Richard Sunagawa of the SoftBank Hawks hits a home run in the fourth inning of a Pacific League game against the Orix Buffaloes on Sept. 5, 2021, at PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo)

       FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- Rookie Richard Sunagawa drove in six runs with a sacrifice fly and two home runs, including a game-reversing grand slam, in the SoftBank Hawks' 12-4 win over the Orix Buffaloes on Sunday, knocking the league leaders out of first place.

       Trailing by a run after his first career RBI on a second-inning sacrifice fly, Sunagawa came up with one out in the fourth and worked the count full against veteran right-hander Hirotoshi Masui (3-6) before slamming a fastball down the pipe well past the center-field wall.

       "My teammates made it so I came to bat in the best possible situation. I was as focused as I've ever been in my life. I knew it was going out when I hit it. I knew it would bring us from behind, and that made me happy," said the 22-year-old Sunagawa, a native of Okinawa Prefecture, who blasted a solo homer to lead off the Hawks' four-run seventh.

       "To hit a home run in this ballpark has been a dream of mine."

       The Hawks added two more runs in the fourth to give 40-year-old lefty Tsuyoshi Wada (5-5) some breathing room. Wada allowed two runs over five innings.

       He was replaced on the mound by American rookie Carter Stewart Jr., who struck out six batters in a row, but allowed two runs before leaving after three innings.

       At Zozo Marine Stadium, Enny Romero (1-0) struck out nine while allowing a run over seven innings to pitch the Lotte Marines past the Nippon Ham Fighters 2-1 and into first place.

       At Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Hiroaki Shimauchi scored two runs and drove in two to lead the third-place Rakuten Eagles to an 8-2 win over the Seibu Lions.

       At Koshien Stadium, Yoshio Itoi hit a game-tying pinch-hit RBI double as the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers clawed back from a six-run deficit to tie the second-place Yomiuri Giants.

       At Tokyo Dome, Seiya Suzuki homered and went 4-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Hiroshima Carp to a 6-1 win over the third-place Yakult Swallows.

       At Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Kosuke Fukudome's eighth-inning pinch-hit RBI double snapped a scoreless tie as the Chunichi Dragons won 2-0 over the DeNA BayStars.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0