Gregory Polanco gave the Lotte Marines some breathing room with his Pacific League-leading 24th home run in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Seibu Lions.
Polanco made it a 3-0 game in the third inning at Seibu's Belluna Dome just outside Tokyo with a two-run homer off hard-throwing right-hander Kaima Taira (10-7).
With two outs and a runner on, Polanco lined the first pitch he saw, a hanging splitter, into the right-field stands.
"I wanted to swing aggressively at a pitch in the zone, and I hit it well," said Polanco, who joined Lotte this season after his 2022 Japan debut with the Central League's Yomiuri Giants.
Manabu Mima (3-8) worked five sharp innings to get the win for the visitors, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out six.
The Marines entered the day in second place, one game ahead of the SoftBank Hawks and 12-1/2 games back of the two-time defending champion Orix Buffaloes.
A week after throwing his second career no-hitter, Buffaloes ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-6) was outdueled in a 3-1 loss by Rakuten Eagles veteran Takayuki Kishi (7-5).
In the Central League, the last-place Chunichi Dragons defeated the fourth-place Yomiuri Giants 1-0, while the newly crowned CL champion Hanshin Tigers beat the second-place Hiroshima Carp 9-3.
