Kodai Senga of the SoftBank Hawks pitches during a Pacific League game against the Orix Buffaloes on Oct. 10, 2021, at PayPay Dome in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo)

       FUKUOKA (Kyodo) -- Eight big innings from ace pitcher Kodai Senga, along with home runs from Alfredo Despaigne and Richard Sunagawa, saw the SoftBank Hawks snap their eight-game losing streak Sunday in a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes.

       On the same day reports surfaced that Hawks skipper Kimiyasu Kudo intends to resign at season's end to take responsibility for the club's poor performance, the fourth-place Hawks came from a run down in the first at PayPay Dome. The win moved them to within 5-1/2 games of third place and the PL's final playoff spot.

       The Hawks have won five of the last six Japan Series under Kudo and have not finished worse than second since 2013, the last year they failed to make the postseason.

       Senga (8-3) allowed two walks, five hits and hit a batter while striking out 11. Yuito Mori worked the ninth to record his 14th save.

       Yutaro Sugimoto put the league leaders ahead in the first with an RBI single before Despaigne put SoftBank in front in the bottom of the inning and Senga took control of the game.

       Despaigne, who along with Mori, missed much of the season due to injury, hit his seventh homer with a man on off right-hander Daichi Takeyasu (3-1), who pitched four innings and surrendered Sunagawa's seventh homer in the fourth inning.

       The Buffaloes' loss trimmed their lead over the second-place Lotte Marines to 2-1/2 games.

       At Sapporo Dome, Hiromi Oka's two-run ninth-inning home run secured a 4-4 tie for Lotte against his former team, the Nippon Ham Fighters.

       At MetLife Dome, Junichiro Kishi singled in the winning run in the ninth inning as the Seibu Lions came from behind to beat the third-place Rakuten Eagles 3-2. Masahiro Tanaka worked seven innings for the Eagles but surrendered the tying run in the seventh.

       At Mazda Stadium, Masato Morishita (7-7) pitched seven shutout innings for the fourth-place Hiroshima Carp in a 3-1 win over the third-place Yomiuri Giants, whose sixth straight loss saw their lead over the Carp shrink to six games.

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