Ryosuke Kikuchi's tiebreaking ninth-inning home run lifted the Central League-leading Hiroshima Carp over the Yomiuri Giants 2-1 on Saturday.
Hiroshima took a 1-0 second-inning lead, and Daichi Osera gave the visitors 6-1/3 scoreless innings before the Giants tied it against the Carp bullpen in the eighth inning at Tokyo Dome.
With two outs in the ninth, Kikuchi put a good swing on a breaking ball from Alberto Baldonado (1-3) and drove it out for his season's sixth home run.
"I just made contact and the ball carried well for me," Kikuchi said. "Our pitchers do a great job every day and I'm always trying hard to contribute. Today was no different, except I did get a good result."
Carp closer Ryoji Kuribayashi worked a scoreless ninth. A day after allowing a walk-off homer, Kuribayashi needed some help from a botched sacrifice bunt and a hard-hit lineout with two runners on to record his 21st save.
Among other games on Saturday, Kensuke Kondo homered and drove in three runs to lead the Pacific League-leading SoftBank Hawks to a 7-1 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
