Hamming it up …

Nippon Ham moves into 1st place

The Nippon Ham Fighters are hitting with their best shot.

Sho Nakata’s sixth-inning double, his fifth double in four games, proved to be the difference and help Nippon Ham move into first place in the Pacific League with a 5-2 over the host Seibu Lions.

Bobby Keppel (friend of the JBW podcast) scattered five hits and two walks with a K over six innings to improve to 8-2. Hisashi Takeda set down the side in order in the ninth for his Japan-best 21st save, and the Fighters won their fourth straight and moved a season-best 18 games over .500.

Third-year pro Kenshi Sugiya had two hits and a pair of runs driven in -- the first of his career -- in just his fourth game as a pro. And they came right after Takeya Nakamura blasted his Japan-leading 21st homer, a two-run shot deep to left that cut the Lions' deficit to one.

Lions starter Kazuhisa Ishii -- who it was discovered this week is still collecting money from the Los Angeles Dodgers -- only allowed three runs on six hits and a walk with three Ks, but fell under .500 to 3-4.

Keppel dropped his ERA to 2.95, giving the Fighters four starters with ERAs less than 3.00. Nippon Ham slugged 15 doubles in the three-game set.

BUFFALOES 2, HAWKS 1

Michael Hessman broke his bat but muscled a single to left to drive in the tying run and Hisao Arakane gave Orix their second straight walk-off win with a hit to left as the Buffaloes rallied past SoftBank for a sweep at Kyocera Dome Osaka.

Hessman had three hits, his single in the ninth taking starter Alfredo Figaro off the hook after he held SoftBank to a run on four hits over seven innings and giving the Buffaloes back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time since August 2007.

The Hawks have lost three straight for first time this season.

EAGLES 5, MARINES 2

Randy Ruiz and Ryo Hijirisawa drove in two runs apiece, and emergency reliever Tsuyoshi Kawagishi (1-1) worked 2.2 innings for his first victory since last June 11 in a home win over Lotte.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

DRAGONS 6, GIANTS 2

Third-year righty Junki Ito baffled Yomiuri -- tossing perfect ball over the first 4.2 innings and carrying a shutout into the eighth -- to lead Chunichi to a win at Tokyo Dome in the rubber game of the series.

Kazuhiro Wada popped his seventh homer in the first, a three-run shot off Hirokazu Sawamura (4-6) who had walked one and hit one to bring up last year’s CL’s MVP with one out. Ito (1-0) was making his first start since last April 11, when the Giants knocked him out after just two innings in a loss.

TIGERS 10, BAYSTARS 0

Akihito Fujii had three hits and two RBIs, including a two-run single in a six-run first inning as Hanshin handed Yokohama its latest beating with a laugher at Koshien Stadium.

The Tigers chased Yokohama newcomer Luis Gonzalez (1-1) from his second start after two innings, stringing together seven straight hits in the first frame. Hanshin’s Atsushi Nomi (4-6) went eight scoreless to earn the win.

SWALLOWS 7, CARP 3

Norichika Aoki tripled and singled with an RBI -- before leaving with a sore left ankle -- and Hiroyasu Tanaka had a hit and two RBIs with two walks as Yakult kicked aside Hiroshima at The Zoom.

The front-running Swallows became the first team to win 30 games and lead the Dragons by 3.5 games.