SAPPORO (Interstat) — Taiga Kojima hit a three-run home run and Sosuke Genda drove in two runs in a five-run seventh inning as the Seibu Lions defeated the Nippon-Ham Fighters 5-2 on Wednesday night at Sapporo Dome.

Seibu trailed 2-0 heading into the seventh. Genda’s two-run double tied the score, and Kojima followed with a three-run homer to right-center. Kotaro Kiyomiya and Tatsuki Mizuno hit solo home runs for Nippon-Ham.

Yutaro Watanabe (5-6) allowed two earned runs on four hits over seven innings with four strikeouts to get the win. Seigi Tanaka (1-4) took the loss. Hiroshi Kaino earned his 15th save, working a scoreless ninth despite allowing two hits. Trey Wingenter pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts.

Nippon-Ham starter Koki Kitayama allowed no earned runs over six innings, but the bullpen faded. Seibu had 13 hits; Nippon-Ham had seven. Attendance was 31,443. The game took 3 hours, 22 minutes. Seibu improved to 58-45-3; Nippon-Ham fell to 59-48-2.