Baseball: M. Takeda solid in Fighters' win over Hawks.

SAPPORO, Aug. 2 Kyodo

Terrmel Sledge doubled to break a scoreless tie and Masaru Takeda threw one-run ball over six-plus innings as the Pacific League-leading Nippon Ham routed Softbank 7-1 for its 10th win in 11 games on Sunday.

Nippon Ham took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Sledge and Eiichi Koyano hit back-to-back doubles off Toshiya Sugiuchi (9-3). Tomohiro Nioka capped a three-run sixth with a two-run homer at Sapporo Dome.

Takeda (5-6) allowed five hits, including Hiroki Kokubo's solo homer in the seventh.

''I was feeling a little worried because it was a while since I last pitched,'' Takeda said. ''But I got help from the position players so I could pitch with confidence.''

Kensuke Tanaka and Yoshio Itoi hit solo homers in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

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Buffaloes 6, Lions 5

At Kyocera Dome, Osamu Hamanaka hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the bottom of the 10th inning, snapping Orix's three-game skid in a walk-off win over Seibu.

Hamanaka connected to left-center off Tetsuya Iwasaki (2-3) for his second blast of the day after a three-run drive in the second and a sacrifice fly in the third. Ryota Katsuki (2-2) won in relief.

Orix grabbed a 5-1 lead through the third but Seibu rallied, featuring solo homers by Yoshihito Ishii and Takahiko G.G. Sato before Takeya Nakamura's game-tying two-run blast -- his baseball-leading 33rd home run -- in the eighth.