KYODO NEWS - Sep 29, 2017 - 22:28 | Sports, All

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo and Yasutaka Tobashira hit homers worth five runs combined to help DeNA beat the Hanshin Tigers 6-2 on Friday, keeping the BayStars' postseason hopes alive by hanging on to third place in the Central League.

A day after suffering a big defeat to the second-place Tigers on Thursday, the BayStars, now 3.5 games behind them, completed their five-game series with three wins, one loss and one draw. DeNA sits half a game ahead of the fourth-place Yomiuri Giants, who were idle Friday.

Both the Tigers and the BayStars, each with four games left in the regular season, have a chance to finish second in the league, while Yomiuri, which has three games to go, can still bump DeNA off to fourth.

The second-place ballclub will host the third-place team in the first stage of the Climax Series to determine who will play the league champion, Hiroshima Carp, at Mazda Stadium in the final stage for the CL berth in the Japan Series.

Tobashira, the BayStars' most-used catcher this season who had recently been taking a back seat, made the starting lineup for the first time in almost two weeks and opened the scoring with a three-run home run in the fourth.

Tsutsugo had a two-run clout and Toshihiko Kuramoto drove home a run two innings later at Yokohama Stadium to make it 6-0.

Starter Kenta Ishida (6-6) scattered seven hits over six scoreless innings and struck out six in his 108-pitch outing. Relievers Tomoya Mikami and Spencer Patton gave up one run apiece before closer Yasuaki Yamasaki retired the side in the ninth in a non-save situation.

BayStars skipper Alex Ramirez said the victory "was big for us, especially winning against the Hanshin Tigers here at home has been very hard this year...but I'm glad that it came through today. I always say it's not how you start (but) how you finish. We proved that today."

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Pacific League

Eagles 3, Fighters 0

At Sapporo Dome, Japhet Amador struck a solo homer and Eigoro Mogi belted a two-run shot for Rakuten while starter Shoma Fujihira, who left the mound after three innings, and five relievers combined to keep Nippon Ham at bay.

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Buffaloes 4, Marines 0

At Zozo Marine Stadium, Takahiro Okada hit a two-run shot in the fifth and Chris Marrero did the same an inning later to mark the 100,000th home run in Nippon Professional Baseball as Orix blanked Lotte. Kazumasa Yoshida (2-1) tossed a three-hitter over the distance.