Kensuke Kondo broke an early tie and belted a two-run home run against his former team to help lift the SoftBank Hawks to a 6-3 Pacific League victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters on Thursday.
Kondo, who joined the Hawks as a free agent over the winter, delivered a sacrifice fly in the third inning at Fukuoka's PayPay Dome to give SoftBank a 2-1 lead.
Hawks starting pitcher Koya Fujii (3-2) allowed a run on four hits and three walks while striking out six over six innings to earn the win. Kondo made it 4-1 in the fifth with his fourth home run of the season.
Elsewhere in the PL, the last-place Rakuten Eagles knocked off the league-leading Orix Buffaloes 7-3 to avoid a three-game sweep, while the Lotte Marines completed a sweep of the Seibu Lions with a 3-0 win.
In the Central League, the Giants' Hayato Sakamoto doubled twice in a 4-1 victory over the DeNA BayStars. His 423rd career double broke Yomiuri's franchise record first set by Hall of Famer Sadaharu Oh.
The Hanshin Tigers pulled out a 2-1 win over the Yakult Swallows, while the Hiroshima Carp wrapped up a sweep of the Chunichi Dragons with a 3-2, 11-inning victory.
