The Lotte Marines moved within one win of securing a spot in the Pacific League's postseason tournament as Koki Yamaguchi led a 12-1 thumping of the league champion Orix Buffaloes on Friday.
Yamaguchi went 4-for-5, drove in three runs and scored a run at Lotte's Zozo Marine Stadium, while eight Lotte pitchers held the Buffaloes to five hits, two walks and two hit batsmen.
The two teams will play again Saturday, when a Lotte win would eliminate the fourth-place Rakuten Eagles from playoff contention. The Marines trail the second-place SoftBank Hawks by half a game.
All three teams each have two games left. The second-place finisher will host the third-place team in the Climax Series' best-of-three first stage from Oct. 14, with the home team advancing should the series end in a tie.
The Buffaloes will then host the winner in the best-of-seven final stage from Oct. 18 to decide the PL's Japan Series participant. Orix will begin with a one-game advantage and advances if the stage ends in a tie.
The Central League's Climax Series stages, starting on the same days, will see the second-place Hiroshima Carp host the DeNA BayStars for the right to play the league champion Hanshin Tigers.
