Yuma Mune of the Orix Buffaloes hits a single in the seventh inning of a Pacific League game against the SoftBank Hawks at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Aug. 29, 2021. (Kyodo)

       OSAKA (Kyodo) -- Yuma Mune had three hits, scored twice and drove in the tie-breaking run for the Pacific League-leading Orix Buffaloes in a 6-3 win over the SoftBank Hawks on Sunday.

       The win kept the Buffaloes 2-1/2 games ahead of the second-place Lotte Marines, 1-0 winners over the third-place Rakuten Eagles.

       With the game tied 2-2 in the seventh at Kyocera Dome Osaka, the left-handed hitting Mune batted with two outs and runners on second and third against lefty Shinya Kayama, and drilled his third single of the game.

       "I was trying so hard to guess what he was going to throw me, but nothing came to mind so I just tried to put a good swing on whatever he threw," said Mune who has cemented his role as the Buffaloes' regular third baseman.

       Masataka Yoshida followed with a two-run double, and scored on Yutaro Sugimoto's triple to make it 6-2. The Buffaloes started the rally against Hawks right-hander Carter Stewart Jr. (0-1), who took the loss.

       Stewart worked a scoreless sixth in relief, but helped spark the Buffaloes' seventh-inning rally when he collided with his catcher on a bunt, resulting in a one-out single. With two outs, Buffaloes leadoff man Shuhei Fukuda chased Stewart singling off a good 1-2 fastball.

       Orix's newly signed right-hander Cesar Vargas (1-0) earned the win. Vargas, who debuted the day before, worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning before allowing a home run in the eighth that completed the scoring.

       "I'm very happy because I got my first win and the team won. I just focused on executing my pitches, throw strikes and get outs," said Vargas, who pitched for Mexico in the Tokyo Olympics.

       At Rakuten Seimei Park Miyagi, Tatsuhiro Tamura delivered a ninth-inning RBI single and Naoya Masuda recorded his 28th save as the Marines beat the Eagles 1-0.

       At MetLife Dome, Nippon Ham Fighters rookie Hiromi Ito (8-5), who pitched in relief for Japan in the Olympics, struck out nine and allowed three hits in a 6-0 win over the fifth-place Seibu Lions.

       At Vantelin Dome Nagoya, Yuki Takahashi (10-3) threw five scoreless innings and doubled in a run for the Yomiuri Giants in a 5-1 win over the Chunichi Dragons. The Giants moved into first place in the Central League ahead of the Hanshin Tigers, who fell to third.

       At Tokyo Dome, Juri Hara (1-1) pitched seven scoreless innings and Yasutaka Shiomi hit a three-run home run as the third-place Yakult Swallows beat the DeNA BayStars 5-2 to remain a half-game back of the Giants.

       At Mazda Stadium, Hiroki Tokoda (2-2) threw six innings, while Seiya Suzuki and Shogo Sakakura homered for the Hiroshima Carp in a 5-0 win over the Tigers.

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