Rookie Yua Tamiya hit a three-run home run to power the Nippon Ham Fighters to a 4-3 victory Sunday over the SoftBank Hawks, who fell into a tie for second place as one of the three teams battling for two Pacific League playoff spots.
The Hawks are now dead even with the Rakuten Eagles, 8-2 winners over the league champion Orix Buffaloes, and a half-game ahead of the Lotte Marines, who got past the Seibu Lions 3-2.
Tamiya, a catcher who started in left field at Fukuoka's PayPay Dome, batted in the third with two on and no outs with his team trailing 2-1. He turned on a straight inside fastball and rocketed it into the dome's right-field "home run terrace."
"It felt good coming off the bat, so I thought it would go out for me," said Tamiya, who also struck out twice and was later pulled for a pinch-hitter.
"I would have liked to be on the field until the end, preferably as a catcher, since that's what I am. I spent a long time on the farm preparing so I could contribute on the first team, so I'm happy to be doing that now."
Nippon Ham's Arismendy Alcantara homered in the second off Hawks starter Shuta Ishikawa (4-8) only for SoftBank to take the lead in the home half on an error, a double, an RBI ground out and a squeeze bunt.
Fighters starter Naoyuki Uwasawa (9-9) allowed three runs over six innings for the win, and closer Seigi Tanaka got some payback in the ninth a day after he surrendered two home runs and took the loss Saturday.
Using an overpowering fastball, the former Hawk worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 25th save.
SoftBank's Kensuke Kondo, who has a chance to win a batting Triple Crown if he can maintain his lead in home runs and RBIs and surpass Orix's Yuma Tongu's .307 batting average, went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .299 with four games left to play.
In the Central League, Shinichi Onuki (5-4) tossed a two-hit shutout as the DeNA BayStars beat the Chunichi Dragons 4-0 to pull into a tie for second place with the Hiroshima Carp, who lost to the newly crowned champion Hanshin Tigers 6-5.
