Ryoya Kurihara went 4-for-6 with six RBIs and two home runs as the Pacific League-leading SoftBank Hawks trounced the Rakuten Eagles 21-0 on Tuesday.
Kurihara sparked a seven-run second inning with an RBI double off Cody Ponce (3-3) and slugged a solo shot off the right-hander in the third at Mizuho PayPay Dome.
Ponce loaded the bases with no out and got the hook in the fourth before Kurihara had an RBI single during a 10-run inning. Ponce gave up 12 runs on 11 hits, a walk and a hit batsman, while reliever Shuto Sakurai yielded six runs over one inning.
Kurihara blasted a two-run home run in the fifth for his last hit of the game as SoftBank amassed 23 hits to win their five games straight for the third time this season. Kohei Arihara (4-3) threw six shutout innings on four hits.
In other action, Hiroki Tokoda (5-2) held the Central League-leading Hanshin Tigers to two runs over 7-1/3 innings as the Hiroshima Carp won 6-2.
