Nobuhiro Matsuda drove in three runs, including the seventh-inning tiebreaker, as the Pacific League-leading Fukuoka Softbank Hawks pulled away to beat the Seibu Lions 9-6 on Thursday.

The Hawks took the lead three times only to see Seibu tie it. With the game knotted 5-5 in the top of the seventh at Seibu Prince Dome, Yuki Yanagita opened with a single and Lee Dae-ho singled him to second with one out.

Ryohei Fujiwara (0-1), whose impressive slider had kept the Hawks in check since he entered in relief in the third inning, was beaten on his fastball by Matsuda, who pulled one to left to put Softbank on top.

Former Lion Toru Hosokawa put the game out of reach when he capped the inning with a three-run double. Another former Lion, closer Dennis Sarfate, worked a 1-2-3 ninth to record his 16th save.

“They kept catching up, but we never quit,” Matsuda said.

“This was a total team effort. Everybody keeping the innings alive and setting up scoring opportunities for the next guy.

Yanagita opened the scoring with his 16th home run in the first off Seibu starter Kuo Chun-lin, only to see Lions leadoff man Shogo Akiyama double and score the tying run in the home half of the inning.

Matsuda’s 20th homer of the season made it 2-1 in the second, but once more Seibu bounced back, this time on a solo homer by Fumikazu Kimura off Softbank starter Sho Iwasaki.

The Hawks took a three-run lead in the third, when Matsuda delivered a sac fly, but Seibu got two back in the inning and tied it in the sixth, when Kimura doubled home Ernesto Mejia with two outs.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Swallows 7, Dragons 3

At Nagoya Dome, Tokyo Yakult’s Masato Furuno (4-0) allowed two runs — one earned — in five innings to earn the win after Chunichi starter Yudai Ono (7-3) couldn’t stop the bleeding in a two-run sixth.

In the sixth, Ono allowed three hits and a bases-loaded walk and the visitors took the lead for good.

The Dragons fell into last place after being swept in three games.