A positive step …

Marines end skid by pummeling Fighters

The Lotte Marines took a sitting eight count. In fact, that it was more like a flat-on-their backs nine count, the way they had lost their footing on a nine-game skid.

But Josh Whitesell [August player of the month in the Pacific League] cracked his eighth homer and added two singles for three RBIs in a 10-0 laugher over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Wednesday at The Q.

Ikuhiro Kiyota, back in the lineup after a prolonged absence [mostly on the farm], slugged a homer, as did No. 7 batter Tadahito Iguchi and Saburo Omura as the Marines pounded out 13 hits.

Iguchi’s shot, a three-run bomb in the first inning, got the ball rolling for the Marines, who spent much of the first half of the season in first place but are just 13-26-3 since the All-Star break.

“Everybody contributed. It was a great team win today and I think this is a good sign of things to come,” Whitesell said in the hero interview.

Skipper Norifumi Nishimura is going all out, trying to stay relevant in the PL playoff race. He gave the ball to Tomohisa Otani (4-5) on three days’ rest, changed the order and just about pleaded for the fourth-place Marines to break out of the funk with just three-plus week left in the regular season.

The Marines jumped ahead of Rakuten, which lost at Fukuoka, in the standings but are still five games behind SoftBank.

HAWKS 5, EAGLES 3

Hiroki Yamada (8-8) went eight strong innings and Hitoshi Tamura had three hits -- two doubles -- and an RBI as SoftBank knocked Rakuten back into fifth place.

Yuya Hasegawa had a two-run triple and Wily Mo Pena and Tomoaki Egawa also knocked in runs for the Hawks.

LIONS 4, FIGHTERS 3

Chris Carter had a three-run homer to put Seibu up in the sixth and a tiebreaking sac fly in the eighth as the Lions outlasted Nippon Ham at Seibu Dome to break a four-game skid.

The Lions moved back into a first-place tie with Nippon Ham.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

SWALLOWS 2, TIGERS 1

Ryohei Kawamoto got Yakult even with an RBI single in the seventh, and Shingo Kawabata’s bases-loaded hit in the eighth was enough to ruin Tomoaki Kanemoto’s retirement announcement day with a win over Hanshin at Koshien.

Kanemoto, 44, announced plans to walk away from the game after the season. The man known as “Big Brother” and “Iron Man” for playing in more consecutive complete games than any player in history [1,492], has succumbed to injuries to his shoulder and knees.

Kanemoto came on in the ninth as a pinch-hitter and sent a drive to the gap in right center, but rookie Wataru Hiyane made a diving catch for the second out.

GIANTS 5, CARP 0

Fourth-year righty Shoki Kasahara (1-0) went six scoreless innings for his first pro win [in his third outing] as Yomiuri blanked Hiroshima at Tokyo Dome.

Shinnosuke Abe had two hits and an RBI, and Yoshihito Ishii’s pinch-hit two-run single highlighted a three-run fifth to lead the Giants, who cut their magic number to win the CL to 10.

DRAGONS 6, BAYSTARS 4

Yusuke Matsui had an RBI hit in a three-run fourth, Tony Blanco went deep with a solo shot in the fifth and Takehiro Donoue socked a two-run shot in the eighth that proved to be the difference as Chunichi topped host Yokohama.