FUKUOKA (Interstat) — Tomoya Masaki went 3 for 5 with two home runs and four RBIs, and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks beat the visiting Chiba Lotte Marines 7-4 on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 13, 2026, at Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome in Fukuoka, Japan. The Hawks completed a three-game sweep of the Marines and improved to 81-46-3. Lotte dropped to 58-65-3. The game drew 39,894 and took 2 hours, 52 minutes.

The Marines struck first in the top of the third. Tsuyoshi Yamasaki drew a one-out walk, Kyota Fujiwara singled with two outs and Misho Nishikawa walked to load the bases. Toshiya Satoh then walked to force in Yamasaki for a 1-0 Lotte lead. Hisanori Yasuda struck out swinging to end the inning with the bases loaded.

SoftBank answered with three runs in the bottom of the third. Yuto Kawamura led off with a single to shallow right and moved to second on Yudai Shoji’s sacrifice bunt. Masaki doubled to left-center to score Kawamura and tie the game. Kensuke Kondoh walked, Yuki Yanagita flew out to second and Ryoya Kurihara walked to load the bases. Yuudai Yamamoto then doubled to right, bringing home Masaki and Kondoh for a 3-1 SoftBank lead. Hotaka Yamakawa walked to reload the bases, but Taisei Makihara grounded out to the pitcher to end the threat.

Masaki struck again in the fourth. With one out, Shoji doubled down the right-field line, and Masaki followed with a two-run home run to left. That pushed the SoftBank lead to 5-1. Kondoh walked later in the inning, but he was caught stealing second, and Yanagita struck out looking.

Lotte climbed back into the game in the top of the fifth. Koki Yamaguchi hit a solo home run to left to open the inning. Fujiwara singled to shortstop, Nishikawa singled to shallow right and Satoh singled to shallow center to score Fujiwara. After Kyuto Ueda grounded out to first, Ryusei Terachi grounded out to shortstop to score Nishikawa. The three-run burst cut SoftBank’s lead to 5-4. Ryusei Ogawa struck out swinging to end the inning.

SoftBank restored its cushion in the sixth. With two outs, Masaki homered to left-center for his second home run of the game. Kondoh followed with a home run to left-center, making it 7-4. Yanagita grounded out to first to end the inning.

Masaki finished with three hits, two home runs, a double, four RBIs and two runs scored. He doubled in the third, homered in the fourth, homered in the sixth and flew out in the eighth. Yamamoto went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, while Kondoh homered and scored twice. Kawamura and Shoji each contributed key hits in the early innings, and Makihara and Yamakawa drew walks but were unable to add more runs.

Lotte collected eight hits but left several runners on base. Yamaguchi went 1 for 5 with a home run and one RBI. Satoh had two hits and two RBIs, including a bases-loaded walk and a run-scoring single. Fujiwara had two hits, and Nishikawa reached base with a single and a walk. Ueda, Terachi and Ogawa combined for a few chances but could not deliver a big hit late. Yasuda struck out twice, including with the bases loaded in the third.

Joey Lucchesi took the loss for Lotte and fell to 1-1. He was charged with the early runs that allowed SoftBank to take control. Shunsuke Nakamori pitched a scoreless inning of relief, allowing one hit and striking out two. Fumiya Ono also worked a scoreless inning, giving up no hits and striking out one. Lotte’s bullpen kept the game within reach, but the offense could not close the gap after the fifth.

Gota Suzuki earned the win for SoftBank and improved to 3-1. He pitched a scoreless inning with no hits, no earned runs and one strikeout. Kazuki Sugiyama recorded his 32nd save with a perfect inning that included one strikeout. Darwinzon Hernandez also threw a scoreless inning with no hits, no earned runs and one strikeout. Roberto Osuna added a scoreless inning with no hits and no earned runs. Yuki Matsumoto allowed two hits in a scoreless inning of relief. Together, the SoftBank bullpen held Lotte off the scoreboard over the final four innings.

The Hawks’ defense and relief pitching protected the lead after the sixth. Lotte went down in order in the seventh. In the eighth, Ogawa singled to second and Kouta Inoue singled to shallow center, putting runners on first and third with two outs. But Yamasaki grounded out to shortstop to end the threat. In the ninth, Yamaguchi grounded out to third, Fujiwara struck out swinging and Nishikawa grounded out to the pitcher. Sugiyama finished the afternoon with a clean inning.

The victory gave SoftBank a sweep of the weekend series. The Hawks had beaten Lotte 5-4 on Saturday and 11-1 on Friday, both at Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome. SoftBank improved to 81-46-3, while Lotte fell to 58-65-3. The Marines will next travel to face the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Tuesday. SoftBank will head to Orix to begin a road series against the Buffaloes on Tuesday.

Masaki’s performance was the clear difference. His double in the third started the comeback, his two-run homer in the fourth gave SoftBank a lead it never lost, and his solo shot in the sixth provided insurance after Lotte had pulled within one. Yamamoto’s two-run double in the third was also pivotal because it turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead. Kondoh’s home run in the sixth capped the scoring and gave the bullpen more room to work.

The afternoon game moved quickly despite the early offense. The teams combined for 17 hits, with SoftBank finishing with 10 and Lotte with eight. SoftBank’s pitchers limited damage after the fifth, and Lotte’s pitchers could not keep Masaki in the ballpark. The attendance of 39,894 saw the Hawks finish the homestand with a win and continue their strong season.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 6, Chiba Lotte Marines 4. The same system’s ELO ratings gave SoftBank a 71.4 percent probability to win before first pitch. The actual result followed the projection’s winner, though SoftBank scored one more run than the simulator expected and Lotte matched its projected total.