters 4, Eagles 2

At Tokyo Dome, Nippon Ham manager Hideki Kuriyama, who said he abandoned his use of an opener because it was wearing out his middle relievers, used six relievers to hold off Rakuten after short starter Ryuji Kitaura allowed one run over three innings.

Taishi Ota hit his 19th home run, a two-run, first-inning shot off Manabu Mima (7-5), who allowed four runs over three innings.

The win became a celebration of retiring Fighters infielder Kensuke Tanaka, who was playing his final game at Tokyo Dome, the Fighters home park until they moved to Sapporo in 2004. He made his first-team debut at the same park on Sept. 12, 2000.

Game highlights are HERE.

Central League

Giants 8, BayStars 5

At Yokohama Stadium, Yoshihiro Maru homered twice and drove in five runs to power CL-leading Yomiuri over DeNA. Neftali Soto homered in his first at-bat, giving him 40-plus for his first two seasons in Japan.

The BayStars welcomed back third baseman Toshiro Miyazaki, who suffered a broken finger on

Carp 3, Dragons 2

At Mazda Stadium, Shota Dobayashi singled in the winning run in the ninth to beat Chunichi after Hisayoshi Chono homered for Hiroshima and Yusuke Nomura allowed two runs over six innings.

Swallows 12, Tigers 2

At Koshien Stadium, Taishi Hirooka reached base five times and scored three runs, while Hiroki Yamada (5-4) allowed two runs, one earned, over 6-2/3 innings. Yakult hammered Hanshin starter Haruto Takahashi () for eight runs, five earned, over four innings.

Wladimir capped a three-run first with a two-run home run, his 32nd, while Tigers rookie Koji Chikamoto had three hits, raising his first-year total to 145, eight shy of the CL rookie record of Hall of Famer Shigeo Nagashima.

Game highlights are HERE.