Shota Suekane homered twice and drove in three runs to help the Hiroshima Carp to a 7-3 victory over the Yomiuri Giants in a game with postseason implications for both Central League clubs.
Suekane's seventh-inning leadoff homer broke a 3-3 tie at Tokyo Dome and marked the second time he had given the Carp the lead. His eighth-inning solo homer gave the visitors a four-run cushion.
The second-place Carp, in pole position to host the first stage of the CL climax series, moved two games ahead of the third-place DeNA BayStars, 4-3 losers to the Chunichi Dragons, and five games ahead of the fourth-place Giants.
Shota Dobayashi homered in the second off veteran Tomoyuki Sugano (4-8) before Yomiuri took a 2-1 third-inning lead against Carp starter Masato Morishita (9-5).
Dobayashi doubled in the tying run in the fourth, and Suekane singled him home, only for the Giants' Hayato Sakamoto to tie it in the fifth with his second RBI.
Suekane then chased Sugano by blasting his first pitch in the seventh inning into the left-field stands.
"I went up intending to swing at the first strike," Suekane said. "Since this was our last game this season at Tokyo Dome, I'm glad I could hit two homers for the Carp fans here."
Shogo Akiyama all but iced the game with a two-run seventh-inning homer.
The Pacific League playoff picture tightened as the Lotte Marines lost 2-1 to the Seibu Lions to remain one game ahead of the SoftBank Hawks, 6-1 losers to the Orix Buffaloes.
The fourth-place Rakuten Eagles beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 4-1 to move one game back of the Hawks and two back of the Marines.
