A swing in the tide …

Nakamura’s blast helps carry Lions KO Fighters

It was billed as showdown between the top teams in the Pacific League. Instead, the series at Sapporo Dome has turned into a showcase for the league’s hottest team.

Takeya “Okawari-kun” Nakamura wedged back into a tie for the PL lead in homers with a clutch two-run shot in the seventh inning that turned a tie score into a two-run lead as the Seibu Lions took their second straight, topping the Nippon Ham Fighters 3-1 on Wednesday.

It was his 21st shot, and Yusei Kikuchi (3-1) held Nippon Ham to three hits, while walking two, hitting one and fanning five over eight innings to win for the third time in four decisions.

The third-year lefty helped the Lions, who won for the 14th time in August, open a two-game lead on the second-place Fighters, who lost for the 12th time this month. HIdeaki Wakui notched his 18th save of the season with a scoreless ninth.

What’s worse the Fighters lost All-Star second baseman Kensuke Tanaka, who suffered a left-arm injury while covering first base in the seventh inning and had to leave the game. He was taken to a hospital for further examination.

MARINES 3, EAGLES 2

Kazuya Fukuura smacked a game-tying single the opposite way to left with one out, and Yoshifumi Okada’s clutch RBI single to right sealed it as Lotte rallied in the ninth for a walk-off win over Rakuten at The Q.

It was the first sayonara hit for Okada and the third walk-off win this season for Lotte, which got three hits from Josh Whitesell.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

DRAGONS 4, GIANTS 2

Tony Blanco, the hero the night before, stayed hot with two home runs and three RBIs to power Chunichi to a second consecutive win over Yomiuri on the Tohoku tour.

It was the first win for the Dragons at Morioka since 1997, and it kept the Giants’ magic number at 26.

SWALLOWS 5, CARP 1

Tsuyoshi Ueda drove in two with a single and Hiroyasu Tanaka followed with an RBI double in the fourth to propel Yakult past Hiroshima at Jingu Stadium.

Yuhei Nakamura had two hits and a scoring fly ball as the Swallows slowed the Carp, pulling to within 2.5 games of the third-place Fish.

TIGERS 2, BAYSTARS 1

Ryota Arai’s go-ahead solo homer in the sixth turned out to be enough as Hanshin edged host Yokohama in the “Avoid the Cellar” series at Yokohama Stadium

Minoru Iwata (8-11) tossed seven innings of one-run ball as the Tigers stretched their lead to five games over the BayStars, who go head-to-head with Hanshin four more times this season.

*The Buffaloes and the Hawks were rained out at Kitakyushu.